We have all gone insane.
As we all know, yesterday's game was a clusterfuck of epic proportions on par with the worst losses we've ever seen as a program.
None of us are optimistic for the rest of the season or even next year. Some of us even think that Harbaugh should be fired.
I'm here to tell you that absolutely is not going to happen.
By all accounts he runs a clean program and has only lost 15 games thus far in his tenure. The stadium is still full and the AD is drowning in cash, so unless we have a losing record, followed by another one next year, I sincerely doubt Harbaugh will be fired.
Rich was fired because he was never competent in games against quality opponents. Hoke was fired because you could get into the stadium for the price of two cokes in 2014.
So if you really believe Harbaugh should be shown the door, give up your season tickets. Stop going to games. Stop buying merch. Because nothing is more important than money, and the AD is still making plenty.
Go Blue.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:15 PM ^
I don't think Warde will fire Jim for winning 8-10 games each season.
But, I think Jim could walk away if things keep getting worse. Maybe a couple more trips overseas on someone else's dime with his family before going back to the NFL.
IDK man, I've been a Harbaugh supporter but they've clearly regressed - this looks worse than 2017. It looks like they don't even practice.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^
Why don't we wait until the Sunday after the OSU game to judge this season and this team? Michigan loses *one* game, yes in bad fashion, and a lot of people here act like this team may go winless in Big Ten play. Michigan was -4 in turnovers yesterday. If they're that in every game the rest of the way, they may win just 2 or 3 more games. Sure. But that's not likely. But even if it happens, why don't we talk about it when it happens and isn't just a figment of an overactive imagination?
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:43 PM ^
That’s not likely?
Dude...Michigan is dead last in the country in turnovers for 4 weeks running.
We have literally fumbled the ball on every first possession we have had in 2019. Let me repeat... we have not had a first possession sans fumble in 2019!!!
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:44 PM ^
You really want to wait until OSU throws 70+ up in the Big House to criticize Jeem? That could be the 6th or 7th loss of the season.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
How many turnovers thru 3 games?
A bye week before Wisconsin and this is what we get? It's pathetic. They get punched in the mouth and wait for the ref to stop the fight rather than fight back.
If this team wins 9 games, I'll gladly donate to ChadTough.
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:13 PM ^
No joke but this could be simply that the team soured on Patterson who isn't performing and want McCaffrey. Sometimes this can take a life of its own.
Patterson seemed to be in automaton mode, until backs against wall, then he seemed to have stepped up a bit. Maybe because he was benched and had to stew. Either way I do think Mccaffrey should start going forward.
Alternate reality and Harbuagh kept Speight and Peters ..and I do wonder if it had been better. I liked Speight. I liked having a huge presence at QB and he had a great shake off move. I do wonder if he would have improved.
Peters looked great at first but couldn't believe how he got hurt vs Wisc...that play it.seemed he hardly got touched and somehow was enough to knock him out of game.
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:20 PM ^
Patterson not being a Captain was a huge red flag.
He either sucks, isn't liked by his teammates, or both.
I liked Speight too. He was great when he was healthy.
September 22nd, 2019 at 10:19 PM ^
Pushing Speight out was a big mistake. He was whiny on camera, but he could play the position better than anyone they've started since.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:16 PM ^
I'm baffled as to why this garbage isn't being downvoted in huge numbers.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:32 PM ^
Because it is reality. What have you seen from Jeem to lead you to believe he can win a NC? The damn team wilted after a fumble on the 1st drive of the game and got embarrassed in Jeem's 5th year. What do we need to wait for, until he gets his guys? He did better with Hokes recruits. Just stop with the "everything will be okay " rhetoric. It's possible Jeem is way overrated as a college coach. Or, somehow Michigan only hires people that turn out to be terrible (RR, Durkin, Drevno, Hoke, etc). Mattison must have seen something to jump ship to OSU.
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:02 PM ^
"Jeem". How witty.
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:22 PM ^
Yeah man, it's pretty sad I have to adopt the catchphrase from the troglodytes from the Staee realm to describe the guy I watched QB at Michigan, take a shitty Stanford team beat an all world USC team, come back to his "home" and be mediocre at best.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:35 PM ^
Perhaps your lack of insight is related to the brevity of your association with this board.
It would be ironic.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:20 PM ^
Agreed, I'm not calling for Harbaugh yet nor am I very close to it.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:21 PM ^
I recently explained to a group on non Michigan fans that Harbaugh wouldn't be fired in 20 years if he went 7-5 every year and never beat Ohio State consecutively.
But this looks like it may spiral out of control to Hoke/RichRod levels of incompetence.
Based on yesterday, this looks like a 6 win or less win team this year.
Next years team loses a lot (draft, graduation, transfers) and I don't see many up and comers being able to fill those spots.
