We will improve
I know I will get a lot of flak for the opening statement, but I don't know how I will put it.
Gentry's drop was reminiscent of some of Butt's drops.
Against ND, we have successfully run a variety of plays. Last year, we could not even throw for life.
We were able to successfully run against the interior ND DL, and our running backs were pretty darn good.
Ambry Thomas is a baller.
ND is overall a better team in continuity. We shouldn't be ashamed to lose to them when their squad has more players that know how to win. In fact, I think our O-Line and defense will improve significantly, and we will net significant wins this year as well.
Most people would not agree with me, but this looks a lot like the 2015 Utah game.
I hope I could see Michigan win now that I'm attending school here.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:33 PM ^
The ability of this fanbase to catastrophize every single loss is matched only by its ability to be delusional about the prospects of a win in the first place.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:49 PM ^
This is the most accurate thing I've read in a long time.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:23 PM ^
Wow - this is really the most Tao I have felt from this blog.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:36 PM ^
My alma mater and its fanbase needs to wake up.
“Neg” me all you want me but if Harbaugh doesn’t win-out I want him gone.
We cannot bookend the season with loses; beating OSU is his only redemption...
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:44 PM ^
And replace him with who? Can’t wait to hear this...
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:51 PM ^
clarence's reply is mine for the last year: okay 'harbaugh go bye-bye' brain trust, who you going to get that's an actual, true upgrade?
let harbaugh be harbaugh, you won't be disappointed except for possibly that it might not happen this year.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:31 PM ^
Playing devils advocate, what about Matt Campbell?
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:08 PM ^
Yougottabekiddenme.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:14 PM ^
Or stoops
September 3rd, 2018 at 12:00 AM ^
Or Gruden.
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:11 PM ^
There are probably dozens of coaches that UM could pay $7M to roll out hot garbage 12 times a year.
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:03 PM ^
And those dozens would be better? LOL...
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:40 PM ^
JFC our absolutely hideous season that everyone is wailing about was 8-5 when we had the youngest Michigan team in several decades. You know, less experienced than the 3-9 team. Hit the brakes a bit perhaps.
September 3rd, 2018 at 12:13 PM ^
Also i see a lot of people saying this will be like Hoke's 4th year.
You mean when we went 5-7 with a senior Devin Gardner as QB? The same year we couldn't put up a single point at ND? The year we lost to Rutgers and Maryland? That year? LOL I'd eat my hat if this year's team looks even half as bad this year.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:52 PM ^
So 10-2 against the country’s hardest schedule with 3 wins against possible top 10 teams (MSU, PSU, Wisconsin) would be worthy of firing? 10-2 could still be good enough to win the B1G depending on wha tithe other contenders do.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:33 PM ^
lol no way is he fired if they go 10-2. No way is he fired this year period.
Personally I’m ambivalent about it—I’m not sure Harbaugh can beat Meyer even 25% of the time much less 50/50. Who can, other than Saban? So no point in going after someone else.
At the same time, Harbaugh’s offense just looks archaic. And the team continues to make boneheaded decisions. If Harbaugh can’t beat Meyer between this year and next, I’d throw the money cannon at Gus Malzhan.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:53 PM ^
This is insane. You don’t just fire coaches that regularly win 9-10 games a season. They don’t grow on trees. General rule of thumb: unless you have a known ringer ready to come on board, keep your current coach. (Obviously some caveats apply but you get the idea)
September 3rd, 2018 at 1:17 AM ^
You guys already have the known ringer; he’s the guy this conversation is about.
I don’t know what’s wrong with the OL, the play calling, the languid pace during crunch time. Those are head scratchers.
Not the Harbaugh I remember from Stanford and SF.
I do think there’s an institution-wide arrogance and expectation (fans, coaches, players, even the recruiting pitch to players), that “we’re Michigan” entitlement, that makes for soft-ish teams. It’s not an insane decade of unfortunate flukes. It’s a program that doesn’t gut it out in the clutch.
