Chill the Hell Out

The comparisons to the rest of the top 4 in our division are silly. Some people are just looking for reasons to be more angry.

MSU: 1) While they're young this year they are still returning their starting QB who is mobile which can make up for a young/inexperienced line, and an incredibly productive back in Scott. 2) If they can go from 3-9 last year to 1-2 loss team this year with less talent than us there is no reason we can't have a similar turn around.

PSU: 1) When they were young last year they backed into the championship game. 2) and they returned Barkely Gisecki and Godwin who were good enough last year to make up for their other offensive youth/inexperience. Will be really interesting to see what Franklin and possibly Moorehead do next year without Barkley and Gisecki. I think they take a step back because they'll be looking to find an playmakers and its unlikely anyone will be as good as Barkley and maybe not even as good as Gisecki.

OSU: So many things. 1) Their recruiting has been great for years in large part because they are the only P5 school in one of the most talent rich states in the country. Florida, Georgia, TX, and California all have multiple in state programs to compete for their talent. OSU has no competition which means their year to year consistency floor is higher than anyone else. Thats why they've been good for so long. 2) While they were young last year their playmakers weren't young. Barret was basically a 3rd year starter. Samuels was eligible to be drafted. In Barrett's first few years when he was young they had Elliot, a generational talent a running back, and many recievers who were drafted in that same year. 

UM had 0 returning playmakers to mitigate their youth. None of those other teams suffered from that. They all returned QBs WRs or RBs who were experienced playmakers. UM returned none of that in addition to being young. 

Also people shouldn't take their anger about the program being terrible "since the Carr years" out on Harbaugh. He's been here 2.5 seasons so blaming him for 10-13 years of losses doesn't even make sense. Yes its been bad that long but JH has been here for 2.5 seasons and looked at by themselves they are more than fine. But realize the B10 is now the most competitive conference in football. This means that PSU and UM won't get to have the years OSU and MSU got to have while the conference was shit. There are now 3 other good teams in our division. OSU and MSU had to really only worry about each other. With 4 good teams 1 loss seasons will be rare and 2 loss teams will still be very good teams. 

First 2 years of the divisions resurgence:

2015

MSU: 3-0 v rest of top 4 (They get blown out against alabama cus they really should've been 1-2 with losses to us and OSU)

OSU: 2-1 v rest of top 4 (Arguably one of the best college football teams in the modern era and they still lost a game to one of the top 4. This was also really before UM and PSU really took off.)

UM: 1-2 v rest of top 4

PSU: 0-3 v rest of top 4

2016

MSU: 0-3 v rest of top 4

PSU: 2-1 v rest of top 4

OSU: 2-1 v rest of top 4

UM: 2-1 v rest of top 4

As long as this division remains this competitive don't expect undefeated seasons from anyone. Will be lots of canabalizing each other before the playoffs. 

familiar. Great defensive team struggling because the offensive line sucks, backs are nothing special and receivers dropping the ball. That's with a QB who is above average with excellent mobility. Unfortunately in college, it comes down to a couple of games that make or break your season. In the pros you just need to make the playoffs and then anything can happen. We're just going to have to be patient for a year or two until the young players get better and we get a decent QB. It's also going to be tougher because the Big Ten East is probably going to be the best division in college football going forward.

I am not freaking out.  I am chill but I am also concerned at the moment.  We are a young team that is zero dimensional on offense which gives more experienced, more disciplined, and/or well coached teams a big advantage.  We can't run the football with consistency.  We can't pass protect with consistency.  We can't throw the ball with consistency.  Not a recipe for success.  The offenese is broke but certainly fixable.  All three of the offensive problems can be either partially or completely rectified by better OL play.  Drevno and Pep are leaving a lot to be desired for the play designs and play calls.  Here's to hoping the OL turns a corner soon and plays well against good defenses.  Oh, and bring Jedd Fisch back as OC next season.

People who projected playoffs had unrealistic expectations. 

Preseason, I thought we were a 9-3 team that would finish 3rd in the East. Now we look like an 8-4 team that will finish 4th in the East. Yes, that's a bit disappointing, but it's not far off the mark. B- instead of B. 

And the good news is, we will improve at almost every position next year. 

Will we see some improvement, will Peters get a chance to play, can the O-Line improve their  play. What about our D now. There's a lot of room for improvement and may be we can upset WI on the road.