Adjusted Expectations?

Submitted by orobs on

The non conference season is over.  We've seen our two legitimate games go about as poorly as they could have.  On the other hand, our conference foes haven't fared much better.  

 

Based on what you've seen, what is the realistic ceiling/floor for this team in Big Ten play?

allintime23

September 23rd, 2012 at 1:37 AM ^

Not really. We will win the big ten. Bank on it. I had us losing to bama and ND. I mean realistically in the ND rivalry when have we dominated like this ? It's just like with state, they will lose this year against us. It's numbers and percentages. Not to mention maxwell is sweet.

Wolverman

September 23rd, 2012 at 6:46 AM ^

man.. fuck wininning the big ten! i could care less. Denard had soo much potential and he chose to just smile like a fucking retard in stead of trying to become a better QB. He'll be a millionare some day but today he broke my heart -999999999999 i dont care! he broke my soul a life long michigan fan and i dont care anymore I'm numb.  Hoke should have pulled him after 4 pick and a fumble Fuck denard! You guys will  never understand the pain i feel right now

Wolverman

September 23rd, 2012 at 7:03 AM ^

 man STFU you little story book reading bitch. This is football, This is Michigan football. Fuck Denard Robinson and Brady Hoke. This loss Hurt! You have no idea so go figure out a math equation or  play m agic the gathering, This is about football not being picked last for dodgeball. How far has Michigan football fallen when a fucking idiot senior QB throws 4 int in a half is even allowed to take the field for the second half

 SEC SEC SEC 

 Denared is uncoachable or else Al Borges is a complete moran... take your pick.

 

MGoblu8

September 23rd, 2012 at 7:15 AM ^

Umm, you realize that we're talking about a football game that you weren't playing in, right? He broke your heart and soul? He played terribly in front of all of America. You got to watch from the safety of your living room. Its funny that people watch the game on TV and then either say "WE" when the team wins, but its "THEY" when the team loses. Calm down, sober up, for God's sake stop writing, and remember that this is only a fucking football game. However, if this is your idea of a heart and soul breaking event, you are a lucky bastard.

Wolverman

September 23rd, 2012 at 7:45 AM ^

 I'm a corpman in the united states navy.. Yea I'm drunk and yea i am wrong if I choose to call out Denard for sucking tonight that what I am gonna Do. Don't talk to me about wehats lucky or  not in Life..... I try to let it slide But what I choose to be important is important to me. Yes losing to ND hurt my heart... WTF else do i have.. I'm done here

MGoblu8

September 23rd, 2012 at 7:53 AM ^

WTF else do you have?!?!?!? You're a corpsman in the Navy!!!! What you do every fucking day has more impact on peoples lives than any fucking football game! Honestly, ask yourself: Was this worse than Appy State (yeah, I'm bringing it up)? Is it worse than Toledo? This is a good football team that we should have smoked. It's going to hurt, but it doesn't even factor in the team's ultimate goal of a B1G Championship and a Rose Bowl.

M-Wolverine

September 23rd, 2012 at 1:40 AM ^

I figured we'd lose to Bama (duh) and ND. We actually should have won against ND, and the B10 looks ores than I could have imagined, so no major changes yet. Have to beat MSU, and not lose both at Nebraska and at OSU. Though it is possible to lose both (many picked 8-4), win one and we have a pretty good chance at playing Purdue for the Roses.

denardogasm

September 23rd, 2012 at 1:40 AM ^

Rose Bowl appearance is very realistic given how bad the conference is looking.  Can't predict how we'll be playing at the end of the season though as far as the actual bowl game goes.  And after seeing the Bama game you should realize that the game tonight could have gone much worse.  We only lost by 7.

switch26

September 23rd, 2012 at 1:46 AM ^

i seriously wonder why he isn't playing as our third down back instead of smith, unless he doesn't know the playbook fully yet..

 

I would think we could of at least used him on the play V smith threw the INT trying to get to the outside edge..  With Norfleet's speed and elusiveness i bet he could of got at least 5-7 yards on that play instead of throwing up a chance at a trick play..

 

Either way, if we get past Purdue in the conference opener i think we can still go 9-3.

 

Playing at Nebraska will be tough, but if our D can play like they did tonite, i don't see why we couldn't shut down Nebraska's O again this year, and we should stop MSU at home..

 

Worried more about NW, and some of the other teams.. still early to tell..

 

But i like the talent we have brought in with this last class..  lot of young players getting experience

HipsterCat

September 23rd, 2012 at 12:00 PM ^

smith is an AMAZING blocker, fantastic reciever and is faster than everybody gives him credit for. sure he is as fast as norfleet i assume (based only on norfleets kickoff returns) but he is a senior running back who knows how to play. you can't get all caught up in the superfast freshman because hes gonna make freshman mistakes especially blocking

hart20

September 23rd, 2012 at 1:43 AM ^

I adjust to 10-2 and a win in the BTCG, meaning a trip to Pasadena. We should have beat ND and no one else in the B1G is good this year. In fact, most other teams in the B1G are terrible, not just not good. If we lose any other games this year, it'll be a  big upset.

Schembo

September 23rd, 2012 at 1:53 AM ^

I don't think this game changes much of anything. The ND games usually have no bearing on how the rest of the season plays out.  The Big Ten looks so apathetic right now that it's actually starting to look interesting in it's own twisted way.   I think the division is ours to win, but nobody is paying attention to Nebraska it seems and that scares me a little bit.

Wenham Wolverine

September 23rd, 2012 at 1:55 AM ^

I expect to lose one game in B10 play that we should not.

I expect to beat MSU and OSU.

7-1, head to the Championship game, and win that.

