Differences Between UM/Bama&Clemson
Yes, I know we have a game thread for the championship. This isn't meant to be based on the play by play happenings of tonight but rather the obvious differences that we see between the quality of our team (and just about everyone else) and these two teams.
To me, I think we actually have the skill set at the receiver position that would be about on par with both of them. I think our secondary from this year and Bush are obviously at this level. That being said, I'm not sure we'd have a single offensive or defensive lineman (outside of Gary) touch the field for either of these teams. The difference in size and athleticism jumps off the screen.
January 7th, 2019 at 8:54 PM ^
Hi captain obvious lol.
January 7th, 2019 at 9:58 PM ^
Michigan isnt even playing the same sport as these two teams.
99% of college football teams aren’t either. Ridiculous.
January 7th, 2019 at 10:05 PM ^
The parity in the college football is really really bad.
January 7th, 2019 at 11:42 PM ^
Why it's downright American!!
January 8th, 2019 at 12:00 AM ^
There's great parity once you eliminate Clemson and Alabama
January 8th, 2019 at 9:25 AM ^
No there isn't. After Alabama and Clemson its Oklahoma and Ohio State every year. They're in or just outside of the playoffs all the time.
January 8th, 2019 at 10:00 AM ^
and Georgia
January 7th, 2019 at 8:55 PM ^
Edit: By secondary I should have specified the corner positions. Our safeties wouldn't see the field either.
January 8th, 2019 at 9:45 AM ^
Yeah, Alabama could have used our cornerbacks last night. Also could have used Dax Hill.
January 7th, 2019 at 8:56 PM ^
DPJ was rated higher than Jeudy and has a similar skillset.
If he went to Alabama, DPJ would be talked about Jeudy is because they adapt to modern football offense and actually *use* their 5 star weapons.
Hard to watch this game and feel anything but disappointment/anger. We're a lot closer than we all think. Not to winning the national title but winning the B1G and at least getting to the CFP.
January 7th, 2019 at 9:55 PM ^
It’s hard to be angry when I compare a team 4 years away from a decade of doom to one that has had a decade of dominance and another that had been building for a decade.
Their talent level top to bottom is much higher.
January 7th, 2019 at 9:59 PM ^
DPJ had 8 receptions in the Peach Bowl. Nico had 80 yards receiving. Projected over a full season, that would make him a 1000-yard receiver.
These hawt takes are so divorced from reality.
January 7th, 2019 at 10:12 PM ^
Yea, but DPJ would have 28 receptions and 400+ yards in the Peach Bowl if he played for a modern offense that passed 200 times per game.
January 7th, 2019 at 11:49 PM ^
You got me there
January 7th, 2019 at 10:28 PM ^
Well one dropped pass against Iowa and a corrupt ref crew at OSU kept us out in year two and it’s a whole different narrative.
January 8th, 2019 at 1:49 PM ^
The fumbled kickoff to start the second half against Iowa was equally as bad. That gave them hope that they could win the game and they played their best for the whole 2nd half.
January 7th, 2019 at 11:25 PM ^
We'd have to hope for OSU to take a step back or somehow clinch the big ten east before playing them, like almost happened this year. If the division title is on the line vs OSU, then a different story.
January 7th, 2019 at 11:38 PM ^
I actually think Alabama looks exactly like what Michigan would look like if they were playing Clemson tonight.
January 7th, 2019 at 11:42 PM ^
Close to winning the Big Ten?! you realize we have to beat Ohio state in order to win the Big Ten right? Time to lay off the bath salts
January 8th, 2019 at 6:31 AM ^
Agreed, IF Harbs relents and hands the offense over to a guy with a spread mind. If not, we all know where this is headed.
January 7th, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^
They have multiple Gary level players on each D line.. thats easily the biggest difference.
January 7th, 2019 at 9:34 PM ^
Crazy to think that Gary could’ve easily been on this Clemson Dline...
January 7th, 2019 at 9:52 PM ^
They have multiple Gary level players on the bench! And that is not a knock on Gary
January 7th, 2019 at 11:31 PM ^
To me Michigan was with these teams defensively in 2016. The big difference was O-line and QB. Everywhere else they were close enough to compete in 2016.
This year Michigan was significantly lacking on the D-line and at safety. Chase and Rashan can hang, but the backup defensive ends would not. The biggest difference is our interior D-line. Michigan is a long way from 2016 both on the interior and in terms of depth on the D-line. That’s why it’s exciting to see how good Mazi and Hinton look both talent and size wise. They look like Alabama and Clemson players.
The secondary also is way behind 2016. While the top two corners are there; Hudson, Metellus, and Kinnel are nowhere near Peppers, Hill, and Thomas. Again it’s exciting hearing about the speed of Daxton Hill and Quinten Johnson. I’m really high on this recruiting class.
The big issue we have to me is O-line developing.
