December 10th, 2018 at 9:02 AM ^
Penn State has already proven they can get it done with talent. Michigan hasn't.
So a bad PSU game tends to look like a blip. A bad Michigan game tends to look like they just can not get there.
It's may not be fair, but it is what it is.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:27 PM ^
This isn’t surprising. He didnt really care about urban so it’s not like him leaving hurts osu there and might even help. Throw in the shellacking that he watched in person and it would be pretty surprising if he chose Michigan
December 10th, 2018 at 5:58 AM ^
Bingo. I think Urbs rubbed Mama Harrison the wrong way somehow. I think Urban retiring will help with Harrison.
December 10th, 2018 at 9:04 AM ^
This gets understated.
He always had good reasons to go to Ohio State. But there were some reasons not to go.
There are less reasons not to go now.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:29 PM ^
Better get guys like this if you are Harbaugh. If you falter down the stretch, we are going to have a hell of a time catching up to the blue bloods.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:29 PM ^
Honestly, for the idiots that say the peach bowl doesnt matter, THIS is why it matters. Going 11-2 is a fuck of a lot better than going 10-3, losing your last 2 games of the year. Maybe Zach and others are wavering now but if we can beat florida and end on a good note, that will help prove that we are on our way up and maybe swing back momentum.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:36 PM ^
Don’t get me wrong, the bowl means a lot to me and us fans. The only rather large hole in your theory is that the main signing day for >90% of recruits is before the bowl game.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:59 PM ^
Yes i understand that but there a lot of recruits who will wait till Feb to sign. I think Zach and Dax both are not signing early. We can win them back. At least i hope so, even tho i may be in denial...
December 9th, 2018 at 9:38 PM ^
Don't tell that to those dumbasses though. They'll just continue to call it an "exhibition game".
December 9th, 2018 at 10:00 PM ^
You have a cartoon of yourself as an avatar? Boy, you love you some you.
December 9th, 2018 at 10:31 PM ^
He's going to call you a troll for that.
;-)
December 9th, 2018 at 10:03 PM ^
Uhhhh...Zach is enrolling early so the peach bowl has no bearing. We aren't in any upper echelon kids anymore so it really doesn't hurt our chances with anyone.
December 9th, 2018 at 10:26 PM ^
If he is enrolling early, then i agree with you. But my understanding is that he may wait bc he still isnt sure
December 10th, 2018 at 1:06 PM ^
I am pretty sure he could still enroll early after the Peach Bowl.
December 9th, 2018 at 10:29 PM ^
This is the most meaningless bowl since RichRod got trucked by Miss St.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:31 PM ^
Oh, I have no doubt that he will sign with them. Because fuck it all. But, while we lose recruits to them and get beaten by them every year on the football field, we still far surpass OSU in gentlemanly club life.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:35 PM ^
Not surprising, Whole family bucks.
December 10th, 2018 at 12:04 AM ^
He's from Chicago right?
December 10th, 2018 at 1:03 PM ^
Don't worry. Facts don't matter.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:37 PM ^
62-39 has turned out to be a nightmare.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:40 PM ^
Sparty Troll - Your slip is showing...
December 9th, 2018 at 10:34 PM ^
Hi Mike,
youre wrong. Put the glass down.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:56 PM ^
Isn’t losing by 29 points to a .500 team worse? How would anybody want to go to Ohio State when they get shellacked every year by a subpar team. s/
I dont think losing 62-39 helps, but it isn’t the whole story. Why don’t other teams have consequences after bad loses? Georgia got blown out by LSU. Who would wanna go there?? I mean, LSU is only going to be better next year....Georgia isn’t gonna get any recruits. This of course can go on adinfinatum, and obviously my comments re:Georgia are bullshit. Just trying to make a point. Not sure a more competitive showing vs Ohio State would have absolved us of all recruiting disappointments.
December 9th, 2018 at 10:38 PM ^
Georgia did lose kinda badly to LSU. But they've had 2 great games against Alabama. And they beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame last year.
December 9th, 2018 at 11:23 PM ^
By one point. And although they looked good for awhile, in the end ND had a disappointing season.
December 9th, 2018 at 11:39 PM ^
Close losses only count in non Michigan close losses situations. Gotcha
December 10th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^
Exactly! Facts don't matter.
December 10th, 2018 at 9:06 AM ^
It should.
December 10th, 2018 at 9:42 AM ^
+1, profound
December 9th, 2018 at 9:38 PM ^
Oh well. Beat Florida, 11-2 is pretty damn good no matter what else happens.
Look, college football is obviously stratifying into three layers:
1: Alabama, Clemson, OSU, Oklahoma and Georgia.
2. A shitload of teams having a decent year every now and then.
3. Shitty teams that are will forever be shitty.
We're in group 2. Time to accept it and stop worrying bout recruiting.
December 9th, 2018 at 10:03 PM ^
ya, and 10 years ago it was usc, fla, fsu and osu in the first group.
December 9th, 2018 at 10:15 PM ^
Our record over the past 4 years isn’t much different from Georgia.
December 10th, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
I would say it's significantly different. They've got a conference title, playoff appearance, and actually made it to the national title game while also notching a win against the biggest power in CFB.
December 9th, 2018 at 11:58 PM ^
yes...we are...at the moment... but I guarantee, we will be in the top tier, and that we will beat OSU next year... really.... if we lose, I will change my screenname, AND, eat a lemon.
after that bloodletting, I think all the fluff will now be gone from the program.... because now, just being a Michigan player in the blinding spotlight, will become a net negative, until they win... before the loss, many could be comfortable... now they cannot... maybe all the hype bs and videos and crap pre-season and during season will finally cease, and truly go back to Bo ball, where there is no pretentiousness.
