Non-Conference games you are most excited about in 2019
I was listening to ESPNU Radio this morning and they were talking about the non conference games they were most excited about.
Here is my list:
Army @ Michigan
LSU @ Texas
ND @ UGA
Oregon vs Auburn
Miami vs Florida - mainly because it is on “week 0”
Cincy @ OSU
Boise vs FSU
Nebraska @ Colorado- just to see if Nebraska is ready for the hype
Texas A&M @ Clemson - might be Clemson’s toughest test of the year in the reg season
Im sure I am missing some but wanted to see what everyone else is excited for before conference play begins.
I'm concerned about the Army game.
Note to Warde:
Please do not schedule teams using triple-option offenses.
Thank-you.
Of course rumor has it that we are scheduling a service academy for a game in London.
Please tell me the military academy we're scheduling is Sandhurst?
I have no problem with it. Most "triple option teams" actually run hybrids that are not far off from the RPO variants nowadays.
When this game was scheduled, Army was baby seal U and Michigan is supposed to club them.
Just saying cause folks are acting like this is some type of self imposed screw job. It's not. It was approached that Michigan wanted a scrimmage to pad the record and the victim wants a payday.
As well you should be. We very well may lose.
I was told recruiting rankings matter, so I have no concerns.
Me too
OU beat Army in OT and went to the CFP. I'll take that same scenario.
That's too stressful. I am not as concerned about it as many people are. Their defense should have a really hard time stopping our offense. We should be able to put up points on most of our possessions.
I saw Army beat Buffalo a week or two after the OK game. Buffalo was a good team last year (10 wins?), but Army just kept scoring and easily won the game. Army was really good, but it seemed like Buffalo could come back the whole time (even though they didn’t.)
sorry for my feelingsball analysis.
yea i want to see ND get taken to the woodshed by UGA.
of course Army/ND @ Michigan.
LSU v Texas is fun.
Honestly, I'm so ready for football that Alcorn State vs McNeese State seems like an excellent game to watch.
Who ya got in that one?
I'll take Alcorn St. They had a better record last year and that is the extent of the google searching I want to do.
McNeese St in an upset, just because.
Let's bet on it. $5.00, I'll take Alcorn St. We can venmo to exchange the winnings.
a) I don't have venmo and I don't bet
b) if I did bet, it would be a bad bet. According to the google, Alcorn St won their conference last year and is the favorite to repeat, though McNeese St was 9-2 last year
Alcorn State vs. McNeese State is much better than rutger vs. Illinois.
I guess all of Notre Dame's non-ACC games are nonconference, or since they are only loosely affiliated, shouldn't all of their games be non-conference?
ND/Michigan should be on the list for sure.
Yes forgot about ND @ UM. Wish it wasn’t so late in the year.
It's going to be really weird watching that game the weekend before Halloween.
If Harbaugh has the chance, I desperately want him to run up the score in this one.
There's just something about beating the Irish that is extra satisfying. I'm not sure if it's their false belief that they have a uniquely storied history. You could make the same argument about us, but I think (I think?) we've been pretty humbled. I don't know that their fans (and AD) show us as much respect as we do them. It's time to for some payback.
Also, I recall hearing from folks in the program that ND was a great test to see how nationally ready Michigan was. I don't see how the timing of this game is beneficial at all to Michigan, but nothing we can do about that.
I don't get the concern/fear/interest in the Army game. I get that they took OU to OT last season but that was a statistical fluke. OU averaged 10 yards per play. It was only close because Army held the ball against Oklahoma's 84th ranked (S&P+) defense for 45 minutes. That is going to be much more difficult against a top 20 defense, which Michigan should field this fall. Vegas has UM/Army as a 25 point spread. The game will irritatingly close into the 3rd quarter before what is ultimately a comfortable double digit Michigan win.
EDIT: People conveniently forget Army lost to Duke by 20 last year and OSU by 30 in 2017.
Here is something that could be a little scary.
Our defense holds them to 4th & 2 and they continue to go for it, which puts us in a similar situation to Oklahoma. This is especially concerning if you consider that our offense may not be firing on all cylinders yet.
Another thing to be worried about with this game is just their tendency to chop block. Injuries to key defensive players may not affect the outcome of this game, but could affect the outlook on the season.
I don't think they are going to be in 4th and short a lot. They have been doing the 4th down thing for years and still have been hammered by 2 of the last 3 P5 teams they have played. Also Army is breaking in a new DC, they might not be firing on all cylinders defensively and when you are at such a talent disadvantage that is a huge deal.
