September 12th, 2018 at 11:41 AM ^
Thru 2 weeks what is better, what is worse, and what is about the same as you preseason expectations of the team?
September 12th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^
This is a better question after week 4 or 5 Dennis
September 12th, 2018 at 12:12 PM ^
That is why there is a "thru 2 weeks" caveat Kyle.
September 12th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^
Things you want to see before we play Wisconsin by position group, assuming, you know, wins as well.
September 12th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^
How did Craig James get away with killing 5 hookers?
September 12th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^
Is Soloman 100% done for the season, or could he potentially return?
September 12th, 2018 at 11:46 AM ^
He will be back, Jim has said as much. Timetable unknown, but given the nature of his surgery I am guessing a few more weeks...probably back by Maryland or Wisconsin.
September 12th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
Back for Wisconsin would be real nice.
September 12th, 2018 at 12:03 PM ^
That's exactly the game we need him back for. It's a sustainable injury for every opponent until Wisconsin. Ideally he's back by Maryland, and Wisconsin isn't his first game back.
On a tangential note, how awesome would a 5 DL look against Wisconsin be? Alignment-wise it could look like a 4-3 Under with the SAM shaded over the TE, but swap the SAM for another DL. Align Gary in a 7 or 6 on the TE, Solomon in a 4i inside the T, Mone in a 1 on the C, Kemp at 3T on the backside G, and Chase at his normal End spot. Then just play with Bush and Hudson at LB, or you could play both Bush and Ross as regular Mike and Will backers, but swap Metellus for Hudson and walk the Rover way down. Then, when they swap the FB/TE for WRs, bring Ross out for Hudson and get Metellus back out there. Probably fanciful, but if we make Hornibrook beat us with his arm, in Ann Arbor, that won't go well for them. Have to slow Taylor down a lot.
September 12th, 2018 at 11:45 AM ^
Who are some obscure two or more sport stars from Michigan's past.
September 12th, 2018 at 11:45 AM ^
Why are we not recruiting more DTs/NTs? In Mattison I trust, but.... it's just not looking as great for depth this year or the future as it has been?
September 12th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
Of the 6 defensive linemen we have committed 3 1/2 (Chris Hinton I'm guessing as a SDE/3-Tech) project to the inside. Considering Don Brown fluidly switches between a 4-2 and a 3-3 front, I'm okay with it.
September 12th, 2018 at 11:58 AM ^
Urban Meyer's offense vs Jim Harbaugh's offense:
- What kinds of decisions/reads are different, for the QBs, RBs, and OL?
- How "spread" does Harbaugh go vs. how "pro" does Meyer go?
- What's the downfall of each? We've seen what happens to the Harbaughffense when QB and OL blow, but we've also seen that a lack of top flight RBs doesn't slow him down. What would it take for OSU to have a year like we did on offense in 2017?
This is our concern, Dude.
September 12th, 2018 at 12:16 PM ^
Is that Bernie Sanders?
September 12th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
Would you eat a dinosaur?
September 12th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
Why havent we really seen the "Stanfordization" of Harbaugh's offenses at Michigan? Why have they remained basically vanilla?
Do you think Shea is a legitimate "one and done" player here?
September 12th, 2018 at 1:50 PM ^
Is the answer to the first one something other than sub-par offensive lines in your mind? I'd love to see it but it seems like until we have a line that can reliably execute, we're in mitigation mode vs Stanford-death-machine mode?
Not throwing the athletes under the bus, we just haven't had continuity, depth, and experience at all 5 positions on the O-Line since he's been here, as we know. Feels like by the time we hit OSU each year our playbooks are full Stanford, but by then our QBs are dead or dying.
September 12th, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
Which ranked opponent will Michigan beat in an away game?
September 12th, 2018 at 12:12 PM ^
Why are you the way you are?
September 12th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
Two question ideas:
#1 - How much value is there (if any) to the development of the roster that back-ups are able to play at the end of blowout games?
(Last year there were only scattered drives in which the second string got to play because almost every game was close into the 4th quarter. Did that inhibit the creation of depth? Did that delay the maturation of younger players? Did that cause any players to leave since they weren't getting even scattered playing time? How much will it help that we've had WMU and probably a couple other opportunities this year?)
#2 - You discover a magic lamp in the diag and the genie grants you three wishes. Your wishes have to be related to changing three things in the past decade related to the Michigan Offensive Line that would most improve the current state of affairs.
(Could include recruiting different players, redshirting, coaching, style of play, etc.)
September 12th, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
Can we lose to Wisconsin and still get in the playoff?
- Loss to ND on the road in the first game of the season
- Loss to Wisconsin (Obviously, win and we don't have this discussion, I know. But it might take half a season to get the team to gel against good teams.)
