Things we knew before the season started
1. Our DLine was going to suck this year and defense overall would be less talented and take a step back
2. There may be a transition period before the offense comes together
If you got caught up in the preseason hype and allowed yourself to forget these facts, that is frankly your problem. I recommend pulling it together instead of throwing a million MGoTantrums.
P.S. Fumbles are random. Have a nice day. :)
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:04 AM ^
I’m new here, but I’m pretty sure logic isn’t welcome on this blog...
September 22nd, 2019 at 2:53 PM ^
Is it logical to think Wisconsin should take a step back with 4 new starters on the Oline, or starting a freshman QB, or starting a freshman NG? There is logic, and there is that shit we have been watching on the field this season. They haven't looked good for more than 1 series on offense, and the only reason the defense has looked good was inferior opposition. When your coaching staff is the highest paid in the conference and the only team recruiting better than you is a perennial power, you should never get blown out in every road game against a team with a pulse. Stop making excuses, and just admit they aren't very good, and Harbaugh is not doing a very good job.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:05 AM ^
Defense is younger, not necessarily less talented.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:12 AM ^
The DL sucks.
September 22nd, 2019 at 12:01 PM ^
We will probably come to realize that Mattison >>> Nua as a DL coach as well.
September 22nd, 2019 at 1:31 PM ^
Unfortunately, Mattison has the defense down south humming right now.
September 22nd, 2019 at 2:59 PM ^
Do you think the fact that our Dline averages about 280 lbs has anything to do with coaching? How about coming out in the 1st series playing a 3-3-5 with Kemp as your nose with gaps wide enough to drive an Expedition through? I find it hard to believe a guy who has played Dline for 6 months is a better option than anyone else in that Dline room. That's on Don Brown. If Nua got Mason prepared, why aren't the kids who were 4 and 5 star recruits prepared? I don't buy Mattison being the difference.
September 22nd, 2019 at 2:59 PM ^
The dreaded double post.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:33 AM ^
Think a pretty strong argument can be made that this defense is definitely less talented. The most glaring weaknesses is still @ DT though & that falls solely on the coaches. We’re obviously not privy too seeing practice nor qualified to determine if we did but it’s hard to comprehend how neither of our highly regarded true frosh couldn’t have provided something in the middle.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:05 AM ^
If we win all our home games this year, I would be very satisfied.
September 22nd, 2019 at 3:02 PM ^
I'm pretty sure that's not gonna happen, but hope springs eternal.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:08 AM ^
Don't think we knew that our OL and Shea would suck... You just provided zero enlightenment.
September 22nd, 2019 at 1:33 PM ^
I think you just touched on the shocker(s) for most of us.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:10 AM ^
Ok who is responsible for DL recruiting?
Answer: the coaches. You don’t get a pass because you didn’t plan properly. If the DL is thin- fail by the coaches.
Everyone expected bumps in the road with the transition but what I’m seeing is ineptitude. Other schools don’t appear to have the same level of difficulty installing new offenses. I also don’t want to hear that we just haven’t gotten our QB yet. I’m seeing a bunch of schools trotting out second or third string guys with success and our QBs always looked scared, intimidated, and lost - why??? Coaching.
September 22nd, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
The DL lost one guy early to the draft (Gary), the would-be-starting DT transferred (Solomon), and two others have been injured.
Yes, the line is thin, and recruiting misses have not helped, but some of it is just random.
September 22nd, 2019 at 12:58 PM ^
Schools lose players early to the draft every year, it wasn’t a surprise they had two years to prepare if Gary leaving early. Did Bosa getting hurt and then going to the NFL hurt a prepared team?
Why did a projected starter leave? Why did a player leave early to go undrafted? Why did a longtime coach leave? Could that be random, sure. Could it also be signs that Harbaugh lost the team last year, absolutely.
We will never know what goes on inside the locker room but there are numerous signs that players and coaches just may no longer want to be in a Harbaugh lead program. If you so t at least consider that possibility, you’re being myopic. I’d say it’s a probability and the events are connected, but that is solely my opinion.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:11 AM ^
Fumble recovery is random. Having a shitty grip on the football is 100% not random.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:44 AM ^
And not recognizing that Ben Mason was your third best back in the spring is stupid, then keeping him on the DL when he was clearly overmatched was just as dumb, then realizing this week when both Charbonnet and Tru were hurt that, shit, we need Mason back on offense and flipping him back. How wasnt it a better idea to start Hinton or Mazi from week one? Whatever. To anyone who keeps responding to the fans concerns with "the coaches know better than you do" I think they've finally lost that assumption. They are 100% the problem right now. From defense to offense to the man in charge. What a disaster and waste of talented football players.
