November 6th, 2011 at 8:14 PM ^
If we win out, I'll reveal my true identity.
November 6th, 2011 at 8:20 PM ^
please be willie nelson, please be willie nelson, please be willie nelson.
November 6th, 2011 at 8:52 PM ^
Please be Kevin Bacon, please be Kevin Bacon, please be Kevin Bacon.
November 6th, 2011 at 9:18 PM ^
Jim Brandstatter? You're awesome on the radio!
November 7th, 2011 at 5:52 AM ^
Somewhat famous in Metro Detroit sports cicrcles? Doug Karsch?
November 6th, 2011 at 8:15 PM ^
I doubt Wiscy covers that against Minny w/ the way Kill has his gophers playing.
MSU just beat them by a TD
November 7th, 2011 at 1:23 PM ^
Wiscy is famous for bombing out bad teams. Minny has improved on offense with Gray, but Wiscy OLine will wear out Minny and put up A TON of points. Bielema loves tacking on too. I could see a 50-17 type score.
November 6th, 2011 at 8:28 PM ^
But I think we lose to Illini, win against the Huskers and a toss up against OSU.
8-4 final record which I'd have taken at the start of the season!
November 6th, 2011 at 8:59 PM ^
A win against NE or OSU would make me feel better and my feelings are all that really matter. Tired of "next year" crap. I want a conference win against not Minnesota/Purdue/Indiana.
November 6th, 2011 at 9:06 PM ^
How about Northwestern. Would that make you feel better?
November 6th, 2011 at 11:16 PM ^
Because Northwestern is such a powerhouse
November 7th, 2011 at 8:13 AM ^
They just beat Nebraska (the team that was going to DOMINATE!!! the B1G) in Lincoln with their starting QB on the bench for much of the game. Not too bad.
November 7th, 2011 at 10:59 AM ^
All 3 of these games could go either way. Illinois' offense is struggling badly and our defense (which has been consistently average from game to game if not within games) should get the better of them. Their defense is comparable to ND and MSU, capable of stoning our offense if we have a bad day, and we showed against Iowa than we can have a bad day even against a bad defense. Nebraska has been all over the place, looking good at times (MSU) and horrible at others (Wisconsin, NW, the first 2/3 of OSU) and their one serious road game was a disaster. They struggled to stop NW, whose offense is a lot like ours. OSU can't throw. Their defense is below average by OSU standards but should still be much better on the road than Iowa's was at home, so they could shut us down too.
November 6th, 2011 at 8:31 PM ^
....I will give everyone my work e-mail so those of you in the DTE service territory can complain to me personally and maybe even have your problems taken care of.
November 6th, 2011 at 8:40 PM ^
November 6th, 2011 at 8:59 PM ^
i expected to at the minimum be 8-4 this year with all the talent we had returning.. If we have another collapse, which is well on its way to happening then ill snap..
Ive been sick of hearing this isn't the same team, and so far that has been wrong as we have lost 2/3.
Hopefully ILL continues to turn the ball over, but i have a suspicion of them coming off a bye, that we once again get a team that will complete shut our O down, or we give them the game on turnovers once again
November 6th, 2011 at 9:08 PM ^
losing to a team on the road to go 7-2 does not warrant a collapse. we are not "well on our way".
November 6th, 2011 at 9:16 PM ^
Losing 2/3 isn't a collapse, it is shitty, but if we end up losing 4/6 final games then yes i consider that a collapse. I don't care who we are playing. We should win out, but we still haven't been able to beat even a middling b1g team yet
November 7th, 2011 at 9:31 AM ^
Purdue. Northwestern.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:47 AM ^
they are in the bottom half of the B1G sorry
November 7th, 2011 at 10:02 AM ^
Illinois and Purdue have the same conference record. Every team in the Big Ten this year has the chance to lose every game, because every team is middling.
November 6th, 2011 at 9:08 PM ^
November 6th, 2011 at 9:20 PM ^
Looking to put in some OT moderating on the board then?
November 6th, 2011 at 9:19 PM ^
Not a great feeling about this one. I actually don't have a great feeling about any of the games coming up. I see us easily losing all 3, but just the same, they are winnable.
With Illinois 3 straight losses and the fact that everyone and their mother always shows up to play Michigan, the game being @ILL, etc., I just don't think we win it. I was more terrified of Illinois than Iowa and Iowa just beat us.
November 7th, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^
WMU, EMU, SDSU, Minnesota and Purdue didn't really show up against us.
The recency effect is strong around here. Iowa lost to Minnesota and suddenly people acted like that game was a gimme. Illinois hasn't played in a week, so we've forgotten how crappy they are. It's a road game, and Champaign tends to be a wind tunnel, but I don't think Illinois is that good.
November 7th, 2011 at 2:28 PM ^
Judging by the predictions made here, the same sentiment was the overwhelming assessment of our opponents by MGoBloggers before almost every one of our losses over the last three years. Maybe I'm just cynical, but after all the confident assessments that our DL will eat up MSU's swiss cheese OL, that Iowa lost to Minny LOL, that PSU is starting some new kid named McGloin LOL, that Zook can't beat us, etc etc etc, it seems to me that a little more caution about our strengths and our opponent's deficiencies would be warranted. I believe that Hoke & Co are far more capable in most ways than the previous staff, but this is a transition year and some things are just not going to go smoothly.
