Based on the Michigan State-Oregon game, how well do you think Michigan matches up?
The rest of the teams on State's schedule aren't ranked (and probably won't be). That's why I'm asking for your thoughts after this game in particular.
Not Good for Michigan
- State's DL is, lordy, as advertised. Oregon's OL started one senior and a bunch of sophomores, so maybe some wiggle room in there. In general, however, scary stuff. Unless Michigan's OL can improve enough to look solid against BYU, my guess is that Michigan's running game is going to be a ton of passes.
- From what Brian said, the Michigan DL might not match up well against their guys, especially with Mone out. Note that Oregon started a bunch of seniors on their line.
- Kings, State's slot guy, was really effective. I hope Peppers and others can rapidly improve enough to blanket him and other slotty dudes.
- I'm not sure Michigan can improve their special teams enough get the boost that Oregon got in their game.
Not too Bad for Michigan
- Rudock does better under duress than Adams; he gets positive/no yards where Adams lost yards in some cases. Relatedly, overall, I think Rudock makes better decisions, and he's already showing improvement.
- Michigan's corners, especially if Lewis is back, match up well with Burbridge
- So far, the Michigan OL has been better about QB protection. Brian's UFR shows it's not that awesome, but it feels better than last year, at least.
What do you folks think?
September 13th, 2015 at 12:40 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 12:42 AM ^
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September 13th, 2015 at 12:46 AM ^
Yea beating a bottom feeder oregon st team makes them tougher than beating a #7 team.
Youre high or a huge homer.
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September 13th, 2015 at 12:48 AM ^
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September 13th, 2015 at 12:53 AM ^
Think youre reaching for positives, but whatever helps you sleep at night.
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September 13th, 2015 at 12:57 AM ^
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September 13th, 2015 at 1:05 AM ^
Doesnt matter how much you improve year to year, you must beat teams. We arent beating osu or msu this year or any top 25 team. We arent that good. Luckily our schedule is cake and we'll finish 8-4 and pretend that means we are good.
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September 13th, 2015 at 1:09 AM ^
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September 13th, 2015 at 12:45 AM ^
I loved what I saw from us today, but Oregon State is absolutely horrid. Oregon and MSU have a ton of top shelf talent. It;s a tough matchup for us.
That being said, the way we can move the ball on MSU is to use our TEs and Fbs in the passing game. And I think wecan contain their offense. It;s going to be a low scoring game, maybe 20-14 or something.
September 13th, 2015 at 1:21 AM ^
Speaking of Oregon and msu, I wonder how many sofas gave up their life tonight in east lansing? Should we have a moment of silence?
September 13th, 2015 at 4:24 PM ^
Do they burn them as well as the folks in Ann Arbor? Plenty of examples of couch fires in Ann Arbor too.
September 13th, 2015 at 9:35 PM ^
Major league case of sparty troll butt hurt going on here, o.k. to delude yourself into thinking whatever you would like, heck you may even still believe that the earth is flat!
September 13th, 2015 at 9:40 PM ^
pot meet kettle
September 13th, 2015 at 2:17 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 2:30 AM ^
And.... you think Jake Rudock is going to throw his way to victory against MSU?
I'll take what you're having.
September 13th, 2015 at 9:15 AM ^
Why the heck not? Adams has looked like a mess and had an injured index finger, WMU's Terrell doesn't strike me as any better a QB than you've come to expect from a middling MAC team, and Rudock threw the ball decently against MSU the one time he played them years ago when they were significantly better in the secondary.
I am not saying Rudock is going to be a Heisman trophy winner against them, but we have had some evidence these past couple of games (and really even last year) that if you can protect your QB you can do so against the MSU secondary. UM's pass protection is suspect, but last year MSU's defense took a small step back, and right now it looks like it has taken another, slightly more substantial one back as well.
September 13th, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^
He simply noted what Oregon & MSU did against their opponents in week 1, and it wasn't that impressive.
I think this is a below-par Oregon team by their standards. The dropoff might not be clearly exposed, however, due to a favorable schedule. The North is weak without any other ranked teams. The two South teams Oregon misses in cross-over games are presently ranked UCLA & Arizona. Further, Oregon gets both ranked South teams on its schedule at home (USC & Utah).
Still, keep in mind those 42 points the Ducks surrendered to Eastern Washington.
September 13th, 2015 at 2:41 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 8:06 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 9:32 AM ^
a normal Oregon team. Their defense is terrible, their qb is new, an average runner and below average passer. Most importantly he is so new they couldn't run tempo at all. At no point in the game were they going normal Oregon speed. I think they ran 25 less plays on offense then they averaged the last few years/
Our defense is better than MSU's, I know that hurts lot of people on this board. If our Oline keeps improving and Rudddock can stop turning it over than we will win that game.
September 13th, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 11:54 AM ^
Ruðððock makes ð's look out-of-place and awkward.
September 13th, 2015 at 12:03 PM ^
I think he was being facetious.
September 14th, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^
Phaceeshuss
September 13th, 2015 at 6:25 AM ^
I couldn't help but think the same thing about these teams being overrated. MSU's running game looked great, all three running backs were running through huge holes most of the night. This scares me. Their front seven held Oregon to 123 yards on 40+ carries. This scares me too. However, they gave up 7.9 (7.5 sack adj) YPA to a FCS quarterback who never seems to plant his foot and 7.3 YPA (6.5 sack adj) to Western. I think this is a vulnerability that can be exploited. Cook, on the other hand, manages 6 YPA against Oregon who allowed Eastern Washington 8 YPA. It still seems early, but Cook does not scare as much as the hype train dictates I should be scared. I still believe MSU is better than UM, but I think it is far to early to write off UM.
