We all thought about it: What did this game make you think about our team?

That can’t see past 1 year. Bama is a beast of a program. We were an elite team last year and should have made the playoff- bad luck and shit officiating cost us that opportunity. We had the youngest team in the country this year and we sit on here comparing our season to that of programs stock piled with talent from years past. Yes, a bunch of freshmen, including bamas qb made huge plays, but none of that happens unless the foundation (o-line, d-line, etc) are solid. Get a grip and stop conflating the past 15 years of UM football with the Harbaugh era. We saw last year how we can perform with a more experienced team (under just 2 years of Harbaugh and staff coaching) and we will continue to progress in that direction. Top 10 classes without gaps (like during the Home-Harbaugh transition) will keep us in the hunt most years going forward. We will not reach bama level, but I expect plenty of playoff appearances so long as Harbaugh is around.

We nowhere near them speed abs strength

This game showed that playing not to lose will make you lose. Smart (like, really) coached way we've been critical of Harbaugh. It taught me Bama gets the breaks (pass off Hands head, 4th down TD pass not intended for Ridley, etc.).

Those two teams operate on a different set of principles. It is not apples to apples. UM can compete every so often but I'm not sure it can year after year a la Alabama. Unless they want unleash under the table privileges, win at all costs, use pharmaceuticals, we'll just have to hope our coaches can develop talent and make a run every few years.

I'll try to enjoy each game as a seperate event.  I am implying exactly what you think.

One thing is certain: we are nowhere near Alabama right now. Doesn’t really matter if you have 50 top 300 players on the roster when Alabama has 50 top 100 players on their roster. Unbelievable how they recruit and how big their guys are — they really do look like an NFL team when getting off the bus.

I think we're 2 OLs and a QB away from the CFP. could happen next year. likely happens in 2019.

actually I really think the sched. sets up well in 18- the ND game is a classics early loss that everyone forgets by the end if M is 11-1 or 10-2 and gets into the BTT game. W, PSU are at home. We have to beat one of MSU, OSU no matter what - I don't care if we play them on the moon.

The 3 things each team had was a dominate defense, very strong to dominate O-line, and a very strong to dominate rushing attack. Michigan has one of those things. while a dominate running attack is hinged off of a solid o-line, as is most of the entirety of an offense, it's highlights Michigan's glaring hole. we need a line, badly. each teams qb's would look drastically different behind Michigan's o-line and inconsistent run game. we r there on defense, but need several people to mature and turn the corner this year for us to have a legit shot at the Cfb playoff

1. Michigan would have made Da'Shawn Hand a starter from the day he arrived on campus. Alabama redshirted him and then he was a reserve for the rest of his career. That tells you how deep Alabama is and how desperate for top talent that Michigan is.

2. Despite this, Clemson beat them and Georgia was right there with them. I admire what Smart did in two years and at times watching their season felt like 2016 Michigan with good bounces but the real difference is their OL and RBs. They rushed for close to 100 yards in the first half.

is dead to me....I choose to focus on Basketball A Program that actually has produced RESULTS over the past 5 years...We are NOWHERE near those 2 teams last night..Kirby Smart in year 2 gets to the NC game...we cant even finish higher than 3rd in our Div...FB is dead to me

1. Two freshman QBs able to come in and play well enough to win a NC.  Our's seem to take forever to develop and/or regress.  What's the problem, the QB, the playcalling, the o-line, etc.?  They should be able to do more considering they compare favorable in recruiting rankings.

 

2. We lack playmakers at WR.  Hopefully this year's freshman will develop.

Tua Tagovailoa threw more TD passes last night than John O'Korn did all season.

That's Michigan's problem.

1. My first thought, sadly, was that Otis Reese is goooooooone. (No insight to back this up, just a plausable outcome to watching your other potential school being in the NC game).
    
2. If you look at the players for Bama and Georgia, those guys look enormous, especially their OL and DL. Michigan has had historically good DL play the last few years, but those dudes were other level large.
    
3. The ability of skill players to bail out the QB is hugely underrated in favor of heaping the praise on a QB. Both teams had big plays made my RBs, WRs etc that Michigan just hasn't seemed to have lately. 
    
4. The crux of a successful offensive outing, bottom line, is dependent on consistant OL play, and Michigan's lack thereof must be fixed for this team to take the next step.
    
5. Anyone who says that recruiting doesn't matter is stupid. Those two loaded teams are proof enough.
    
6. Michigan's D is right there with those elite teams. Our offense is a step behind at nearly every position.
    
7. I want Brandon Peters to be better than all those guys. But I'm afraid that he is not. I really hope he proves me wrong and I have to eat some serious crow. Nothing would make me happier.

That we are LIGHTYEARS away from competing for anything remotely resembling a national title. Both of those teams last night would've bludgeoned Michigan to death by halftime. The defense is probably a little bit of depth away from competing for titles, but the offense is struggling just to get to bowl eligibility. That's a problem. 