- We go undefeated in our division
- Beat Wisconsin in the B1G Championship game to somewhat make up for the early loss
- 11-2 seems a little more like 10-1-1 once you consider the win and loss to the Badgers
Is it likely? Probably not, but I think if a team were to get in the playoff with 2 losses, it's a team with Michigan's schedule who made up for an early loss.
With that said...beat the Badgers!
September 12th, 2018 at 1:57 PM ^
Certainly possible. Everyone was talking about Auburn being a shoe-in for the playoff last year as a two-loss team, after they beat Georgia and Alabama almost back-to-back, and then they got smoked by Georgia in the SEC title game rematch. Had they won that rematch, they would've been in.
Michigan could still make it in as a two loss team this year because of their schedule, but that loss would have to be to Wisconsin in the regular season in a tight game, and then you'd want to see ND possibly win out or go 11-1. But beating what should be a ranked MSU team when we play them, possibly a top-10 PSU team, and then almost certainly a top-5 OSU team, along with going back and beating what would be at least a top-10 Wisconsin team in the BTCG. That would be one hell of a resume for the committee to consider. OSU almost got in last year with what would've been a considerably more inferior resume to what Michigan's would be this year if the above scenario played out.
Still, I think it would all depend on what happens in other conferences. I think you'd still need at least 1-2 other two-loss conference champions. Any undefeated teams automatically get in over Michigan, as well as most one-loss teams (depending on their schedule and whether they've "passed the eye test.")
September 12th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
How Michigan teams of the past fared after an early season nonconference loss. What was the common thread for teams that rebounded vs teams that continued to struggle
September 12th, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
PSU, MSU....which should be burned to the ground for covering up child rape more emphatically?
September 12th, 2018 at 12:31 PM ^
Communist football and the domino theory: Once Northwestern falls, the entire football nation falls.
September 12th, 2018 at 12:34 PM ^
I can picture a world without war, and a world without hate. And I can also picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it.
-Jack Handy
September 12th, 2018 at 12:40 PM ^
How will Florence affect us?
September 12th, 2018 at 12:52 PM ^
How do you handcuff a one-armed man?
September 12th, 2018 at 12:59 PM ^
Does performance against bad teams tell us anything useful for the rest of the season?
From memory, we struggled last year in the non conference (and against the likes of Rutgers) and that ended up being indicative of our team.
Michigan crushing Hawaii and UCF boded well for our team in 2015. Our struggles against Uconn a couple years back should have been a red flag for the season.
September 12th, 2018 at 1:10 PM ^
I asked this to Brian over email once, but I never saw it come through:
What happens if Beilein lands just one or two of the prospects he went after (and was close to getting) post 2013-run?
I see players like Jalen Brunson, Trevon Blueitt, Kevon Looney, Keita B-D, Jaylen Brown, Mo Bamba, Devin Booker, Derryck Thornton, Tyus Battle, Vincent Edwards, Miles Bridges, Joshua Langford, etc. having terrific careers (or not so terrific) at their respective schools and wonder.
Which one would have made the biggest difference for Michigan?
Which one would have been most fun if they'd come here?
Who made the worst decision, and why is it Mo Bamba?
September 12th, 2018 at 2:04 PM ^
Well...we thought D.L. was well covered with talent, but maybe a bit thin. Two games in we’ve been bitten by the injury bug and we’re wondering about the practice hype.
With Marshall and Solomon out causing a thin D.L., are the other players picking up enough slack that we could survive Big Ten play without them?
Is Dwumfour improving enough through 2 games that we can survive life without Mo Hurst.
September 12th, 2018 at 2:20 PM ^
How unique is Michigan's inability to develop OL? Do other notable programs have similar issues? How does Michigan go about fixing it, other than presumably recruiting a ton of OTs?
September 12th, 2018 at 2:46 PM ^
And also why have they not been recruiting a ton of OTs?
September 12th, 2018 at 2:31 PM ^
How much predictive power does performance against cupcakes provide?
I'm curious if there's any data that teams that have really good years generally killed cupcakes early on in the season. Given our crappy performance against Air Force and Cincy and the year that followed, is there any reason to believe that a great showing against Western, if it is followed up against SMU, predicts that we will be better this year?
September 12th, 2018 at 2:42 PM ^
Are we the Rock?
September 12th, 2018 at 11:06 PM ^
Brian: Yes
Seth: Yes
Ace: Yes.
Seth: You're alive!
Ace: Going back to bed.
Mathlete: According to my database's statistical parameters, and keep in mind this is a small dataset with just two games in the books, Rutgers is the rock.
slackbot: I think you meant Rutger
BiSB: I said we were the rock. We are the rock.
Alex: /giphy the rock
David: Here's why I think we are the rock...
[David rambles for 8900 words]
So that's why we're the rock, probably.