Two Notes from Bama-Clemson
Two glaring things stuck out during last night's CFP semi-final:
1. To be a non-Bama contender, you must have elite quarterback play. The difference between this year's game and last's year's Bama-Clemson shootout was Deshaun Watson. Kelly Bryant is pretty good, but not elite. So Bama could stuff the box and jam the receivers. . . game over. The number one priority for Michigan, then, is to get elite QB play and until this happens we will not really contend. Yes, this is more important than a better O-Line (which I think we can anticipate) -- QB play affects everything offensively. Clemson has an excellent O-Line, but with average QB play they could not score on Bama.
Fortunatey, we have lots of young talent and Harbaugh is not likely to whiff on them all. So whoever has the moxie, the arm, and the brain should start next year, whether it's Shea or Joe Milton or Dylan McCaffery. (As an aside, notice how many of the qb's who played last night started as freshmen. It's not about youth, but talent.) (As another aside, does anybody think Patterson would have slid short of the first down late in the fourth quarter? Our dudes will have noticed.)
2. Neither Saban nor Swinney seemed all that buddy-buddy with their coaching staffs, at least during the game. Here's to Jim cutting to the chase to pursue real excellence. (I think we can count on him to do this very thing.) A family environment really is great, but shaking things up has a tendency to clear peoples' minds.
Heads up, boys! Things are never as bad as they seem when you are down. This loss may be just the thing to drive us to a championship. In the meantime, we all suffer at work together today.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
That threat carries zero weight unless you're the university president, the a.d., or Stephen Ross. I'm guessing you're none of those people.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:06 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:21 PM ^
Get offline and get back to work, Steve. Fix the Dolphins first.
January 2nd, 2018 at 1:25 PM ^
"Bitches leave" or "Guns, guns, guns..." Debating which was the better Clarence Boddicker line.
January 2nd, 2018 at 1:50 PM ^
Can you fly, Bobby?
January 2nd, 2018 at 6:32 PM ^
The Tigers are playing tonight!
January 2nd, 2018 at 5:57 PM ^
Please note that my first and second posts were a repsonse to a troll who got zapped by the mods, not the o.p., which is very earnest and nice.
January 2nd, 2018 at 8:59 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 10:59 PM ^
Yeah--another let's mock WD fake account. Weak stuff too.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:24 PM ^
Id rather see Pep Hamilton go.
But then again, Drevno went after guys like Ulizio.
The OL is still the problem, followed by QB.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^
Not just seperation but drops too. There is little to nothing to like about the offense. They look mediocre against bad teams and bad against good teams.
January 2nd, 2018 at 1:59 PM ^
The UCF QB was 2 for 14 in the first half. Guys were open but he missed them by yards. His running ability kept them in the game. It the second half he was a completely different person, feathering in passes to tight windows. He was "elite" for a minute, but that's why UCF won the game - which goes to the OP's point.
Edit: Also, Scott Frost is an ass hat.
January 2nd, 2018 at 2:16 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 2:27 PM ^
WR play this year was well below our norm, but I think that had a lot to do with youth. Freshman wideouts often aren't game-ready. Unfortunately, the one guy who seemed to be (Black) got hurt.
Grant Perry was disappointing, though. He's not a #1 guy but I was hoping for him to be a more reliable possession receiver than he was.
January 2nd, 2018 at 2:37 PM ^
they knew the routes so maybe it's not all on the young WR's, right?
January 2nd, 2018 at 3:51 PM ^
WR issues don't concern me, at least as far as next year is concerned. Super young/inexperienced group. And we lost our best WR early in the season. Confident that DPJ, Black and Collins all take a good step forward next year (frosh to soph bump).
January 2nd, 2018 at 9:00 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:33 PM ^
Ulizio was a project taken late in the 2015 class. He was not supposed to be starting, at least this early in his career. He's a guy you take and hope he can contribute in his fourth or fifth year.
January 2nd, 2018 at 1:49 PM ^
Ulizio was a flyer recreuit that Drevno and Harbaugh took when they had to piecemeal together the 2015 recruting class. They did not put a greater emphasis on him over more talented players, the identifed him as a player that would commit with the limited amount of time they had to recreuit.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:02 PM ^
Bama looks physically different than any other team in the country.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
So is it really cheating if they never get caught and the ncaa doesn't really seem interested in enforcing it?
