Nice MnB piece on the need for Michigan fans to have patience

Submitted by KennyHiggins on

Pretty well said, I think.  I understand the hand-wringing about the offensive woes, but it does help to remember the age of these kids and the challenges they are dealing with.

As the Dad of two college kids, mistakes and growth from them are key parts of the experience.  I have an unwavering confidence in this coaching staff - including the O staff.

https://www.maizenbrew.com/2017/9/18/16328516/open-letter-fans-michigan…

 

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JonnyHintz

September 18th, 2017 at 3:26 PM ^

You ever think maybe you're unrealistic? Going all pitchfork over an offense that led the conference in ppg and was 3rd in yards per game seems like a bit much. Now half of our starters are either freshmen or sophomores and you're getting in a huff about a 3-0 record with a win over a ranked team and a team coming off of a 10 win season. If you're expecting pure dominance at this stage, you're simply unrealistic.

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uminks

September 18th, 2017 at 2:36 PM ^

We could make the playoffs but even if we lose 4 games, it will be fun watching this team improve each week. This thread make me think of the GnR song.

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The Mad Hatter

September 18th, 2017 at 2:37 PM ^

I'm miserable watching the games, but I'm not throwing shit at the television or booing in the Stadium (although I haven't been to a game yet this year).

But all bets are off if we start losing games.  I've been patient since OSU hired Tressel.

It is wearing thin.

Joined: 02/17/2015

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J_Dub

September 18th, 2017 at 3:45 PM ^

I think this is probably obvious, but people are concerned the wins stop when we start playing better teams.

We are forward-looking rather than backward-looking and trying to gauge how this team shakes out the rest of the season.  While happy the wins, many do not think we can go through the season without several losses, and the list of games looking like sure-wins looks smaller today than it did 2 weeks ago.

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AA Forever

September 18th, 2017 at 4:43 PM ^

It's not enough to say "what are you complaining about, we won!!" against a weak Cincinnati team, when pretty much every team we'll face in the Big Ten will be significantly tougher. It's also not enough to say "We'll improve as the season goes on!!" as if none of the teams we'll be playing are going to do the same right along with us.

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Squash34

September 19th, 2017 at 1:35 AM ^

Come on. Michigan is literally the youngst fbs team from an returning starter standpoint and they are replacing the old starters with a bunch of true freshman and sophmores. So, it is far more likely that this team will drastically improve as they get more experance.

Simply put, most teams improve over the year, yes. However, really young teams that are talented tend to improve much more than teams full of returning starter that are upper classman. Look at Clemson last year,  they were the youngest team in the ACC, they lost to pitt and should have lost to NCST, and played like crap in several other early games. Then the light turned on and doom they were off.

 

 

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UgLi Eric

September 19th, 2017 at 2:13 AM ^

"if none of the teams we'll be playing are going to do the same right along with us." True. But if we played Florida this season in a bowl game instead of the season opener, I think we would have an ever bigger advantage. In season development is probably best guaged by quality of coaching and their ability to learn from and adapt to their players abilities. Seeing we have effectively an entirely new offense (some key coaching changes and mostly a new look and raw team), there is good reason to suspect both coaches and players will learn each other's strength and trust. Likely this curve will be greater than with our competition, who for the most part will not be as raw nor have as steep a learning curve as our offense has.

Joined: 10/09/2016

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consultant22

September 18th, 2017 at 11:15 PM ^

I'll say it - this team with how its currently constructed won't beat OSU. Our scheme offensively is only effective with either a punishing O-line and/or a very talented QB. As usual, we won't be able to run the ball and Speight isn't the type of guy that will carry the team. 

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Don

September 19th, 2017 at 1:40 AM ^

Might as well start composing your letter to Warde Manuel and President Schlissel demanding Harbaugh's ouster, because the odds of us going undefeated are pretty slim.

You'll be able to get lots of righteously indignant Michigan fans to cosign with you—nothing is more outrageous than being denied the national championships you're all entitled to, right?

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a different Jason

September 18th, 2017 at 2:40 PM ^

I'm calm and patient. That's who I am as a person. The trajectory of this team says good things ahead. There are a lot of great talents on the field. When all the pieces begin to mesh along with good play calling, gonna be fun to watch.

