Clemson has had one top 10 recruiting class since 2012 on 24/7 site
January 10th, 2017 at 8:53 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 9:12 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 9:19 AM ^
Lol that was my first thought too!
January 10th, 2017 at 10:00 AM ^
the iOS app does not work. LSA said it was on a different platform (or something) and developed by a blogger.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^
Seriously what is going on with the app? Hasn't been able to load anything in a week.
January 10th, 2017 at 10:53 AM ^
Exactly - I thought it was frustrating not being to get in on busy times. But sitting in the lounge chair watching the game and not getting in on the App sucks shit.
Need a new Meta style thread!
January 10th, 2017 at 11:04 AM ^
I thought it was just me. It sucked to watch the game last night and not be able to look at mgoblog on my phone.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^
Nothing specific but Brian said a recent iOS update broke the app.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:56 PM ^
The app developer made a comment that there is nothing that can be done on his end and that all of the requests from the app are being blocked by the MGoBlog server.
Rumor is that there was some DOS attacking going on last weekend which caused the slow downs and may have resulted in CloudFlare or the admin staff blocking traffic from the app temporarily.
From what I understand the notification issues mentioned below and the issues from the update are unreleated.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:22 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 8:53 AM ^
Clemson had better QB play and with a great dual threat QB that can make the difference if all other things fall your way! Look at the 2006 National title game with Texas vs USC, where the USC team looked so stacked!
January 10th, 2017 at 9:40 AM ^
And on the flip side, Hurts went 13-31 passing for 131 yards. QB is the great equalizer, for good and bad.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:43 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 10:02 AM ^
Top 5 is great. But you have to score big on the lines. And our DT situation is concerning unless we land Solomon or Tufele.
Who knows though? Maybe one of the 3*s is actually the next Suh in disguise.
January 10th, 2017 at 10:39 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 11:05 AM ^
It's the most important position on the field.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:44 AM ^
Hurts averaged barely four yards an attempt and that was with a 68-yarder. His other 30 attempts went for 63 yards. Wow.
January 10th, 2017 at 1:57 PM ^
Don't forget an array of fantastic WRs - Clemson has 3 WRs who would be #1s on 95% of teams out there. Mike Williams was doing just silly stuff out there. And their TE was very impressive to boot.
My takeaway is if you have a Heisman level dual threat QB + some of the best WRs in the country + play uptempo....while concurrently Bama has a freshman QB you can play them even. Which is still fucking scary.
p.s. Clemson ran something like 98 plays. Bama defense wore down - I am sure most games Bama defense probably faces 60-70 plays.
January 10th, 2017 at 2:49 PM ^
...can coach.
January 10th, 2017 at 8:54 AM ^
They still managed to have a 2016 blue chip ratio over 0.5: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football-recruiting/2016/8/18/12530108/…
Every single national champion in the recruiting rankings era (since 2005 when four classes of ranked players had come in) has had more 4 and 5 star players on their roster than 3 stars and below. The only team in the playoff this year with a chance to buck that trend was Washington, who had the lowest betting odds of winning the playoff out of the four teams.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:01 AM ^
Was going to reference this if someone hadn't already. This is why it's not all about the individual rankings of players that may bust (Derrick Green, Shane Morris, etc), but the odds of being successful are much greater when you have over half of your class comprised of higher quality (higher floor) players, especially at key positions. Yes three stars start in the NFL, but the teams that succeed year in and year out in college have stacked rosters. We are trending in the right direction and will be able to compete at a high level for years to come.
January 10th, 2017 at 10:48 AM ^
trending up! 20-6 the last 2 years. So much more fun to follow and watch Michigan football again. Thanks Hack for getting the ball rolling downhill
January 10th, 2017 at 9:04 AM ^
Michigan's ratio is at 66% so far this cycle.
Alabama's is at....84%.
I haz sad.
EDIT: OSU is at 94%. I haz double-plus sad.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:05 AM ^
we are needing to build depth due to small 2014 and 2015 classes
other than Kurt Taylor, every commit is a 4-star somewhere - on ESPN Kurt Taylor and BSJ are our only 3-stars, as an example
January 10th, 2017 at 9:07 AM ^
Even if/when that happens....Bama and OSU are recruiting at an unprecedented level.
As a follow-up to my depressing note on OSU....their 3-star is the #1 ranked kicker.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:27 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 9:32 AM ^
Don't get me wrong. I really like our class. Aside from a couple heart-breaking misses, it has been very, very good thus far.
