Too early prediction for next year
Here is the schedule and predictions
| Aug. 30 | APPALACHIAN STATE (W) |
| Sept. 6 | at Notre Dame (L) Their QB is back |
| Sept. 13 | MIAMI (Ohio) (W) |
| Sept. 20 | UTAH (W) |
| Sept. 27 | MINNESOTA* (W) |
| Oct. 4 | at Rutgers* (Toss Up) Hoke has not shown it can win on the road |
| Oct. 11 | PENN STATE* (Toss Up) Assuming O'Brien is back |
| Oct. 18 | Bye |
| Oct. 25 | at Michigan State* (L) |
| Nov. 1 | INDIANA* (HC) (W) |
| Nov. 8 | at Northwestern* (W) Lose QB and key players |
| Nov. 15 | Bye |
| Nov. 22 | MARYLAND* (W) |
| Nov. 29 | at Ohio State* (L) |
| Dec. 6 | Big Ten Championship Game |
7 W
3 L
2 Toss Ups
With some good breaks we could be 9-3 and with some bad breaks we could be 7-5 again
December 29th, 2013 at 9:13 PM ^
Man, after this year I just don't know. For several years now, it seems like we really lay an egg vs some teams that we should have smoked. A few times we've even lost to some really bad teams. I just don't have a whole lot of confidence in our ability to beat anyone, let alone good teams. And I'm sorry, but if you predict a win for us against any team on the road, I think you need to have your head examined. I have never seen a team/program that was so bad on the road (except maybe the Lions of the early 2000's). If they can't prepare the team better on the road, then all of this is pointless anyway.
December 29th, 2013 at 9:18 PM ^
Rutgers... What?
The big problem as I see it this year was senior leadership. That should improve next year, I hope. Look at the senior leadership during Hoke's tenure. It has gotten less and less impressive. Among the captains alone, Martin and Molk to Lewan, an injured junior, and two rotational guys is a big step down from the outside looking in.
December 29th, 2013 at 9:42 PM ^
Man, we never had it so good in the locker room as to have those 5 guys as seniors when Hoke arrived. They had been through the pits and weren't going to go through a bad senior year.
Other than Jake Ryan, who's back next year who will make a difference in the locker room?
I love Devin's toughness, but he seems too hard on himself. He'll be voted one, but would love to see the guy just go out and play for fun.
This school's had some great captains over the eyars who did it on the field and in the locker room: Cannavino, Messner, Kovacs, Long, Hart, Woodley, Navarre, Hutchinson, Brady, Jansen, etc.
Then again, when we struggled we had guys like Massey.
December 29th, 2013 at 9:19 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 9:20 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 10:16 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 9:20 PM ^
This thread is such crap. It's the same shit different year. Make unreasonable predictions, team doesn't live up to them, cite reasons why we didn't, repeat. People were predicitng 9-3 this year, didn't happen. We have a much harder schedule next year and a coaching staff that can't develop players.
December 29th, 2013 at 9:29 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 11:37 PM ^
December 30th, 2013 at 10:32 AM ^
Way too many moving parts between now and next season. It really is useless to predict at this time of the year.
December 29th, 2013 at 9:27 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 9:33 PM ^
Russell Shaw was OK as a WR in 1996-97, when we had no WR depth.
On the other hand, we had some LB who was supposed to be good in the late 2000's but was a stiff and couldn't even start for RR's D.
Would like to have us get some guy who's completed his degree and can transfer for one season.
Key positions: WR (unless Drake Harris is a god next year), Safety, DL
December 29th, 2013 at 9:44 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 11:44 PM ^
I don't honestly know that Drake will even get to play much at all next year. He's about 20 pounds too light, missed a lot of his senior year, is injured and still recovering. Now, that's not to say he can't see the field, but with Darboh returning; I doubt we see him. You'll have Funchess, Butt, Chesson, and Darboh, who was supposed to a good deep threat this year. Not to mention the guys who redshirted last year, and honestly I think we see Canteen before Harris. That is just my opinion though, because Canteen's route are way more polished and he's been healthy all year.
December 29th, 2013 at 9:28 PM ^
I think we win both Rutgers and PSU (at home).
