Michigan #1 hardest remaining SOS per ESPN
October 24th, 2019 at 12:54 PM ^
Heck Army was tough for us.
October 24th, 2019 at 1:03 PM ^
JTP!!
October 24th, 2019 at 2:02 PM ^
October 24th, 2019 at 2:16 PM ^
I think it was just his inner thoughts and not said out loud.
Man, that UM Fan from Sydney never gives it a rest.
October 24th, 2019 at 3:55 PM ^
I forgot how much I enjoyed that show.
October 24th, 2019 at 7:43 PM ^
All summer everyone thought the Army game wasn’t going to be close....hmmmmm.
October 24th, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
And if we win any of these upcoming big games, they won’t matter at all unless some dudes in Vegas had us as underdogs beforehand.
/s
October 24th, 2019 at 1:03 PM ^
Good news: we have moved in Vegas as one point underdogs against Notre Dame...
October 24th, 2019 at 1:18 PM ^
That line moved quite a bit in the past few days. All in one direction.
October 24th, 2019 at 1:46 PM ^
Rain would be worse news for us, I think. And rain is predicted. That likely plays in.
October 24th, 2019 at 2:02 PM ^
Why do you think that?
Rain typically favors the underdog although I’m not sure that is significant in this game.
ND is a precision passing team. We have more balance.
October 24th, 2019 at 2:59 PM ^
Yes, the only ones who should be disappointed about rain is the fans. I think bad weather favors Michigan at home...
October 24th, 2019 at 2:08 PM ^
Huh? With Brian Kelly as coach? The man who called almost 30 passing plays ina damn hurricane?
October 24th, 2019 at 2:43 PM ^
I cant tell if this is a joke or not...If it is not, please see UM-MSU 2017.
October 24th, 2019 at 3:29 PM ^
- The NC State-ND game was played in conditions a light year worse than the UM-MSU game was. Like, it was not optimal conditions in Michigan's game, but it wasn't nearly to that degree.
- ND was throwing a ton when the game was either tied or they led. Even when they were down 3, that was the first quarter. By comparison, I think half of UM's pass attempts came in the second half when they were down 14-3 and had to mount some type of offense.
- It still wasn't a particularly smart offensive playcall especially with John O'Korn at the helm, but it was more of a necessity as the game dragged on.
Anyway, both teams will be encouraged to run the ball this weekend and it'll be interesting to see who is most successful. My guess is that we might see both Patterson and Book carry the ball more, and it'll be interesting to see who is best able to make hay on that front. ND had a really good game on the ground against USC but that does appear to be as much due to USC busting plays as great rushing; ND couldn't crack 50 yards on the ground against UGa and while Virginia has a solid defense and ND had some success against them, it'll be interesting to see how that translates against a jump up in run stopping.
October 24th, 2019 at 3:36 PM ^
The fumble Gods have not been kind to us this year. Having a rain soaked ball can't help that either....
October 24th, 2019 at 4:09 PM ^
All weather is bad for Michigan. And the lighting in any dome is bad for Michigan too. And the start times of games......
October 24th, 2019 at 4:38 PM ^
ND has more of a pass-happy scheme than M does. I think inclement weather will impact them more. If M sticks with a mix of runs and screen passes, it can beat ND.
October 24th, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
That’s what makes you beautiful....
October 24th, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
Arkansas would have been played much earlier. I believe this would have been Rutgers week if UM didnt cancel that game for ND.
Another questionable decision that has me scratching my head.
October 24th, 2019 at 2:19 PM ^
Beyond not knowing how to defend crossing routes or win on the road against top teams, another persistent problem is our scheduling.
Alabama would *NEVER* schedule like we do. Under Saban, they literally never open on the road (only neutral site), let alone on the road against a perennial Top 20 team like Washington (as we do next year, and did last year with Notre Dame); they also (along w the rest of the SEC) regularly schedule FCS teams late in the year, if they're playing a non-conference game (as opposed to us playing Notre Dame in the back half this year).
Ohio State essentially does'nt do it either. They open, at home, against ND in a few years; notice when they play ND when OSU needs to go on the road.
Unaccountably stupid on our part.
October 24th, 2019 at 2:22 PM ^
OSU played at Oklahoma a few years ago and stomped them...
October 24th, 2019 at 2:31 PM ^
Yes. Third game of the year. After opening at home against Bowling Green and Tulsa.
Under no circumstances should we ever open the season on the road against Washington, Oklahoma, ND, etc *and* under no circumstances should we play those same type of teams, anywhere after the 4th game of the season (as our conference schedule is hard enough).
Yet we regularly do one or the other. Dumb.
October 24th, 2019 at 4:03 PM ^
Agreed. And one has to wonder why it keeps happening. It's dumbfounding to me given the fact that a bunch of random doods on a blog can figure it out but the AD and JH can't?
October 24th, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
Yet we bitch about the Saturdays that are becoming more and more frequent the past few years when there are very few good matchups/games on to watch...not just at one certain time frame but through the entire day.
I guess the point of a season is to make the playoffs but now to do so it's "look dominating" playing shit teams and play well enough to win 2/3 of your tough games. Sometimes it's 3/4. No longer are we playing 6, 7 exciting games a year and personally that's aided in my watching less and less college football and pushing me away from the game.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:07 AM ^
Michigan defends mesh routes now.
October 25th, 2019 at 12:58 AM ^
OSU had a home and home with Oklahoma in ‘16-‘17, @TCU in Dallas in ‘18 and go to Eugene to play Oregon in ‘19. This year they had #16 Cincinati (better on their SOS than us right now)
They have home/home with Oregon, Notre Dame, Washington and Texas over the next 6 years. Not exactly cream puffs.
