Rittenberg is NOT impressed.
That's the only conclusion that I can draw from his recent Big 10 power rankings which has UM as a dismal 8th place ahead of only Minnesota, Indiana and Illinois.
A side note: One common theme I have seen among much of the MSM is how much of an impact Marve is going to have at Purdue which I find odd because his numbers at Miami (YTM) were mediocre at best.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:12 AM ^
We need to earn respect. If I weren't a Michigan fan, I'd be ranking us similarly.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:37 AM ^
I am confused by the logic, as well. Why is the addition of a quality QB (according to the source) expected to make Purdue so much better, when the subtraction of a quality QB is not expected to hurt Penn State. I am guessing that the poor QB play that I see coming costs Penn State 2-3 games that they would not have lost otherwise.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:07 PM ^
Not that I agree with him (I think PSU is really overrated coming in to this season), but I think his logic isn't unreasonable. Royster is coming back and PSU's defense should be solid again. If the defense can shut down opponents' offenses, heavy reliance on the run game could compensate for lack of a good QB. But like I said, I don't think they'll be very good this year. I think the UM v. PSU game is a toss-up, if not favorable to UM.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:30 PM ^
Yeah, but doesn't PSU have to replace a good chunk of the OL as well? Royster is only as good as his line play. I can see why the media isn't forecasting doom for Penn State, but I don't know how their offense is going to be good. They better be ready to win a lot of 17-13 games.
August 10th, 2010 at 1:18 PM ^
Well I sure wouldn't. People forget Rodgriguez is BEST IN CLASS. He turned down the job to be coach for Alabama Crimson Tide. Turned it down. They took the next best option in Saban. And Alabama is the top college team as of late, and we got the guy they couldn't get.
Rodriguez has the goods, and to think he'd languish for three straight years is quite insane. To think that we'll be 8th in the Big Ten, is a view without true perspective, and is totally irrational, regardless of having to first 'earn respect'. It truly is amazing how so many fans cannot see the upcoming forest for the trees.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:13 AM ^
has to be impressed with us at this point. Once we start proving it on the field, the MSM will be jumping on the bandwagon very quickly.
Starting Sept 4th we prove the skeptics wrong!!!!
August 10th, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^
The MSM can pile it on and doubt.
When we take the field Sept. 4, shit is going down.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^
+1 for invoking The Dude, man. Good night sweet prince.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:20 AM ^
we should be welcoming low expectations with open arms here. Michigan has always performed best (at least in my lifetime) when the expectations were low, and underachieved when the expectations were high.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
As evidenced by 1997: Pre-season #16. Most expected another ho-hum 8-4 campaign.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:30 AM ^
8-4 is yet again considered ho-hum for Michigan football.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:23 AM ^
One common theme I have seen among much of the MSM is how much of an impact Marve is going to have at Purdue which I find odd because his numbers at Miami (YTM) were mediocre at best.
Actually they were terrible. Threet-esque.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:29 AM ^
he was a higly ranked recruit and has now had another year. i expect him to impress.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:49 AM ^
He was ranked one spot ahead of Threet.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:16 PM ^
yeah, i kind of expect threet to pan out eventually too.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:26 PM ^
I know he's got a good shot at starting at ASU this year, but he was god-awful. Even if he takes big steps I can't seem him being very good.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:44 PM ^
August 10th, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^
I'll just let the heisman committee know then....there is no way that won't work out!
August 10th, 2010 at 11:42 AM ^
Threet gets too much hate. Sheridan was terrible. Threet was a freshman in an offense that didn't suit him with very little around him on a team learning an entirely new offense. He was knicked up for much of the season. He still managed to put up slightly above average numbers for a freshman. Hell, his TD/INT ratio was almost identical to Forcier's last year. Personally, I feel that Threet probably would have put up at the very least similiar numbers to Tate if he was around last year.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:50 AM ^
I'm not trying to insult the guy, he just wasn't any good. Marve was no better.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:55 AM ^
But that's my point. Threet was fine. He wasn't bad. He was basically an average freshman QB (statistically) even with all the things working against him.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:06 PM ^
He really wasn't.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:53 AM ^
I don't think that is too accurate. 9/7 TDs to INT ratio compared to 13/10 is just about the only thing "similar." Tate had double the passing yards, a much higher completion percentage, and his QB rating was quite a bit higher as well. Threet gets about as much hate as he deserved - it isn't as thought the offense is the reason he regularly overthrew receivers, it is because he just wasn't that good. Unless you are suggesting the being under center causes you to become more accurate, in which case Steven Threet's spring game numbers at ASU would like to talk to you because they disagree.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:05 PM ^
I was saying if Threet was the QB last year (as a sophmore) I believe his numbers would have been at least similiar to Tate as a freshman. I thought that was pretty obvious.
The point is that he put up fine (read: average) numbers for a freshman QB. He doesn't deserve all the hate he gets. Sheridan, yes. Threet. no.
August 10th, 2010 at 8:30 PM ^
give any hate to Sheridan, a kid who was a walk-on, who from everything I heard, gave it everything he had. Did he have the physical tools to make the passes needed? No. Is it his fault he was the best thing we had available? No. He gave it everything he had, and for that, I appreciate him. Now if this was the Lions, it would be another story, because those are professionals. But Sheridan....I'm gonna lay off him.
August 10th, 2010 at 8:37 PM ^
Neither of them deserve "hate".