Minnesota is a toss-up to me. They are better coached (forget the loss to Syracuse, because we looked crappier in our bowl game) and have a lot of guys back from an under-rated team.
Also, think at NW is still a TOSS-UP.
If Hoke really wants to get the monkey off his back, he'll need to finally win at MSU on 10/25. I'd take losses at ND and Ohio if we won in E.L. and went 9-3 or 10-2.
December 29th, 2013 at 9:37 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 9:39 PM ^
13-1, big ten championship, lose the bcs playoff, first round.
Drink the Kool Aid... you know you want to..
December 29th, 2013 at 10:33 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 9:44 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 10:43 PM ^
I say 9-3 with it possible to be as bad as 7-5 and as good as 11-1.
December 29th, 2013 at 10:47 PM ^
fired if the team can't beat Rutgers.
December 29th, 2013 at 10:48 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 11:05 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 11:15 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 11:37 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 11:38 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 11:59 PM ^
The schedule actually isn't that bad if you look at it with perspective. ND looses some very good lineman to the NFL. They return a QB who sat out a year, and barely beat Michigan two years ago. MSU looses their core from the very good defenses of the last 3 years, so they'll be trying to gel. They will not be elite next year, though they should still have a tough defense. OSU is always OSU and will always be a tough game. The rest of the Big Ten is honestly not very good.
Rutgers is basically Indiana with a much worse offense, slightly better defense. Maryland is a so-so team. Minnesotta has very good coaching, not a ton of talent. Indiana sucks at defense and looses a very good WR and RB. Utah is a solid team that is well coached, but not a top 25 team. App State is terrible now. Miami(OH) is a middle of the pack MAC team. Penn State will be tough but have no depth if O'Brien returns. If O'Brien doesn't return they're probably just so-so. Northwestern looses a few key pieces and Michigan even beat them this year.
So that's everyone. Maybe two top 25 teams. Michigan State will probably end up like 20-25. OSU will be OSU. The rest are honestly not that great. So if you look at it from an outsiders view it's really not that tough of a schedule. I hate to say this, because I don't want to compare any teams. However, a Lloyd Carr team would win 10 games(no bowl included) with this schedule and probably at worst get 9 wins going into the bowl game. Honestly, everyone on the schedule next year has weaknesses and is beatable. So I would say the schedule is not very hard. But, it will be a hard schedule with the way Michigan plays on the road and some coaching issues.
Does that make sense? Not so hard schedule to be honest, but very tough games in reality for the team.
December 30th, 2013 at 1:20 AM ^
December 30th, 2013 at 2:14 PM ^
Well see, then that means the schedule is even easier.
December 30th, 2013 at 2:08 AM ^
We heard about how bad sparty's OL and offense in general was going to be this season in the preseason. Some how their coaches can coach players up. Much of this is probably due to having a full supply of upper class-men ready to take over. In a couple years Michigan will be the same position, without having major youth issues and players ready to take over for those who graduate.
December 30th, 2013 at 2:17 PM ^
Well I didn't say anything about the offense, and I still said they'll be very tough. A 20-25 finish is very realistic for them.
December 29th, 2013 at 11:53 PM ^
December 29th, 2013 at 11:57 PM ^
Problem is that we bought into the hype that surrounded this team the past two seasons going into camp, and we got so overexcited and were left hanging our heads in October.
1. Thomas Rawls hype... Everyone seemed to buy into it last season
2. Denard's drastically improving accuracy
3. The talk that the offensive line was actually making strides this season
4. Defensive line... Any talk that Will Campbell was looking strong and athletic
Not saying that we should lower expectations, but this season was a recipe for failure at almost every position on the field... Offense for example, inexperienced and pitiful offensive line, mixed with QB who is fantastic but gets confidence shaken easily, along with playcaller who thinks that it's possible to either run up the gut or throw downfield every play. Not blaming the players either because I know how hard they bust their asses day in and day out. However, these coaches failed to make critical adjustments throughout the entire season when they were desperately needed. They haven't shown that they can develop any sort of talent (See Chesson, Denard, entire OL, entire DL, etc.) A bunch of these guys are running on the pure raw talent that made them 4 or 5 star recruits. Unless there is serious personnel changes this offseason, I cannot find any optimism for next season.
