Hell of a season

Submitted by GoBlueBill on

I know, the season didnt end up the way we all wanted it to. But we are so  much better off now than under Hoke and Rich Rod .

We lost 3 games by a total of 5 points .

Look at the whole season , dont just look at the last part .

Dont complain and cry because we didnt win every game .

I consider this season a  success and I hope it is leading to better things .

I hope everyone enjoys the off season for Football and I'll see you all next Fall .

 

GO BLUE

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Year of Revenge II

December 31st, 2016 at 12:41 AM ^

Disappointing season given the start, but a step forward nevertheless. Big challenges for next year with all the loss of players, but youngsters may be up to it.

Need better O line play. Better QB play. More elite playmakers. Only 2 full JH classes on team next year though. Many will be playing, a good thing.

Great effort from this team though. Just too bad they couldn't find ways to finish the deal. Perhaps the way it was meant to be...so close.

Probably a good thing O line will not have to face Bama.



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The Fugitive

December 31st, 2016 at 12:55 AM ^

It was fun whooping up on overmatched teams at home to start the year.  Once we got to teams with a pulse, it was tough sledding.

Not really sure how this season is considered a success.
Didn't make the Playoff
Didnt win the B1G
Didn't win the East
Didn't beat OSU
Didn't win our bowl game

Lost 3 of 4 by 5 points to end the year while being horrible on offense.

Is the future bright? Yea, but we are talking about THIS season, and man, it just could have been so much better.  That's what stings.

Joined: 01/26/2016

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Michigan4Life

December 31st, 2016 at 12:48 AM ^

With the schedule, Michigan should not have no less than 1 loss and they lost to a meh Iowa so that's automatically a failure in my book. I had OSU as a toss up but the rest of the season a win for Michigan. 

Bowl game is whatever because it's meaningless outside of the playoff.

 

With Jake Butt's injury, I bet we'll see more players sitting out to protect themselves from potentially hurting their draft stock.  Players sitting out would result in a playoff expansion more than a controversy of team(s) getting left out.

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mjv

December 31st, 2016 at 12:54 AM ^

The OSU game was a robbery.  Iowa was poor officiating, but we were terrible.

The refs had zero to do with the outcome of this game.  The refs weren't the reason why our players were in a haze for the first quarter.  The refs didn't blow a 1st and Goal at the 1.  The refs didn't throw passes like Nick Sheridan.  

Our team was terrible on both sides of the ball in the first quarter.  The defense woke up after that.  But the offense spent the vast majority of the game shooting itself in the foot.

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mjv

December 31st, 2016 at 12:49 AM ^

This was not a great season.  Maybe good.  But definitely not anything better than that.  

Our OL and QB were demonstrated to be average to poor.  And until those two areas get fixed, this is going to be a team that underperforms.  

Speight is far too inconsistent to win a championship.  Unless he was broken -- which can't exdplain the Iowa debacle, he is a Hoke QB in the mold of the Hoke OL.

We really need a QB to step up and win the job next year (Peters perhaps) or we are going to be looking at another season of inexplicable losses where the QB goes cold for long stretches of the game.  

All three losses -- long stretches of Speight losing his ability to throw accurately or on time.

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mjv

December 31st, 2016 at 1:08 AM ^

It was really close to being a great season -- that is what makes great seasons so special.  

I'm old enough that I grew up watching Bo's teams have the difference between good and great seasons come down to the outcome against OSU and the bowl game.  And also be at most of the games in 1997 when an elite defense and a very consistent QB won a national championship.  Griese had one half (1st half against Iowa) where he was bad and it nearly derailed a perfect season.

Until our OL becomes dominant and can run the ball at will, Speight is not consistent enough to go undefeated.  He's good enough to pound on weak competition, but not good enough to play 3-4 highly contested games in a single season and will all of them.

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mjv

December 31st, 2016 at 2:44 AM ^

I agree.  There are only two programs that are at that level right now -- Alabama and OSU.  And for the first time since Bo retired, I think that we have a chance to be at that level. 

The success Harbaugh & Co. have in recruiting and the on field success that the coaching staff has had with leftover QBs and a broken OL is actually very encouraging.  What is discouraging is that the OL is going to take time and I'm concerned that the experience Speight had this year is going to make it very difficult for another QB to catch him.  

And with the attrition on defense, I suspect that there will be a greater premium placed on ball security next year, which makes the QB with more game reps (regardless of ultimate potential) much more difficult to displace.

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MichiganMAN47

December 31st, 2016 at 12:50 AM ^

This year is the most disappointing that I can remember. If we just had ONE break this year in any of the games we lost we would likely be looking at some sort of championship. So much talent to accomplish nothing this year but a win over a 3-9 MSU team... I really hope we accomplish our goals next year.

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ColoradoBlue

December 31st, 2016 at 12:56 AM ^

I can think of LOTs of seasons more disappointing than this one.  It's not even the most disappointing 3-loss season I can remember.  Now, if you're referring to how close those losses were, then I agree.  Most gut-wrenching season, perhaps, but not the most disappointing.

 

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Dr. Emil Shuffhausen

December 31st, 2016 at 12:54 AM ^

I hope Coach does some soul searching this

off season and gets this now young team

on the right track.  You either get better or

you get worse with a razor thin separation

line.  And that goes for every Coach, Assistant

and Player out there. 

 

Admit when you fail and leave no

stone unturned in search for a better

way to do things.

 

I am proud of all the players and coaches

and excited for the coming years.  We

will become a lock down team when all

the pieces are in place and I think we'll

be suprised on how well we do next

year with such a young team. 

 

The Future is Bright My Friends, have

a Great New Year and Stay Safe!

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MGoPoints: 724

goblue16

December 31st, 2016 at 12:59 AM ^

Crap shit season. We matched the same record of 2015 with far more talent and experience. Season is a failure stop sugar coating it



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FA_Wolverine

December 31st, 2016 at 1:05 AM ^

Though I am disappointed in the finish of the season, I am optimistic. Harbaugh is our coach and we are recruiting really well. Our D plays really well, and we have playmakers coming on offense. Lots of youth. Next year will be similar, but after that we should be rolling in good classes and winning the tough games that we couldn't this year. Keep your heads up, turn arounds take some time.



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Harbaughs_Pants

December 31st, 2016 at 1:13 AM ^

You read on mostly other boards how Peppers is overrated. I think after tonight you can see that his presence means a lot to the team. For those out there on 11 Slappy's and RCMB who can't see Peppers value as a player, I say they really don't know football beyond a casual observers eye.

With that said, why was he in the pressbox? Why not on the sidelines cheering on his team mates?

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kurpit

December 31st, 2016 at 1:14 AM ^

If ever there was a way for 10-3 to feel like a disappointment, they've done it. You go from verge of the playoffs to choking that and the conference away down the stretch and get on the wrong end of yet another instant classic in the bowl game.

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M-Dog

December 31st, 2016 at 1:18 AM ^

We were just 3 plays of about 2 inches each away from undefeated:

- The Iowa interception where the ball was taken from Chesson.

- The Barrett 4th down.

- The missed tackle on the FSU kick off returner out of the end zone. 

If you shift just those 3 plays a couple of inches in the other direction, we are undefeated.

That's close. 

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