Rutger goals
1. Win the game. Obviously. Even though we are 40 point favorites you can never take a game for granted and this is a prime opportunity for a let down. More importantly, dominate the game like we should. Sometimes it’s good for a team to need a “wake up” late in the season, but I want to see this team stay laser focused and keep that emotional edge.
2. Get Peters some significant game action. He’s thrown one pass and it was a pick. If something were to happen to Shea, BP needs some game reps where he isn’t just handing the ball off. Hopefully he gets a couple of quarters to make some throws and build some confidence.
3. Restore Nordins confidence. Maybe we don’t kick a fg all game because we score TDs in every drive. But having Quinn knock in a couple of kicks would probably be great for his confidence. We will need him at some point this year.
4. Don’t show too much unless it’s something on film that we use to set something up later in the season. Obvious but worth pointing out.
5. Stay healthy.
November 8th, 2018 at 8:39 PM ^
I leave some Easter eggs around here from time to time.
November 8th, 2018 at 9:05 AM ^
A complete "Rutgering" in every category. I type this in reference to Brian's previously described noun of a "Rutger" but in my head I say it as the slang term from 1650-1870's of "rogering". So I want to Michigan give them a good ol' rogering on Saturday in every category. To believe otherwise is pure twaddle.
November 8th, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
I understood this reference.
I'm not proud of that.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:54 AM ^
Even better that it is a Thursday when you wrote this... Ahhhh I did love some GTL on Thursdays years ago... #noshame
November 8th, 2018 at 9:17 AM ^
Watch where we walk and don't step in any human feces around the stadium.
November 8th, 2018 at 9:20 AM ^
I think this covers the bases:
We’ll need 27 possessions of just over a minute each, so rutger will go 3 and out every possession and so will we: 3 complete passes by Brandon Peters, 3 first downs, followed by a field goal on first down. Because nothing says what we need to say quite as eloquently as the first-down field goal. Quinn Nordin goes 27 for 27 to get us to the appropriate 81 points.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:00 AM ^
This is perfect, but...you are discounting whatever the M defense scores.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
They must of course stop short of the goal line to feed the wild thing.
November 8th, 2018 at 9:21 AM ^
#5 I think is the biggest one - especially with DM breaking his collarbone
November 8th, 2018 at 9:21 AM ^
Get Patterson to the bench by halftime like 2016 (don't run read options). Give Peters the entire 3rd quarter and Milton the 4th.
Get Higdon to the bench by the end of the 1st quarter. Evans gets the 2nd quarter and Turner/Samuels close it out.
Majority 2nd or 3rd string defense and OL coming out of halftime.
I don't care if Michigan wins by 30 or 70.
November 8th, 2018 at 10:33 AM ^
Agree with the qualification that anyone with an injury that can avoid risk of worsening it or would otherwise benefit from a week of rest should sit.
November 8th, 2018 at 9:23 AM ^
Win the game handily. Don’t take anything for granted.
Stay healthy. (Rashan, Shea)
Get Higdon his 100 yards & take him out for Evans & Tru.
If score allows, play Joe Milton - a LOT.
Have some fun. You never know but this game should not be as stressful as the past few. 8~)
November 8th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
I doubt you will see much of Joe Milton. I think you will see a lot of Brandon Peters, even in meaningful action when the game is "still in doubt." I can't believe that Milton is ready to actually play games going forward right now if Patterson went down. Reports are that he has a ridiculous arm but is a project. We have a backup QB on our roster who played nearly half a season including starting on the road in hostile environments. I think Harbaugh will want to fully prep him in working with this current offense in game conditions in the event he needs to step in for Patterson.
I mean, if the game is crazy out of hand and Peters can play like the entire 3rd quarter I think you could see Milton in the 4th. But I would not even be surprised to see Peters take some real actual first half snaps.
November 8th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^
I think Milton is a package QB this year, and I don't see any reason to waste one of his four games on Rutger. I think they'll put him in for a scripted set of plays at OSU, and that would give him two games left -- the Big Ten championship game and a playoff / bowl game, or two playoff games.
November 8th, 2018 at 1:35 PM ^
November 8th, 2018 at 9:29 AM ^
Don't forget to not allow the cannon to be shot again.
November 8th, 2018 at 9:30 AM ^
Forget the spread!!! Get up 21 fast and early. Don't call plays that are going to get Patterson Booked! Get to our 2 and 3 deep early and with meaningful reps. I'm still inclined to save Milton if possible. Saving Milton's RS is even more important for Milton if yesterday's rumors about Patterson staying are true.
November 8th, 2018 at 9:40 AM ^
November 8th, 2018 at 9:47 AM ^
Only after Higdon gets 100 yards.
November 8th, 2018 at 9:43 AM ^
If Georgia wins especially in any kind of dominating way, they're going to try to jump them over Michigan so you have to beat Rutgers by 75 or more like Clemson did to their soft opponent last week, of course clemson is doing it because their entire year long schedule is SOFT as a loaf of wonder bread.
November 8th, 2018 at 9:46 AM ^
Auburn is going to beat Georgia this weekend.
November 8th, 2018 at 9:52 AM ^
based on what reasoning?!?!
November 8th, 2018 at 9:59 AM ^
Drinking at 9:46am on a Thursday, props to you.