8-4 at best
I don't even want to think about how bad the worst could be.
December 30th, 2013 at 5:26 PM ^
The notion that this staff can't develop talent is overblown. Your examples are either extremely specific or flat out wrong (especially on the Dline). So I guess the dratics improvements from 2010 to 2011 along the line mean nothing. Frank Clark's transistion into a quality (still not great) DE from a safety is another example. What about Quinton Washington and Jibreel Black's improvements? Desmond Morgan and Jake Ryan's rise from 3 stars to very quality Big 10 linebackers show your statement to be based off nothing but your own emotions. You know why our 4 and 5 star players have seemed raw these past couple seasons? Because they are Freshman and Sophmores! They are supposed to be raw. I'll admit that a lot more needs to be proven on the offensive side of the ball especially since they need to overcome the inconsistent,questionable playcalling of Al Borges. However to say that players haven't improved would be wrong. It's clear that Gardner has upped his play since the horrible spring pratices we all witnessed in years past. Jeremy Gallon developed into one of the best recievers in Michigan history. Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield are both NFL tackles. These coaches still have a lot to prove and I'm not completely sold on their ability to take Michigan to the next level but the fact that so many people on this site are convinced that we will be horrible for the forceable future because we played like shit in the who gives a fuck bowl is the most disheartenting thing I've seen on this board in a while. They've brought in the talent and now they'll finally have upperclassman depth. If things go badly next year and we don't see significant improvement, that's the real time to worry.
December 30th, 2013 at 12:01 AM ^
December 30th, 2013 at 1:53 AM ^
December 30th, 2013 at 2:02 AM ^
Tough to call game by game. I expect we will lose three of Minnesota, Utah, PSU, Rutgers, Northwestern, ND, and Indiana. We usually play ND well as of late so a win there isn’t out of the question. MSU should be worse but still a loss. Hoke seems to get team motivated for OSU, but a loss. 7 - 5 again. Wouldn’t be terribly surprising to see Northwestern, Indiana, or Minnesota break through against us. I sort if expect a surprise loss at Rutgers.
Another prediction, one I’m pretty sure of. At the end of next year, you’ll hear how 2015 or 16 will be our year, and that Hoke’s guys are finally all in place by 2016. Also, Hoke will be back for 2015.
December 30th, 2013 at 2:17 AM ^
Then we will end up having a season to rival RR '08 season. If you thought this blog was rough this season, Brian may have to shut down the blog mid way through next season.
Lets hope for 7-5 to 9-3 record and progress through the season on both sides of the ball!
December 30th, 2013 at 2:06 AM ^
Dog: Me trying to enjoy Michigan football this season and next season.
Hand: Hoke's.
December 30th, 2013 at 8:51 AM ^
This team is great. Look how much money they made. Face it folks, it's a business now, not a sport anymore. Only thing that matters is $$$$. As long as suckers shell out more money to fill that stadium, why would anything change? Football-wise the program is now second-rate, lower half of the Big 14.
December 30th, 2013 at 11:58 AM ^
Yes. It seems to be all about $$$ and entertainment (piped in music at BH). The problem is that few of the real fans were entertained by our poor performance over all this year especially against our rivals. In the last 6 years we are 2-10 against MSU and OSU combined. Sad.
December 30th, 2013 at 11:14 AM ^
I want to be optimistic, but I saw nothing in the way of progress or improvement this year (some minor improvements here and there, but mostly regression overall). So... I'm not writing off App State as a win. Yes, they stink.... so did Akron, UConn, etc... and we saw how close those games were. I mean seriously what does it say about the state of the program when we start questioning our ability to win against Utah, App State, Minny, IU, NW, Rutgers, etc...
We'll probably end up somewhere in the 8-4 range (+/- 1 game), but the season could still tank by our standards if trends don't get turned around (no running game, swiss cheese defense, etc...)
December 30th, 2013 at 11:36 AM ^
Notre Dame doesn't really scare me that much. They'll be rebuilding a lot of their team (OL and DL specifically), and Golson was pretty mediocre two years ago. Who knows how much progression he has made during the past year. It's on the road, so we could easily lose, but I'd put it firmly in the toss-up category.
