Baumgardner: if this continues, more losses will follow, more than one

I wonder if these kinds of articles and responses are simply a function of the times in which we live, where everything is reduced to an existential crisis.   I get the fanbase's PTSD and the resultant BPONE from the RR and BH coaching tenures, but before then, wins like the one that the team fought for last night were celebrated with the same kind of relief and enthusiasm that Winovich exuded in his post-game interview.  If you haven't seen it, find it.  I haven't been able to, but it would be worth a watch.  He's answering questions about his and his teammates' performance, breathing hard.  But it's not because he's gassed at the end of the game, he's absolutely elated.  He looks like he wants to go right back out on the field and play some more--and rightly so. 

Yesterday's win was an accomplishment.  The defense did something absolutely remarkable.  And the offense did just what it needed to do--score more points than the other team.  Style points be damned.  Yesterday's win was not a harbinger of impending doom.  Nor was it a crack in a fragile wall through which a horde of spartans, nittany lions, and buckeyes will flow to molest our children and abuse our wives.  

This may just be my avatar speaking, but in times gone by, it was fairly well understood that a team's performance in one game had little, if any, direct impact upon how a team would play in subsequent games.  We understood that teams grew over the course of the year, fought through or in spite of injury, could go hot or cold, make boneheaded mistakes in critical moments, or perform the miraculous at the tender age of 19 years old.  This was football.  It was never cause for an existential crisis.

Perhaps many of us are still suffering from PTSD and are stuck in the BPONE, but I guarantee that the first step out is to choose to take yesterday for what it is, a well-deserved, hard-fought win.  Let's see where the team is on the October 13th, 20th, and November 24th before we decide to embrace despair.  This team offers a lot of hope. 

I guess he didn't listen to Jim's latest press conference. The team displayed tremendous effort, really great. They got out there and competed, and blah blah blah generic bullshit non-answers.

It’s annoying I get it. I was pissed yesterday too. It’s annoying to watch them come out flat in every single road game, but Northwestern plays Michigan hard every single time. With the exception of 2015. The play calling and Harbaughs stoubern way of trying to run up the middle needs to change. 

Fair and accurate, but also not enough emphasis on the fact that if we continue to play like that, more wins will come. And they will outnumber the losses. 

Yesterday was a good win. 85% of teams would not have won that game. Sure we would like to be in the top 5 pr 10 percent. But top 10 to 15 percent year in year out is damn good. Most wins of all time good. 

He’s not wrong. I had little doubt we’d beat Northwestern last night because we seem to always pull it out against them. But they’re Northwestern. We are to Northwestern what OSU is to us. A team we always play tough and have chances to beat, but we fall apart down the stretch, let them back into the game, and ultimately come up just short through either stalled drives or countless unnecessary self-inflicted wounds. 

For all the folks who’ve said we’re going to beat the shit out of MSU this year, after watching the game yesterday I have to wonder how in the world you all think we’re going to beat them if we play like that. Much less beat a team of OSU’s caliber. If MSU was at home, okay maybe. But on the road? Against an opponent who prepares for us 365 days a year? If we play them like we play Northwestern, we’re going to embarrassed yet again. 

I would like to see Michigan pick up the pace of the offense and use more spread concepts.

let the offense be as aggressive as the defense and actually put pressure on other teams 

And if we play like we did against Nebraska then we’ll win a lot big games... see I can do it too.

Wow, what brilliant analysis! The players did not take NW serious enough to start, it was obvious. Chase Winovich basically let that slip in his post game interview. It doesn't take a football savant to know if we play like we did yesterday we will not beat the better teams.

Hey Guys! 

Wasn't it great that the team showed that mettle that could lead to a special season!

I mean coming back from 17 down on the road against a B1G opponent, sure it's a situation you don't want to be in, but it's also nice to know they have it in them.

Wow, I'm just so prou- ........

What's wrong? Why is everybody staring at me?

Do I got a boog?

o wait ........ THIS again ..........

never fuckin mind

If Michigan plays bad for stretches of other games they'll lose some. No shit, Nick.

About the defense, I have kind of been on the “sure, the defensen is great after the other team goes into a shell and starts sitting on it” rant, but I think there may be more to it than that.  I think Brown’s attacking style kind of has our defense flying blind full steam ahead to begin the game when he really needs to play some softer defensive concepts until he sees what the offenses are trying to do.  He is winning everything after the first quarter decisively, but the opposing teams “scripted drives” need to start going for field goals and not TDs.  Allow our defense a little time to “warm up” before coming with real pressure packages.  Maybe solve your problems with ...... observation, instead of aggression for the first few drives.