January 8th, 2019 at 12:03 AM ^
Well said , BWard
January 7th, 2019 at 11:31 PM ^
And the juice? Didn't a player on their line get suspended for that?
January 8th, 2019 at 8:55 AM ^
Underrated comment - nobody wants to acknowledge the white elephant in the room - when I say nobody, I mean nobody in the media or on Boards.
And it wasn't "a" player that got caught juicing, it was probably their best player. Of course, yesterday's performance was even more impressive given that Lawrence was out. The other guys must have juiced up a little extra for the game.
January 7th, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^
The difference is depth. Michigan's best players can compete with any team in the country, but you can't expect to match up with Alabama when you're giving significant time to low three stars and walk-ons.
Can you imagine Tru Wilson playing at Alabama? He'd be lucky to be the water boy.
January 7th, 2019 at 9:21 PM ^
Even the waterboys down there are good
January 8th, 2019 at 1:54 PM ^
Forrest Gump was NOT a water boy!
Had he and Joe Namath played last night Bama would have only been down by 15 or so at halftime....
January 7th, 2019 at 9:23 PM ^
Josh Jacobs, is probably the best back on Bama's team and he was a lowly fucking 3 - star, so your point is completely wrong..
January 7th, 2019 at 9:30 PM ^
How many times do we have to refute this stupid argument? Yes, 3-stars can be good. Statistically, 4 and 5 stars are more likely to be better. This isn't complicated.
January 7th, 2019 at 10:09 PM ^
I guess we'll just have to wait for Harbaugh to out-coach people far more often than he does.
January 7th, 2019 at 10:11 PM ^
In short, guys like Jacobs and Mayfield are the exception, not the rule.
January 7th, 2019 at 10:47 PM ^
You just changed your argument
January 7th, 2019 at 11:12 PM ^
There are so many 3-stars on crap teams at crap schools that have little chance of being successful. A 3-star at a school like Michigan with strong coaching, a strong culture, and surrounded by other quality players is hardly that different than a 4-star
January 8th, 2019 at 8:24 AM ^
Not at skill positions like DB and WR. Our 3-star DBs don't have the elite speed of a 4/5-star. Scouts measure these kids and 3-stars at skill positions have physical defiencies. You can't teach speed and that is where OSU torched us.
January 8th, 2019 at 8:18 PM ^
This is damn funny. What 3 star has Harbaugh turned into an AA at UM again? I'll wait.
January 8th, 2019 at 7:28 AM ^
You're the one trying to characterize Harbaugh's roster as being loaded with walk-ons and underrated diamonds in the rough; switch was just pointing out the dissonance in that argument. Alabama consistently outperforms pretty much every other program in recruiting and that has translated into elite performance on the field, but they find their fair share of surprises too.
Cherry-picking Tru Wilson and trotting him out as some kind of symptom as to why Michigan isn't progressing to Alabama levels is the straw-manniest of straw-man arguments.
January 8th, 2019 at 12:02 AM ^
And everyone else on Bama is a 5 star. Spare me the recruiting rankings don't matter crap. Tua, Lawrence, Ross, Wilkins Jeudy, Higgins, etc all 5 stars making plays tonight. Just stop.
January 7th, 2019 at 9:28 PM ^
This is it. Great players make each other better...and here is Saban's genius. He obviously sits these kids down, likely together, and explains the deal "Y'all are damn good but if you don't work hard and keep getting better you're not going to play". And I'll be damned-they are very good!!!
Swinney is similar...not the roster depth but a superior motivator...I would run through a wall for him.
January 7th, 2019 at 11:31 PM ^
Man, I wish we could find a coach that tells his players that they will have to get better to see the field. What a crazy idea. This should be implemented into all athletics at all levels. It’ll change the coaching world.
January 7th, 2019 at 10:12 PM ^
Our offensive tackles would get destroyed by either of these teams and our defensive tackles would be stonewalled or pancaked (depending on the play).
Our safeties would be eaten alive and our running backs would be held to 3 ypc.
We are not there yet.
January 7th, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
January 7th, 2019 at 8:57 PM ^
The biggest difference is number of losses. The second biggest difference is number of wins.
January 7th, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
3>4???
January 7th, 2019 at 8:58 PM ^
Clemson doesn’t recruit that much better than us...
The difference is they don’t throw away scholarships for FBs and 1 yard dive plays.
Elite offense > elite defense. Just need to stop the opposing team to 3/4 of their production and you should win
January 7th, 2019 at 9:11 PM ^
They also don't have multiple kickers on scholarship that don't play.
January 7th, 2019 at 9:13 PM ^
Clemson's recruits aren't too different. However, they seem to develop the guys they get much much better. Their elite guys like Gary play like elite guys. A remarkable number of Clemson players hit their ceiling. That's not true at Michigan. At all.
January 7th, 2019 at 9:54 PM ^
Yeah..and let's not forget that three players just got busted for soft roids.... We are ALOT closer to bama than u think...