We will improve

Notre dame might be in the playoffs which would make them better than all but 1 team we will play rest of the year....

We could win 10 games this year and not play another team as good as ND untill OSU.

Since I had to watch the game with a group of ND fans, I decided to take another look last night....and it still amazes me how many mental errors they made. For all the problems we had Saturday night, we should have won that game. The penalties and bonehead plays in the first half were unreal. (Although, its become a hallmark of Harbaugh's Michigan teams to keep making mental errors). However,  it's worth noting that the offense at least moved the ball on a few drives that ate some clock. Not great by any means, but a marked improvement. Shea had 20 completions and Dylan 4 for 250 yards passing. The only game last year where we had 20 completions was Peters against S. Carolina (20 of 44 for 186 yards). Most games, we had under 15 completions and under 200 yards passing (under 150 yards a lot). So our QB play has improved, and it appears, so have the WRs (Nico looks good).

So the house isn't quite on fire at the moment. Yes, there are STILL o-line issues and the play calling is questionable, but this "might" have been a case of an offense with a lot of new starters getting used to each other under the lights and on the road in South Bend in the season opener. I'm glad we had this early road test. It's a wake up call for sure, but IF they clean up the mental errors and the O-Line can improve with more time....we can compete against the likes of MSU, PSU, Wisconsin and OSU. Now, we've been saying that a lot the last few years, but it seemed different on Sat night. They reminded me of Harbaugh's first year around mid season before Rudock went on a tear. There are some signs this "could" turn around. But they need to make the mental leap...maybe its confidence, coaching, etc...but, we could have won that game. Now, they must show that they can. These kids don't know how to win yet. (The coaching staff might not either).

Bullshit!

They got punched last night over and over but kept sticking their heads in there to get punched again. And were still swinging to tie it in the end.

It's the execution which sucked last night.

Meh, I really don't think that this defense would get shredded the way Durkin's did in 15, and if our starting QB goes down we probably have a better option than RS Freshman Speight, and don't forget that the MSU game that year took place before Rudock had his "renaissance". Plus MSU is not nearly as good this year as they were in 15.

Right because staying in the game despite all the team struggles in the first half tells me they just turtle when they get punched in the mouth

WTF is wrong with people on this board??? One loss and y'all lose your everloving shit.

"We are going to get plastered by OSU." Thats what Harbaugh is paid 8 million dollars to do. Beat Ohio State. It cant take him 7 years to get to that point. At this point, he is our John Cooper.

Yep, spot on. And had our defense not committed three or four just killer penalties on third down in the first half we could very well have won that game against a top ten team returning 16 starters. It was that close. A handful of plays.

We won’t get plastered by OSU. That’s far too easy a death. The football gods won’t allow it. In the words of Bane, “your punishment must be more severe.” 

We’ll come out again at 7-4 having nothing but pride to play for, we’ll play above our heads for 2 quarters and then OSU will slowly but surely work it’s way back into the game, win the fourth quarter, and we’ll lose it on something like three picks in OSU’s territory in the fourth, twice in their red zone. Or something like getting OSU to 4th and 25, stopping them wins the game, and then we watch Haskins skate circles around our defense as he scrambles 60 yards on a broken play for the go ahead TD with under 1 min to go. But of course not before running 10-15 yards backward first. 

We’ll lose in some soul crushing fashion again because the gods are a sadistic, masochistic bunch of fuckers when it comes to Michigan football. 

That was not a close game. ND put up a legit 24 and could have had more. Michigan had 10 points of real offense and it was a real struggle to get that. Not all 7 point games are equal.

To be honest, the offense only made it into the end zone once, so it really did feel like 7.

This is going to be like Hokes fourth year, book it.  Get ready for a long, painful ride.

Yeah, it's year four, and no doubt certain parts of the team should be better.  But sometimes it takes good coaches longer than that to get going.  Dabo Swinney lost four games in year four.  Would you have fired him?

All of this downfall and MSU rise BEGAN when tressell beat us consistently, then locking us out of Ohio. And then Dantini began to get alot of guys wed normally get. Before your first bad reflex is to say it's ridiculous...well, Ohioans know the importance of these rivalries and what's at stake especially living there. Instead we have players scattered from the south and west and only recently Harbaugh is going hard back into Ohio. Not a coincidence Bo's teams had more Ohioans than anyone else.