Recent Comments

I believe the issue generally is not that questions were football related questions, but rather that they were just bad questions.

This will be a brutal season. The team will be very talented, particularly if Shea is eligible to run the offense and if we can find a tackle to protect him.

However the strength of schedule is absolutely brutal. I'm predicting a 9 win season and more moping, uninformed bitching, and general obnoxiousness from fans.

Also he's correct that Nick Baumgardner doesn't know much of anything about Football.

He literally just reads this blog and then adds a little more "Michigan must do better" spin to it. Also his editors at Mlive were trash and frankly I don't think he's particularly intelligent or a good writer to begin with.

Can he play Offensive Tackle though? Hmmm, maybe 125 is a little light...

I'm rooting for overtime

http://www.diddukewin.com/

Even though this tanked my bracket from 98th percentile to 78th percentile, Duke losing is a joyous occasion.

GTHD!

Thank you for sharing this! Take my +1

I'm not so sure UMBC could do that again on any given night.

On so many possessions in that game, UMBC took awful shots but the ball just kept going in.

Not only were they lucky with low percentage circus layups, but they also shot 50% from downtown which means their team average for the game was higher than any of thir individual averages for the entire season. Meanwhile UVA shot 18% from downtown.

Yeah it's definitely a matter of when, not if.

BANG

I'd like to watch the BTT at work tomorrow, which is why I'm posting my verification code 014842... thanks!

This is why we can't have nice things.

He's right, too.

I've never been as disappointed in  this board and this fanbase as I am right now.

Everyone needs to calm down and enjoy the ride.

Like it or not (I personally dislike it) Harbaugh/Michigan are on a timer. Fans are not rational and expectations are not reasonable given the current circumstances. We have the toughest schedule in the country next year, but many fans are going to be furious if we don't win the conference and go to the playoffs.

Winning now is not only the best thing for Harbaugh; it's obviously the best thing for Michigan. Losing means further years or instability and doubt, potentially for years to come if we fire our coach or fail to produce a product on field that can sustain good recruiting.

We have a roster that is very talented, and already has a lot of experience with a lot of players poised to make year 2 leaps. But again, we

It makes a lot of sense to bring in a coach who is going to be good at scouting, game planning, and player development -- particularly a WR specialist with the young and talented receiver corps that we have.

Let's see what happens. Next season is going to be very interesting. Will Patterson be elligible? If he is, will he quickly win the job and establish himself or will the margins be close enough to merit an extended battle? And will anyone emerge at tackle?

The pressure is going to be extremely high and the margin for error will be miniscule. I have faith in our staff and program if given enough time, but I do not have much faith in the fanbase.

The part that you pulled out of your ass is the inference of a causal relationship between having two coaches and the struggles of the OL.

You can say with certainty that they had two coaches. You can say with certainty that the OL struggled. You cannot say with certainty that the reason for the struggle was having two different OL coaches.

So yes, I am right. You did pull it out of your ass.

In before, during, and after a bunch of MGoCoachingExperts have emotional meltdowns

Give me a break. You people are the same ones saying that you don't even want Wilton Speight, who quarterbacked the most efficient and explosive offense in Michigan football history, on the roster. Based on a 4 game sample size throwing to wide receivers who are playing their first ever snaps of CFB.

I'm sure if Drevno is fired or moves on, you'll just find the next thing to complain about because you're a bunch of toxic and miserable lowlives who care way too damn much about college students playing a damn game.

You think Speight had the yips based on a 4 game sample size throwing to true freshman receivers..?

And furthermore you think Pep Hamilton is to blame for that?

We wouldn't be in this predicament if only Jim had consulted you, Mgoczar, before making his hiring decision.

Very well said. +1

Who do you think this poster is, and how are you certain? What is the problem here exactly?

Any competition and depth at OT is good. We need to go all in on addressing that hole in the roster.

2016 Speight was playing for what I believe was the most prolific Michigan offense in history. How much of that apparent regression is due to Pep's coaching vs. guys graduating and being replaced by younger guys.

Congratulations Coach Smith!!

We look forward to following your future successes.

As a Carolina alum I would expect nothing but a polite welcome. Wear your colors and enjoy the game!

+1, Insightful

Thank you for your sane and measured comment, and welcome to the MGoBoard.

Great post, Space Coyote. Particularly like the examples you gave of how you might attack the same offensive scheme differently based on the personnel running it.

The coaches aren't without their biases but they are still experts with access to far more data than you or I.