September 13th, 2015 at 9:49 AM ^
I agree with your post BTW, but I want to address one element--State is better than us, period. It's not hype, it's not being too negative, it's objectively true--they are a better team and program than we are--right now. Therefore they will be favored and should be favored over us. We can win, don't get me wrong, but if anyone thinks that last night was a mirage, they are kidding themselves. You are right, we cannot be written off, and we will improve every week. But State is for real, as are Oregon's limitations this year, and as are our very early progress toward being the team we should be.
September 13th, 2015 at 7:21 AM ^
They lost a couple of their best players during that MSU game.
September 13th, 2015 at 7:42 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 8:56 AM ^
I agree. I thought both teams took clear steps back from last year. For Oregon, Adams plays like the nice fcs QB he is. Couldn't take advantage of the opportunities MSU's secondary presented all night, nor was he decisive enough to do anything with his feet.
That being said, Oregon was able to methodically move the ball all night, which isn't a strength. Tells me MSU's front 7 isn't the killers they normally are. On the other side of the ball, the MSU line did create a couple big holes, but half of their 200 yards came on two plays. Cook and co were just meh through the air, and I doubt Oregon possess much better than a top half defense.
Edit: tried to edit on my phone... did not work so well.
September 13th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
Nearly half of the yardage he threw for in that game came AFTER the score was 34-10. You can't place much stock into that as defenses are going to go into coverage up 24 points in the 2nd half.
As for the Georgia Southern game, GSU is every bit as good as good as WMU as they were 8-0 in the Sun Belt last year. They were off a tremendous embarrassment last week at WVU losing 44-0 while WMU was off their biggest hyped game maybe ever. Was a perfect set-up for GSU yesterday.
All these things have to be taken into consideration as well. You can go all day long playing the "they beat them and they beat them" game.
All I can say is good luck naming 15 teams or so who'd be clearly favored over Michigan St (and Oregon also) on a neutral field. I can PROMISE you there's not 10 teams who would be right now and that's the best indicator of where they are overall right now. Why is it so hard for people to be objective when it comes to another team, too funny.
September 13th, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 12:47 AM ^
I don't know about handily, but they will probably win. Michigan will make sure it's a fight, though.
I may change that opinion depending on how they do the next few games. If they improve with each game, then they could very well upset the Spartans.
September 13th, 2015 at 12:48 AM ^
MSU loses a lot. Cook, most of their receiver, two of their OL, and several starters on defense. UM will return most of it's starters save Rudock. But O'Korn actually has starting experience unlike what MSU has returning.
I do agree that MSU is the better team this year. No doubt about that. However, UM will not be bullied. Physicality won't be an issue I think.
September 13th, 2015 at 8:23 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 8:31 AM ^
The OL and DL losses were hurt, but do you really think O'Korn is a downgrade from Rudock? The downgrade from Cooke to whoever will be their starter will be massive.
MSU will also bring back only to OL (Conklin is a projected 1st round pick so he is gone). MSU looks to be returing about 10 starters. And their strength, the DL, will lose 3 starters and most of the backups are freshment. That will hurt them alot.
Michigan returns likely about 8.
September 13th, 2015 at 8:47 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 8:48 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^
without regard to redshirt eligibility. (He's not under obligation to offer the fifth year.)
But those in the know would immediately recognize that "seniors" Darbaugh and Chesson will have used up only three years of eligibility after this year.
Edit: (Meant to reply to JonnyHintz)
September 13th, 2015 at 8:57 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 9:34 AM ^
year transfer. I am sure they will be searching for these guys to fill gaps.
September 13th, 2015 at 8:59 AM ^
Glasgow is the only OL gone next year. Gant, Henry, Wormley and Glasgow have a year left after this. The NFL may take Butt and Wormley if they continue (Henry too?) but they have eligibility.
September 13th, 2015 at 9:29 AM ^
doesn't tell you who has had a redshirt.
So many of those you mentioned have another year like Wormley who will be a monster if he returns. If he continues as he has, he could leave this year. It might be the best for him but the Wolverine fan in me hopes he comes back. Also hope Butt comes back.
September 13th, 2015 at 9:57 AM ^
I am not understanding why you are getting downvoted for using facts to clearly refute the above posters innaccurate comments.
September 13th, 2015 at 10:30 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 12:50 AM ^
Look at Ohio State the last 2 years as evidence. 2013 we lost aa close one 42-41 and last year we were tied heading into the 4th quarter.
September 13th, 2015 at 12:51 AM ^
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September 13th, 2015 at 1:03 AM ^
How many years did it take Harbaugh's Stanford to catch up to USC?
September 13th, 2015 at 8:04 AM ^
September 13th, 2015 at 3:16 AM ^
Sparty will be lucky to beat Michigan at all this year. Harbaugh remembers who broke his arm on a dirty play in 1984 and caused us to watch Chris Zurbrugg play QB the rest of the season. I think it's safe to say that Harbaugh hates MSU as much as MSU hates Michigan. This is really the first time that particular "intangible" has ever not been in MSU's corner.
Michigan will be ready to beat Sparty. If Sparty does win, it isn't going to be anything close to "handily."