Were NOT going 8-4. (Counter expectation thread)

Submitted by MichiganMan14 on
I've seen a lot of 8-4 predictions and "we're too young" going on so I thought I'd chime in with a counter opinion. We play 8 teams that we are soundly and throughly better than as a football program. No excuse to lose ANY of them. We play 4 games that are "Tough" or "Toss-up". Florida in a neutral environment. Penn state and Whisky on the road and of course Ohio State at home. Michigan is a better football team than Florida and the Gators have a 1st year starting QB for their offense and lost a ton. We are deeper and more talented than both Penn state and Wisky. By the end of this year we we have no excuse not to beat Ohio as they have been gutted 2 years in a row by early entrees. Harbaugh was hired to win this game. He won't go 0-3. You don't win the national title with Seniors. You win it with BALLERS. We have BALLERS now. We will go 11-1 with a BS loss to Wisky which we avenge 2 weeks later and wind up a 3 seed in the CFP. Your heard it here first.

WichitanWolverine

July 6th, 2017 at 3:16 PM ^

It's posts like this one that confuse me. Have you not been paying attention the last 14 years? Michigan hasn't done much other than beat up bad teams and lose big games since 2003.

I hope you're right, but I just don't see it.

MichiganMan14

July 6th, 2017 at 5:34 PM ^

If you met our boys you'd think different. We don't have average players here anymore. We don't think average. Every year is championship or bust. That's how is should have always been. You tell a Rashan that it's cool if we lose 4 games. He will slap the shit out of you. We don't have losers in this program and Coach Harbaugh is the ultimate competitor. We will go 11-1. We will win the B1G.

Stringer Bell

July 6th, 2017 at 3:24 PM ^

As many have said, it comes down to four games:

 

Florida - Assuming it's Franks that wins the job, I like a Don Brown defense against a first year QB.  I just see our defense dominating that game.  I'm sure Florida will have a good defense as well, they usually do, but they lost a lot of talent off of last year's defense.  This will be a good first test for our young offense, and I think we do enough to get the W.

 

PSU - I'm just not buying them.  They remind me so much of 2011 Michigan, riding the talents of a great player and a lot of luck to a record that didn't accurately reflect the team's quality.  I think we'll handle Barkley as we've done every time we've gone against him, however I am worried about their "fuck it, go deep" offense against our young and inexperienced secondary.  If we have problems back there, PSU could win a lot of 50/50 balls and score a lot of points.  I trust Brown to neutralize Moorhead's offense, and Harbaugh vs Franklin is the biggest mismatch in this game.  I think we pull this one out.

 

Wiscy - I think this is the one we're most likely to lose.  I see a game much like last year's, a defensive struggle decided by one or two plays.  Wiscy's offense is so unimpressive, Hornibrook seems like such a limited QB and they lost their top 2 RBs from what was a mediocre running game.  They do return some nice pieces in the passing game.  But their defense will once again be fantastic and I think they'll slow us down enough to get the win in this one.

 

OSU - Youth and inexperience will no longer be an issue.  This team will be essentially a year older, having gone through some tough battles and developed some steel in their spine.  I think our DL dominates their OL again and limits their offense, just like last year.  The problem is that they will once again have a DL that will get a lot of pressure on Speight/Peters/whomever, so our QB will have to handle the pressure better than they did last year.  They lost their entire ballhawking secondary, so that should help, but if we can limit the turnovers (and get a better shake from the officials, which we should being at home) I think we do enough to get the win in this one.

 

Overall, I've seen 10-2 a lot and I think that seems fair.  10-2 with winning 3 of the big 4 games would be a great season IMO, and set us up for a national title run next year.

SpikeFan2016

July 6th, 2017 at 9:00 PM ^

This is so true. 

 

To be frank, I really don't care much about beating Florida. 

 

If we were to beat the Gators and Badgers, but fall to Penn State and Ohio State to finish third again in the East, that would be satisfactory, but not a good season. 

