Updated S&P+ rankings, and a look at Michigan opponents
Michigan
Overall: 4 Offense: 30 Defense: 1 Special Teams: 38
Penn State
Overall: 10 Offense: 18 Defense: 27 Special Teams: 85
Ohio State
Overall: 8 Offense: 5 Defense: 49 Special Teams: 31
Rearview mirror:
Notre Dame
Overall: 7 Offense: 41 Defense: 5 Special Teams: 48
Wisconsin
Overall: 13 Offense: 3 Defense: 66 Special Teams: 96
Michigan State
Overall: 42 Offense: 96 Defense: 15 Special Teams: 39
October 21st, 2018 at 12:02 PM ^
Some more stats:
Defense:
Opponent rushing ypc:
2. MSU
7. Michigan
22. Notre Dame
52. Penn State
70. Indiana
76. Ohio State
108. Wisconsin
118. Rutgers
Opponent average team passer rating:
2. Michigan
8. Notre Dame
21. Penn State
39. Wisconsin
53. Ohio State
57. Michigan State
62. Rutgers
77. Indiana
Opponent yards per play:
1. Michigan
11. Notre Dame
22. Penn State
32. Michigan State
69. Indiana
79. Ohio State
91. Rutgers
92. Wisconsin
Opponent points per play:
6. Michigan
11. Notre Dame
17. Penn State
34. Michigan State
39. Wisconsin
41. Ohio State
78. Indiana
106. Rutgers
---------------------------------
Offense:
Average team passer rating
5. Ohio State
17. Michigan
33. Notre Dame
40. Wisconsin
46. Penn State
68. Indiana
130. Rutgers
97. Michigan State
Rushing yards per attempt:
4. Wisconsin
8. Penn State
29. Michigan
53. Ohio State
61. Indiana
66. Notre Dame
89. Rutgers
120. Michigan State
Yards per play:
12. Ohio State
13. Wisconsin
15. Penn State
24. Michigan
46. Notre Dame
83. Indiana
110. Michigan State
127. Rutgers
Points per play:
7. Penn State
13. Michigan
14. Ohio State
23. Wisconsin
41. Notre Dame
89. Indiana
98. Michigan State
129. Rutgers
October 21st, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
Opponent average team passer rating:
2. Michigan
How on God's green earth is Michigan not #1 here? Seems very wrong.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:14 PM ^
#1 is Temple, so definitely a different caliber of opponent.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
So not opponent adjusted like S&P. Obviously would be tough to do.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:24 PM ^
Nope, no adjustments for these stats. Just the raw numbers.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^
Did that UW garbage-time drive make the difference?
October 21st, 2018 at 1:03 PM ^
I'm sure it did, but other teams have useless, futile garbage time yards that hurt their stats go against them too. It's unfortunate.
Look at poor Purdue last night.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
Wisconsin offense 3? What?
Michigan's defense must be the unequivocal #1 defense with how they made the Wisconsin offense look.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
With Wisconsin, it's important to remember that they play at a slow pace. Because of this, traditional stats that don't adjust for the number of plays underrate their offense and overrate their defense.
October 21st, 2018 at 11:00 PM ^
Also, their running game was the only thing that made Michigan's defense look mortal outside of ND's first half (which also included some lucky plays like that bomb over Hawkins).
October 21st, 2018 at 12:07 PM ^
Michigans D is the unequivocal #1. Clemson is #2 and the gap from 1-2 is the same as the gap from 2-10.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
That's impressive.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
That's amazing.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^
that's Astounding!
October 21st, 2018 at 1:21 PM ^
That's stupendous.
October 21st, 2018 at 2:38 PM ^
That's inconceivable.
October 21st, 2018 at 9:26 PM ^
You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
October 21st, 2018 at 3:48 PM ^
That's phenomenal.
October 21st, 2018 at 9:00 PM ^
tremendous
October 21st, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
78-0 vs Rutger is a possibility.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
I think that's going to depend a lot on how Rutgers looks against our third string.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:21 PM ^
Top comment!
October 21st, 2018 at 12:39 PM ^
Milton will feast
October 21st, 2018 at 1:09 PM ^
I don’t think Milton will even make the trip. He can appear in three more games this year without burning his redshirt. The fact that his first action was Wisconsin should tell you that they’re not planning to waste one of those three on Rutger.
October 21st, 2018 at 1:39 PM ^
I was wondering if M could petition the NCAA (or B1G) to waive the travel rule — for the sake of Rutger — to allow us to bring our 4th and 5th string.