If we beat Illinois, it will be the first time since 2007 that we will have gone on the road and beaten a conference team with a winning record overall. We're going to have to do that a few times before I'll confidently pencil in a road victory against a team with a pulse.
November 9th, 2011 at 11:38 AM ^
For the record, I did not think this about either MSU or Iowa. I fully expected those to be very difficult games because those teams have balanced offensive attacks, and other than maybe SDSU, we haven't demonstrated that we can stop a balanced O.
Illinois is very one-dimensional offensively. I don't think Scheelhaas can beat us with his arm, and 'll be surprised if they score more than 20. I'm confident Mattison can come up with a gameplan that holds them in check enough for us to win.
November 6th, 2011 at 9:24 PM ^
first truly mobile quarterback that we have played all year and it's on the road. I will take the illini straight up.
November 7th, 2011 at 9:32 AM ^
Kain Colter and Dan Persa disagree.
November 6th, 2011 at 9:31 PM ^
Lots of people seem to be down on Michigan's chances because we came up short against Iowa. But looking at the two teams objectively, I think UM has more playmakers on offense than Illinois does, and a major advantage in Mattison. UM has struggled on the road this season, but unlike Iowa, I doubt a Zook-coached team is capable of playing 60 minutes of error-free football.
November 6th, 2011 at 9:46 PM ^
But seeing as how we constantly miss our playmakers by 5 to 10 yds it is hard to be really positive.
Despite their losses it wasn't like the Illini D is the main culprit for their losses. The O and special teams has been there downfall lately. Unless Fitz can establish a running game and with lewan/barnum both being walking wounded we will need a hell of an effort to pull it out.
November 7th, 2011 at 8:06 AM ^
Well, I can't really argue with that. But I guess I don't see Illinois as being significantly better than San Diego State, Northwestern, or Iowa. I'd put Michigan's chances of winning somewhere around 65 or 70%.
November 6th, 2011 at 9:34 PM ^
I don't have a good feeling about this one, but then again I didn't have a good feeling about last year's Illinois game until an hour after the game was over.
November 6th, 2011 at 9:46 PM ^
I still don't feel good about last year's Illinois game. I remember feeling like I needed a shower after that one, and that feeling hasn't worn off.
November 6th, 2011 at 10:14 PM ^
Agreed, I'll upvote that sentiment. I remember that, once the excitement of victory faded away I was left with an eery feeling, thinking "is that how we have to win games now because of our defense?" It seems like that game is frequently replayed on the BTN but I don't really enjoy watching it (the last play of the game is kind of enjoyable, but still).
November 6th, 2011 at 10:01 PM ^
I can't wait for the game on Saturday. I am really interested to see how the team responds. I think they will respond very well and get the road victory. This game will be a big indicator about the coaches and the seniors.
How will they respond to adversity? I think the team has the talent and the confidence to play with intensity and fundamental for the full 60. Could be wrong, but as Bart Scott says "Can't wait!"
November 6th, 2011 at 10:05 PM ^
Michigan wins this game. I'm not impressed with scheelhaus. Close on both the losses. Not worried.
November 6th, 2011 at 10:12 PM ^
Student here. Was wondering if anyone in the Ann Arbor area was interested in taking me along for the ride (I'd be happy to split/pay for gas)!
November 6th, 2011 at 10:16 PM ^
Huge first quarter ends with M up 21-0. Borges never lets up. 49-17 when it's all said and done. You heard it here first!!!
November 6th, 2011 at 10:18 PM ^
Heard the same thing going into Iowa.
November 6th, 2011 at 11:47 PM ^
Disciplined, fundamentally sound and well coached. Illinois also starts with the letter I. Unfortunately, this will be a close game.
November 7th, 2011 at 12:06 AM ^
November 7th, 2011 at 12:22 AM ^
I feel this will be a close game but imo this is a Countess/Jenkins showcase, the kid has been all over the field for us and is ALWAYS closer to the receiver after a catch than Floyd is. Will be nice to see how that matchup unfolds, if we're able to keep Jenkins in check this game SHOULD be relatively easy, The scrambling QB worries me somewhat though. With this MIchigan team you never know who's going to show up.
November 7th, 2011 at 12:47 AM ^
We had a scrambling QB in Purdue. I'm not too worried about that. Our defense is pretty consistent. Other than the Notre Dame game, they haven't allowed more than 24 points (the MSU game they weren't even on the field for seven of them).
In my opinion, you can never really tell if our offense is going to show up, though, because what exactly our offense is varies so much from game to game.
November 7th, 2011 at 2:18 AM ^
November 7th, 2011 at 8:15 AM ^
Michigan will show up on the road and win by two scores ...SO IT IS WRITTEN,SO IT SHALL BE......Lock it..
November 7th, 2011 at 10:52 AM ^
Sort of like how Jamiemac virtually guaranteed that we'd whup a "dead" Iowa team, right?
November 7th, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^
Wisconsin-Minnesota is a little surprising. Minnesota clearly has found its second wind now that Gray is back (and Kill apparently is healthy).
November 7th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^
I dont know anymore, my confidence in this team on the road is next to nothing. If we win this Saturday I will be very optimistic about the two home games, we play sooo much better at home and Denard looks way more comfortable.
I hate waiting 5 days after a loss.
November 9th, 2011 at 3:17 AM ^
Now it's M -1