September 22nd, 2019 at 12:11 PM ^
Totally agree, wasted snaps on mason at DT when coulda been Hinton and smith and then oh let’s throw Ben mason back on offense who pry hasn’t run the ball since bowl game and fumbles his first carry at the goal line, that play(bad coaching) and then the reverse call on bell’s catch (bad luck) was turning points for this young team with no leadership and once it was 14-0 u could see kids heads drop, there’s no confidence and no leadership on this team and that starts with harbaugh, time for him to go
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:44 AM ^
Thank you. I don’t understand why people struggle with this.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:55 AM ^
Because they thought they heard Brian say this in passing five years ago, and that makes it gospel.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:11 AM ^
The thing about the offense is that it did not require a major overhaul, just some tweaks to incorporate more passing and operate at a faster pace. Now Jim is stuck with it.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:27 AM ^
After your last 3 game plans you need to be shaved, you’re not a “dude” anymore
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:39 AM ^
Speak for your own screen name!
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:46 AM ^
Touché, if I could figure out how to change it I would
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:54 AM ^
Just type “to the Hoke era.” to start all your posts.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:17 AM ^
Nothing random about fumbling, if you have proper ball security you are less likely to fumble. It’s that simple
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:23 AM ^
So many people on here are so stupidly sure about their opinion.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:40 AM ^
That includes you. You have nothing good to say...ever.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:45 AM ^
Cool. Then I fit in perfectly here.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:45 AM ^
He’s negative a lot, but for the most part can you really blame him?
September 22nd, 2019 at 12:10 PM ^
Yes, rational non-five-year-olds definitely can.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:18 AM ^
The DL sucks this year, year five of the Harbaugh era. How was this allowed to happen?
Offense in transition. Whose bright idea was it to install a completely different offensive scheme by someone that has never been an OC much less having experience installing an entirely different concept and offensive philosophy?
I'll remind the OP that the offense was in transition in year one of the Harbaugh era and never did we see the likes of the hot mess we saw yesterday. The very first game of the Harbaugh era, the loss to Utah, still left almost everybody feeling optimistic about the future. Can you seriously say you are as optimistic about the future of this program today as you were the day following the loss to Utah in 2015?
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:42 AM ^
I remember that game, never having felt better about a loss ever. Players were fired up, excited, sharper than I'd seen them in 9 years, flying to the ball, fighting all the way up to the whistle.
It was obvious that they weren't where they wanted to be, but there was a marked change on day one, and things looked so goddamn promising.
I haven't seen anything remotely resembling that in three games. I see players who look disinterested, disorganized, incompetent, and ready for the game to be over. And these are more highly touted players.
The problem has to be in the coaching.
September 22nd, 2019 at 1:32 PM ^
I remember being really enthused by that loss. Jake Rudock, sure he wasn't great, but he led a near-flawless 4 minute drill at the end. Grant Perry, sure he ran bad routes, but you saw the flashes of brilliance.
Speaking of flashes of brilliance, you could see what Harbaugh and Durkin were going for. There was a plan, there was intent and direction.
3 of our last 5 games have been losses, and I swear that of our last 6 or 7 games, I can't remember a single one that had a coherent plan. Remember when last year we said that "hey, we're looking ahead to OSU, keeping the creativity under wraps"?
Yeah, there was no creativity. I think that Harbaugh's offense has repeatedly demonstrated that what you see is what you get, that it isn't keeping anything under wraps, whether that's due to inability to develop an offense or a refusal to use it. And honestly, I don't know which is worse.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:19 AM ^
The dline sucking this year and needing to transition to a brand new offense in year 5 are both on the coaching. So you know, doesn’t actually help
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:19 AM ^
I was not caught up in the hype. My prediction was O/U 8.5 wins with what was lost over the offseason. But not more blowouts or a -9 turnover margin (or whatever it is) after 3 games.
Honestly many level headed people here predicted a loss yesterday but wanted to see a prepared team. And now that Harbaugh’s postgame comments affirmed what we saw, what is there to pull together?