For all we know the plan from day 1 when Speight went down was to give O'Korn until the Penn State game to earn the job while grooming Peters to take over if O'Korn doesn't.

In the grand scheme of things that isn't a drastic or irresponsible plan... let's see how this season plays out.

This is all true, but additionally last week was played vs. the #2 team in the country in a rowdy and hostile road environment. Coach knows what he is doing.

What part of his post isn't absolutely correct?

We (listeners, viewers, and page-clickers) are the product being sold to advertisers.

That's why news media focuses on entertainment, hype, outrage generation, and sensationalism. Because that's what the advertisers pay them $$$ for.

can you name a single rational person who had expectations better than 8-4 this season?

Thanks OP!

I don't want to deal with this crap on MGoBlog right now so I'm just going to go watch the game and see what happens.

I'm with you OP. These are the same naysayers that were saying two games into the Harbaugh tenure that "Rudddock will never be able to connect with Chesson in the deep passing game."

Let's give the team time to grow and see where this season takes us.

There are very few plays you can call that can make up for a QB who can't make basic reads and identify wide open receivers

The coaches should pull Peters aside and tell him to be prepared for next week because O'Korn will be on a short leash.

Peters can absolutely at least match 10/20 for 2.6 yards per attempt 0 TD, and even if he only matches it, he's got the inside lane next for next year and already took a red shirt so let him get some starting reps.

He has really earned it.

And Karan Higdon has earned some things too.

The run game has improved two weeks in a row in response to a schematic change.

The pass game looks awful, but that will be easier to fix when the run is working consistently.

Let's see where this season goes before we all lose our heads.

Obviously he had an accuracy problem but I'll take that over a 5th year QB who can't even read simple coverages.

Yet some of these smarmy dumbass reporters act all dumbfounded when he comes back with a sarcastic response to a question that he was never, ever, ever going to answer under any circumstances.

What were they expecting when you asked a question you knew he wasn't going to be willing to answer?

They were expecting exactly what they got, so that they can run and print it and generate controversy and intrigue -- so why act surprised then? What's with the charade?

I don't blame Jim for wanting nothing to do with these clowns. It's like Bo said: "We don't need them when we're winning, and they can't do anything to help us when we're losing."

Good riddance of that rat-bag

While we're learning new things, you should take a linguistics 101 course and learn the difference between prescriptive grammar (i.e. a bunch of rich old white people sitting down and codifying the one and only correct way to speak) vs. what scientists who study language consider grammar to be (fluid, varied, defined by use and the ability of other people from within the community to understand what the speaker is saying).

Here's a lesson for you, mr. or ms. know-it-all:

http://www.polysyllabic.com/?q=navigating/intro/prescriptive

what is the answer that you would like to hear?

Those lunatics built a statue to that man.

A match made in heaven

Part of the decision to run the 3-3-5 more this year (apparently?) could be based on Michigan's depth at linebackerish type positions and lack of depth on the interior dline.

Suddenly that dline depth and rotation doesn't look as scary when you only need to have 3 on the field at a time.

welcome to the board!

or should i say welcome back lol

+1, Perspective

If this is still the biggest problem we're having a week from now, we should be OK.

What is the value of a degree anyway?

I have a degree in mathematics. I loved pursuing my degree in mathematics. I learned an extensive amount of stuff while earning my degree in mathematics. I didn't just pass my gen ed requirements by taking the easiest courses available either, I met those requirements by taking courses in russian literature and cognitive linguistics. And now I work in IT and use absolutely nothing that I learned in school, whether in the math and physics departments or elsewhere.

What is my degree really but proof that I'm a smart person who knows how to read things and follow directions and show up on time and submit work by deadlines? And honestly I really didn't put those last two bits together until after I graduated.

Denard doesn't need luck, he needs something he has never had -- competent coaching

We will beat OSU at home this year.

Tough losses at PSU and Wisconsin. Maybe a loss to Florida as part of the growing pains of a very young team.

Kid's half brother sounds like a real ratbag.

The Republican Party was the more liberal party in the 1800s.

There's plenty of room for reasonable and respectful policy disagreements between adults. And then there's stuff which has nothing to do with policy or politics and everything to do with being a thoroughly reprehensible human being.
 

• “I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married.”
• “I did try and fuck her. She was married.”
• “Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”
• “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

Hah, here I am thinking about the same thing except I would do it again with less fun and more responsibility. If I had known then what I know today....

P(A|B) != P(B|A)

except in politics, of course

is it really a bust when a guy loses his career to injury? that can happen to anyone, it has nothing to do with talent.