Lots of things to bag on OSU for but going on the road to P5 games isn’t one of them. They’ve largely avoided the neutral site games.
October 24th, 2019 at 12:56 PM ^
Would much rather watch a game against the Irish than the razorbacks.
October 24th, 2019 at 1:05 PM ^
In a vacuum sure, in the context of playing a 9 game conference schedule in arguably the toughest division in college football, this game is unnecessary.
October 24th, 2019 at 1:11 PM ^
Schedule the three directional Michigan schools for non-con and call it a day. Neg away but what’s the point of a difficult non-con schedule when you play in the second toughest conference?
October 24th, 2019 at 1:25 PM ^
Beyond that, what's the point of a tough schedule at all when teams like Clemson (albeit a great team) can go unbeaten in a crap conference and make it to the playoffs without much debate.
October 24th, 2019 at 1:36 PM ^
This. If your aim is to make the playoffs, it makes ZERO sense to schedule tough games OOC. You are just handcuffing yourself for no reason. And the folks who talk about lack of quality games are also the first ones to jump on this team when they lose. At some point, you need to stop putting roadblocks in front of yourself.
October 24th, 2019 at 1:57 PM ^
The 2003 team is a perfect example of this. It was the last time UM beat ND, MSU, and OSU all in the same season (which is just further proof why this game should come off the schedule, the odds of beating all 3 are next to nil). It didn't matter because UM lost to Oregon in the OOC. Had they scheduled a cupcake instead UM is sitting there at the end of the year likely in the BCS title game with their only loss coming at Iowa by 3 points. And remember these were in the days we took beating PSU and Wisconsin (and MSU) as a given - Carr was 29-6 against those 3 teams.
And guess who Michigan opens the season with next year: Washington. As if we've learned nothing from the Carr era (L's at Washington, Oregon, and UCLA) and early returns of the Harbaugh era (L's at Utah and ND).
The day Michigan starts getting out of its own way is the day they return to being a football power.
October 24th, 2019 at 2:21 PM ^
This blog contradicts itself constantly. Yesterday the narrative was "we shouldn't expect to do better than we have because OSU is on a historic run". Now it's "Michigan will become a power again if they start scheduling weaker OOC games" ?
Our problem has nothing to do with OOC games. In fact we've only lost 2 OOC games in Harbaugh's tenure here...Utah his first game and ND last year.
October 24th, 2019 at 2:53 PM ^
The narrative that UM fans shouldn't expect to beat OSU because they are really good is likely being parroted by fans who have no recollection of the late 80's and 1990's when John Cooper regularly brought loaded OSU teams into The Game and lost. UM not being able to beat OSU is the program's biggest problem right now and that shouldn't get an argument from anyone. But your point about OOC games is a bad one. Putting aside the Rich Rod and Hoke era's, how many times has UM went undefeated in the non conference since the national championship season? I'll save you the trouble: 1999, 2006, 2016, 2017.
That's it.
October 24th, 2019 at 4:50 PM ^
That says more about us having to get better against the rest of college football than anything. You act like we're some special case of playing tough OOC games. We just don't win them. I agree with playing the tough game the very first game, however. That will always be stupid.
October 24th, 2019 at 2:59 PM ^
Well that was all i needed to hear. Well done.
October 24th, 2019 at 2:24 PM ^
Clemson played at Texas A&M last year...
October 24th, 2019 at 1:50 PM ^
What's the point of playing 100-plus year-old storied rivals? Let's play patsies and win because at this point we don't even watch or enjoy the games, we just eviscerate ourselves and every player and coach within range when we lose. And--yes--we consider close wins losses, too!
October 24th, 2019 at 2:02 PM ^
The point is we are not going to the playoffs or winning the big ten anyway, might as well make the schedule entertaining.
October 24th, 2019 at 2:46 PM ^
Not going to neg because I get that opinion but I would much rather watch UM play ND or someone other than a directional. Sure, playoffs sound great but the chances will always be slim until they expand regardless. I’d much rather see a good football game than a worse one. Plus, if you can’t beat those good teams, it prob isn’t going to go well for you in the playoff anyway.
October 24th, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
Would much rather have road tripped to Little Rock last year. Seattle next year should be fun. South Bend never is.
October 24th, 2019 at 12:57 PM ^
This could be our finest hour...
This season still has the potential to be special.
October 24th, 2019 at 12:59 PM ^
LOL my man
October 24th, 2019 at 1:02 PM ^
I lol’ed at myself writing that, too - but winning out (however ridiculously unlikely) would still make this a special season
October 24th, 2019 at 1:06 PM ^
You seem to have a liberal interpretation of the word special, because there have been plenty of seasons UM has beaten ND that were anything but.
EDIT: You edited your post. Your original post said just beating ND would make this season special. I agree winning out would be terrific.
October 24th, 2019 at 1:14 PM ^
There is a difference between just beating Notre Dame and winning out, which would include victories over Michigan State and (shocked I need to explain this to you) Ohio State
October 24th, 2019 at 1:14 PM ^
You're trying very hard to turn a positive statement into a negative. Your life must suck!
October 24th, 2019 at 1:49 PM ^
No, I did not edit my post. But you really ought to edit yours, because your lack of reading comprehension was embarrassing!
October 24th, 2019 at 12:59 PM ^
Tough road, for sure, and while we're virtually guaranteed to not be playing in the B1G title game, wins over Notre Dame, MSU, and OSU sure would make my December 7th feel better.