November 8th, 2018 at 12:45 PM ^
not going to happen in GA...perhaps if AU were at home, AU would have a chance to upset
November 8th, 2018 at 9:50 AM ^
Pretty much sums it up...no injuries is everything for this
November 8th, 2018 at 9:57 AM ^
Just win run the ball down their throat keep things vanilla, and Shea out of harms way. Get key guys out as early as possible
November 8th, 2018 at 10:03 AM ^
1. Win
2. Wrap Shea in bubble wrap
3. Wrap everyone in bubble wrap
November 8th, 2018 at 10:14 AM ^
Every time we score, line up for the extra point, but deliberately jump before the snap. Do this two or three times, so that the extra point gets backed up into mid-range field-goal territory. Let Nordin practice those in game-conditions.
November 8th, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^
I like it, but you don't want to wear his leg out.
November 8th, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
great strategy ... but what if Ash turns into Frames and declines the penalties ? What a smart move, no practicing FG's on Ash's team !!! /s
Go Blue!
November 8th, 2018 at 11:05 AM ^
We could also just have excessive celebrations after every TD to speed this up. Have Harbaugh "accidentally" bump into a linesman as well and presto, a 50 yard attempt.
November 8th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^
Here is my question: Does Michigan cover the spread? I bet on Rutgers to keep it under 39.5, which is what the line was when I played it. My reasoning was that Rutgers kept it close with Northwestern and Michigan will be trying not to show much.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I think Rutgers will not be as much of a tomato can as we might expect.
November 8th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^
I don't think it's a line I could bet. I don't see how you can give 40 points to a I-A team. Rutger has scholarship athletes too, after all. :) But this Michigan team is absolutely capable of hanging half a hundred on this Rutger team, so I'd rather just sit it out.
If you were going to bet this game, I think it's the O/U at 48. Unless you expect some kind of 42-14 cover -- and I don't see how Rutger scores 14 when PSU and MSU could each only score 7 -- you're most likely to win your bet at something like 35-3 or 38-7. So, if you're right, I think the under comes through.
In fact, I'd almost go so far as to say that if you're going to take Rutger +40, you almost certainly want to parlay it with the under -- and I never parlay. It's just very difficult for me to imagine Rutger +40 and the over both coming through.
November 8th, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^
1. Double Rutger
2. Get Peters some snaps
November 8th, 2018 at 10:20 AM ^
Winning and staying healthy would be at the top of my list as well, but completing the Catastrophic Rutger to a point where Chris Ash begins to question if he should ask Ohio State about rejoining the staff there would be cool too.
November 8th, 2018 at 10:31 AM ^
Agree that one of the most important things, outside of winning and staying healthy, is getting BP some meaningful snaps with this offense and these receivers.
November 8th, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^
re: 3.
Get several procedural penalties to kick a PAT from >40 yards.
November 8th, 2018 at 10:45 AM ^
The never before accomplished Triple Total Rutger.
its possible with these guys. Get enough TFLs/sacks and it’s a possibility we triple them up with 63 pts to 21 yds.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:14 AM ^
1. Don't take them for granted. Stay focused. Run the playbook and hopefully score early and often.
2. If we are absolutely dominating get Patterson out of the game early. Show trust in Peters and let him run the offense. He has plenty of talent.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:30 AM ^
Revenge for ruining the B1G.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:43 AM ^
Obviously stay healthy, but that is largely beyond our control.
I know a lot of people want us to go vanilla on offense to not show anything new if it's not needed, but I want to win big--whatever it takes. I want the playoff committee to continue to see us dominate so there is no lame excuse to have someone jump us in the rankings. I'd even love to see us take some shots down field so they see we have an offense that can be explosive if necessary.
November 8th, 2018 at 11:50 AM ^
#5 - "Stay Healthy" should be #2 behind winning
November 8th, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
4. I think the "don't show stuff" mentality is mostly crap. We almost lost to NW and some people here think it's because we didn't want to show too much offensively which is crazy. You don't potentially sacrifice victory to hide your playbook. People act like if you do a new play once all future teams are guaranteed to stop it because you "put it on tape." 1st, the more times we run something the better we will be at it. 2nd, shouldn't the more an opponent has to review on tape the more difficult we are to scheme against? Rutgers is not NW and it will be a blowout but I don't see how it matters if we run up the gut 60 times or throw 60 passes to win. Each week has enemy specific gameplans created to attack identified weak points. The best offenses in the country are unleashed every week and don't hold back. Why do we say we are hiding stuff every year? Like the secret Pepcat variations that never happened...
November 8th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
Attend again -- because I can't resist any Michigan game within train or car distance to no matter how stupid the opponent -- and not get poured on this time.
Oh . . . you meant for the team? Get Shea hit zero times.
November 8th, 2018 at 12:33 PM ^
It's definitely win the game (outcome decided by 1/2 time) and stay healthy. All else is gravy or frosting if you prefer.
November 8th, 2018 at 12:43 PM ^
1) dominate both sides of the ball
2) no significant injuries
3) at least 2 quarters of PT for 2nd and 3rd string
November 8th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^
Win by 50, lead by 35 at halftime, rest starters in 2nd half, give Higdon 100 yards, let peters pass the ball in the 3rd and 4th quarter