Rutgers should be a win. Hoke hasn't been good on the road, but he has beaten bad teams like Northwestern and Minnesota in road games, and Rutgers is a pretty bad team.
Penn State I think should be a win, as they continue to suffer from the sanctions by lacking a signficant upperclass contingent. Plus, with it looking like O'Brien might be out the door, who knows what happens to the current roster or who they manage to hire.
I do agree that, as of right now, MSU and OSU are pretty likely losses, though if Braxton makes the (stupid) decision to go pro, things could get interesting on offense for OSU.
We *should* be 10-2 next year, and if it's anything less than 9-3 (barring significant injuries), I think it'd be time to seriously look at the future of the coaching staff.
December 30th, 2013 at 12:35 PM ^
Here is my prediction:
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
L
W
L
W
L (and I'm really not too convinced we're going to beat the buckeyes again anytime soon)
December 30th, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^
Well, Ohio State use to have a guy the referred to as Ole' 8-3 Earl.
I think we have 7-5 Hoke. Well, I hope that Michigan can get to 7 wins next year.
Hoke's first year was an abberation, and no, not because he had Carr's seniors.
December 30th, 2013 at 4:00 PM ^
With a run game and a pass rush, anything is possible.
Just need to find those somewhere......
December 30th, 2013 at 11:40 PM ^
Not much will happen over the early summer. Even still, I will suddenly feel better about the team and my prediction will change to 9-3. The feel good stories out of preseason practice and season preview articles will see my prediction climb to 11-1. By the time we beat ND in unlikely fashion, I will be convinced of a 12-0 season and will have thoughts of a national championship. Then my soul will be crushed week by week. Isn't that the way it works now?
January 2nd, 2014 at 7:43 PM ^
Good: No Wisconsin or Nebraska
Bad: No Illinois, Iowa or Purdon't
In short, shittiest schedule ever created.
| Date | Opponent | 2013 Wins | 2013 Losses | 2014 Prediction |
| Aug. 30 | APPALACHIAN STATE | 4 | 8 | W |
| Sept. 6 | at Notre Dame | 9 | 4 | L |
| Sept. 13 | MIAMI (Ohio) | 0 | 12 | W |
| Sept. 20 | UTAH | 5 | 7 | W |
| Sept. 27 | MINNESOTA* | 8 | 5 | W |
| Oct. 4 | at Rutgers* | 6 | 7 | W |
| Oct. 11 | PENN STATE* | 7 | 5 | W |
| Oct. 18 | Bye | |||
| Oct. 25 | at Michigan State* | 13 | 1 | L |
| Nov. 1 | INDIANA* (HC) | 5 | 7 | W |
| Nov. 8 | at Northwestern* | 5 | 7 | W |
| Nov. 15 | Bye | |||
| Nov. 22 | MARYLAND* | 7 | 6 | W |
| Nov. 29 | at Ohio State* | 12 | 1 | L |
I think the Minnesota and Indiana games are going to be very tough wins.
January 3rd, 2014 at 2:40 PM ^
Point 1:
Barring an actual losing season Hoke's job is safe through the end of 2015. He is not on the hot seat with the folks who matter. Statements about heat from the big contributing alums would be more believeable it there were some actual evidence. Most wealthy alums have life experience that involves success in difficult circumstances and have developed the quality of patience.
Point 2:
As others have said it is far to early to predict the outcome of the 2014 season. However there are a couple of things that support an expectation for a better season.
Offensive line blocking needs only to make a modest improvement for both the passing and running game to improve, and with a year of experience and an off season to apply what they've learned modest improvement certainly seems within reach. Borges, much as he is reviled by so many of you, has demonstrated that, with only modest improvements in the coordinated play of the offense, he can call a game that generates plenty of points.
Similarly, Mattison has demonstrated a pretty compelling ability to shore up a defense even when there are holes in his roster. With so many players returning who will also have an entire offseason to apply their experience to their play, modest improvement also seems reasonable.
The record in 2014 as in 2013 will again depend on the play of the oline and to a somewhat lesser extent the play of the dline. Prediction at this time: 7+ wins. Revision to come in August 2014.