Phil Steele projects Michigan Outback Bowl vs South Carolina
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:46 PM ^
That's fine with me. I'd rather face them than Georgia.
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:47 PM ^
That could be a good game.
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:53 PM ^
I'd like our chances against them. South Carolina is not as good as their 10-2 record.
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:55 PM ^
Better than Georgia or TAMU. I'd still rather face MSU (NTMSU), but what can you do?
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:55 PM ^
Good opportuntity to improve our already impressive record against the SEC.
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:56 PM ^
If the coaches poll is any indication... Northern Illinois is about to make the BCS. Enough teams feel, and they are ranked #16 which would be an automatic bid into the BCS because they are ranked ahead of the BigEast Champ (Louisville).
I do like the idea of playing S.Carolina especially since they are without Lattimore. Rather than play the Georgia team that looked like the second best team in the nation last night.
December 2nd, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^
Tampa is a much more fun city than Jax. Playing a better SEC team (in carolina), even if we lose would get us better prep for next season.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:00 PM ^
Clowney is terror, but I would rather play SC than face that GA defense.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:09 PM ^
South Carolina is 5th in the country in sacks/game. This would be a monumental test for the oline.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:31 PM ^
That would fall right into our style of play if Denard (and even Devin) were playing QB. Rush the QB hard and see what happens when they take off. Teams played off against Denard knowing that if he broke contain, he could be gone.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:00 PM ^
I thought to myself, I can't wait to see Devin and Denard both healthy during the bowl game playing together and then I realize not to get my hopes up. Al will just crush them and get pleasure out of it.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:06 PM ^
I laughed at this, then I quickly became silent knowing you are 100% right.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:09 PM ^
The "Borges sucks" meme has gotten old . It doesn't belong in every thread (if it belongs in any thread).
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:53 PM ^
Coaching criticisms that come from OSU tend to stick for better or for worse (see Carr punting in '05)
December 2nd, 2012 at 2:19 PM ^
Let's just blindly support every coach.
December 2nd, 2012 at 3:46 PM ^
Or we can acknowledge that he didn't have his best game as an OC that day (unlike his first Ohio game, which was excellent) without bringing it up all the time.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:05 PM ^
At the very least, handling Clowney will be a pretty good showcase for Lewan in terms of NFL prospects.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:05 PM ^
Back when bowl games had real names, I always considered the Citrus Bowl more prestiguous than the Hall of Fame Bowl (which is what I think the Outback Bowl used to be). But nowadays I think of the Outback as essentially equivalent to the Capitol One.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:08 PM ^
much better match up then Georgia or Texas AM.. gives them a chance to win
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:11 PM ^
By the season stats actually, this is pretty close to an even matchup for us on both sides of the ball, which is always nice to have (and makes this matchup much more winnable, I think), and as others have mentioned, I am not sure if I would be totally enthusiastic about facing the Georgia that played yesterday, even though they lost. The Sagarin numbers would predict South Carolina as only a five-point favorite actually, which isn't frightening at all.
Incidentally, CBSSports has updated its own predictions and is now also going with Michigan vs. South Carolina to the Outback Bowl, so there is another site that agrees anyway.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:13 PM ^
I agree, even though South Carolina destroyed Georgia when they played this season. SC just feels like a better matchup for us.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:21 PM ^
I don't understand the optimism. Please name one top-20 defense where Michigan effectively moved the football on offense. A weak interior offensive line is bad news.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:27 PM ^
Well, we only faced three of them, and that was in the first half of the season, before Gardner took over at QB. How we'll do with him at QB and Denard as a RB/WR (I'm assuming this is the case) remains to be seen.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:30 PM ^
Conversely, SC shouldn't be able to move the ball on our defense either.
December 2nd, 2012 at 3:52 PM ^
the SC offense isn't so scary. They still have a stout defense though.
December 2nd, 2012 at 1:59 PM ^
Rittenberg is saying the same thing, citing Mark Schlabach on the South Carolina side.
I think this is a best case scenario.
December 2nd, 2012 at 2:49 PM ^
I hope we win.