I'd rather watch CS:GO or StarCraft than League of Legends personally, but this is cool nonetheless.

Damn, I should have taken one of those paper classes. I wouldn't have had time to fit one into my schedule considering how busy I was between physics labs and orchestra rehearsals, but my GPA certainly could've used the help

/cue Twitter crying emojis

We had a comfortable advantage in the game and could have won it with either our offense or our defense. But the defense is the strength of this team and this was a hostile road environment so Coach put the defense on the field to win the game, which they did.

/snowflaked

Nice. Prout Jr was a must get. This is a huge coup for Michigan!

Four piece supreme dinner with cajun fries, honey mustard, and sweet tea.

And a side of boberry biscuits.

Yes.

"And what it will turn into is this..." *mimics QB turning head towards sideline with confused look* "who's controlling the tempo now?"

He's the man

Explosiveness is such a high variance thing... let's get some more games under our belt before we start drawing conclusions about whether Michigan's defense is susceptible to big plays based on a small number of big plays given up.

Remember, at this time last year we were saying the reverse about M's offense (well, not me, but you guys were saying it) -- that Jake Rudock isn't capable of connecting on throws downfield.

What exactly does Biff Poggi do? What is his role on the staff?

We shouldn't talk about beating Hawaii until we.... aw, shucks

Khalid Hill at Fullback, Mike McCray II at Linebacker, various Tight Ends

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000684497/Jake-Rudo...

How did coach 'disrespect Allen Iverson's jersey'? What are they talking about? lol...

I love the detailed questions and I love that Zordich was willing to indulge. This stuff is just great to read.

Good, lower is better.

8 might even be too high.

After all we don't even know who will be starting at quarterback, and I sure as hell don't want to be dropping any early games because our players are complacent and/or aren't taking their opponent seriously.

Raekwon McMillan or Pat Elflein. Not only would that improve our roster at one of its weaker positions, but it would also hurt OSU.

you are inferring way too much from a small sample size

This type of thing belongs to the field of Machine Learning, which exists somewhere in the intersection of statistics and computer science (and a bunch of other disciplines as well).

Have you ever learned Bayes' Theorem in a probability or statistics course? It says that if you know the probability of 'A', the probability of 'B', and the probability of 'A and B' you can then compute the probability of 'A, given B', i.e. the probability of 'A' happening when you are certain that 'B' has already happened.

One of the simplest methods in Machine Learning is called a Naive Bayes classifier. Let's say that you visit Amazon to do some online shopping, and let's assume also that Amazon is going to use a Naive Bayes classifier to make product recommendations (in reallity they are probably using some more advanced model). So let's say that you look at the book 'Bo' by Schembechler himself and Mitch Albom. Let event 'A' be 'customer views Bo book' and let event 'B' be 'customer purchases "Endzone" by John U Bacon'. Amazon has in its database the % of customers who looked at the 'Bo' book (A), the % of customers that purchased  'Endzone' (B), and the % of customers that both looked at 'Bo' and purchased 'Endzone' (A and B). Therefore they can use Bayes' Theorem to compute the probability that a customer who has viewed 'Bo' will ultimately purchase 'Endzone' (A, given B). They can compute this probability for many different products based on what you have viewed, and ultimately show you product recommendation that the model says will generate the highest average profit.

So it may be the case that you have never shopped for a foreign bride. But if the model says that customers who both like Moe's Sport Shop and Nikon camera lenses are likely to click on an ad for Ukrainian brides (and remember that the advertising service is selling clicks to ad buyers) then that's an ad that you might be shown.

Dude spent how many years in the NFL? I'm sure he knows some of the basics of nutrition.

Show me a big ten team that has better players in the post than UNC.

Like it or not, this UNC team is disgustingly talented. They have players deep on their bench that would have started for Michigan this year.

there is a simple solution here which is to make the Big Ten gymnastics championships available for online streaming for all of the 15 people who care enough to watch it.

Let's not forget that Speight led a pretty clutch game winning drive in a very hostile road environment against a fired up team that was playing above its talent level for Jerry Kill, on Halloween night.

And he looked pretty good doing it, too.

savage af

regarding number 1:

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2528330/app-development/nanotech-co...