December 10th, 2018 at 9:17 AM ^
I don't see any reason we can't do what Oklahoma can do.
I'm not just being a homer here, I don't see any reason why Texas can't do it either.
And Georgia occupied our niche of perennial underachiever for years until they just basically decided to stop doing that.
When you look at Michigan as a program, you can't say that we've pressed all the possible buttons that there are to press, and that there are no more options. That we've hit the absolute ceiling and we're done.
We can't be Alabama. Nobody can. But we can at least be in the sort of "1A" category.
December 10th, 2018 at 10:45 AM ^
Here's some problems with what you say (this is also cobbled together from other stuff I've read over the years.)
First, Oklahoma and Texas are in...Oklahoma and Texas.
Big Ten Schools are bunched together in not-so-fertile recruiting grounds, and the Big Schools in the two great states--Penn State and Ohio State, probably get most of the good athletes in those states. So the rest of us are left to, in others' words, "cannibalize each other"
Notre Dame is in Indiana, a stones throw from the Michigan border--causing more recruiting angst.
Weather--This is maybe the first and only time a player gets to CHOOSE where he will play. Why go north when...And that does not make them sissies. Northerners aren't tough because they live in places where they freeze for 6 months. Dumb? That's up for debate. A recruit has the CHOICE to go wherever, and if they are already from the south, again, why go north???
Good recruiters can recruit. Maybe it's time to assess Harbaugh's recruiting???
Good coaches recruit, develop and put their players in the best position to succeed. I think we're doing pretty well there, but is it the best????? Where's the Quarterback whisperer???
I am trying to avoid the Michigan Fan bugaboos of "THEY PAY PLAYERS WAAAH THEY DON'T HAVE NO GOOD DEGREES OR EDUCATIONS STANDARDS THEIR PLAYERS PLAY WITH PAY DOH AND GET ALL A'S THEY DON'T GET A DEGREE LIKE MINE FROM MICHIGAN! AND ALL THEIR PLAYERS GET CARS STRIPPERS AND FREE FOOD!"
I avoid those things because Alabama still has to develop, coach, get lucky with injuries, and have players with character like Jalen Hurt.
Lastly--the SEC has everyone convinced they're the bestest ever, period, and everyone buys into it. They are like Fox News with Trump--all the BS all the corruption, yet still..the media machine ignores it and pushes them down the collective throats of us all.
The fact that Georgia was even considered for the playoff with two losses and winning NOTHING of consequence tells ya just that much.
December 10th, 2018 at 10:58 AM ^
Our weather and location are a challenge.
And even though we are not pure as snow, we don't look the other way about paying players and letting them avoid academics anywhere near the extent that the SEC and even Ohio State do.
All of that does put a ceiling on us.
But I don't think it puts a ceiling on us to the point we can't be in that A minus range where we are making the CFP periodically and winning some games when we get there.
Certainly weather and location have not stopped Ohio State. I lived 90 miles from Columbus and I can tell you their weather is not any better that Ann Arbor's.
Michigan's recruiting has generally been on a par with Oklahoma's when we are not having coaching issues, and actually ahead of teams like Clemson until their NC.
We won't be Alabama, but we're not Iowa State either.
December 10th, 2018 at 11:33 AM ^
You sort of made my point though in your response here. My tier 2 group are middling teams that every once in a while puts together a great season. And that great season will usually (but not always) get them into the playoff.
Had Michigan beaten OSU we would've had a great season and would be in the playoffs. But we didnt so we get neither. I'm not saying we'll NEVER be in the playoffs but I am saying it won't be like the other schools I mentioned where not making the final four is considered unusual and the mark of a bad year.
Sorry, but in the words of the great Bill Parcells "You are what your record says you are." And our record indicates we dont beat OSU anymore, we dont win the B1G anymore and we dont get invited to the final four games as a result.
We're tier 2.
December 10th, 2018 at 1:11 PM ^
I agree with you completely M-Dog.
We are at a disadvantage, but one that can be overcome.
December 10th, 2018 at 8:17 PM ^
Not to hijack your point, but all the more reason to move to an 8 team playoff. Disrupt the stale establishment.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:39 PM ^
How many of you were singing a completely different tune about the health of the program a month ago?
One game does not change that. It sucked but shit happens. Get bent.
December 9th, 2018 at 9:41 PM ^
So you sing us to sleep...after the lovin'?
December 9th, 2018 at 9:43 PM ^
Are we in a bad mood?
December 9th, 2018 at 9:55 PM ^
It was pretty bad. It showed that we are still well behind OSU in terms of talent and coaching. Hopefully Day turns out to be a bust, probably the only hope we have of catching up to those clowns.
December 9th, 2018 at 10:05 PM ^
That's not true. It showed that Ohio State played considerably better on both sides of the ball than they had by a mile in any game of meaning all year.
Michigan outschemed Ohio State each of the last two years.
December 9th, 2018 at 10:08 PM ^
“Michigan outschemed Ohio State the last two years?”
Are you Scott Frosts mom?
December 9th, 2018 at 10:09 PM ^
Harbaugh is 0-4 against them, 2 of those losses were by 23+ points. His #1 defense just got humiliated. It's pretty clear that we're still far behind them.
December 10th, 2018 at 1:10 PM ^
Absolutely agree. We did not outscheme Ohio State this year. Doesn't change the fact that we did outscheme them the last two years.
December 10th, 2018 at 1:10 PM ^
Absolutely agree. We did not outscheme Ohio State this year. Doesn't change the fact that we did outscheme them the last two years.