My commentary is on how ridiculous Bama and OSU's classes are. The raw talent is unbelievable. And they always seem to have a highly ranked back-up plan to their top target, like JUCO Kendall Sheffield after they missed on Darnay Holmes.
January 10th, 2017 at 10:39 AM ^
In 2016 they had one of the most talented teams ever fielded (based on NFL talent) and still blew it. Meyer's achilles heel is the inability to identify and develop a passing QB or develop WR that run route trees and timing routes.
The whole team could be 5 start talent, but if you can't stretch the field, elite defenses will stop you.
We saw that last night with Hurts and we saw that with Barrett all year.
I'll take Jim Harbaugh, with a perennial top 5 class over Urban Meyer with a perennial top 2 class, any day of the week and twice on Saturday.
January 10th, 2017 at 12:19 PM ^
is Urban's most talented OSU team. Tons of blue chip players and have players playing well on Sundays. There is a reason why they won it all.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:35 AM ^
At least with OSU, it's also perhaps the best class they've had in the modern recruiting era, at least on paper. This might be one of those one-off years, followed by solid top-5 classes. Alabama is...well...Alabama.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:44 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 9:56 AM ^
Envy is a bad thing. I want to win the recruiting battles too, but I hate how Michigan fans (me too) often think we can't win without absolutely superior talent. MSU made it to the CFP without a zillion stars. The Harbaugh difference will be winning period with whoever he has.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
has always recruited the same (or better) level of talent that Michigan has. Cooper's teams were stacked from top to bottom and we still kicked their asses almost every year.
If the talent level is close, the difference maker is coaching.
January 10th, 2017 at 2:01 PM ^
I knew John Cooper.
Urban Meyer is no John Cooper.
Unfortunately.
I'd like to see JH do what he did at Stanford here next year and that is to go and beat some teams we are "not supposed to". He will have a young team full of his guys and this is the year to see some Stanford - USC shit.
January 10th, 2017 at 10:04 AM ^
good HS players= good college players. We need them.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^
I would say it's more like this:
Superstar HS players = good college players.
A good HS player walks on to his college team.
January 10th, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^
I would say it's more like this:
Superstar HS players = good college players.
A good HS player walks on to his college team.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:07 AM ^
Great call here.... I noticed this the other day, looking at the current 2017 team list with columns of 3 star, 4 star, 5 star... and it seemed the elite programs are those who get much more 4 stars than 3 stars.....
January 10th, 2017 at 9:04 AM ^
high rated classes AND a QB
ask LSU about star studded classes without a QB
January 10th, 2017 at 9:07 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 9:07 AM ^
Interesting as well that Clemson won without a rushing game. Alabama's defensive line and linebackers were incredibly fast but the key to the victory IMO was DeShaun Watson getting off his passes quickly.
Thinking back to the Orange Bowl, we failed to adjust to FSU's DL attack - still ran play action when the DL was in Speight's face before he had a chance to turn around.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:59 AM ^
Going out hurt Bama a lot too. FWIW, Bama is staying at the hotel across from my office.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:14 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 9:57 AM ^
Give us a Mike WIlliams or Dalvin Cook, and I think we win it all this YEAR!!!!
January 10th, 2017 at 11:52 AM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 2:01 PM ^
January 10th, 2017 at 10:04 AM ^
This is exactly what I was going to say, and I feel it is what held Michigan back this year offensively. You have to have at least one, preferably a few, guy(s) you can go to when you need to make a play. It is tough in big games, against good competition, to expect that everything goes right on a certain play. Blocking holds up, receivers get separation, pass is accurate, etc. The good teams make plays when things breakdown. Watson is incredible, but Clemson doesn't win that game without Williams and Renfro.
That being said, I like the direction we are going, and feel like DPJ and Black, along with Evans and hopefullly Walker, are the start of something special at Michigan.
January 10th, 2017 at 10:17 AM ^
That hasn't changed. Their defense is the epitome of a good pass rush makes your back 7 look better. If you can hold them off, while they are good, they aren't superbly better than most good backfields. A good qb, with a littel bit of time can find plenty of holes in the defensive secondary. Look at how poorly their corners use technique in the NFL.
January 10th, 2017 at 10:09 AM ^
If we wouldve had more positive yardage plays, we woulve been in a better position to win.
January 10th, 2017 at 9:16 AM ^
college QB can make up for less-than-stellar recruiting.