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:21 AM ^
fumble recoveries and the way the ball bounces are random, not fumbles. poor fundamentals, lack of discipline, poor coaching, guys playing tight, trying to do too much, etc cause fumbles.
big difference bw transition costs and a step back on D vs looking like you set fire to 2 weeks practice time
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:24 AM ^
I think most everyone hoped against hope the D wouldn't be as bad as it looked on paper. With the endless off season hyping, I admit I thought it wouldn't be a problem.
As I look at the program and its athletes, it sure does seem the athletes in uniform look slower, smaller, and "less athletic" than the top programs across the board. Obviously, the SEC athlete looks nothing like the Michigan players, but that could be a bias on my end, too.
I don't know if it's the uni's, the black shoes, but whatever it is, it shows up in the form of getting blown of both sides of the ball, WR's outrun by safeties, and opposing WR's & RB's torching M's secondary.
Is it confirmation bias or is this a thing others see, too?
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:38 AM ^
Plain and simple truth.
We knew it, but yet there were statements being made out of Schembechler Hall that this defense might be better than last years. I knew the DL was gonna stink and that the LB's were equally as bad. Must have been coach speak that we were hearing.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:46 AM ^
Seeing how awful the team looks, I don't think you can 100% discount that Schembechler Hall is so clueless that they actually think the team isn't total shit.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:53 AM ^
1) We knew the defense was going to a step back, but I wouldn't necessarily say that it was going to be less talented. Young, but not less talented, at least not on paper.
2) I think we're at a point where we have to wonder why it is that, in the fifth year, we seem to be in a chronic state of transition. It almost feels like we have no offensive identity because we've in fact had so many, sometimes multiple identities in one play, in fact.
I don't know that it is a matter of people getting caught up in hype, but a now legitimate question of "What IS the direction?"
September 22nd, 2019 at 12:19 PM ^
This is where I'm at, mostly. I'm no expert but it appears losing Mattison hurt the DL more than expected. I know what Harbaugh's vision is but the strategy and execution to deliver seems to have gone off the rails a little bit.
I thought Pep had an offense with an identity albeit they struggled to run the way they wanted to. Gattison may have an identity he wants to employ but I have no idea what that looks like currently because the play calling seems to be all over the place.
Ben McDaniel's promotion looks like a bad decision at this point. The QBs, in general, look worse without Pep.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:54 AM ^
Phew! I feel better. Maybe the team will be good in 2024? Is that far enough out?
September 22nd, 2019 at 12:14 PM ^
Mannix - it's the uni's. They are not a good look imo.
I'm sports superstitious, so just me here ...but we have lost how many big games in those now? I thought as soon as I seen (saw?) them yesterday - we're going to lose.
September 22nd, 2019 at 12:23 PM ^
Things we know after the season started
1. Jim Harbaugh hired an OC from college footballs most powerful program and that head coach did not offer that same person the same opportunity in his program. Brady Hoke did the same thing as well. Now we know why Nick Sabin did not.
2. DC Don Brown has not changed anything and has failed miserably at stopping offenses with a heartbeat.
3. We will not beat Iowa, PSU, MSU, ND and maybe Indiana. OSU is out of the equation entirely.
September 22nd, 2019 at 12:30 PM ^
We're three games in and you're telling me neither of the top hundred freshman defensive tackles have made any progress in the last 3 months to get more run then Ben Mason? If so those are the two biggest recruiting misses I have ever seen
September 22nd, 2019 at 1:06 PM ^
A year ago, UM beat Wisconsin about as badly as they lost yesterday. The score was 38-13.
I can imagine Wisconsin fans lamenting how their program was lost, how the coach should be fired, etc. That’s our board today.
There’s lots of football left. Time for the offense to gel and the defense to fix things. It was nice to see what happened when the offense opened up and actually started giving the receivers a chance to make big plays. Can see the seeds of what this offense can be, especially when Charbonnet is back.
September 22nd, 2019 at 1:31 PM ^
Totally failed analogy.
All Michigan fans who watched last years game saw that Wisconsins OL was opening holes for Taylor and we were thankful that Cryst for some reason passed on several 3rd and short situations.
In short, Wisconsin had something that was working and would have continued to work and went away from it.
We had nothing that worked or was going to work.
Incredible difference.
September 22nd, 2019 at 1:53 PM ^
Um, right. So they had fixable issues with play calling and injury problems.
Seems familiar.
UM completely shut down Joe Morehead’s offense when he was still installing it. That team we stomped went on to win the B1G. The next year, that offense walked all over us.
People always overreact and call for the coach’s head whenever the team loses. There is no savior waiting in the wings. Every Saturday, half the teams lose. Lots of football left.