After Bama and this debacle, the Rose Bowl would be a great cap on the season. Hopefully Oregon's not there waiting.

gajensen

September 23rd, 2012 at 2:07 AM ^

Big Ten is still wide open and our two losses have come to undefeated teams that were/are/will be ranked in the top 10. I projected 8-4 with 9-3 more likely than 7-5 and am sticking to my guns.

WingsNWolverines

September 23rd, 2012 at 2:12 AM ^

or 8-4. The only loss in the conference that looks the most realistic is Nebraska. Northwestern hasn't been challenged by anybody good. Illinois is nothing special. MSU looks awful from their last two games and Ohio St looks like a very beatable team after their poor performances to Cal and UAB. I see Michigan undefeated in Legends division and 1 loss in conference play to Nebraska. I still say they play in the title game. I'm thinking Purdue might have the best chance to win the Leaders if Ball is out indefinitely with a concussion but then again Wisconsin has been awful on both sides of the ball. No clear cut winner.

M-Dog

September 23rd, 2012 at 10:06 AM ^

It's time to get rid of those stupid confusing names.

What happened to our solemn pact on this site that we all were going to ignore them and just use the proper sensible names - "East" and "West"?

Let's try it:  I think we can still win the West and go to the Big Ten Championship Game against the East winner, Purdue.  

Hey, that wasn't hard at all.

 

 

 

jaysvw

September 23rd, 2012 at 2:11 AM ^

Our offense has crashed and burned against the only 2 decent defenses we have played this year.  Sorry, I don't see a B1G championship much less the Rose Bowl as a gimmie.  MSU, OSU and NEB are still playing decent football and have defenses capable of giving Denard trouble.  They aren't setting the world on fire, but they also aren't giving up 400yds to Air Force or giving the ball away 6 times in one game.  I'm not saying it's impossible, but for me the ND, Alabama and to a lesser extent the AF game showed we are just too inconsistent on both sides of the ball right now to seriously start talking about a 0 or 1 loss conference performance.  

bo_lives

September 23rd, 2012 at 2:45 AM ^

Bama has given up a total of 21 points in 4 games, and 14 of them are from us. They are other-wordly. Against ND we put up over 300 yards - the only thing that killed us was turnovers. And although at this point it doesn't look like the picks are going to go away, let me be the first to say it's highly unlikely Denard throws 4 INTS on 4 consecutive throws again. The non-Denard ground game is a problem, and the OL looks a little shaky, but there's no reason to act like the sky is falling. As for giving up 400 yards to Air Force; news flash, they put up at least 300 on pretty much everyone they play. No, the defense did not look stellar that game but they looked more than competent tonight.

And I don't think anyone ever said the Rose Bowl is a gimmie (when has it ever?). The point is just that the Big Ten sucks, and all the rest of our games are clearly winnable - there's no reason people can't still be somewhat optimistic.

mgoDave

September 23rd, 2012 at 9:46 AM ^

This game sucked but it was notas bleak as many people are making it out to be.  Our offense did a reasonable job marching down the feild against an ND defense that MSU could do absolutely nothing against but was killed by turnovers in the red zone.  Hell even if we are held to feild goals on all of those red zone trips we could have won.  

Also I though our defense looked suprisingly good especially given the fact that we gave their offense so many une3xpected opprotuinities.  I think this was probably the best defensive game we have had all year.  Yes we lost but to a much improved ND team where we shot ourselves in the foot a lot.

bluebyyou

September 23rd, 2012 at 8:39 AM ^

Agree...lowered my expectations to 8-4.  When you have a senior QB who has thrown for 6 TD's and had 8 INT's, you simply can't put too many games in the "give me" column.  I think at this point, it is obvious for anyone with an open mind to realize that Denard is what he is...a player with an unusal skill set due to his running abilities, but a below par passing QB.  Even with a miserable B1G this year, there is still a lot of talent on B1G defenses and there are no guarantees.

HipsterCat

September 23rd, 2012 at 12:07 PM ^

below par passing qb? seems like a bit harsh, sure today was bad but look at peyton manning last monday or like any game jay cutler ever plays (lolbears), people have bad games even good qbs have games where they throw a ton of picks. i dont know what you consider par but from you're tone i'm guessing you want some combination of brady/brees/jesus to play quarterback. Because in my book denard is a pretty above average college QB. 

bluebyyou

September 23rd, 2012 at 1:04 PM ^

What do you call 6TD's and 8 INT's.  I'd call that subpar.  Denard is a good QB because of his running skills.  If he had pasing skills to match, he'd be taken first in the draft.

These are his career numbers:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/480237/denard-robinson

What is disturbing is the trend lines showing him regressing in terms of INT's, percent completion and ratings.

 

backtoblu

September 23rd, 2012 at 5:21 PM ^

Tricky games ahead.  MSU and OSU will be difficult because I think the UM offense will be much better than MSU but MSU's (only) strong point this year is their defense.  So our better offense against their better defense, and our lesser defense against their lesser offense.  I don't know how that one will turn out but I like that it's in AA.  OSU looks a little tougher because they have a good D and a good offense. Hopefully we've built up a better, or at least more consistent attack by the end of the season and can make that one interesting as well.

Brhino

September 23rd, 2012 at 2:13 AM ^

I predict that we do very well in all future games in which we commit less than four turnovers.  Hopefully that's all of them.  Nobody else left in the schedule looks great.  Everyone has a resume with losses and/or ugly wins against teams they should have dominated.  I'm not saying we WILL win the rest of our games, but there's no reason to think of ourselves as underdogs against anyone left.  Sparty?  Looked much worse against Notre Dame than we did, let Eastern Freakin' Michigan hang around for three and a half quarters.  Ohio State?  Had their hands full with Alabama (not that Alabama) Birmingham and Cal.  The Big Ten this year is a steaming turd and there's no reason why we can't be the kings of that turd.