Pre-Fall Camp Season Prediction Thread 2017
I think this team is talented and well coached enough to get ten wins. They can beat Florida, PSU and Wisconsin i-ffffff.....the offensive line and Wilton Speight can play good on the road. That's all they have to do. Play good. Not great, not super and not spectacular. Just don't die in the big game on the road when the opposing team's fans call you mean names. Hopefully these dudes just mentioned had their balls galvanized this offseason and can get it done.
If Speight plays all year in 2017 I don't see Peters unseating him in 2018
I used to get annoyed with "meh" seasons like 10-3 and then the RichRod & Hoke Comedy Hour happened and I am now pretty much okay with 10-3.
We beat OSU at home on Senior Day. I don't think we'll make mistakes to keep them in the game this year.
If, by mistakes, you mean we won't have two OSU fans on the field posing as officials, then, yeah, I think were solid.
#yepstillpissed
As a Vegas guy, I have stopped listening to Vegas. Most of the time they are relatively close. Other times, like Harbaugh's first game against o$u where we were the favorites and ended up getting blown out, they are way, way, (way!) the hell off. So for them to say that we are the favorites when the season hasn't even started I think is a little silly.
My most logical feelings:
I think Michigan starts the season off by beating Florida in a competitive game, leading to a strong 6-0 start.
That said, I think that at least one of the home non-conference games, the Michigan State game and possibly @Indiana will all be wins that feel a lot "closer" than they should be and we will have some very close calls.
I then think Michigan will lose in Happy Valley, in the first true showing of the teams' youth, probably by 10-14 points after PSU adds on a few fourth quarter scores (I think this loss will be due to our offense sputtering, primarily).
Michigan will use the PSU loss as a wakeup call, come home and smash Rutgers on homecoming for the biggest win (margin wise) of the season, and follow it up with solidly beating Minnesota and Maryland.
I think our team is then able to just barely get the edge and defeat the Badgers in Madison, a Wisconsin team that will be top ten at the time; I like our matchup stylistically in this game. This big win will be the best regular season win of Harbaugh's first few years up to this point and Michigan's first top ten road win in eons.
Then...The Game. My head tells me that Michigan loses another close one in agonizing fashion to an OSU team that finishes a 12-0 season, wins the next week in Indy, and heads to the playoff as the #1 seed.
Another 3rd place Big Ten East finish and an 0-3 record against the Buckeyes officially will end Harbaugh's honeymoon phase, although the more rational parts of the fanbase will correctly point to the promising future and the fact that Ohio State was such a strong team as reasons why we shouldn't panic.
At 10-2, Michigan is slotted into one of the New Year's Six Bowls, where we notch a win and pump up the optimism for 2018 and erase the doubts that set in over the month of December between The Game and the bowl game. Pressure will be high for 2018.
Still unsure of the Florida game. I had this down as a sure W until the Zaire transfer. He's the type of QB we typically have problems with. Their offense is horrendous so it'll come down to how Speight plays, assuming he's the starter. I still think we sneak by in a low scoring game.
Air Force may bring in a really good team and I think that game will be much closer than most expect. I didn't even realize Luke Fickell moved to Cincinnatti. He took a bad o$u team to the Big House and almost won. I don't think that game will be competitive at all, just an observation.
My losses are @ Wisky, @ Penn State, and o$u.
9-3 and a win in whatever somewhat crappy sub-par bowl game we end up in to put us at another 10 win season. Which I'm not complaining about. It's much better than we had with the 2 previous coaches.
"If, by mistakes, you mean we won't have two OSU fans on the field posing as officials, then, yeah, I think were solid."
I get that you're still pissed. The refs definitely made some shady calls. The no call on the PI and for Harbaugh throwing the paper. Coaches have done much worse and we never saw a flag. But let's keep it real. Speight threw a pick, a pick 6, and fumbled on the o$u 1. If just one of those things don't happen, we win the game.
I agree IF Speight hadn't made all the mistakes he made UM would have won despite the shitty officiating but, and this is just an opinion, I firmly believe that if the refs had called the penalties that OSU committed throughout the game UM would have won even with the mistakes Speight made.
Btw, I did not neg you as your point is valid.
I had 6 numbers I could win the lottery
Bullshit.
Go back and watch that game. UM got hosed.
You should care. Both of OSU's trips to the CFP have been a result of shitty officiating: 2014 game at PSU which they won in OT had multiple WTF? calls in OSU's favor. OSU would not have gone to the CFP with 2 losses that season...oh, they won the championship that year in case you forgot. Admittedly, their CFP appearance last season didn't go all that well but they still get to tell recruits that if they come to OSU they'll play for national championships.
Change those two wins (2014 @ PSU and 2016 v UM) to the losses they would have been with fair officiating and OSU would have 0 national championships, 0 CFP appearances and only 1 Big Ten title in Meyer's 5 years at OSU. I bet their recruiting would be significantly less awesome in that scenario.
see? this is hilarious
i love it tbh
UM 27 - FL 13
UM 52 - Cincinnati 20
UM 34 - Air force 24
UM 49 -. Purdue 16
UM 31 - MSU 13
UM 38 - IU 25
UM 30 - PSU 31
UM 63 - Rutgers 6
UM 59 - MN 26
UM 45 - Maryland 31
UM 20 - Wisconsin 9
UM 33 - OSU 31
BIG championship UM 41 - WI 27
4 losses
Offseason will be rough around here
Hope I am wrong. After a senior laden class had 3 losses last year, just do not see it any better than
8-4
you are overselling Speight
Peters is probably at least as good as he is right now
Coach Harbaugh is giving WS the benefit of the doubt to start the year
The leash is short tho, IMO
Higdon has pro potential
I agree on him and worry about RS Frosh from NJ
Go Blue!
:-)
11-1, with the lone loss coming away at either WI or PSU. Big 10 Championship game victory, followed by wins in semi's and title game of playoff. National Championship #1 for Harbaugh-led Michigan team.
If we lose to PSU it could be difficult to get to the championship game. Would need them to lose an additional Big Ten game besides at Ohio State.
PSU will lose at Iowa.
Book it.
Pep Hamilton's new offensive scheme with more 4 WRs sets. More wide open?
Greg Frey's OL coaching and zone blocking scheme, with his success at Indiana.
On the other side, Kevin Wilson's new offensive play calling that should open up OSU's offense from what we've seen the past couple years. It will be up to Barrett to make it work. The fact that Frey worked with Wilson at IU, should give Don Brown a head start.
Add in Drevno's offensive play calling that went into a shell at the end of the season. I thought that early season plays were setting up surprise variations to be sprung at the end of the season. Instead, he (&JH) threw it all on the table and had nothing new left, when needed, becoming very predictable.
With that, I'll go with 11-1. Penn State & Whisky have more experience, but less talent. I think the kiddies will have it figured out by then.
I also hope that Peters gets a lot of playing time in early season blowouts and can get on top of the play book. He has a higher ceiling than Speight and I would have more confidence in him for the big games.
Everyone makes it through healthy.