Monday Morning Michigan Football (or Michigan vs. OSU) Snowflakes Thread

Scorching hot take that I developed over the weekend: If Michigan was going to lose, I'm kind of glad it was a blowout and not a reasonably close loss. 

The last few years OSU played down to Michigan's level and the games were competitive. This year, coming off that embarrassing performance against Sparty, they actually found their highest gear and played their best game and showed the talent gulf between the two teams, especially at LB, OL and RB. The game was won at those spots and it boiled down to OSU having top-tier talent and Michigan being average at best at all three.

I think the last game in many ways showed what a damn good job the staff did.  When facing a top end opponent we got exposed but it shows what a good job the coaches did earlier IMO. We also had good fortune with a run of QBs we played early (Ore State, UNLV, BYU, NW) - a bunch of freshman types and then UNLVs QB (who was probably the 4th best we would have played all year) was hurt and a shell of himself.  Mangum is good but was overwhelmed by us.

Even the defense to a degree was a smoke and mirrors job in 1 fashion - everything was designed to hide the LBs in space.  Not saying it was not a good unit - it very much was - but Indiana and OSU showed its major deficiencies and maybe we'd still win vs BYU but after watching that there was indeed lots of reason to fear Taysom Hill vs that D (yes the DL was healthier back then).

Taking a big step back this was a D that lost 2 of its top 3 players in Jake and Clark and still improved overall. 

That said....per the twitter:

Michigan football's points allowed

• First 6 games: 38
• Last 6 games: 168

(FWIW, Wolverines allowed 132 over final 6 games of 2014)

On offense we will look back in wonderment we won 9 games without the ability to have a functioning run game vs Big 10 opponents.  Teams like Indiana and OSU gave up rush yds to other teams - we couldnt do diddly.  So we had 1 arm tied behind our back.

Big 10 teams win with running and defense and turnover margin.  We sucked at 2 of those 3.  So again it's amazing we squeezed out so many wins in that regard.

This is not an overly talented team outside of a few DBs and the DL.  But we played to our potential and in some ways overachieved which is all you ask. 

A year ago I was jealous of Utah as I saw a team what was well coached, and played to their ceiling if it wasn't championship level.  This year I saw the same at Michigan - for the first time since 2006 IMO.

We were competitive in 11/12 games.  Outside of 2011 again that is not something we could say since 2006.  Which is sad to say but reality.

Add all that up and 9 is a hell of an accomplishment ; and it was a fluke away from 10-2 (yes you could argue it could have been 8-4 just as easy)- I only wish the MSU and Indiana games had flipped in terms of how we got to 9-3.

Forgive the hot take, but this is my first post since before the game. You can count me among those who really thought people believing a win was signed, sealed, delivered because of the previous week were getting WAY ahead of themselves. My jackass bandwagon MSU fan cousin (Spartying On since 2012, when he was already in his 30s!) was typical. I gave my honest, impartial assessment before their game last week that OSU would defeat MSU because Barrett would torch MSU's suspect secondary (and I'm sorry, but suspect is what they were) and MSU's offense, with Cook either not playing or not 100%, wouldn't be able to keep up, especially on the road. That OSU would have no contingency plan for bad weather, wouldn't use the Heisman-calibre weapon they have at RB, had no game plan for MSU switching between backup QBs, these are things that simply cannot be predicted by an outside observer. And knowing jack shit/fuck all about football, he wouldn't understand that. It's all a video game to him. The names on the jerseys are the same every week, so then it's the same team that takes the field week to week.

So of course afterward I have to hear a bunch of passive-aggressive shit about how it's too bad I'm so blinded by dislike for Mark Dantonio (because, you know, I LOVE Urban...fuckhead) that I can't give him his propers and had to pick against him, apparently out of spite (because who I pick matters to the outcome...fuckhead). He then caps it off with a patronizing, "Don't worry though, you guys are definitely going to kick their asses next week now!" Ugh, fuckhead. And the fact that I tried to temper that with, "Well, I wouldn't go that far, I expect a very different Buckeye team next week. Weather will probably be a little more cooperative, too" (that's of course just met with an "LOL") didn't matter this Sunday, when "So what happened to your boys?" was exactly what I got, like I'd been the one with hubris beforehand. Fuckhead.   

The point of all this is, to me Michigan felt all season like there was some first-year magic going on a lot and that there was still a long way to go, but I think a lot of people got caught up. I hope they can get past this and relax. That said, I do have to say I'm a little bit disappointed in the fact that while I was pretty pessimistic about a win, I'm shocked by the score. I did not expect a team led by Harbaugh to be blown out, and at home. I hope that can just be chalked up to the fact that while he can change the culture, he hasn't had time to change the personnel yet. I certainly do believe he has changed the culture. 4-0 in conference road play is, I feel, proof of that. You can say, "Well, competition", but Maryland was the only true dumpster fire on the slate, against which Brady Hoke probably goes 1-3. So I really hope that with bringing in some of his own selections, particularly at LB, better things are coming. I am damn sick of watching Michigan get shredded by spread or read option attacks. 17 years and counting, it seems. 

Brady Hoke would have won the game against OSU.  He would have gone 2-10, but would have won the most important game.

This used to apply to UM and now will apply to our main rivals. As UM begins to fire on all cylinders we will get more than our share of real game changing talent. I trust my experienced eyes more than the stars rivals handed out to Hoke's recruits. Guys like Jordan Lewis are going to play on Sundays. We don't have enough of these guys compared to MSU and OSU who in fairness are both top 5 teams nationally.How we are all in the same division is a topic for another time.

Both our lines, LBs, and RBs are not big enough, fast enough, and strong enough - they try hard and are more in correct positions but that is not enough against well coached, motivated, elite talent. Play makers make plays and win big games. The next month of recruiting is huge and we wont know the success until next fall at the earliest. So stay patient and trust Coach Harbaugh. He is as competitive, driven and talented a coach as we have had in a long time, and if you think this loss won't be permanentl etched in his mind as he recruits, you are mistaken.

If you have a hard on for OSU,like they have for us, watch their hoops and hockey teams which are disasters and hope they are ranked in the top 4 and left out of the championship in football.

So your thread is okay, but everyone else's is not? 

is that this was likely a 4-8 team under Hoke & Co., and probably no better than 7-5 under any one else we could have hired.  Bad news -- we have nothing at RB and LB.  We could solve RB with a recruiting hit, but LB won't be even adequate until 2017. 

Need to get him a 27-28 person class this year, and something pretty close to that the next.  Talent gap exists, but with two robust classes, we could be ready to compete with the truly big boys in 2017. 

If JH can spin another 9-3 with next year's schedule, we will be in great shape.

Than I was on Saturday. I was upset about the outcome, sure. But I was more upset about the Buckeye fans, once again, taking over our stadium with their chants.

I know that winning will help alleviate this (Buckeye fans won't travel as much if they expect a loss and/or have lost to us consistently), but it still pisses me off that fans who held onto their tickets had to suffer through that because others choose to cash in.

I know that people have legit excuses at times, but we all know that the practice of trying to recoup some of the cost of the season from one game is common. I don't have a solution, but it makes me sad that UM fans would blindly sell to Buckeye fans when this team needs our support. Don't let the Big House become the Mini Horseshoe.

Even a normally reserved and respectful Iowa grad stopped by my desk this morning to gloat.

My arch nemesis OSU fan has not been by to troll yet... But he is in the building.

Hrmpf.

The most disappointing thing about this season aside from losing to our rivals is the amount of penalties this team has taken.  It seems like every game we get a ton of penalties, some legit calls others not so legit.