I never considered Harbaugh would turn this into a complete shitshow but it appears completely possible, if not probable at this point.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:27 PM ^
Insane, huh? Well you wanna know how I got these scars?
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:27 PM ^
I just never, ever understood the need for these perspective threads after a bad loss.
Actually, yes I do. We have to convince ourselves that things are better than they are.
This program is in trouble. The whole "give up your tickets and stop buying merchandise" is such a useless bit. Fans should not have to be the ones to figure out that change needs to happen.
Wow, he's ONLY lost 15 games. Good for him. Has he won anything? No. That's not up for debate, that's factual.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:31 PM ^
This is such a god-damn stupid, weak ass take.
I am happy your happy with getting pantsed and seeing a declining product go down in flames before our eyes.
I was in the front row, section F, row 6, seat 10 on Saturday. The badgers were laughing and fucking around the entire game - because they knew Michigan didn’t have shit and wouldn’t put up a fight and were going through the motions.
They T’d off on our QB twice in 1 drive and no one did shit to stop it. No one stuck up for their QB.
Harbaugh has lost this team, lost this locker room, and has cratered this program.
At least Rich Rod won more games each year and was getting better. Harbaugh’s teams are getting worse.
And then fans like this post this stupid bullshit nonsense and it’s no wonder why this entire program is soft as shit.
Good god - pathetic
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:59 PM ^
First of all, fuck you if you're addressing me. I'm just as pissed off as anyone else is.
I hope every time Michigan gets a new coach they win 3 games in their first season, just so they can be on an upward trajectory like St. Rich Rod of Absolut vodka.
September 22nd, 2019 at 10:42 PM ^
Interesting observation. When Wiscy went for it on 4th-and-short on their own side of the field I told my wife they had zero respect for M.
The Badger coaching staff watched tape of the first two games and clearly saw M didn't have it this year, and their constant attack and play calling, as compared to last year, reflected it.
If you play a team that puts the ball on the ground 4 times a game, it's not really a fearful prospect.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:37 PM ^
Hatter I am never happier than when you get the doses right and you did here. I worry the fanbase thinks we are something we're not and that 9 wins a season is something to be disdained. Ace said it before and he's right, it's what ohios been doing. You see this with the SEC where coaches are fired for consistently winning 9 games but not matching saban.
I'm not saying I'm happy with the outcome but I don't want to make any stupid decisions on the basis of one brutal game
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:46 PM ^
-You do not have to make any decisions.
-This is not based on one game. This was the culmination of years not winning anything of importance.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:38 PM ^
I hope this team has a major, and I mean epic, awakening. Someone needs to get it in these young men's heads that they're a collective and that all of their futures in the NFL are on the line. Take what you have and sell that shit as the best looking product, the best way you know how. If this were a military unit, I would absolutely hate serving with this level of shit integrity, ambition, and cohesion. Every team out there now has our number, take these horrible odds stacked against you and win out with flair. There's a beautiful mark on the history of the team that could be, if this season plays out positively.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
I've been waiting for that since 9-28-91, when FSU came in and shit on the field. Save 1997 (the team won in spite of Lllloyd, not because of him).
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:17 PM ^
Lol Lloyd was 20-8 vs Top Ten teams. Beat several top 5 Ohio State teams. Won big time games on the road against ranked opponents. Lloyd is arguably our greatest coach ever
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:29 PM ^
You're are probably right, but he also wasted more talent than any coach ever. They fired Cooper because he didn't beat Michigan. Lllloyd also lost to App St.
September 22nd, 2019 at 10:45 PM ^
True, but he also beat a good Meyer Florida team that season. Maybe it was the ultimate rope-a-dope.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:40 PM ^
The only question to ask yourself is "will Wisconsin win against OSU or in the CFP?".
We're all going through this transition nuthump because we know being a slightly better version of Wisky won't win the game that matters. Why would you care how bad it looks now if we can finish strong and beat OSU?
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:50 PM ^
Because people listened to Phil Steele and other insane projections that this offense would be scoring 60 a game from the beginning.
This season should have been treated with much more caution after an offensive transition. And now that people feel betrayed by ridiculous expectations, they do what every fanbase does: FIRE [coach]! Hire [other coach I just saw have a good game even though they are even more flawed than my current coach]!
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:05 PM ^
Ridiculous expectations?
LSU literally did the same thing as Michigan in the offseason. Guess what? They’re lighting teams on fire with their new spread offense.
What the fuck is Michigan’s excuse other than an outdated head coach?
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:22 PM ^
Installing a new offense is rough sledding for at least half a season, 99% of the time. Even Urban Meyer said so. Of course you and others will cherry pick the smooth transitions. They are the exceptions.
Also, check back in a month or two, after LSU actually faces a few good passing defenses.
