2012 OSU Spring Game - Compare and Contrast
http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2012/04/five-things-spring-game
As you may recall, 2012 OSU featured the introduction of a new, elite coach to OSU after a crap season, and he brought with him an entirely new offense. The sanctioned bastards went on to an undefeated season with a team that in all likelihood would have been defeated in a BCS bowl (even sanctions somewhat seem to fall in their unholy favor). So how did their spring compare to ours? This is not apples to apples; among other things, 2012 OSU was in a different place as an overall program and had a different degree and distribution of talent. But similarities appear as well, notably in the form of a renewed culture of competition.
Check the link to read for yourself and draw conclusions. For the lazy or disinclined, here's the spoiler: they looked better than we did, in large part due to solid QB play. Final score of 20-14.
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Exactly. Meyer couldn't have asked for a more perfect fit for his offense the moment he showed up on campus. If he doesn't have Miller, there's no way on this planet they get anywhere near undefeated that year.
That's a luxury Harbaugh doesn't have right now. He will be churning out great QBs here soon enough, but it might not be anyone currently on the roster.
Don't be surprised if Harbuagh turns Morris into a "great QB," or at least helps him attain his potential. It's a long time until September.
I agree. Shane already looked much improved in the spring game, with just 15 Harbaugh practices. He's got the ability and the coaching is likely to pay big dividends.
Then comparing one spring game to a different teams spring game from 2012.
I can. Posting a comment ripping on it.
I've found something much more pointless.
Fight nice, guys.
Although, have you checked out the 2014 Texas spring game they had a new coach too.
Here is some video for further pointless analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf9MkACnT7I
As the OP mentioned, the talent level is the difference maker and they have the second best coach in the country. While Harbaugh has done wonderful things as a coach, he doesn't have the résumé that Meyer does and it will take a while to get it. Meyer did not have to rebuild whatsoever. He fell into a talent-infested program and also had the benefit of playing in a horrible conference (talent-wise per team). He also knew exactly who the QB was going to be right when he took the job. Now, I hope Jim can do the same thing, but have a feeling it is a year or two from happening.
In the college game, yes. Though it depends on how you want to try to work in his pro years and your definition of "a lot."
Harbaugh, before things soured in SF, did some impressive things there. Meyer has no pro experience, so Harbaugh's resume is better there. And I think Meyer would not have that kind of sucess in the NFL, so don't take this as a slam on your coach.
Harbaugh had one good and one great season at Stanford. He also had a couple great seasons and one good one at the FCS level. He also beat Va Tech, something Meyer hasn't done, and won a BCS game. But, in college:
Harbaugh 58-27, 2 conference championships, 1-1 in bowls, 0 MNCs
Meyer 142-26, 5 conference championships, 9-2 in bowls*, 2 MNCs & 1 NAMNC
Talking about apples and oranges, if you want to combine Harbaugh's Pro and College records, I come up with:
102-46, 4 conference championships, 6-4 in bowls/postseason
If you combine, I guess it comes down to your definition of a lot better. And to be fair, NFL wins are worth more, in my mind, than college wins.
*The site I used listed his record as 8-2 in bowls and 1-0 in College Football Championship games, I just mushed them together.
I'm going to disagree with you about Meyers; he had to completely rebuild the O-line and the defense.
I enjoy them.
These things aren't related. Meyer recieved a program that was humming along from Tressel aside from one bad season. Harbaugh has to overhaul this team and teach these kids how to win.
Wait, the defending national champions looked better than a 5-7 team with a coach who has been here for three months? Tell us more OP!
Let's not forget that OSU won the B1G title every year, or just about, from 2005-10. They had exactly one bad season, when they had Adam Sandler coaching them and some key players suspended. 2011 was a fluke, not indicative of the program Meyer inherited.
Harbaugh is inheriting this in terms of Rivals class ranking
2012: #7
2013: #5
2014: #31 (but this is the 16 member class)
It's not as good as Meyer inherited at OSU, and I think some of our guys were overrated (don't know about OSU) but the talent is there for Harbaugh & Michigan. I think that's why people think that excellent coaching can get us to 9/ 9+ wins.
OSU never stopped seeing themselves as winners. I think that so many lousy / mediocre seasons in a row has infested the Michigan program like a cancer. One of Harbaugh's biggest tasks is going to be changing the team culture back to what Michigan was historically.
I think we're going to do better than a lot of people expect we will next year, but I'm not ruling out the possibility of a multi-year rebuild. Although, I think we've already hit bottom. I don't expect that Michigan will have another losing season.
