Washington Post thinks Michigan might make the playoffs. This year.
The gist of the article is that our defense is awesome and MSU isn't that good.
The Big Ten sets up well for Michigan this year, with three home games against Northwestern, Michigan State and Ohio State. And given how Ohio State has played on offense thus far, that game is also not projecting to be quite as lopsided as it did in the preseason.
EDIT: MSU not that good?
September 30th, 2015 at 5:23 PM ^
But is it Prossible?
September 30th, 2015 at 4:27 PM ^
September 30th, 2015 at 4:33 PM ^
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September 30th, 2015 at 5:41 PM ^
We have one whole week between games. Do you realize how boring a whole week can be?
September 30th, 2015 at 4:28 PM ^
Football is only fun when expectations are low.
September 30th, 2015 at 5:21 PM ^
September 30th, 2015 at 5:45 PM ^
And for the vast majority of MGobloggers that would be beyond forever.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:33 PM ^
There's a scorching hot take in the comments section:
Still a 6-6 team. By the end of the season, they'll be broken mentally and physically just like all his teams. And the transfers will begin.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:39 PM ^
I know - who is that salty person?
September 30th, 2015 at 5:59 PM ^
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September 30th, 2015 at 4:55 PM ^
A person who still thinks Hoke is our coach.
September 30th, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^
Is it signed Jed York?
September 30th, 2015 at 4:29 PM ^
and thereby increase our slim (but now existent) odds
September 30th, 2015 at 4:32 PM ^
Who is DJ Durbin?
September 30th, 2015 at 4:35 PM ^
The hottest ticket on the New Delhi EDM scene, that's who.
September 30th, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^
Maybe he is from "Balimore"
September 30th, 2015 at 4:30 PM ^
The OSU game is always close, even under Hoke, and with actual coaching and the game being at home, Harbaugh could pull off the upset. The telling sign for me will be MSU. We have not been able to match them on a physicality scale, a coaching scale, or even an intensity scale, for the better part of 7 years. That game has gotten more and more lopsided almost each year. If Michigan can find a way to take them down, that will, in my opinion, speak more volumes about this team's quality than beating OSU would.
I know OSU is the defending champ, but like I said, even Hoke found a way to keep those games close, and hell, he could've legitimately won 2 of the last 3 when the team started becoming a tire fire.
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September 30th, 2015 at 8:11 PM ^
Last time MSU played us at home, we beat them. That was a terrible game and I don't know how we won. I think it was the one where we had no TD. Hopefully, Cook will get rattled playing in the big house.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:32 PM ^
It was ONE great win after three years of mediocrity/badness. Slow down.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:37 PM ^
September 30th, 2015 at 4:36 PM ^
The Hype goes on....only ND would have more hype after a similar start. so much for staying under the radar.
Borders on click bait.
Small sample size--nothing wrong with the article, but let's withhold any serious evaluation until after NW and MSU.
September 30th, 2015 at 9:17 PM ^
Notre Dame did have a similar start last year after they shut us out in a dominating win. And they did have all that hype after it happened.
And then . . . it turns out it was all a mirage.
One dominating win against a team on the downswing does not a Playoff team make. Let's string several of these together before we start changing our New Year's Eve plans.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:34 PM ^
And am now confident after it mentioned Wayne Lyons as solidifying the secondary. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's here, but any writer who took the time to watch half the game or look at the box score would have referenced Stribling and Clark's emergence rather than Lyons.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:34 PM ^
Holy hell this is ridiculous. Yes, the BYU win was solid. No, Michigan is not going to make the playoffs.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:38 PM ^
If we beat MSU and OSU, and both games are winnable as far as I'm concerned, what stops us? Losing to Wisconsin in the B1G Title game?
September 30th, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^
Yes, if we beat the #1, #2, #16, and #19 teams in the country along with everyone else on our schedule, we will make the playoffs. Based on our current offensive talent, I don't see any possible scenario in which that happens.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:48 PM ^
but what you base it on our defensive talent?
September 30th, 2015 at 5:52 PM ^
I don't think it's likely to happen, but I think it's much more realistic than you're painting it.
MSU won the Rose Bowl with Lights Out Defense, and a pedestrian offense. I think we have a better coaching staff on the whole, and more talent than they had. It could happen.
September 30th, 2015 at 6:47 PM ^
*NW has impressed...but not on offense. How will they move the ball on us?
*MSU: #77 D, #107 passing D. 9th in B10 in yds/play allowed - behind IL & just in front of MD!
*OSU will likely be rolling by season's end and favored to beat us. But we've played them close in all three games vs Urban, and now Peppers could be the difference vs his spread attack.
*Every other team on the schedule looks like a "should win" right now.
Guaranteed? No.
Likely? No.
Possible? Absolutely.
September 30th, 2015 at 6:55 PM ^
We looked great from where I was setting.
September 30th, 2015 at 9:23 PM ^
It's doable, but let's not kid ourselves. It would mean we would go completely undefeated in the B1G and knock off Top-5 OSU and MSU teams in the process.
That kind of thing has only happened once or twice in most of our entire lifetimes.
Sure It can happen, but it's pretty rare.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:36 PM ^
September 30th, 2015 at 4:42 PM ^
I couldn't be happier with the coaching and more optimistic about this team, but I think we need to slow down a bit. We need to show that we can win on the road and have some lucky breaks go our way if we want to get there.
Also, with current version of Ruddock, I think we lose 2 more games. I think we are just as likely to pull one out against MSU / OSU as we are to lose another game against a different team. All that is to say though that I am extremely happy with how this team looks and how much better they look on a week to week basis.
Just give it a little time and I think we will be there, just probably not this year.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^
September 30th, 2015 at 4:55 PM ^
As John U. Bacon says, "Some Michigan fans aren't happy unless they're unhappy."
September 30th, 2015 at 5:07 PM ^
They won't take yes for an answer.
September 30th, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^
September 30th, 2015 at 5:35 PM ^
September 30th, 2015 at 9:30 PM ^
We're trying to avoid the Manic-Depressive bubble that will occur on here when we inevitably lose a game and don't actually go 14-1 and win the NC.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:47 PM ^
Please stop this premature nonsense.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:47 PM ^
Shut up, Shut up, SHUT UP!!!! For now.
September 30th, 2015 at 4:50 PM ^
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September 30th, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^
"A unit that was decent under now-line coach Greg Mattison"
Does every reporter describe a top ten defense as being decent?
September 30th, 2015 at 5:08 PM ^
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September 30th, 2015 at 5:19 PM ^
September 30th, 2015 at 5:48 PM ^
September 30th, 2015 at 9:31 PM ^
Rutgers says "Hi!"
September 30th, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^
This article has a lot of errors in it. It seems sloppy.
"Allowing just 21 points to Utah now seems like an accomplishment for the Wolverines."
Michigan's defense allowed 17 points to Utah.
"Fellow defensive back Wayne Lyons, a graduate transfer from Stanford, has also helped solidify the group."
Lyons has played very little.
"And, as a true sophomore, Peppers is Michigan property for at least the next sixteen months"
Peppers is a redshirt freshman.
In unrelated Washington Post sports news, we have a column about why the Cubs could win their first world series since 1908.