But yeah, both of those teams are bigger, faster, and stronger than anything Michigan has ever put out on the field. I know we have to recruit better to get there, but we need to win first. Right now Michigan is an afterthought in its own conference, much less on the national stage. I enjoy football for what it is, and at the end of the day it's just entertainment. Not life and death. But last night was just another reminder that Michigan is nowhere even close to competing for a national championship. And as long as we have piss poor OL and QB play, it's going to stay that way. 

would have been killed in that game. literally. They would've taken him out in a body bag. We got a looonngggg way to go to run with either of those teams. In fact I would say every Big 10 team is in the same boat except OSU.

My two cents

1. Again, we are running a pro offense with kids. If Harbaugh sticks with it, its going to be a few more years before we can compete. Although if we dont have a good season next year, recruiting is going to be VERY tough in the coming years. 

2. Our players look undersized to what Bama and UGA trot out there. We need to hit the weights and explosive building exercises, as well as mointor every meal our kids eat. I think it was an article I was reading about Clemson's new atheltic center. It has its own cafeteria and meals are prepared specifically for each player from their training plan.

3. Its easy to see why 5 Star recruits want to go to Bama and UGA if winning a NC and going to the pros is their goal.

4. The Michigan staff coaches with the mentality that this is the NFL. Its not. They are two different games. Harbaugh MUST understand this or he will fail in the long run.

That recruiting matters and youth isn’t an excuse. Bama scores 20 in the second half behind a true freshman QB, WR, RB and LT. Additionally, you need a QB that can scramble.

Were cursed, You could take all of the players on the field last night from both teams, the best of the coaches, put them in maize and blue, and we would still lose to OSU and MSU

I know we can statistically hang with bama D, but dang, they are fast and they are big. I don’t think I saw hits like that all season like I did in this one game. Also, the QB play on both sides was unbelievable, crazy Tua and Fromm are both true freshman. Both had a competitive fire that I have yet to see from Peters.

Conflicting thoughts: 

Both teams looked way more talented, faster, stronger, than us. 

Alabama I can understand.  But Georgia was 6-6 last year and we've out-recruited them for several recent years.  What is it they did that we could not do?

Georgia almost became the first non-Alabama team to win the NC with a non-running QB in over a decade.  That bodes well for the offense that Harbaugh is apparently rigidly committed to.

However, the key term is almost.  At the end of the day, the Alabama QB's ability to run - not just be mobile - was the difference maker.

You still need a running QB these days to win an NC.  Even Alabama has bought into this.

So, I'd like to think we are on the doorstep to an NC . . . but deep inside I know we are not.  In the meantime, everyone around us seems to be upping their game, making it even harder.

*sigh*

One step at a time, I guess.

  

Defense - check, just as good Special teams - check, but with improved punting Coaching - need a clear head OC that can game plan both run and pass Offense - no where near these teams, especially OL and QB. Optimism - Shea Patterson can be a Baker Mayfield in 2018 & 2019 Pessimism - OL is just too young for 2018 but maybe good enough by 2019 Optimism - new S&C program can catapult us into 2019 as NC with Shea winning the HT Go Blue !

For me it boils down to consistent depth and quality at the quarterback position.  For the past decade, Michigan's had spots where they've had one good, competent QB.  If something happens to that person, we're SOL.  OSU on the other hand has had a decade of high quality depth at the QB position.  If something happens to their starter, the first backup is as competent as the man he's replacing.  Pryor, Miller, Barrett, Jones, and now Haskins.  It's ALWAYS next man up at OSU.  It doesn't matter if they're a senior or a freshman, whoever OSU puts out there at QB plays at a very high level.  Look at their 2014 team.  Miller goes down with an injury preseason so Barrett has to step in as a RS freshman to start the season.  He goes 10-1 entering The Game, where he exits with an injury.  Jones enters, seals the game, goes on to whip Wisconsin in his first career start in the B1G title game, and then runs through the playoffs for a national championship.  This is next man up football that Michigan has not demonstrated an ability to produce for the past decade.  Last night's game was another example with Tagovailoa coming in after the half and leading Alabama to victory.  Whoever Alabama puts under center plays seems to play championship level football.  And there's never any excuses about them being freshman or not having time to learn the offense or whatever.  We haven't had that ability to absorb signifiant losses, especially at the QB position, and we've paid the price when the starter goes down or if the starter isn't good enough.

On the bright side, I think we're finally starting to bulk up at QB (but I agree with OP that Peters is behind).  Now if we could just figure out that OT position.

How much a good qb can change things. We have not had a good/great qb since henne.

Number 99 and 94 on bama dline are not human and would have ate up every qb on our roster same with Georgia’s d

The whole playoff as I watching I thought to myself Michigan is not even close to any of these teams. The lineplay on both sides of the ball is superior. The qbs are superior. The running backs superior, the wide receivers superior. That is what I thought.

I am unsure how anyone else could’ve see it any other way. If so please enlighten me.

I was thinking: 

1) You can go from decent to great very quickly (Georgia) if all the pieces come together.  I.e., we could be great next year.

2) "Youth" is no longer an excuse.  Two true freshmen QBs!

3) Harbaugh has to stop being a "nice guy" coach when players aren't performing.  I doubt JH would have pulled Hurts the way Saban did, but that's what won Bama the championship.

our team is too young = a bullshit excuse

 

true freshman play for national championship