"GO BLUE BABY!"

oh, because UofM students only speak a single dialect of english?

does no one else here appreciate the irony of a bunch of old white folks touting the superiority of their education when they are ignorant of linguistics 101?

agreed.

home unis are sacred, never touch them

I think part of it is psychological for the opponents as well -- what goes through your head when you line up across from a guy with a helmet full of stickers that says basically "I am a playmaker"

BEAT THE HOOSIERS

Random.org gave you alphabetical order, which is 1 out of 24 possible orderings

Hoke's numbers at Ball St and SDSU are deflated because he did poorly in his early seasons and he was only there for a few years each. If you look at the trajectory of those programs, he has greatly improved every program has has helmed except for Michigan.

South Carolina was also working with a Senior QB who'd played the backup role as a freshman and had been the starter as a sophomore and junior. His senior season, which was his 4th in the same offensive system, he threw for 24 TDs and only 1 INT.

Hoke had Gardner in 2014 , who threw for 10 TDs and and 15 INTs.

Gardner was learning his 3rd offensive system in 5 years (RR --> Borges --> Nuss), wasn't even practicing at QB for half of 2012, and was also playing with an Oline and run game that was transitioning to primarily zone blocking.

And while Funchess may have been a 2nd round draft pick, he was drafted that high solely because of his immense physical potential, and was only playing his first year as a full time WR instead of TE (which is the position that other schools had recruited him to play as well

Am I saying that Hoke should have been retained? No. Am I glad that we've got Harbaugh, who was one of the top NFL coaches not named Belichick? Hell yes.

What I AM saying is that Hoke is not anywhere near as terrible, bumbling, and incompetent as many fans think he is.

His biggest shortcomings, in my opinion, were his unwillingness or inability to go out and hire a good spread OC in 2011 when he inherited Denard Robinson, his inability or unwillingness to bring top talent to his staff (Mattison being the exception), and yes the fact that his game management skills deteriorated as the pressure mounted later in his tenure. QB recruiting was a long term problem but having one more redshirt freshman QB on the roster probably wouldn't have made any difference in 2014.

He has shown the ability to be self critical about all of these things (well, he hasn't said publicly that Funk and Ferrigno should have been replaced / never should have been hired in the first place, and good for him for not saying it publicly but I'm sure he has thought it to himself) and has gone out of his way since being fired to improve his weaknesses by learning from successful coaches.

It is unreasonable to conclude that he is incapable of being a succesful coach at a smaller P5 school, and most of the hate directed towards him by this fanbase is some variant of "he must be an idiot because of the dialect he speaks" or *insert clapping joke here*.

I get it, you're pissed because of disappointing seasons and so am I, but bitterness and anger towards Brady Hoke is not going to change the 2014 record. Wish him well & let it go. We have Harbaugh now - better days are already upon us.

By my calculations, 2013 Auburn had 62/113 players in their 1st and 2nd year, which rounds up to only 55%.

That includes WALKONS, who skew the numbers because many walkons will quit the team before reaching their 3rd or 4th year.

For Michigan, the number was 58/85, which rounds down to 68%.

So look at it this way, for the scholarship roster (the part that actually matters) Michigan had 32% of players in their 3rd year or later. Auburn had 45% of their TOTAL roster, meaning the % of players in their 3rd+ year on the scholarship roster is even greater than 45%.

can you name a coach who has won big in a power 5 conference with 58+ out of 85 scholarship players who are 18-19 years old?

i will insert my foot directly into my own mouth if you can.

dude, have any of you even bothered to look at how lopsided the roster has been in terms of age in the past 4-5 years?

can you name a single coach who has won big with 58 out of 85 scholarship guys in their first or second year, and only 27 out of 85 in years three, four, and five?

i'm sorry, but the level of hate for Hoke on this blog is just fucking ridiculous.

sounds like a perfect 2-guard for Beilein's system then

"Mike D'Antoni drinks skim milk"

The person who made this sign is my hero

let's burn!

This wouldn't have happened if the Refs had removed him from the game for his illegal hit on Rudock.

[Very glad the injury isn't severe, just not glad that call was reversed when he went helmet-to-helmet on a QB who was already on the ground]

porn? this is a snuff film.

The mostly likely cause of the 0 for 5 statistic is a combination factors: bad luck, playing in windy conditions, and Rudock being somewhat below average (maybe 30% instead of 40%) on the deep ball.

It's simply too early to throw our hands up in the air and say "UM won't complete any deep passes this year"

WD come on bud! Put on a suit, be a professional, make a good impression, and get invited back again!

Why would I hate on Rudock? All the available data says he can be decent.

He had an uncharacteristically bad game, likely the worst of his entire career.

But outliers happen.

The worst is over and the best is yet to come.