The Unfortunate Pivot Point

Change in the team's psyche?  Half the dudes who seriously played in 2016 aren't even on the team anymore.  There doesn't always have to be a narrative.  The ball didn't bounce our way in the big moments in the tough games during that stretch.  It happens, man.

Considering that the majority of the starters this season didn't play in that Iowa game last year, I'd say it has zero to do with changing the team's psyche.

I do think you are expressing a shift in the collective psyche of the fanbase and trying to ascribe it to the team proper, which I don't think is reasonable.

no way this OP should be taken down.  For the most part, although there was a little bit of a crack in the shield after the Outback Bowl, the only acceptable narrative on this Board is "youth, injuries, Hoke, and poor offensive play."  If you look beyond that or attempt any form of analysis that does not begin and end with this fan speak, you are tagged as some form of conspiracy theorist. 

Truth is, we played inexplicably poorly that night against Iowa against a far inferior team and it came out of the blue.  I don't know if that was a "pivot point," however.  If, and I reiterate if, Harbaugh had the life sucked out of him, either temporarily or otherwise, I think it was likely the OSU game two weeks later that did it.  That was a huge game, one of the biggest regular season games I can remember in the history of college football, and the game was taken from the team by a combination of officiating and devastating errors.  I also think Harbaugh was more than a little dumfounded that his position as to the officiating was universally (outside of this fan base) regarded as whining by a lot of people who watched the game and should have agreed with him.

The team did not play with the same focus or effort against FSU.  It is understandable, and yes, we were down Peppers and Butt, but at least one of the FSU touchdowns and the kick return late in the fourth were effort and focus related when effort and focus had become the hallmarks of Harbaugh coached teams that we had come to know for the better part of two years.

Was there a pivot point?  I don't know.  Perhaps the job of building Michigan into a contender is even harder than Harbaugh anticipated.  Perhaps he has been coaching/recruiting/promoting etc. at a rate that is simply unsustainable.  Perhaps he does not allow his offensive coordinators to function as autonomously at they need to.  Perhaps they simply are not good college coordinators.  Do we have too many coordinators?  Perhaps the team is tiring late in the season due to the work ethic required all season long, if the marathon practices are accurate.  Is the offense too complicated?  Do we have the horses to run an offense that largely depends on every player winning their individual battle?  Will we have them?

All of these things are interesting to consider.  I think a lot of questions will be answered next year.  Did we simply have a bad season, plagued by injuries?  That is very possible.  Is there something more significant and systemic at play.  It remains to be seen.  If anything, we know that next year is going to be a very interesting year.

Maybe I worded it wrong, but the results of an outback bowl have no bearing on my view of this team. An exhibition ,1 month removed from the actual football season is meaningless both in terms of that season, and the following one. Nothing on the line, no B1G title. No championship. Why does it matter in context?

Of course the players care. Things like draft stock, last game with your brothers representing your team, your school. Last competitive football game for 9 months! Those things matter, and I'm always grateful to watch those seniors for the last time.

Go watch the last 2 minutes of the Florida State game last year. Speight (who you all loathe) led us back from a 20-6 deficit, only for the special teams to let up a stupid, awkward, mis-tackle induced kick return inside Michigan territory. Then FSU scores a TD over Jourdan Lewis of all people, who for the first time in 2 years was blanketing a WR and didn't have the chance to make a play on the ball. Just to make things wonkier, Michigan blocks the EP and returns it to the house to make it a 1 point game with 36 seconds left. We fell short in a weird, classic of a game between two blue blood, Top 10ish programs. Why does that reflect so poorly on the 2016 team, or Harbaugh? 

You had me except the part about Michigan having many tackles to replace Cole.  If Michigan has one major concern going into 2018, it's OL production at the tackles.  If Grant Newsome returns and is Grant Newsome again, we can dial down the concerns on this a bit, but it's probably THE question mark that will make or break Michigan in the upcoming season.

This plus our recruiting at the position hasn't gone well thusfar for this recruiting cycle, so I do worry about whether the pipeline is getting stocked to support sustained excellence into the future.

Much has been made about Bama and Georgia showcasing all the underclassmen talent in the Championship last night, but both teams were also pretty veteran in the trenches.  Alabama's dominance over the last decade is rooted in offensive and defensive lines loaded with NFL talent.  That was the foundation of Michigan's success for decades before the past decade of ineptitude.  It's no accident that strength of this team right now is a defense that is solid on the defensive front with talent and depth (the one thing we can thank Brady Hoke for).  Harbaugh and Co. have their work cut out for them to rebuild the offensive line ranks to the same level as what we have on the defensive side.

If / when they do, Michigan will be just fine and we'll be amazed as how good whoever is under center suddenly looks.

that's a pivot point, right?