Section 1

October 5th, 2011 at 5:46 PM ^

I had thought that some of the more discerning Michigan fans, with memories that go back 24 or 25 months or so, were just thinking that we had started the last two seasons 4-0 and 5-0.  And so yeah, there is that.

Which naturally links us to this Onion headline:

"Insane Moron Draws Conclusion From NFL Preseason Game"

http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/insane-moron-draws-conclusion-from-nfl-preseason-g,21211/ 

Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 16535

One Inch Woody…

October 5th, 2011 at 6:05 PM ^

But there's also this thing of:

Preseason - "Michigan will suck"

After Game 1:
"Omg Carder and Jordan White torched us through the air.. we were just *lucky* we didn't lose that game. ND will blow us out"

After Game 2:
"We were so lucky to beat ND, they were torching us through the ground and with Michael Floyd! Can you BELIEVE they scored 24 points on us? Jeez, we must suck. Eastern will put up a lot of points on us" (I'm not counting those last two touchdowns)

After Game 3:
"Can you BELIEVE Eastern scored 3 points on us?? We must be so terrible at defense. We can't even stop the 6th best rushing attack in the country... Ryan Lindley is an NFL caliber quarterback and the best one we'll see all year. Ronnie Hillman is in contention for the Heisman! Lindley will carve up our secondary because our front 7 suck".

After Game 4:
"SDSU was a cupcake! Lindley is one of the worst, if not the worst, quarterback we'll face all year. Also, we got really lucky... I mean, it's not like players are taught to punch out the ball. Ronnie Hillman is one of the worst RBs in the country. Minnesota has Marqueis Gray who will rush all over us and a good enough defense to stop our extremely bad passing game"

After Game 5:
"Minnesota is the worst team in the FBS, along with USC who they narrowly beat on the road. Persa is an extremely tough QB who will carve up our weak secondary and their defense will stop the run because they held Illinois to 86 yards despite giving up 400+ to Army the week prior."

These aren't exact quotes, but it's the general distillation of what people are saying/thinking about each upcoming game.

At this rate, the bottom 12 teams in the FBS according to what Michigan fans think and will think are, in no particular order: Eastern, Minnesota, Western Michigan, SDSU, ND, Northwestern, MSU, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and OSU.

Last year, complaining about an FCS school putting up 35 points and losing by 7 was legitimate, as well as complaining about Indiana putting up 35. Complaining about 4 FBS schools hanging a combined 20 points on us and a legitimate preseason BCS contender hanging 24 on us, though, is just silly.

Joined: 06/25/2011

MGoPoints: 1434

Section 1

October 5th, 2011 at 6:24 PM ^

You really think those made-up quotes are representative of anything?  An honest "general distillation" of what members of this Board have been saying?

Anyway, with regard to MSU and OSU being suck-ass teams this year, it has already started.  You don't have to make up quotes; you can select from any of these real, live quotes:

http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/thoughts-michigan-state-and-tsio-game 

Now, with MSU and OSU sucking so horribly, and with Hoke having changed the tide in the rivalry (Hell, people in Ohio are starting to believe him) there's probably no way Michigan won't go undefeated.  In fact, we might even see an "exponentially better" record by the end of the year.  Who predicted that?  I'm trying to recall.  Start the countdown clocks to 12-0.

Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 16535

Anonymosity

October 5th, 2011 at 6:37 PM ^

But Minnesota actually IS the worst team in FBS.  And they didn't beat USC.

It makes me smile- those f'ing Gophers are the only team in all of football I actively root against.  They just make me so MAD.  I wish Miami hadn't choked away that game against them.  Maybe we'd finally see Minnesota demoted to 1-AA, where they belong.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 2482

VBSoulPole

October 5th, 2011 at 8:42 PM ^

The way I look at it, EMU and Minn. both suck, SDSU and WMU are mediocre, and ND is an above average team (I hate the domers but still think they get 9 wins),

No one's being a Debbie Downer by wanting the team to win a few games on the road against good teams (one of which is a heated rivalry). There's a difference between being pessimistic and realistic. 

Realistically, some people won't start thinking conference championship until we put NW and MSU in their place, and there's nothing wrong with that. 

Joined: 09/01/2009

MGoPoints: 418

jmblue

October 5th, 2011 at 9:39 PM ^

The Games 1, 2 and 4 ones are pretty accurate, but the Game 3 one should be like this:

"Can you believe EMU (of all teams) ran for 150 yards?  How many are we going to give up to Hillman next week?  And WTF is Borges doing?  Most of his pass plays fail miserably, and the few that work are unsustainable.  By week 3, Denard should have gotten the offense down pat.  Clearly, his success last year was all on the staff.  If only our head coach weren't fat.  America needs to fight obesity." 

 

 

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 102725

Wendyk5

October 5th, 2011 at 6:11 PM ^

It's called self-protection. We say these things so that if (a big if) it happens, our disappointment won't crush us. We were expecting it, and we have the facts and statistics to prove it. 

Joined: 11/20/2008

MGoPoints: 67419

AMazinBlue

October 5th, 2011 at 7:16 PM ^

the quick, yet steady decline of progress (after each non-conference schedule) that Michigan fans endured over the course of the last three seasons, I believe many are a little "gun-shy" and don't want to believe what they see too much.

Until this team takes care of business on the road and then destroys Sparty in two weeks, I think there will remain many fans that are not 100% convinced that the culture has changed back to Michigan Football!

Joined: 10/12/2008

MGoPoints: 7197

EGD

October 5th, 2011 at 8:02 PM ^

To me, the rationality of these concerns depend on what people would consider a good outcome for this team. 

If you think the 2011 Wolverines are competing for a (mythical) national championship and you will be crushed if they lose a single game, then I think you sell this team short because your expectations are unrealistic.

If you think the 2011 Wolverines are competing for a BIG title and you will be disappointed if they fail to achieve it--even if that means winning the Legends Division but losing to a stacked Wisconsin team in Indy, then I can understand where you are coming from but still think you should lighten up a tad.

If you think this team is just trying to put up 9-10 regular season wins, beat our traditional rivals, maybe win the Legends Division and get into a respectable bowl game, then I think your expectations are about right.  But in all seriousness, if this team fails to achieve those goals, then it's almost certainly going to be because we have a couple bad games or get a couple bad breaks--not because Michigan isn't "back."

If you're afraid of another second-half collapse resembling 2009 or 2010, then you might just be paranoid.

 

Joined: 09/16/2009

MGoPoints: 35199

LB

October 5th, 2011 at 8:26 PM ^

I'm not quite willing to think we might win big games here with a new staff. There is no historical precedent for anything like that ever happening, right?

Joined: 09/26/2009

MGoPoints: 25494

jhackney

October 5th, 2011 at 8:36 PM ^

If you jump in a pool that is fridged four times, it is natural instinct to dip your toes the fifth time. Unless you have a pool heater, then you are tsio.

Joined: 12/11/2008

MGoPoints: 19772

M-Go-Away

October 5th, 2011 at 11:42 PM ^

I don't think anyone on this board has ever combined stupid and Hoke in the same sentence. The Under utilized Devin portion is completely accurate though. Let us not also forget how terrible Denard is as a QB and how our running backs are utter garbage. If we remain this terrible we might luck ourselves right into the BiG championship game....but of course we will get trounced by Wisconsin.....

Joined: 08/16/2011

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