Was it as bad as we think?

That offensive line performance will result in 4-5 losses. I consider that bad.

The good ol' days. . . let's fire Harbaugh and go back to this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBblg5pdfKo

I feel like we really won't know how bad this loss will sting for a few weeks. I mean, what if ND is really that good? We really won't know until their level of competition goes up over the next few weeks (much like out own situation) But, I am holding out hope that we just came within 7 points of a VERY good team on the road. This is the only thing that I have come up with to "soothe" the pain over what transpired Saturday night.

Go Blue still

7-52 yards in penalties and they all hurt

Probably. Our offensive coaching staff is just incompetent and stuck in the 90s. Harbaugh thinks he can coach college players an NFL offense which clearly does not work. Either he's too stubborn to change or doesn't know how to change. Both are bad

If it weren’t for our atrocious pass protection the sky would not be falling.  I was there as well and we had guys with separation downfield all night but not enough time to find them.  Until we can keep a quarterback upright we will not win games against good opponents.

What was bad, were all the mistakes and penalties.  It wasn’t like ND was kicking our ass up and down the field.

Yes, we can still have a great season, even with this brutal schedule. 

If we don’t I fear we will have a hard time bringing this program back.

I think the “a play or two here and there” applies to the defense. We were really close to a couple pics. To getting home with pressure on 3rd down.  

The baffling part is the offense.  We have so far to go and apparently no personnel to do it with   And it fucks us in so many ways (moving forward, recruiting quality olayers).  For the last 10 years it seems like the perfect storm for mediocrity.  We are always two years away.   when the D is great the offense is bad.  

Sadly...I still drink the kool-aid and feel like we can turn this around this season   Wishful thinking?!

No.  99% fanatical overreaction as usual.  Shannon Sharpe lambasted Harbaugh this morning for the game; said ohio st would hang 50 on them but immediately backed down Bayless called him on it.  Stat lines don't win games but the stats were competitive in a game where the score indicated they should not have been.  Were there mistakes and some big miscues that need to be corrected, absolutely.  I think the offense in particular is very young and needs time to come together.  Give the staff time to work and develop them.  As for the people ready to see Harbaugh run out of town, I don't really think you have a firm grasp on reality.  In other news App State was one good coaching decision away from stealing one in happy valley on Saturday.  Folks sure seem to be giving Franklin a pass on that one and I'm willing to say that was a bit more glaring than what we experience Saturday given the level of competition.  Fire away.

Please allow me to quickly vent about something that has been driving me crazy throughout the Harbaugh era. 

FOR THE LOVE OF FUCKING GOD. EITHER GET MORE CREATIVE WITH THE GOD DAMN PLAY CALLING OR JUST RUN A TWO MINUTE OFFENSE THE ENTIRE GAME.

Our play calling has been atrocious and I blame every bit of that on Jim. 

I'm with you.   Michigan got off to a bad start and did a lot better from there.   Home cooking didn't help, but wasn't the reason M lost. 

It was as bad as we think; and we think it was bad.

Third down defense was the killer.  Well, the offensive line play, of course ... but on defense, third downs.

On defense, I don't think so. Just some really badly timed penalties. They settled in pretty well in the second half and forced a turnover and lots of three and outs. 

But on the offensive line, yeah, it was as bad as it looked. I'm not at all giving up on Warriner's coaching ability. Remember his OL looked like a train wreck against a very mediocre Virginia Tech team, and at home no less. We all know what happened from there. But it was an awful start. Even if ND turns out to be really good, it was as bad as it looked on that aspect of the game. You might as well have put up a parking cone at the the tackle spots. You probably would've gotten similar results. 

I have no personal quarrel whatsoever with Jon Runyan Jr. I have no doubt he busts his ass in practice every day and does what the coaches tell him to do. But he did not look like he could play LT at the D1 level on Saturday night. Much less at a Michigan level where you've had a history of great LTs. If he's Michigan's best option, that is a terrifying thought if he happens to go down at any point in the season. 

The #14 team lost to the #12 team in a close game on the road.  Sounds about right.  We are what they thought we are...slightly worse than ND.  The rest remains speculative.

So there I am in the Rosebowl, first row 10 yard line watching UCLA vs Cincinnati, Speight goes out (he walks by us looks like a concussion but its not) and I am checking the M score on my cell phone, down 21-0 quick.    Not again I say, watch the D adjust and hold them, what will the M offense do.   I get slightly excited back and forth M driving, then stopping, then D adjusting at Half (as usual) and holding ND to just 3 in 2nd half.    But phone says M offense back and forth, a kickoff return (good) but wheres the Offense, seems sporatic (seem to remember watching phone last year at Rosebowl a number of times same scenario, same result) and then a sack ball stripped, same to remember something similar last year.   M Go Blog and social and other media go crazy, M O looked sloppy, line can't block (when haven't we heard that before), D gets burned early but eventually adjusts at half (when haven't we heard that before), the sky is falling (when haven't we heard that before).      Then again, I watch a fairly good UCLA D (very good DBs and Safeties) and a Freshman QB filling in for a stable QB go a bit nervous and leave the Rosebowl with another loss.   But at least I was not watching the M vs ND game on NBC and getting personally in the face disappointed.    Now the questions here and there, the O line looked bad, what to do?    The D got juiced early but recovered, how to get them adjusted quicker?   The Coaching was inconsistent, what to do?    Back to the sky is falling and I just don't know.     