I get the injury concern but its football and injuries can happen anytime.
The words Oklahoma and Defense don't belong together, unless you are mentioning how shitty their defense is. Comparing Michigan's defense to Oklahoma's is apples and oranges in my book.
I will layout my concerns for the Army game:
- We have a less talented and less experienced (than last year) front-seven going against a senior laden and rep'd to death offensive line, on a team that has a very unique offensive scheme to prepare for.
- It's week 2, will the offense have the wrinkles ironed out to put up points quickly/consistently? Army will try to shorten the game, so the offense may not have a ton of opportunities to make up for any mishaps along the way.
- Army returns a ton of game experience, which is very important in Week 2, should things get tight / down to the wire.
- Never schedule Army.
I hope these are all reasons for me to look stupid in Week 2.
All good points. I will add one though for Michigan. Even though we have a less experienced D, I think our D will be better prepared this year after going up our new offense in practice. That's if the new offense is as advertised. Also, Don Brown said he started early this year prepping for the Army game.
I'll be surprised if Army DOESN'T give us a game, but suspect we will win and break away in the second half.
"I don't get the concern/fear/interest in the Army game."
Because of the variance. They aren't a team that can be analyzed by traditional measurements. Connelly of S&P fame says the same thing FWIW. His stats constantly underrate triple option teams.
All this analysis about Army's new DC and Oklahoma's 10 yards per play completely misses the point. If they can run the ball and control the clock it will be a tight football game. Period. And that offense isn't easy to prepare for (ask Nick Saban who has given up some serious yards to FCS teams running this offense the last couple of years). When you only get 7 drives a game (as Oklahoma had) it only takes 1 or 2 mistakes (a turnover, special teams error, dropped 3rd down, etc.) to be in real trouble. It's hard to blow a team out with 7 drives.
I don't think Army will win the game and they are more apt to get blown out than anything else, but the variance of possibilities is just so wide. I can't think of another non-Power 5 team with a better chance to BEAT Michigan outside of Boise State or Central Florida. Boise State and Central Florida would have a much much better chance to keep it competitive for 4 quarters than Army just because they match up athletically. But Army CAN win the game which is more than I can say for just about any other non Power 5 team.
And FWIW, the variance works the other way against Army also. That offense tends to keep the opponent hanging around even when they are playing well. Again it's hard to blow a team out when you only have 7 drives. The exception is if you have zero idea how to defend the triple option and they just bust out big runs all day long (again, ask Houston).
I think our OL will impose its will and we will control the ball longer than Army. The defense will have its hiccups but I think we win comfortably.
BYU vs Utah to open the year on Thursday, August 29. Unfortunately it is a 10pm kick but I love a nasty rivalry to open the year.
10pm kick?
ill be late for work that Friday I guess
Paid time off is a thing. I'll be off that Friday. It's a four-day weekend.
Please tell us more about what this "paid time off" thing is. I don't think anyone here knows about that
Paid time off is also called "Reading MGoBlog at Work!"
I hear ya! Sydney has become just a smartass douche. His Ron Burgundy gif played out awhile ago. But hey, suffering the fools is part of this site.
Wow.
I pretty much come and go whenever I want.
The only person I report to is the President/CEO who is a good friend. I think my employee contract states I have PTO and how many days of it exist, but no one has ever tallied it or asked about it.
I just walk into his office, tell him when I am going to be out and he says "OK," then we plan our next golf/bar outing, then I go back into my office.
Taking a Friday off during Football season...wait! You're WD??!!!
Actually, there are two games that are the weekend before the games on Thursday the 29th. On Saturday the 24th, we get Florida vs. Miami in Orlando & Arizona vs. Hawaii in Honolulu. The second game is kind of meh but I'm looking forward to that first game. Should be a great game to kick off the season!
I'm actually more interested in the nightcap.
I want to see whether Sumlin has figured things out in Year 2.
Both games will be good. I just wish Miami and Florida would have played on campus though. Just a different vibe than neutral site. I'm also interested to see if Sumlin can rebound with Arizona so I'll be sure to check out both of those as well.
Can Mormon (BYU) vs. quasi-Mormon (Utah) ever qualify as "nasty"? I'm not sure I've ever met a "nasty" Mormon before.
I get the joke you're making but I recall in the run-up before the game against them in 2015 that BYU had their share of players with disciplinary/off-the-field issues.
Vandy-Purdue should be a real barn-burner.
NW @ Stanford should be a good one.
Ahh yes, the "I'm Smarter Than Everyone Watching This Game And You'll Be Working For Me One Day" Bowl.