 

 

In reply to by Khaleke The Freak

maize-blue

July 7th, 2017 at 9:28 AM ^

Too many gut punches during the RR and Hoke years have taken the steel out of a lot fan's spines to where they will debate all day why we won't win more than 9 games this season.

uofmchris

July 6th, 2017 at 3:36 PM ^

Ohio State was supposed to take a step back last season yet look what happened.

It's anyones guess as to how this Michigan team will produce on the field.

Bottom line is it comes down to coaching and raw talent. Check and check.

JTGoBlue

July 6th, 2017 at 3:41 PM ^

2015 MSU and 2016 OSU are the two most poorly one-sided officiated games in college football history. I don't see any reason with this team and schedule that we don't go at least 11-1 in the regular season.

Ty Butterfield

July 6th, 2017 at 4:01 PM ^

Only game that matters is OSU and Michigan will not win that game. You can Raback it and BKFinest it. If Michigan does win I won't post for 3 months starting on November 28th.

kb

July 6th, 2017 at 4:06 PM ^

the impact that Rashan is going to have this year. Dude is going to be a freak with one year under his belt and more PT. 4 sacks against Florida - you heard it here first.

Michifornia

July 6th, 2017 at 4:08 PM ^

But I'll take 4 if we beat osu.  This year will be very interesting.  Hopes are high.  Potential is unlimited.  All about execution on the offense.  It will be a very good season.

GO BLUE!!

South TX MFan

July 6th, 2017 at 4:52 PM ^

I did not hear it here first. My post from over a week ago:

We're going to be 4-0 against Florida after September 2. We're going to be 4-0 against Franklin led PSU after October 21. We could drop the game against the Badgers. 10-1 going into The Game and Harbaugh comes through for his first win against Meyer. We win the rematch against the Badgers in the B1G Championship Game and head to our first playoff appearance.

BKFinest that shit.

allintime23

July 6th, 2017 at 4:58 PM ^

Sorry, say what you will but I have us going 12-0. Most of the resins you listed plus I say we'll have the best defense in the conference. Top five in the country. The secondary is my biggest concern and I think it will be solid by mid season. I think we'll have the best offensive line that we've had in a decade and be able to run the ball, at last. Could go on and on. Bottom line, not losing the last game of the year. Not losing to Franklin or in Madison. I think the opener will be tough because of new guys but in the end we'll pull away for something like a 28-17 win. Call me a homer , call me insane. This is the year we've been waiting for. College football is youth and nobody prepares players like this staff.

Wingsfan1

July 6th, 2017 at 5:10 PM ^

I also think Speight will be injured early with this young O-line.  I like Peters (way) better and his high ceiling, and would start him. But, he's way to green  to win big games on the road right now,  this is why  Jim has Speight as the starter.

the Glove

July 6th, 2017 at 5:20 PM ^

It's that time of year! Where the fanbase divides into realists and homers. This thread is for the homers. Realist use statistics and past events to determine what might happen in the future and Homer's use wishful-thinking or we'll win just because it's the team I root for. I would love to be wrong but Michigan has the least number of returning starters in all of the Power 5 conferences. On paper Hoke and Rodriguez shouldn't have lost as many games as they did but here we are. Yes I believe Jim Harbaugh is a worldbreaker but to say that Michigan is only going to lose one game and make the playoffs is baffling. There is nothing there to support the claim but wishful thoughts. Let's just hope the young talent puts it together quickly.

Wingsfan1

July 6th, 2017 at 6:11 PM ^

Speight has shown he cant win (big) games on the road...yes? Why would    that   change with all new WRs and O-line? Defense will be great again, but with Kinnel  the most experienced defensive back and the two-deep depth chart recently was ranked by Phil Steele as the least experienced out of 130 teams in the FBS there will be a drop off. 

DMack

July 6th, 2017 at 11:36 PM ^

Because Speight will be better than he was last year and his backup is equally talented if not better. Because our running back group will be better than last year. Because the TE group will be formidable despite losing Butt. Because although our WR group is young, they are deep and more talented than last year. Because our O line is more talented than they were last year.

