MichiganMan14

January 18th, 2014 at 2:39 AM ^

We have some great young talent and a 5th year starting qb returning. We are a 10 win team next season.

CLord

January 18th, 2014 at 2:51 AM ^

At ND, at Sparty and at OSU is 3 probable L's right there (we almost always play horribly in South Bend).  So we'd have to run the table on the rest.

Cold War

January 18th, 2014 at 7:53 AM ^

This myth about our rivals owning us has to stop. Hoke is a very respectable 4-5 against them, despite inheriting a train wreck. He's had the upper hand on Notre Dame and played Ohio virtually even. Sparty is having their best run in a half century but that's been a home field series since Hoke.

burtcomma

January 18th, 2014 at 9:24 AM ^

Must have, because we went 11-2 Hoke's first year, so if not a train wreck then what is the right phrase to say what Hoke inherited?  A mediocre B1G program???  Sort of where we are right now.....

clarkiefromcanada

January 18th, 2014 at 2:12 PM ^

First the offensive line recruiting, while occurring, not actually signing many players.

The second part is the RichRod era washout from 2009/2010

1. Vlad "the Impaler" Emelien, 2. Anthony Lolota, 3. Adrian Witty, 4. Cullen Christian, 5. Demar Dorsey, 6. Carvin Johnson, 7. Davion Rogers, 8. "Big Play" Ray Vinopal, 9. Kenny Wilkins, 10. Je'Ron Stokes, 11. Will Hagerup (maybe), 12. Antonio Kinard, 13. Christian Pace, 14. Conelius Jones, 15. Jerald Robinson, 16. Terry Talbott, 17. Austin White, 18. DJ Williamson, 19. Isiah Bell, 20. Tate Forcier, 21. Justin "JT" Turner, 22. Stephen Hopkins

Two classes of a total of 49 players with 22 departures purely to attrition. This is not quite 45% of RichRod's last two classes. Train Wreck.

Compounding this is 3 OL (2 starters on offense and 1 on defense) from 2009 class and 1 OL who never contributed from 2010. Train Wreck.

Jeebus. Avert your eyes.

 

 

Cold War

January 18th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^

Great post.

And this two year void moving up the ranks of the classes reached it's apex in 2013. These would have been fourth and fifth year players. That's why we've been seeing the record of the team decline the first three years. Now we've bottomed out and should begin improving as these classes graduate.

 

VBSoulPole

January 18th, 2014 at 10:14 AM ^

You're manipulating that data. Hoke is 4-5 against our rivals, this is true.

A much more accurate statement is: Hoke is 0-4 against our rivals on the road. This statement is more relevant since all of our rivalry games are on the road next year.

Cold War

January 18th, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^

My comment was to put better perspective on past performance, not predict the future. But you're right, looking at recent performance on the road is probably better for relevance to this  season.

We're 0-5 by my  count, yet 4 of those 5 were pretty competitive. I know at the end of the day it's actually  winning the  games that matters, but with a reasonable amount of improvement we can bridge that gap and start winning some of those games on the road as well. 

aiglick

January 18th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^

One of which is the UTLI victory which while great was kind of miraculous and was Denard doing Denardian things. One of which was against the worst OSU team in forever, finished that year 6-7, and we still almost lost at the end. MSU was a very close 12-10 victory in which we won because we made our kicks. Also MSU was 7-6 that year. Last year's victory against ND was impressive but wasn't indicative of a great season.

4-5 is ok but when you dig deeper we are not at the same level of our rivals. This was only Hoke's third year and I do think coaches should get five years. I also give credit to getting a really good OC and recognizing there is a problem.

Point is it's game time. Have to have a good season next year even though yes I think Hoke should at least get 2015.

pokoranger

January 18th, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^

I pesronally tend to place more weight on the MSU & OSU games than ND, as they are conference games.

There, our record is 2-4 (wins again 7-6 MSU and 6-7 OSU), and I'm hoping that can change next season by beating a competetive MSU/OSU team on the road (realistically speaking, at least a split between the two games will be nice).

TESOE

January 18th, 2014 at 10:22 AM ^

a look to cover their bets if Michigan beats ND? Without pandering neither Michigan nor ND deserves rank this early.

The schedule with shake this potential ranking out to implausibility week on week. There really isn't a chance this many B1G teams could be ranked late in the season until we start to win head to head match ups with other teams with regularity.

D-Rob4Prez

January 18th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^

3 probable losses doesn't mean 3 losses. Even if we have a 60% chance of losing each game, the likelihood of losing all 3 is barely above 20%. I think going 2-1 (29% using same basic assumptions) is a real possibility.

Using my rose-colored glasses, I think of ND, MSU, OSU and UM, we should improve the most. We lose the least and return a great deal of our top playmakers. We should be favored against Notre Dame, MSU will be a tough but winnable game and we came one play away from beating OSU this year.

That road schedule is tough but I'm glad we have a 5th year senior at the helm. Although playing at MSU two years in a row is a b*tch, at least this team knows what it's like to play there because we just did it last season. Result wasn't pretty but it shouldn't be an intimidating venue.

MGoStrength

January 18th, 2014 at 10:08 AM ^

I think all 3 of those tough road teams lose a lot.  They will all be tough games becasue they are still quality teams on the road, but none are world beaters.  We should be in every game and have a chance to win.  But, not to be snarky, but Morgan or Beyer have never done anything that excites me.  Unless being really consistent and not super athletic is exciting I don't get it.  I am excited about Clark, Ryan, and Peppers.  I'm also excited about the potential of Henry, Pipkins (if healthy), Ross, Gedeon, Wilson, Countess, and Stribling.  But, if Beyer is still getting the majority of snaps over Wormley and Charlton is still not seeing the field much I will be not only disapointed, but woried about our pass rush and our ability to develop talent.

MGoStrength

January 18th, 2014 at 1:21 PM ^

Good call, that was a pretty sweet play.  But, more often than not he's more of the in the right place at the right time sort of guy to me.  He's a solid player with experience, but I don't see him as exciting, a playmaker, or particularly talented.  I think Gedeon is a more talented and bigger player, as will be Ferns (I still question Bolden).  Do you disagree?  I have no doubt Morgan is still our 1st team MIKE, but I expect when he graduates we will upgrade the position with the guys behind him.  

Reader71

January 18th, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^

A defense of 11 Morgans would be outstanding. I understand that he's not "exciting", but he's a good football player whose strength is doing the right thing at the right time. I'd love such a disciplined D. I don't think we should poo-poo that.

And this is just me, but I am way more excited about Beyer than Peppers. My policy is to not expect anything from freshmen. If he contributes, that's awesome.