They were not competitive. That is as bad as it gets. They were beaten by halftime. The trend is showing that this team really, really misses Jedd Fisch.

I am in observation mode at this point. Primarily waiting to see how long it takes to adequately replace Jedd Fisch.

This season or next?

There’s always been something unfair about reviewing plays after the fact because we can’t really know what play was called, whether blocks were made and routes were run as diagrammed and practiced, AND whether the quarterback on a pass play considered more than one option before the pass was made.  As an example, there’s a play on the final drive that I might quickly, but unfairly criticize.

On first and ten at the Michigan 45 with a 1:10 left to play and Michigan not managing the clock well, Patterson made what seemed like a smart throw to Gentry who was moving from left to right and had no defender closer than four yards away.  Gentry dropped a ball he might’ve caught 99 times out of 100 in practice.

Looking at the play again and pausing the video, it appears that Patterson already turned his body to the right and was throwing to the spot where he expected Gentry to be. Had Patterson not turned his body to the right, he might’ve spotted Grant Perry running from left to right and away from his defender in the middle of the field.  If Patterson could’ve led Perry on a throw down the middle, the outcome might’ve been different.

Maybe that pass to Perry wasn’t the play that was called.  Maybe Perry only got free because his defender saw Patterson turn and start to throw to his right.  Maybe Patterson didn’t have a clear view of Perry or enough to make that throw.  Maybe Patterson would’ve overthrown or under thrown Perry. Maybe the usually reliable Perry would’ve dropped the ball.

The answer is no.

Michigan is going to demolish Western Michigan this coming weekend. And annihilate SMU the week after that.  Nebraska is going to put up a fight in Ann Arbor, but will lose to Michigan also.

The main question for me is how long will the offensive tackles of Michigan allow us to enjoy the play of Shea Patterson at quarterback before he gets annihilated?

I'm thinking at least until the MSU game in East Lansing.  But I could be wrong.

It was bad. The second half seemed to be better, but it was already a big whole at that point. I think the OL can improve with the next few weeks. ND has an elite defense so it's really hard to know what this offense can be like. 

No, it wasn't as bad as we think. I watched the first three offensive drivers today and saw a lot that I liked. WAY better QB play than last year. Penalties killed the defensive side. 

It was as bad as it was.  But I don't think it's going to be as bad as people think.  At least my English ain't as bad as it used to was.

GO BLUE!

I hate to pile on with all the hot takes out there about play calling, but I do think one area we could improve is in the first 1-2 drives of the game. That is supposed to be the part that is scripted and has plays that have been repped all week. I don't remember the last time we scored on our first possession. Im not sure what exactly to point to as the problem, but when ND came out with those 2 TDs it was clear they had a great plan to start the game. 

Now that things ha e settled down a little I don’t think it was as bad as originally thought either. Hell our holder drops a perfect snap which probably would’ve been a sure FG if that happens we loose 24-20 on the road to a very good team. One or two other plays go our way we probably win the game. Also felt we didn’t get a single call from the officials during the game which didn’t help 

Out classesed by ND but still train wreck.

Man, if Hawkins could've extended his arms a bit the game's very different. If Gentry used his body to ward off the DB the game's different.

There are coaching issues and you could blame player mistakes on coaching and recruiting, but there have been so many plays the past two seasons where a player is in position and they don't make the play. 

I don't think the game was as bad as it seemed though it was frustrating. Their strength lined up perfectly with Michigan's weakness.

I believe Michigan rebounds this weekend 42-7. This sure looked like my childhood memory of many Rose Bowls. We would get too far behind by halftime, then play a strong second half but come up short. I have never understood the slow starts but it happened many times after a layoff. Why did we look so sluggish and the other team sharp?

I still think we have a chance for Indy, but need to find offensive playmakers

We dropped all the way to #22 in S&P+ after just one game. So, yes, it was bad. 

Bottom line. 

The reason most of us Michigan fans are upset, is because after Carr retired, we went from 9-10 win seasons annually, to Rich Rod and Brady Hoke. 

Then we get Harbaugh! Our dream coach. The one who will beat Meyer, Dantonio, and even Saban. 

Our University pays him what, 7-8 million dollars a year? That's insane money.

Michigan is not Northwestern. Michigan is not Michigan State. We are not Nebraska. And we certainly are not fucking Penn State.

We are Michigan. So why are we playing to these teams levels? What gives? Are we cursed? 

Myself and fans expect to be the best team on the field every single Saturday. I expect Michigan to win every game they play because we are such a rich program, and because we have the talent.

I thought we were going to beat Notre dame and at least score 30 pts. But that didn't happen. So yes, I think it was as bad as it seemed. But I will always cheer for my university. No matter what. It's just so darn depressing to not be a powerhouse football program anymore. Especially with the money we are throwing at Harbaugh.