Unpopular opinion from an unwelcome source, probably. Just trying to honestly unpack what I’ve been able to discern.
upside: there are still 11+ games. Units gel. Adjustments are made. Guys improve. There’s opportunity and risk for everyone right now. None of the East’s big 4 looked invincible.
I didn’t watch PSU or OSU; won’t opine. MSU has the same problems that Michigan had: an OL we hoped would improve and didn’t appear to in game 1. A defense we’re confident about that the opponent had some success against. Some critical penalties and self-inflicted wounds that we need to clean up. I do think a hallmark difference under Dantonio is our team nuts up and gets the ugly win, and we did. I don’t expect we’d have beaten ND yesterday though.
In these early games it’s like it’s still camp: we’re mostly playing against ourselves and trying to clean aspects of our game up. It’s gonna be an interesting season. Lots to chew on, feel anxious about, and hope for.
September 3rd, 2018 at 7:47 AM ^
look, if you're going to show up and post here with normal, balanced, candid, non-flaming takes i don't think we can handle that. it does not compute....
i don't agree re: soft-ish, but pretty much of the game stuff you mention is spot on. time to get better and i have always said teams make the biggest improvements between games 1 and 2. now, if we struggle with WMU (extremely unlikely, but then again, you guys didn't think USU was going to give you fits either) then it will be time for crying, wailing and gnashing of teeth.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:57 PM ^
You freaking think that we may not lose before OSU? L.O.L.
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:01 PM ^
i agree if coach continue to lose these games, he should be gone. but if he can't turn it around, i dont think there is another coach in america who can outside of saban and meyer and they arent coming to michigan. I think we are stuck with harbaugh for a long time. i dont want to go through another rebuild project and living next year will be our year
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:48 PM ^
I said it last winter. This year Michigan would crack skulls. They will. 2019 though is the year when most of these guys will be upper classman. Hope they don't lose too many to the NFL.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:39 PM ^
Yes we will. We have a few games to show improvement. Big Ten Championship is still in reach, though doesnt seem likely now.
We have a couple weeks to sort stuff out before the train fully derails.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:49 PM ^
Why doesn't it seem likely? What Big Ten team looked better than Michigan? PSU and MSU both nearly lost to bad teams. They looked awful. Nothing I saw this weekend suggests that Michigan can't compete with any team in the conference except maybe OSU, and even OSU gave up 31 points to arguably the worst team in the FBS.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:54 PM ^
Because the powerhouse that is MSU that almost lost to Utah State. or PSU going to OT vs App State or 1-11 Oregon State scoring 38 on OSU's best front 7 in CFB....
No Big 10 team looked hands down better than Michigan and I question how many points some of them can score on Michigan's D because after 2 td's off bad mistakes they locked down the rest of the game (maybe vs conservative playcalling but still)
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:06 PM ^
Yeah dude, what this tells me is that if we marched down the field and get a touchdown and two-point conversion at the end of last night's game the narrative would be completely different even though all of the problems would have been exactly the same.
It's exceedingly stupid to me that people think barely beating Appalachian State at home > losing to a top 10 team that returned 16 starters on the road by a touchdown. Based on their performances this week, I would expect Michigan to go 9-3. I definitely wouldn't complain about that, but I don't expect Michigan to win national championships every year and maybe nobody else should, considering that we haven't really been at better than a fringe top 10 team on a consistent basis since the 70s.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:39 PM ^
You realize you just compared Harbaugh's first game with the first game of his 4th season. This is supposed to make me feel optimistic about the direction of the program? Lol ok...
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:36 PM ^
Thank you.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:48 PM ^
I am extremely confident that we will win the Big Ten. The game against Notre Dame was a meaningless warmup. Bookmarking this post and will own it.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:53 PM ^
If you're right you just got lucky. I don't think the sky is falling but there's no rational reason to be extremely confident about this.
Also, OP, your a Baller!
