stephenrjking

October 24th, 2016 at 3:08 PM ^

I kind of think the same thing. MSU will play hard early. There will be a trick play within the first 20 minutes. They'll go all out. They will probably wilt if/when Michigan drops the hammer. The key is: how quickly will that happen, on the road? Michigan's only other road game started slowly. The road factor is a real test, even if the opponent isn't as good as we thought it would be.

Joined: 03/15/2012

MGoPoints: 20143974

ghostofhoke

October 24th, 2016 at 3:18 PM ^

I feel the same way but I would be much more concerned if they were coming off a bye week. They've been pretty beat up for well over a month now and they seem completely defeated. It would really take a Herculean effort for them to get that turned around in just a few days and muster enough to be competitive. Plus, they just don't have the horses this year. I expect us to put a serious hurtin on whoever is playing QB and I just don't see them having the heart right now to fight back against this defense to make something happen. We may see a few surprises from them early to try to spark something but I don't even think there will be enough people in the crowd to give them the energy that could help. I'm never one to say "never" but I expect we'll be all business Saturday.

Joined: 11/21/2014

MGoPoints: 8562

nappa18

October 24th, 2016 at 5:02 PM ^

I posted I would take wins over both Ohio and Sparty by one point each right now. I was had some downvotes. Never mind that an undefeated regular season gets us in the playoffs. Hey, team with several future Hall of Famers in 2007 lost to Appy State. Stranger things have happened. Didn't Stanford under Harbaugh defeat a heavily favored USC team under Carroll. Let's crow after Saturday is all I'm saying.

Joined: 07/08/2011

MGoPoints: 2762

indi_blue

October 24th, 2016 at 2:23 PM ^

What was OSU win probability against PSU last week?  It is difficult to take this numbers seriously, when other team is jacked up in their stadium.

Joined: 10/04/2010

MGoPoints: 566

NittanyFan

October 24th, 2016 at 2:40 PM ^

S&P+ has been fairly bull-ish on PSU all season (ranked in the Top 20 for each of the 2 weeks preceding last week).  That was one metric which wasn't "quite as surprised" with the upset as others were.

The 98% probability for U-M over MSU feels about right to me.  I get emotion and rivalries and all that.  But that only goes so far, and MSU looks fundamentally broken right now.  Simply not a good football team.

Joined: 12/04/2012

MGoPoints: 43139

Hard-Baughlls

October 24th, 2016 at 2:27 PM ^

Throw out all the info from past years...and just trust what you've seen this year.  

We beat MSU by 27+

We beat OSU by 17+

We look to be getting better every week.

Both lost a crap load of talent, and we were actually better than MSU last year, but they hung around and of course eventually won on the fluke.

OSU is a completely different team than last year and lost so much talent to the NFL.  Their young players are very impressive, but just not there yet and will continue to slow down as the season takes its toll - They are playing more snaps than ever asked to before at this level of football.

OSU also benefitted greatly last year from our D-line injuries which I think made the score much worse than it could have been - even though they were clearly the better team even if we were completely healthy.

Just stay healthy

Joined: 09/28/2016

MGoPoints: 6637

Lampuki22

October 24th, 2016 at 2:34 PM ^

This has and will be talked about ad nauseum but both Mark Dantonio and Pat Narduzzi have left their mark on the Spartan program and we know that they have always been an extremely dirty program especially when we play them in East Lansing.  

Bullough's first quarter in the Maryland games shows he may be playing with some 'roid rage as well (was the reason he was out ever disclosed?) .  Who knows how these guys will prepare for this game when they have absolutely nothing to lose by taking cheap shots. 

I wouldn't be too surprised if there's even an alteraction before the game starts, to try to get us overly emotional and/or get a key young player kicked out or a cheap shot during the game to try to start a fight and get some of our guys thrown out.   

I remember watching the Bumble Bee game in East Lansing and thinking to myself that MSU wasn't going ot be satsified with the win, they were out to serously injure someone (namely Denard Robinson).   I can see that happening again and their coaches and fans would salute rather than revile a player who got away with someting.  

Of course our coaches are way ahead of this but they have to keep their tempers in check as does JH.  The only way I see MSU "winning" on Saturday is by pulling some kind of a stunt. 

Joined: 09/16/2009

MGoPoints: 7298

Stay.Classy.An…

October 24th, 2016 at 3:00 PM ^

would never let this happen. First guy that gets into a situation that punishes the team for his actions will be sitting for the rest of the game and possibly the next game. The boys know that Harbaugh plays no games and won't be tolerant of any BS from his team. It doesn't matter what MSU tries to do to us, it only matters how we react to it. The guys have been in lock step with Harbaugh all season and will continue to be. These guys understand what it takes to win and will come in laser focused and ready to go. 

That being said, you play to win the game, as long as the hits aren't cheap shots, I hope both teams bring it! You don't think Michigan is going to try and punish whoever Staeee starts at QB? There is no punishment for hitting legal and hard, which is what Don Brown and Harbaugh will want them to do!

Joined: 11/27/2012

MGoPoints: 19972

MRMICHIGAN24

October 24th, 2016 at 2:48 PM ^

I feel much more confident going into Columbus after these past three weekends than I did at the start of the season...They finally look human. And if JT gets hurt, they have no chance. 

Joined: 10/24/2016

MGoPoints: 19

ghostofhoke

October 24th, 2016 at 3:20 PM ^

I really want to be in a place where we can come into this game with no concerns and it's just another blowout on the schedule but until I see it for a few years, I don't think I can get comfortable with that. I'm expecting us to take care of business but that concern is always in the back of my head until it's been pushed aside by proof on the field. I'm confident but I'm not unconcerned. I expect it to be fun which is a huge step up over previous years but I'm still waiting for confirmation.

Joined: 11/21/2014

MGoPoints: 8562

Ty Butterfield

October 24th, 2016 at 3:40 PM ^

This is going to be the longest week ever. Seems like it has been awhile since we have seen a Staee team look this bad on O and D. Maybe not since Bobby Williams? Even Williams and John L. Smith never lost 5 in a row. Hell, in the infamous 1990 "Michigan number 1, Staee No One" game that was a decent Staee team. I believe they finished 8-3-1 and ranked number 16 to end the season. The 2012 Staee team was bad on O but had a solid D that kept them in lot of close games but lost because the D had to play a perfect game to win. Anything can happen and Michigan needs to be ready. It would be a harsh indictment of Harbaugh and this coaching staff if Michigan can't win this game. I don't care what the score is, just win.

Joined: 09/07/2009

MGoPoints: -81685

bdneely4

October 24th, 2016 at 7:10 PM ^

For some reason to me, this game feels like the game against OSU when Pryor was a senior. Things kept spiraling downhill for us but it still seemed like there was a chance and we always bring our A game against them. I believe the final score was 49-0 and I don't believe anyone on OSU's team ever dripped a drop of sweat.



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Joined: 01/06/2009

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LV Sports Bettor

October 24th, 2016 at 7:58 PM ^

in CFB with 3 wins against the current top 25 team.

I only quickly checked a few of the teams I thought might also but I didn't see any. 

Anyone confirm this?

Joined: 12/06/2014

MGoPoints: 1301