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UM Indy

September 18th, 2017 at 2:46 PM ^

And justified at many - hell virtually all - positions on the field.  Where patience doesn't work for me is at the QB position, where a returning starter is still making way too many mistakes.

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xcrunner1617

September 18th, 2017 at 2:50 PM ^

If anything, the struggles on offense really do highlight how barren Hoke left that side the ball. Just think if we didn't have Harbaugh. Needed to grab Rudock instantly. Without him year one is obviously much worse. Now look at the upper classmen on the OL, RB, WR, and TE. Its not pretty. We finally have talent across the board there, but they are young. The importance of experience can't be understated when talking about 18-21 year olds and playing consistently well.

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KTisClutch

September 18th, 2017 at 2:56 PM ^

Umm but as Michigan fans we are supposed to expect more!! By not scoring TDs in the red zone they have brought me much shame so I am going to boo them as if they personaly owe me something!!

 

 

/s

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CoverZero

September 18th, 2017 at 3:07 PM ^

Educated fans recognize that this is a very young team that will improve over time, however their will be ups and downs along the way.

The rest of the Uneducated Complainers & Booers can go F themselves.

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Epic-Blue

September 18th, 2017 at 4:23 PM ^

Urban Meyer didn't make an excuses about his team youth last year. I didn't hear their fan base making excuses about youth and lowering expectations. I think it's a Michigan thing. I been hearing the youth excuse for a solid 10 years now! The Michigan narrative: 2014 was the year...nope...2016 is the year. 2017 we're to young. Now it's 2018 will be the year we compete for a title...It's a joke! Every team in the country has youth and inexperience, but Michigan uses it as a crutch! 7 million a year brings lofty expectations! The Time to win is now!

Joined: 10/06/2013

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Blau

September 18th, 2017 at 3:13 PM ^

is it usually masks larger problems against lesser teams that eventually lead to losses when the cupcake portion of the season is over.

Honestly if we don't clean things up, like this week against Purdue, I could see some of the games originally thought to be wins turn out more like toss ups. And as the middle of the B1G starts to trend up, I don't think that's so far-fetched. I think this week will tell us a lot and I think we see a higher level of focus and determination. Go Blue!

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doggdetroit

September 18th, 2017 at 4:02 PM ^

Good point. Pre-season, most people (myself included) felt this was a 4 game season (UF, PSU, UW, OSU). I thought Indiana would be a more difficult game than some were expecting but even so, there was a pretty big gap between those 4 games and the rest of the schedule. Three games into the season and the gap has narrowed considerably:

-Purdue and Maryland are night and day compared to last year, and both are on the road.

-MSU and Minnesota look slightly better, but both are at home.

-Indiana, UW and PSU look about as expected.

-On the plus side, OSU looks worse.





 

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UgLi Eric

September 19th, 2017 at 2:29 AM ^

I'd really ask for more patience when comparing past results versus future expectations on our schedule. OSU isn't really looking easier to me. I'd say that's still about a toss up, one that recent history says will be more difficult to close out than should be necessary (big ten refs, self inflicted turnovers, etc.). Purdue looks more difficult now, but it's also possible that a new staff has gotten everything they can get out of that talent and shown their peers all they have. It's also possible they are this year's Penn State, although talent levels say that's not very likely. Maryland and MSU should worry us. Those two teams have played us surprisingly well in the past 2-7 years. But let's not forget that Penn State looked like the laugher of the Big Ten last year until they got a lucky (and fortunate) win against OSU. Actually they still looked like a laugher after that. It's only this year's PSU that looks much more balanced and sustainable. I'd still like to think as Bo preached, there is no team more important than the next team we face. Except Rutgers because....well Rutgers (in voice of Brian).

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Blau

September 19th, 2017 at 2:33 PM ^

I don't think luck had a whole lot to do with their win last year. OSU had 0 turnovers, 6 more first downs, 100+ more total yards and longer time of possesion. It ain't like the refs blocked that FG and ran it into the endzone for them. PSU played them exactly the way they had to in order to win that game. Also PSU made the Rose Bowl and had a close game against pretty much this year's USC team.

After typing all of that, I wonder if you even watched them the later part of last year?

 

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