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:06 PM ^
I thought we'd win last night and I am disappointed. But I also believe Michigan will be strong in B1G play. We have the pieces. I trust Warriner to fix the OL. He's done it before and I think he'll do it again this season.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:19 PM ^
He never had to fix a terrible O line at OSU. He was fortunate to have really good players to coach up and a generational talent at RB. Anyone would have looked like a savant with the rosters he had there.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:53 PM ^
Didn't OSU allow like 10 sacks in their early loss to VaTech the year they won it all?
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:37 PM ^
I think holistic performance of the defense plus qb play (x2) looked good enough to inspire confidence. I'm encouraged.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:55 PM ^
I don’t care that we lost to ND. They are a good team, and we played them in the worst possible situation (opener, away, night).
What I do care about is how unprepared our team looked and how amateur our coaching staff was. No hurry in the 4th q on offense... did we not practice that? No apparent base formation? No situational variance on defense... eg mega blitz on 3rd and 18 that leaves a huge lane up the gut for a qb whose biggest threat is his legs?
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:59 PM ^
Moral W! TD!!
September 3rd, 2018 at 12:55 AM ^
You forgot the delay of game penalty by the offense on the first play of the second half.
September 2nd, 2018 at 8:57 PM ^
I quit reading. Don't feel like a pep speech today.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:03 PM ^
I think we improve also- but other teams will also.
Its a strange thing that many fans feel that their team exists in a vacuum. I watched a lot of mistakes in many games yesterday- PSU, OSU surely have defensive issues- who knows where Texas is going. Notre Dame had some key dropped balls that could have led to a big score roll up.
But they will work on improving these.
My big fear is our conditioning- which usually rears its ugly head during the last 6 games of the season. Under the past years of JH we seem to lose steam and get sluggish in the second half of a game.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:04 PM ^
I'm sure they will improve, but enough to be relevant nationally? That seems unlikely.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:04 PM ^
I just wish there was someone on the team, player or coach, that would step up and say this won't happen again. The mantra the whole off season was how they were going to be about it, not just talk about it. Sometimes you need someone to talk about it non-stop until the players get better and start believing it. I don't know who that is, sadly, but someone has to light a fire under their asses.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:06 PM ^
Meh. This is a 5 loss team. Notre Dame is a 2-3 loss team.
We didn't lose valiantly against Alabama, we lost to Notre Dame that went 4-8 in 2016 and was throttled off the field by Stanford and Miami, whilst struggling with Navy and Wake Forest in November in 2017.
You're gonna get your degree from a fine institution and watch some talented Beilein teams run rampant over opponents in March and April
If you are looking for solace in football, as a 20 year vet in futility, don't bank on it
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:45 PM ^
This is a comically stupid opinion. Notre Dame was a very good team in 2017 that returned 16 starters. Citing their record from 2016 is completely irrelevant.
September 2nd, 2018 at 10:10 PM ^
Very good team that lost to Stanford and Miami by 30 points. mmkay
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:09 PM ^
Did you watch the game? Same ol same ol.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:11 PM ^
Bo always said your biggest improvement every year was from game 1 to game 2. They now know where “the bugs are” in the team. Much easier opponent to work out the bugs this week.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:22 PM ^
But can they identify the bugs in the coaching?
September 2nd, 2018 at 11:58 PM ^
The O-Line has been the bug for at least the last 6 years. Harbaugh hasn't fixed it yet. How the fudge is the O-Line still crap? National championship in 2016 with a good O-Line. Harbaugh's fourth year and it's still garbage.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:13 PM ^
Seeing how the big 10 champ and a shot at the playoff are now realistically out of reach we might as well insert Mayfield and Hudson at the tackle spots and let them play. Ambry Thomas needs to play wr also. Evans needs more touches and play a little more zone on D to keep opponents offenses off balance.
September 2nd, 2018 at 9:50 PM ^
Hudson maybe. I saw Mayfield on the sideline during the game and he looks undersized still. Don't think he is ready.
No idea what they were doing with Evans yesterday.