Bodogblog

June 26th, 2017 at 9:36 PM ^

He is our resident hype machine, fun to see him gassed up and optimistic at all times. Last year the team had questions at QB, safety, LT, LB, and pass rushing DE. If not for the injury to Newsome, would have been 5-for-5. So the staff has some credibility, albeit a small sample size. This year has questions at CBx2, Safety, Viper, WR, RG, and RT. That's a lot, but there are probably more potential answers, and having QB off the board is a big deal.

Perkis-Size Me

June 26th, 2017 at 8:00 PM ^

Will happily trade losing to Florida, PSU, Wisconsin, and hell, maybe even MSU if it means we beat OSU.

Harbaugh has got to get it done this year. There will be legitimate questions about whether or not he'll ever beat OSU, at least while Meyer is there, if he goes 0-3 this Fall.

Bodogblog

June 26th, 2017 at 8:42 PM ^

This is just so silly. They were within a whisker of beating OSU in Columbus last year. There is already no question that Harbaugh can beat OSU. "Means nothing until you WIN!" Yes that's what coaches say to players who are playing the game. You are neither. You are attempting to take the information available in an analysis to determine if it's feasible if Harbaugh will ever beat OSU. If you look at last year's game and determine anything other than yes, I question your logic.

Perkis-Size Me

June 27th, 2017 at 9:24 AM ^

Getting close means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme. Hoke was close to beating Meyer two of the three years they met and he still walked away 0-3. History doesn't remember the score. It remembers the result. Harbaugh's results right now say 0-2.  

I'm not saying Harbaugh can't beat him, but until he ACTUALLY DOES, people will question if he will ever get over the hump. And yes, Harbaugh is certainly upping Michigan's game on the recruiting trail. But OSU is signing historically good classes. Harbaugh's vastly experienced, senior-laden team could not beat Meyer's team run mostly by a bunch of freshmen and sophomores. On the road, sure, but it's still a loss. 

I hate sounding like the Debbie Downer, but if he goes 0-3 this year, the chatter will be if he can ever beat Meyer. Whether you think that's BS or not, I guarantee that will be the narrative. The only way you can stop it is winning. Getting "within a whisker" is trying to grasp at moral victories. Whether you lose by 100 or you lose by 1, you still lose. It still hurts just as much. 

Bodogblog

June 27th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^

There will be legitimate questions about whether or not he'll ever beat OSU, at least while Meyer is there, if he goes 0-3 this Fall.

This doesn't mean there will be chatter, it means you believe it would be justified.  It is saying you believe there will be legitimate questions about whether Harbaugh will ever beat OSU, if he loses this year.  That's just silly based on last year's result.  

Moral victories are for the players to claim or not, or for fans in the throes of a loss aftermath.  If you're trying to look at the information available and make a prediction, it would be foolish to say "he's never won, a loss on the road with poor officiating, that was within an inch of a win is still a loss!"   Take the questionable calls, remove them or put them in Michigan's favor, and they win.  Put the game in Ann Arbor and they win.  This is suffiicient argument that Harbaugh can beat OSU. 

Perkis-Size Me

June 27th, 2017 at 4:31 PM ^

Again, I never said he can't beat OSU. But saying that he can beat them, and then him actually beating them are two very different things. Hoke COULD have beaten OSU, but he never did. His legacy, among other things, is 0-3 against Meyer. Harbaugh COULD have beaten OSU last year, but he didn't. Getting your ass kicked 42-13 and then losing by an inch the next year is still losing. 

Part of me does believe that chatter would be justified to be honest. Harbaugh was brought here to BEAT OSU. Not to just be competitive with them, but BEAT them. That is the title, mission statement, vision, and everything in between of his job description. And it's not that silly. We had a team loaded with very good, experienced juniors and seniors last Fall go up against an OSU team loaded with mostly freshman and sophomores. Our most experienced team in a long time could not beat Meyer's arguably most inexperienced team. And they still lost. 

And yeah sure it was on the road, but guess what pal: if Michigan wants to get to the playoff at some point, they're going to have to beat OSU in Columbus. Hell, at some point they're going to have to find a way to beat them in Ann Arbor. The truly great teams find a way to win tough road games. And Michigan has not won a road game against a truly great opponent in a long, LONG time. 

Squash34

June 27th, 2017 at 5:08 PM ^

When harbaugh first came to Michigan everyone said it would take several years just to have a team that was decent because of lack of roster talent. Most thought it would take several more to beat OSU because of the talent gap. He bridged the gap in 2 years, and would have beat them if not for the criminally bad officiating. But you think people will be questioning if he will ever beat Meyer at OSU if he does not win this year? A year were Michigan is literally the least experienced team in America and osu is one of the most?

Year of Revenge II

June 26th, 2017 at 8:38 PM ^

After running my own private simulation, my results are as follows:

12 Wins, 0 Losses

I will not divulge the algorhythm to anyone except Putin, and he is going to have to pay handsomely.

MileHighWolverine

June 26th, 2017 at 9:35 PM ^

I've never been so confident in my life as to predict there is no way MSU scores 19 on us....impossible. They scored 23 last year at home....now they lose eleventy billion skill players are playing away and under an enormous cloud and they only lose 4 pts of offensive production?

No.

SpikeFan2016

June 26th, 2017 at 10:07 PM ^

I agree with most of this analysis. 

 

Unpopular opinion on this board, that falls in line with the Michigan Monday simulations: @PSU is much more likely a loss in my opinion than @Wisconsin. We match up better stylistically against the Badgers, it's later in the season so our young team will be more mature and Happy Valley at Night might be the hardest environment in the Big Ten. 

BornInAA

June 26th, 2017 at 10:41 PM ^

What I said 10 weeks ago is still valid:

like the spread of the schedule.

All summer to prepare for Florida.

6 weeks to prepare for PSU.

5 weeks to prepare for OSU.

Not buying Wisc hype or MSU comeback.

I predict another "on the edge season" where we can be undefeated or 3 losses by a few yards.

Soulfire21

June 27th, 2017 at 9:16 AM ^

I am perfectly fine to enjoy the summer. September will be here soon enough, I'm in no hurry.

Record-wise I think 9-3 with losses to Penn State, Wisconsin OR Florida, and Ohio State. I haven't seen anything from Harbaugh yet that indicates we can win tough games on the road and Ohio State is deeper than us (last year was our better chance to win). Seems like we either solidly blow teams out or narrowly lose with not much room in between.

maize-blue

June 27th, 2017 at 9:15 AM ^

This simulation predicts a decent probablility of going 1-3 against Florida, Penn St., Wisc. and OSU. To me that would be a very "meh" season. 

Those are probably the only four teams on the schedule with a pulse and I wouldn't even consider Wisc. and Florida powerhouses. Going 1-3 in that four games would mean this team is very average.

The goal that I would like to see achieved this season is to go at least 2-2 against those teams. If that happens, your looking at 10-11 wins at least with a ton of momentum for the 2018 season and 2019 recruiting.

slimj091

June 27th, 2017 at 4:20 PM ^

October 28 Rutgers

Rivalry games are so difficult to predict, especially when the two teams are so evenly matched. Michigan has pretty much gotten away with the last two games against Rutgers. Both contests could have gone either way, with the point differential between the two teams being just 111 points. You have to think that eventually the Wolverines’ luck will run out.

Over 1,000 Fake Computer Simulations: Michigan wins 949 times.
Pick: Michigan 52 – Rutgers 0

I loled.