The team was really tested yesterday. They responded with a huge comeback and win. I honestly think that will do more for his team and building a winner then an easy win would do.  Get guys like Evans and Solomon back and the team is just that much better 

Harbaugh has done nothing to improve this offense. Stop blaming everything on his coordinators. If we play like that in the next 4 games we will lose to Wisconsin msu and psu. His offensive play calling is atrocious. Last nights running up the middle reminded me of the monsoon game last year against msu where he wanted to pass the ball on every play. He is one of the most stubborn coaches I have ever seen. Nw is trash dirt trash anyone with eyes should be able to see that. Our team should be ashamed of themselves. Come back my ass. They have got to improve or else this season will be a disaster and Harbaugh can go bye bye

the predictability of UM's offense is on full display when NW had 8 men in the box anticipating a run, and instead of checking out of the play, UM ran right into the pile

other team's have exploited the 7-8 yard quick slant on first and second down against a very good UM defense... not sure why UM hasn't tried to employ that strategy into their first few series - and thus force opposing D's to overplay the short routes and possibly free up the deeper hitch and go routes for UM WR's

also a few designed QB draws could also help keep opposing LB's and safeties more off balance

UM's O-line is not going to be one that plows a lot of holes against better defenses - but a more imaginative (nothing crazy, just more 1st a/o 2nd down safe passes) play selection could help the O-line become more effective

Generally I find Nick's writing to be fairly balanced and of better quality than many sportswriters, this article is a bit slanted.

and he's always better writing than with live takes on the radio.

How many more teams does UM play on the road w 2 weeks to heal up and game plan? Those are huge advantages especially when you are likely to have a bit of a let down (UM coming off a bigger game in its home opener  against a bigger name, trash-talking opponent).

Some fans expect these young and impressionable men to be like a pro machine. How many of you are always at the top of your game? 

Instead of celebrating the grit and improvements the team showed it's more fun to focus on the negative and let a Sparty sow doubt. 

I am probably one of the few who thinks yesterday was a god send.

First - Adversity, down 17 ON ROAD! Well rested, well coached opponent.

Second - Adjustments on offense and defense. Defense shuts down their offense, Offense starts to move ball

Third - Clutch plays by QB

Fourth - Score Late to take lead

Fifth - Defense stops last opponent possesion

And most importantly, WIN.  Keep in mind, App State took PSU to overtime.   Yes, the same PSU that outplayed OSU last night.  This is the type of game that Michigan loses the last two years. This is the game they needed for confidence going into East Lansing. This team is growing by each week. Those who can't see it, either don't want to, or don't know what they are looking at. Yes, this team is good enough to beat Sparty, WI and PSU but not good enough YET to beat OSU.

Reporter re-stating obvious facts.  Check.

After watching OSU vs PSU last night, we looked slow and unprepared for the Big Stage IMO. The Secondaty plays scared, the O Line is sluggish and Shea still waits to long to make a decision IMO.

The secondary appears to be a Huge liability. That does not bode well for the remainder of the season. I see a lot of PI calls and tests. More Watson is needed.

Overall, I agree.  Doing things like spotting the other team 17 points and committing double digit penalties WILL cost us games if we keep doing it.  Championship teams don't do that.  

I'm seeing same record as last year.

Maryland won't be a cakewalk. Their overall body of work is as good as Michigan so far; with a much better win.

I think he pretty much hits the nail on the head in this article. Sadly, we are what we are on Offense. 

The only thing that will change these tired, overplayed and lazy narratives is beating MSU and/or OSU.  Beyond that nobody cares to dig deeper.  '15 MSU was a one in a billion play.  '16 OSU was a refereeing disaster even though "refereeing shouldn't matter" idiots will endlessly harp.  Beyond that, people just need to temper their fucking expectations.  Michigan is a solid team that goes through things even the best do.  Beat MSU this year and the narrative will begin to change.  Beat Wisconsin and the needle may nudge.  Until then, blah, blah, blah, blah.

It is an obvious and tired take, with all due respect.  At least Brian, Seth, Ace and the many others here take the time to dig deeper into the numbers.  Harbaugh will be here for awhile regardless.

Penalties did more to hurt us last night AND at Notre Dame than anything else.  We probably lost 2 endzone opportunities on those alone, and that's a fourteen point swing we're talking about there.  Imagine the score being 34-17 instead of 20-17.  Big difference.

Baumgardner is a feckless, soulless Michigan troll who gets paid to be so. Please do not patronize him.

I remember watching a lot of Carr teams play in a similar way.  They would play soft in first half and then second half adjustments would take effect and the team would often pull it out.  Very strange how after all these years, this is still happening.  Harbaugh needs to get this team firing on all cylinders right from Q1 15:00.  They need to treat the beginning of the game as situation critical, every time.

This isn’t real surprising. We played like a team ranked in the mid-20s. We still play 4 teams in the top 20, so 7-5 is still a real possibility. Now if we can play like a top 10 team (and I believe we have the talent to do it), then we are looking at a much more special season.