August 10th, 2010 at 9:49 PM ^
They were both ill-suited to this offense, and played behind a patchwork o-line.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:55 AM ^
Put Threet on the 2001 team and I don't think you see much difference between him and Navarre.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:05 PM ^
Threet 2008 QB Rating: 105.3
Forcier 2009 QB Rating: 128.1
Threet Comp Pct 2008: 51
Tate Comp Pct 2009: 58.7
Threet yds/att: 5.5
Forcier yds/att: 7.3
Threet TD: 9
Forcier TD: 13
Threet Int 2008: 7
Tate Int 2009: 10
Threet's numbers were not good at all. I'm not one to dog the guy, as he played his ass off when he was the only option in the wrong offense, but he was bad in 2008.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:12 PM ^
And didn't we have a diary that showed that Tate basically played at the level of an average second year starter? Tate was clearly ahead of where Threet was when each were freshman. And once again. Threet's numbers were not bad for a first year starter/freshman. They were average. There's no question in my mind that with another year in the system, he at least matches Tate's numbers from last year.
No one is trying to say Threet is equal to/better than Tate. Not at all.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:25 PM ^
What I'm saying is that Threet was very well below the average freshman. You keep saying he was average, but the numbers don't add up.
Threet QB Rating: 105.3
Average: 118
Threet Comp Pct: 51
Average: 55.8
Threet Yards/Att: 5.5
Average: 6.7
August 10th, 2010 at 1:36 PM ^
Those are pretty specific numbers to not have a citation.
August 10th, 2010 at 1:58 PM ^
http://mgoblog.com/diaries/mcalibur
(splitting the white rainbow)
Both were incredibly easy to find.
August 10th, 2010 at 2:49 PM ^
Yards per attempt is a little misleading for Threet, as the line was so bad it seemed like about half the passes that year were screens (although that doesn't help the completion percentage number, certainly).
Since 2004, sixty-four freshman QB's have thrown at least 100 passes in a season (BCS conferences + ND only). Of those 64:
35 had the same or less TD's (54.7%)
41 had the same or more INT's (64.1%)
37 had a worse TD/INT ratio (57.8%)
23 had a worse completion percentage (35.9%)
21 had less yards (32.8%)
I also think it's a little slippery to pick out the numbers from mCalibur that Threet doesn't match up in, but leave out TD rate and INT rate, where he was above average.
August 10th, 2010 at 2:51 PM ^
As you say, the amount of screen passes probably hurt his yards per attempt, but shouldn't that boost his completion percentage, since he's throwing... 1 yard down field? Also with screens, I would hope that you don't have many picks since you are throwing.... 1 yard down field.
August 10th, 2010 at 1:18 PM ^
No Threet was pretty bad. He couldn't even make basic throws much of the time to wide open guys. 51% completion and 5.5 yards per attempt is really bad. It's bad even for a freshman.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:01 PM ^
Marve: 116/213 (54.5%), 6.1 yd/att, 9 td, 13 int
Threet: 102/200 (51.0%), 5.5 yd/att, 9 td, 7 int
Marve was actually worse. With better people around him he had slightly better completion percentage and yards per attempt, but nearly twice as many picks in about the same number of attempts.
Marve could have a big year and I wouldn't knock Purdue fans for being excited about him after spring practice any more than I would knock UM fans for being excited about D Robinson. But I think it's a mistake to assume that an unproven player is going to be good just because he looked good in practice.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:35 PM ^
Stats Overview | Passing | |||||||||
YEAR | CMP | ATT | YDS | CMP% | YPA | LNG | TD | INT | SACK | RAT |
2008 | 102 | 200 | 1105 | 51.0 | 5.53 | 51 | 9 | 7 | 15 | 105.26 |
Stats Overview | Passing | |||||||||
YEAR | CMP | ATT | YDS | CMP% | YPA | LNG | TD | INT | SACK | RAT |
2008 | 116 | 213 | 1293 | 54.5 | 6.07 | 69 | 9 | 13 | 18 | 107.19 |
Wow. I didn't think they'd be that close.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^
I'd rather have us under-hyped by the MSM than overrated. We have no where to go but up, and I have a distinct feeling that'll we'll be able to show great improvement this year. I'm not sure what our record will be at the end of the season (I'd like to think 8-9 wins), but either way, I think momentum will be on our side for 2011.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:26 AM ^
Bleacher Report has us at 6, and it's written by a WVU guy (apparently).
Of course, this guy also has MSU ahead of PSU, and Illinois ahead of Purdue and NU.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
writes for the bleacher report. I'm surprised he didn't have "Pandas" somewhere in his top 3.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:48 AM ^
Was cool. If he was in the Top 3, I'd believe it.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:01 PM ^
Bleacher Report should be renamed Blech Report
August 10th, 2010 at 12:58 PM ^
It should be renamed "404 Error: File not found"
August 10th, 2010 at 8:32 PM ^
when you laugh at this. And I laughed. Well done.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:42 PM ^
Putting MSU ahead of PSU isn't ridiculous if you think PSU's QB situation is going to really hurt them and believe that MSU's defense can take a step forward (I still think a decent passing attack should shred MSU this year, but reasonable minds can differ). Cousins was pretty damn good last year, and while his Blair White safety blanket is gone it isn't like they've got a bunch of chumps to throw to either.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:48 PM ^
Fo sho. As much as we joke about Sparty's inferiority complex, our superiority complex may be worse. They are returning a lot of quality players, and had very solid play out of Cousins last year. If their new offensive line meshes, MSU may be a pretty good team.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:28 AM ^
They mean as much as my perfect marks in the only class I took at Washtenaw Community College: neither is worth a mention.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:29 AM ^
Purdue never has a player with the kind of natural ability Marve has, which should help them. Still, they lost three wide receivers, their entire secondary, three linemen who will be replaced by underclassmen, and starting runningback (injury), on a team that had the worst rush defense in the Big 10 last year.
August 10th, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^
Unfortunately, UM was tied for last in the conference with Purdue in yds/carry allowed.