Harbaugh will have our youngsters ready for the challenge. The only thing that worries me is teams going deep and picking on our young secondary. Florida has a WR in Calloway and our youngsters will be tested early and often. This should give us an idea of where they are. Hopefully Don Brown has a defensive scheme to neutralize him and we don't get too many pass interference penalties.

the Glove

July 7th, 2017 at 12:25 AM ^

I hope that I am wrong but I honestly don't believe that this is the year for it. This is absolutely a rebuilding year. You honestly can't replace over 20 people on all facets of the game and expect perfection. 2018 is when we can start looking for that because these young talented players will then have a season under their belt.

MichiganMan14

July 6th, 2017 at 6:47 PM ^

Clearly you don't believe in the program or the staff. 4th year qb....stable of backs....production at WR and multiple 5 star recievers....a slew of talented TEs......upperclassmen and All B1G guys on the line and extremely talented youngins. Defensively we have 2 potential AA on the dline.....2 or our 3 best LBs returning talent wise......McCray being an All Big guy....and our secondary is loaded with 4 star talent....oh yeah...and Don Brown and Jim Harbaugh. But hey....3 or 4 losses somehow......Stop.

Wingsfan1

July 6th, 2017 at 8:08 PM ^

I do have faith in Harbaugh,  we are a year away from 11-1 /12-0 pedictions. If we had a really good seasoned QB  that could bring the diffence to the big games, yea mabe than this year.  I get it -  we all want 12-0, not happening till an upgrade at QB. Not with one of Hokes leftovers.

the Glove

July 7th, 2017 at 12:19 AM ^

Understand that these 4 and 5 star players have never done anything on a college field. It's a lot faster game than high school. They will be going up against players that might not be as talented but have a hell of a lot more experience. And if you've never played football before experience means a lot.

Rasmus

July 7th, 2017 at 7:37 AM ^

The thing about homerism is it can lead to a lack of appreciation of the team's actual accomplishments on the field, in the face of adversity -- wins are taken for granted in games when they should not be, and nothing is learned from losses.

Realists can appreciate it when the team rises to the challenges they face, because they've made an effort to understand those challenges. For me, it's much more satisfying to win a game I don't automatically assume the team will win, even though I'll also lose more sleep than a homer might when Michigan loses a game it -- realistically -- should have won.

The homerist can rest easy in righteous indignation -- us realists have to wrestle with our own failures in understanding the world. In this case, it's a particularly difficult task -- understanding the dynamics of a complex team based on limited information -- but that's what makes it fun.

kurpit

July 6th, 2017 at 5:40 PM ^

You can think Michigan is going to win 11+ games every year all you want but some people actually like to look at sports with some degree of impartiality and realize "hey, this probably isn't our time but we should still win 8 or 9 games." There's nothing wrong with that and the idea that people should be shamed for not blindly buying into the extreme homer perspective is idiotic.

 

8-4 and 9-3 are good seasons. You act like it's slander to not predict a trip to the playoffs.

MichiganMan14

July 6th, 2017 at 5:57 PM ^

Root for Iowa with that garbage weak mentality. If you lose 3 or 4 games during the course of a season it is what it is. Going into it expecting that with what we have under contract and what is in our locker room wearing our colors is ridiculous. In fact it's more than that. It's WEAK. This is Michigan and Harbaugh is the coach of a lifetime. I know some ate scarred by past mediocrity but it's a new day. We have more in our locker room than 11 out of 12 of the teams we play. Lace up and play ball. All this pessimism weak assery is as infectious as it is revolting. Michigan should never enter a season expecting to lose the only 4 ranked damn games they play. We recruit top 5 talent for Christ sake and only play one other team that does the same. People need to increase the caffeine and take a tour of our program and meet some of these guys before treating like we're running some type of feel good Northwestern operation here.

Don

July 6th, 2017 at 6:04 PM ^

If our players are "infected" by attitudes of random posters on a blog, we've got much deeper problems than pessimistic fans.