September 22nd, 2019 at 10:14 PM ^
Joe Burrow's first three games at LSU:
1/24 45% 140yds 5.8 y/a
10/20 50% 151yds 7.6 y/a
15/34 44% 249yds 7.3 y/a
strawbitch
September 22nd, 2019 at 10:25 PM ^
Ninety-nine percent of the time? I beg to differ greatly with that
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:54 PM ^
Installing a new offense usually accompanies a full coaching change. Most coaches get a "year one" or "year zero." You rarely see an incumbent coach change offensive philosophy in a single offseason. The ones who can pull it off (e.g., Saban at Alabama -- but even they had a few dud games in the first half of 2014, including a loss to Ole Miss) usually have elite talent and coaches and a lights-out defense to help them along the way. Sad to see we don't have that, but most don't.
I still think it's absolutely absurd for people to expect us to switch from man-ball to shotgun spread and go 12-0 along the way. I hoped for it, of course, but it was clear after the Army game that this wasn't getting fixed in a bye week.
September 22nd, 2019 at 10:47 PM ^
Meyer seemed to do OK transitioning OSU from Tresselball to his system.
September 22nd, 2019 at 11:31 PM ^
Well, aside from a couple of broken QBs and the whole Vtech thing.
Good for them, nobody wins a college football playoff in September!
September 23rd, 2019 at 12:12 AM ^
Meyer is maybe the greatest offensive coach since at least Steve Spurrier. And he inherited Braxton Miller. And even still, for much of 2012 they were shaky on offense. They found ways to win, but that wasn't a vintage OSU team.
I would agree with you that this transition would be smoother with Urban Meyer, if that's your point.
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:56 PM ^
LSU's OC has been with the program since 2010, they just brought in a "Josh Gattis Light" to help him implement the new hotness. And Burrow has been "lights out" and UofM's QB has been "in the dark".
But keep thinking things are settled in September, ninnie.
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:18 PM ^
I predicted 8-4. I didn't predict being down 35-0 and Cryst calling the dogs off in the 3rd quarter.
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:28 PM ^
On what basis did you predict 8-4?
I predicted 9-3, but with an upward trajectory as the offense becomes familiar and the d-line gets experience. The most certain loss -- especially after how Michigan and Wisconsin looked in the first two weeks -- was in Madison.
I didn't predict 35-0 either, because I thought our D would hang in there a little better. But I had no expectations of the offense lighting them up this early in the transition.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:43 PM ^
I was offered tickets for next week, and I’m not going. So I win.
September 22nd, 2019 at 10:30 PM ^
The fact you're still posting here means you still care, a lot!!
September 22nd, 2019 at 10:49 PM ^
But maybe less today than yesterday.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
Whether you want Harbaugh fired or not this is just the start of all of this. There several tough games ahead and I’m afraid by the end of this season Harbaugh will have very little fan and probably player support left.
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:55 PM ^
Mad Matter: "Have I gone mad?"
Alice: "I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”
September 22nd, 2019 at 8:58 PM ^
I am curious what players, exactly, the fanbase feels "quit" yesterday after the fumble.
Ronnie Bell, who laid out for a spectacular catch? (Yes, it was a catch.)
Dylan McCaffrey, who took shots to the head that would have made any of you quit football -- if not going outdoors altogether -- forever?
The receivers who went up for bombs with DBs draped all over them?
Michigan looked terrible, but I never thought they quit. I know at least some of you, after the seeming Tarik Black TD that would have made it 35-21, thought, "well with another onside recovery ... maybe ...").
The feelingball runs deep after bad losses, I know. But I think calling them quitters is ... projection.
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:00 PM ^
So you’re gonna day Nick Eubanks was lying to the press when he pretty much inferred that the team quit after the fumble?
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:13 PM ^
Did Eubanks say the team "quit"? I didn't see that. I saw commenters here saying that.
Eubanks said that the fumble "killed us" and he saw guys with "heads down." But I don't interpret that as quitting. I saw the same thing he did: a team whose confidence was shaken, who felt momentum going against them in a hostile environment vs an excellent team and didn't have any answers.
That's different to me than quitting. Either way, no, of course I'm not calling him a liar. If he saw quitting, fine. I just didn't see it on the game I watched on TV.
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:17 PM ^
It was not a single, isolated incident. It was a combination of watching the entire game and sensing that there was something missing.
And then that feeling confirmed at the end, when both announcers, who are watching it live, admit that the team lacked fire, passion, and focus.
I do not blame the players for lack of effort, if that truly happened. They are tired for playing coaches who have no clue what a game plan is.
September 22nd, 2019 at 9:38 PM ^
Major network broadcasters seem to be encouraged to play up the feelingsball takes. Doesn't mean a lot to me. Saying a team lacked "fire" is easy when they are getting helplessly vaporized. Only Scott Frost would go out of his way to counter-narrative that ("out-hit", etc.).
I would blame the players for conscious lack of effort, I just didn't see it.