Ever.
But infusing culture is Harbaugh's primary genius. The 49ers missed the playoffs the preceding 8 years before Jim's arrival as head coach. So what happened in year 1? They went to the NFC championship game.
So... something like that can happen here, this year. This is why I just paid a huge pile of money to purchase tickets for this year's UM-OSU game with my sons. It could be truly epic.
an argument from me on that point. Personally I think JH is going to turn things around pretty quickly, especially with Rudock coming in to provide a good floor for QB play next year. I'm hoping that the awful OL play during the Spring Game was just a function of the draft format and that the TE's can make up for the WR's not being able to catch anything.
I might have waited on tickets for The Game though. The price would probably have dipped a bit after the season starts, especially if we drop a game or two.
The tickets were pretty expensive. Much more so than the 2011 game, which was the last time I went (as my avatar shows, I live in South Carolina, so it's not all that easy to make a game). You may be right about prices dropping later, but I was worried that we might look great against early competition and then the tickets will go through the roof. We'll see.
It is hard to compare...were their teams drafted, or was it 1's v 1's and 2's v 2's? One could say they looked better because they scored more, but another could say our D looked more dominant because we only gave up 7 vs. them giving up 34. At the end of the day, I don't give two flying ****s what they did 3 years ago, or this spring for that matter.
Yes. 2012 OSU's defense was quite average to bad, in fact. They squeaked by against some pretty bad teams that year (and beat some decent ones). They were a bit of a paper tiger.
OSU's defense in 2012 was horrendous. Average to bad defenses don't put the starting fullback in at middle linebacker because he's the best tackler on the team.
Here's a review from Stanford's 2010 spring game with Andrew Luck. The following year at Stanford, without Harbaugh, they tried 1st string vs 2nd string and the score was a tad bit different.
But this 2010 game, with a draft, seems rather similar to what happened Saturday.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2010/04/18/stanford-football…
Oh yeah, and Stanford finished #4 that year
Yes they did have a great season. But is Shane a year away from being the number one pick in the draft and being called the most NFL ready QB since Peyton Manning?
And that's the point, they did have the most NFL ready QB since Peyton and they had a very similar game/score to ours (The Cardinal with one less touchdown in 4 qtrs) and The Cardinal did alright that year.
"The game itself wasn’t the most exciting of events"
"skullcrushing boredom"
"After four quarters, it was 3-3."
"2.5 hours of football and didn’t see a touchdown"
The following year with Luck and 1's vs 2's, the score was 42-3.
Urban has usually divided the teams so one team has the No. 1 offense, and the No. 2 defense, and vice versa. That way 1s play against 1s, and 2s play against 2s. I am not sure how it was done in 2012.
Last Spring, Braxton was out due to an injury suffered in the Clemson game, and JT and Cardale looked really bad in the Spring game (though JT looked a little better). When Braton went down again just before games started in the Fall, OSU fans all thought we were in trouble.
A bad Spring game by your QB (in a new offensive system without the rest of the No. 1 offense around him) seems to me to be cause to worry, but not a big deal.
QB: Braxton Miller (So. RS) vs. miscellaneous question marks
RB: Jordan Hall (Sr. RS) and Carlos Hyde (Jr. beast) vs. miscellaneous question marks
WRs: Stoneburner (Sr. RS), Brown (Jr., RS), Fields (Jr. RS) vs. Darboh and miscellaneous question marks
OL: 3 returning starters (all juniors) plus Corey Lindsay (Jr.), who would go on to play in the NFL vs. a line that might gel into something good but has not been good up to now.
No comparison, as far as I can see. Urbz had a very good OL, an extremely promising QB with significant experience as a starter, and excellent, experienced skill players. We have an OL that could be good but hasn't been up to now and a junk lot of question marks.
Our defense will probably be better than OSU's in 2012, but our offense is certain to struggle in ways their 2012 offense never did.
Please don't compare us to them, thank you
I got to thinking about Stanford under Harbaugh and wondering what their games would have been like in the spring.
So I started searching and found this article about 2010. In reading the summary and seeing the initial final score (6-6) I felt that this is a much better comparison.
I also believe 2010 Stanford had a pretty nice year!
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2010/04/18/stanford-football…
Pretty much the same thing I already said with the same exact link and correct score at the end of 4
Wouldn't the better comparison be: Saint Harbaugh vs. Slithering Urbs...i don't give a crap the year, the prior record or the points scored. THIS is good vs. evil, and it's just 'bout time for good to TRIUMPH