Cool One

July 1st, 2011 at 12:33 PM ^

The jury is still out on the new head coaches? Hoke has been a head coach before. Does this mean he will own "Finkell"? Well time will tell, as always, but this isn't Hoke's first rodeo. He never faced the scrutiny that he will get here though.

Darth Wolverine

July 1st, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^

...Michigan HAS, I repeat, HAS to be Ohio State this year. I honestly think there is no excuse losing to them (save the referees or replay booth guy screwing Michigan) in 2011. We have them at home and we just can't make is eight times in a row. The streak has to end sometime and this is the perfect year to end it with Tressel being gone.

MGoDC

July 1st, 2011 at 1:07 PM ^

What? There are exactly 3 players on Michigan's team that are noticably better than their counterpart on OSU this year -- Robinson, Roundtree, and Martin. 3 spots out of 22 starting positions. While that's not to say Lewan or Omameh or Hemingway is necessarily worse than their competition, I don't know how you can possibly say we "have" to beat them this year. We are still 1-2 years away from being favorites against OSU.

WolvinLA2

July 1st, 2011 at 2:54 PM ^

Molk, Koger and possibly Roh or Demens are better than their OSU counterpart, not to mention the guys you listed as maybes.

I think they probably have the more talented team top to bottom, but with the guys we've listed, we're getting close to 50-50 and with the "other" factors such as HC uncertainty and home field, we have a great shot to win that game.

ILwolverine

July 1st, 2011 at 1:13 PM ^

I would say we don't HAVE to beat them until the 2013 season. I think we can and should compete the next two years but we will still be transitioning. Then again you never know what will happen. Less talented teams win games all the time

mackbru

July 1st, 2011 at 12:57 PM ^

I wish I had more confidence re the OSU game. It's not as if the Buckeyes have suddenly been drained of personnel; they've still got deeper talent than M does. It will take a year or two for M to catch up.

MGoDC

July 1st, 2011 at 1:02 PM ^

You honestly think a Michigan team that went 9-4, lost to App State, got blasted by 30 at home to Oregon, etc. had more talent than the #1 ranked team heading into the BCS Championship game?

I love Michigan but come on, youre just making claims based on homerism. Our offense was comparable and maybe had a slight edge, their defense was miles ahead of ours after the departure of Woodley, Hall, Harris, etc. after 2006.

MasonBilderberg

July 1st, 2011 at 4:18 PM ^

I assume you meant 2006. The talent was pretty even. UM had more elite NFL talent, but OSU possibly had better overall college talent. Carr was an excellent coach, was he a better gameday coach than Tressel?

jmblue

July 1st, 2011 at 4:59 PM ^

I don't know if we had more talent than them in any of those years.  In 2001, Navarre had a brutal season, the OL wasn't much better, and we had very ordinary talent at the skill positions other than Marquise Walker.  OSU wasn't loaded either, but did have an excellent tailback in Jonathan Wells.  Their downfall most of the year was Bellisari's penchant for crippling turnovers, but then he got arrested and was suspended against us, and the rest is history.

I also don't think we had more talent in 2002, on offense or defense.  Maurice Clarett was a Heisman-caliber as a true freshman, Michael Jenkins was a fantastic receiver, their OL was solid and Craig Krenzel was the classic game-managing QB.  They had no major weaknesses anywhere. 

In 2004, OSU turned the corner after Troy Smith entered the lineup.  With him in there they were a different team.  They would not have lost four games if he'd started all season. 

In 2007, maybe.  But Henne and Hart were badly injured going into that game, which negated our edge.

jmblue

July 1st, 2011 at 4:54 PM ^

Not before 1995.  And even from '95 onward, if they had more talent, the gap was miniscule.  Both teams were reeling in blue-chippers.  The talent gap now is much larger.  The one thing we have going for us is that we'll have more experience at QB this year.  It's been awhile since that was the case.

Jivas

July 1st, 2011 at 1:14 PM ^

...it's all irrelevant until we actually start winning on the field.  An uncomprehensible 3 straight losses to Sparty (with an even-shot at 4 straight) and more losses to tOSU than I care to remember.

I'm excited for the future but will not start counting chickens until at least ONE of them hatches.

O.J. The Bouvier

July 1st, 2011 at 1:18 PM ^

...but since when did we start relying on their prognostications/opinions for comfort?

They don't know a damn thing about anything other than the most banal and conspicuous topics.

iawolve

July 1st, 2011 at 2:05 PM ^

awaiting the epic hammer to fall for not having a better future. They aren't going too far out on a limb. We are not talking into perpetuity or something crazy like that.

hfhmilkman

July 1st, 2011 at 2:37 PM ^

I believe it is ridiculous to presume anything before a single game has been played.  Lets wait a few years before we presume anything has turned.  Lets go back in time.

In 2005 the new AD for ND fired the outsider coach that everyone hated because he was an outsider.  The coach was replaced by Nth choice who had a dubious background.  Charlie Weis claimed ND would play football the right "schematic advantage" and everyone called him a ND guy.  His staff though not hotshot was filled with experience.  Because of the buzz around him ND hauled in the 5th best recruiting class in 2006 according to Scout.  In 2005 a  team with most of their starters back and a manageable schedule win 8 of their first 10 games.  Six years ago every ND koolaid drinker on the planet would have insisted that ND had a brighter future of continous BCS contention.  Weise appeared to be a brilliant genius and he was rewarded with a ten year extension.   Few bothered to pay attention to the warning signs. 

Does that mean that Hoke is a clone of Weis?  Absolutely not.  However, insisting on anything without seeing a single snap is about as insane as investing your future in credit default swaps originating from Detroit mortgages.   We know nothing until we see the product on the field.  Everything up to this point is just talk.  Anyone on this list buy a car without a testdrive, or purchase a pair of shoes without wearing them?  Lets see what happens before we proclaim dynasties.  Yes, I have some land in Florida to sell you.  Its on the beach.  Trust me!  You don't even have to see it.  Just sign on the dotted line.