October 21st, 2018 at 1:44 PM ^
Assuming he's our #3 QB, he'll make the trip. I don't know if he'll play though.
October 21st, 2018 at 3:32 PM ^
He didn’t make the trip to Northwestern, so he wasn’t #3 then. If the order changed, he’ll go. If Peters is really #3, he’ll travel.
I guess it should be something we can check from yesterday.
October 21st, 2018 at 6:42 PM ^
Hide yo redshirts.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:12 PM ^
Ruggers may score negative points.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:35 PM ^
They might get their first first down an hour after the game ends actually.
They've got "fence the garden", of course, but on the first series, we will likely torch the fence and throw salt all over the garden, turning it into a useless, barren wastescape.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^
We could start our twos at every position and still beat still beat Rutgers no problem.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:13 PM ^
If the offense has it's breakthrough against Penn State watch out. Definitely possible with Black back.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
It was easy to miss, but Tarik played a down yesterday.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:16 PM ^
Black isn’t going to solve the offense’s issuers. Playcalling and Patterson’s hesitancy are not something Tarik can change.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^
Yes, playcalling and taking more chances must accompany it.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:26 PM ^
While I didn’t love much of the play calling, it’s not like MSU’s D is a pile of shit like their O. Plus, you want to be careful in the rain against a team that can likely only beat you with turnovers.
The team also proved they can wear down any D by the fourth qtr.
Harbaugh also doesn’t care how much he wins by like many of us fans. “Gotta beat the spread; have you seen Dantonios record against the spread vs M?”
October 21st, 2018 at 1:45 PM ^
How about 2 fumbles by the RBs and a missed FG? At least Shea didn't turn it over and threw 2 TDs. Spread the blame around as it is deserved!
October 21st, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^
Black is Back. Good AC/DC song.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
At Michigan Stadium we've scored 49, 45, 56, 42 and 38 points - all without Black.
October 21st, 2018 at 2:43 PM ^
The Wiscy game being an obvious outlier.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:26 PM ^
We still need to get better on offense every game going forward. If that happens it will be a great year. If not, we will likely come up short on the season. We can do it, but there were definitely some offensive troubles yesterday.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
I don't care what the advanced numbers say, what we did to State was impressive. I doubt there are many teams in college football that could have run like that against States defense. Maybe we don't put up fancy YPC but this run game is efficient and grinding. I feel like what we did to State we could do to anyone
October 21st, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^
I think we showed that MSU’s vaunted run D was a bit of a mirage, as Brian predicted in his game preview.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^
It wasn’t a mirage at all. The Michigan offensive line and Higdon are turning the corner to greatness.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:52 PM ^
I think they're still pretty good. They held us to 3.5 a carry. But I think they're more like top 20 than #1.
October 21st, 2018 at 9:45 PM ^
Agree, part of the story is teams that get behind on MSU are free to pass to try to catch up. Or just pass instead of run. And the other part of the story is their opposition is often one that is comfortable passing to move the ball (NW or PSU/McSorley).
I was thinking top 10 but 20 may be right.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:44 PM ^
I agree. When Higdon says we have the best oline in the country, I doubt he is refering to S&P. He is talking about how they perform each day and how he trusts their gaps, blocks, and assignments. Add Ben Mason and how the QBs move the chains on foot, against many of the best D Lines (Wisconsin not withstanding) in the country, and it's impressive.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:52 PM ^
MSU run d is real. Our o-line's progress is...more real. They're proving they can run the ball on damn near anyone. I mean, just like Wisconsin, there was a point last night when we knew Michigan was going to run the ball, the MSU knew they were running the ball, and, yes, Michigan ran the ball and picked up 4, 5, 6 yards. Two great run defenses...and the M o-line just run all over both. Believe your eyes.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:35 PM ^
Michigan is by far the best defense in the country. I don’t think even our own fans realize how special it is. 220 yards allowed per game is over 40 yards better than anyone else in the country. This defense gives up around 90 yards a game less than Alabama. If the offensive line continues this trajectory a national championship is possible. 3.5 yards per play defensively is a half yard better than anyone else in a power 5 conference and a full yard per play better than Alabama! Domination.
October 21st, 2018 at 12:47 PM ^
I love everything you've said here--except the national championship stuff. You're getting over your skis a bit. Winning the Big Ten is a big step in and of. Getting to the playoffs would be a happy added bonus of delight. Still need to beat PSU and OSU.