Michigan Moves up to #15 in the Coaches Poll, Down To #19 In AP Poll

Submitted by FauxMo on

PSU is now #2, of course. So next weekend will be a pretty marquee game. 

The lines aren't out yet, but I am guessing PSU will be favored by something like 9 or 10. In my opinion, they should be favored by about 17. If O'Korn gets rattled during a day game at Indiana, he is going to curl up in the fetal position at PSU at night. 

FYI, a viable passing offense is an important part of modern college football. 

MOD EDIT - slight addition to catch all the poll discussion - LSA

michfan23

October 15th, 2017 at 3:21 PM ^

I’ll agree that polls really don’t matter that much 6 weeks into the season, but going down 2 spots is confusing to me. Let’s not act like we played well yesterday, but we trailed in the second half last year and went to multiple OT sessions against Indiana in recent history. I’m not defending he poor play on offense, but Indiana always plays Michigan well and in both those previous instances we didn’t drop two spots.

Now, is this motivation for Michigan, sure, it could be. The pressure is solely on Penn State in my opinion. The average fan doesn’t expect Michigan to win Saturday, so they should play like they have nothing to lose. Will that be enough to win, even I don’t think so, but college football is a crazy sport, stranger things have happened.

jgoblue11

October 15th, 2017 at 3:23 PM ^

Hopefully this will motivate the players and play the disrespekt card while stomping Penn State. I don't like our chances in this game. I do believe it will be a closer game than most think. Hopefully the weather is decent.

SpilledMilk

October 15th, 2017 at 3:29 PM ^

I actually think that PSU is a very winnable game for us. Their o line is suspect and Trace can't arm punt his way to a win against our secondary... OSU, on the other hand, may end up really bad for us (sadly).

lhglrkwg

October 15th, 2017 at 3:38 PM ^

Not saying they aren't good, but Alabama would waltz all over them and I suspect OSU will too.

Frankly, the whole poll shows just how "Alabama and 129 other teams" this year is. Georgia at 3? TCU at 4? Notre Dame at 13? It's all weird. Nobody this year looks legitimately like a national title threat but Alabama and (sigh) OSU. Everyone else looks like varying levels of non-descript 9-3/10-2 outfits

SpilledMilk

October 15th, 2017 at 3:46 PM ^

That Alabama isn't as strong this year as they've been in recent seasons. A high powered, balanced offense coupled with a serviceable defense will take Bama down... I just don't see them running into that type of team until the playoffs though

Ufer1955

October 15th, 2017 at 3:50 PM ^

I'm guessing line will be more like 6, and a piece of that due to PSU playing in their own stadium.

This does not sound like much, but it's mainly because a low scoring game is likely, something like 20-14 or 17-10.  This is a game where a lot of rain might be a good thing. 

fksljj

October 15th, 2017 at 4:12 PM ^

I believe we have a good shot to beat Wisconsin as they've been somewhat unimpressive lately. Firmly believe we'll lose to Penn State and o$u. In my book those are guaranteed losses. But, as a famous ex coach once said, that's why we play the game! Appalachian state, anyone?

chatster

October 15th, 2017 at 4:15 PM ^

This might explain why the AP ranking looks disappointing: Michigan is first in FBS in Total Defense; 86th in FBS in Total Offense. Marshall (92nd) and Kentucky (106) are the only five-win FBS teams ranked lower than Michigan in Total Offense.

By comparison, the other five-and-one FBS teams in alphabetical order are:
  • Kentucky (106th in total offense; 67th in total defense)
  • Marshall (92nd in total offense; 25th in total defense)
  • Memphis (14th in total offense; 116th in total defense; 25th in AP poll)
  • Michigan State (5th in total defense; 78th in total offense; 18th in AP poll)
  • Navy (18th in total offense, but first in rushing offense; 77th in total defense)
  • Notre Dame (21st in total offense; 48th in total defense; 13th in AP poll)
  • Oklahoma (3rd in total offense; 49th in total defense; 9th in AP poll)
  • Oklahoma State (1st in total offense; 53rd in total defense; 10th in AP poll)
  • Toledo (16th in total offense; 59th in total defense)
  • Virginia (60th in total offense; 18th in total defense)
  • Virginia Tech (25th in total offense; 23rd in total defense; 14th in AP poll)

bronxblue

October 15th, 2017 at 4:30 PM ^

What I don't get is how people can watch Miami vs GT, MSU vs Minnesota, and Michigan vs Indiana and believe those first two teams showed a lot of growth while Michigan looked worse and should drop. Not that the polls mean all that much, but MSU nearly blowing a big lead was legitimate. They didn't just let Minnesota back into the game lazily. MSU recovered two onside kicks and still missed a FG and let up a lot of passing yards to a team with a worse QB situation than Michigan.

MGoCombs

October 15th, 2017 at 5:22 PM ^

You can't just install triple option overnight. Considering the line has practiced a lot of zone blocking you could pepper in some zone read option, but unlikely they would be able to execute an advanced option playbook out of nowhere.

Wolfman

October 15th, 2017 at 8:11 PM ^

"Given the qb woes, how about going to a triple option look wilt O'Korn, Higdon and Walker and don't throw at all. It just might work." If someone were to do something that silly it would be better going with one of our ex h.s. qbs like Zach who can actually run. teaching our future the offense they will be working with and it'll be quite nice when all the pieces are finally in place. He did not have Gerhart and Luck in his first couple of years at Stanford either. 

 

 

hazardc

October 15th, 2017 at 7:00 PM ^

While I am more on the side of "WHO CARES, JUST WIN AND IT WONT MATTER," the way the ratings are manipulated really do have a profound effect on the total strength of the conference, which is complete bullshit. 

 

 

mi93

October 15th, 2017 at 9:27 PM ^

as others have said.  And those that vote also don't have much sense.  How, exactly, losing as a three TD favorite (UW, Clem, OK), or getting eviscerated at home (OSU) is somehow more acceptable than in a monsoon to a rival with the second string QB, I'll never understand.

Yes, our offense has been, uh, offensive, but the changes from last week to this week show the staff is preparing better.  Getting back to the plan for JOK from the 2H of Purdue will be key since the D can win games.

Regardless, I find the polls to be a bit ridiculous right now.