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
I’m not saying that Alabama is shooting every kid up, it’s not likely that they are. However, Jim knows damn well that PEDs are prevalent in the NFL. If the best programs in college are also using and not getting caught, then we should do the same (and I believe we would). Jim isn’t going to leave any stone unturned.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:19 PM ^
So you're suggesting openly that Jim Harbaugh should make sure that his own players are taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
Might as well throw in hookers and blow and North Carolina-style academics.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:26 PM ^
2. My moral code doesn’t hold steroids on the same level as fraud and prostitution. Like not even close. Idk where our conversation can go from here.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:36 PM ^
Yes, I was using exaggeration and sarcasm about hookers and blow, but it's a fact that there are medically proven negative consequences from long-term steroid use. From a moral code standpoint, it's irresponsible for any college coach to advocate such use for the young men in his charge.
Are other programs around the country using them? I'd be shocked if not, but good Christ you have to draw a line somewhere. Otherwise we're just Nebraska under Osborne and MSU under Perles.
January 2nd, 2018 at 8:23 PM ^
and MSU under Dantonio
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:34 PM ^
I don't belive that Michigan is willing to do what it takes to be a program that competes for the National Championship, and I'm good with that. I'd like to think our University is better than that. Better than the bagmen, the steroids, the hookers, the lack of real classes. I'm okay with that, and I always will be. I'm not okay with a lack of preparation.
January 2nd, 2018 at 1:09 PM ^
"bagmen, the steroids, the hookers, the lack of real classes"
I don't think it takes any of these things to compete for National Championships. It takes recruiting and coaching. If you're implying that Saban/Meyer/Dabo are paying recruits to come and juicing them up, that's quite an accusation. And for steroids, I understand it could help for the O-line, but how can steroids help a QB run faster and throw better?
January 2nd, 2018 at 2:28 PM ^
Don't know about steroids, but there's been a lot of rumblings about Clemson's program being dirty.
January 2nd, 2018 at 8:21 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:22 PM ^
Other people are also paying HS kids and promising playing time. Niether of which Michigan is doing. Well, they may be offering some form of payment (like everyone else), but nothing large and noteworthy.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:29 PM ^
The fact that our S&C coach was told he's not coming back right after the OSU loss said something about what JH has been seeing.
I wonder if Barwis, given a 2nd chance at UM, would make a difference. Anyway, we have a new S&C coach who hopefully has an attitude and is contagious. Tired of seeing our guys not being able to push Cincy and AFA off the ball.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:37 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^
Yep. When I think about the cult status he attained around here—and that I bought into myself for a while—it's embarrassing.
January 2nd, 2018 at 2:07 PM ^
He's not respected very much, if at all, amongst the serious football head strength coaches. It really was a cult-type following. He's entertaining (I actually thought his TV show might stick), and maybe a good private gym owner, but Lord he should not be in charge of a top tier football program's strength and conditioning.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:46 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 1:11 PM ^
I've noticed that for years and it seems oddly suspicious. I don't know if its the uniforms or what but I don't know how one team can consistently look like they're on a higher physical level than everybody else.
I'm also generally suspicious of Saban. I acknowledge that he's a great coach but his teams are a little too good. If it turns out he's been orchestrating an elaborate practice-spying scheme a la Bellichick I wouldn't be surprised.
They're also boring as hell and never have any interesting players or any personality whatsoever. Fuck Alabama- I'm sick of them.
January 2nd, 2018 at 3:27 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 5:43 PM ^
This is absurd! My son grew up with and went to school with Marlon Humphry. He is not older than he seems - none of them are. All of their kids are just freakish athletes. Look at their high school pictures. They're not that much bigger after they've been at Bama for a while. And the football down here is bananas good. For god's sake just look at their running backs. They have like the #1 recruit at that position for every single year.
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:03 PM ^
I know it wouldn’t fix our OL (it’ll still be bad most likely) but he’s been great for Bama these past couple seasons
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:11 PM ^
Are you saying that Damien Harris didn't make a smart football decision for himself?
January 2nd, 2018 at 1:11 PM ^
Any RB can look good when running behind a moving brick wall
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
January 2nd, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
I agree 100%. Based on what we saw yesterday Peters had his audition and failed (UMbig11 said it first).
Thank god Shea transferred or it would only be McCaffrey. Competition is good and I think next year is the first year we have two "good" qb to actually compete.
Peters may be a solid Qb with time, but man he had the jitters early on some throws and it seemed in the second half he had time and just did not have much.
More bad news. My Domer buddies texted that crap out of me yesterday with "sympathy". Not sure on the math but it seems legit, yesterday's loss by M and ND's win gave ND the all time winningest % in CFB. Now we can take it back next year in South Bend. Which BTW I already promised my stupid fucking domer friends we would!!!!
Please don't let me down.