247 College Football Show, Barton Simmons Picks Michigan to Win the BIG 10
Last year was a step back. It was supposed to be a step back....
I happen to believe that eventually Jim Harbaugh gets over the hump....
I believe that this is a team that's good enough to beat everybody on their schedule....
It's all about the quarterback position. Because that was what was missing last year. And that's really what held them back 2 years ago....
52 minute video. They start with Michigan, move on to the rest of the BIG 10, then on to other teams:
https://www.facebook.com/Wolverine247/videos/1435797019855468/
Yeah but he hasn't won anything *yet* so how could he possibly win anything in the future?
This logic is pretty infallible, I gotta admit.
Lol my favorite line of reasoning for this year is "But Harbaugh went 8-5 last year. Why should we expect better?"
Forget that at one point Michigan was without its leading receiver (Black), leading running back (Issac), and its first- and second-string quarterback (Speight and O'Korn). Not to mention, 13 games' worth of experience for the youthful aspect of the roster.
Wow, Michigan getting respect from a national college football guy feels good after 2 years of abuse.
It's about time somebody grew a pair. Go Blue, baby.
QB and O-line. Both need to step up. The rest of the team is pretty much ready to go (assuming WRs performing poor last year was a product of poor QB play)
You mean the 4 highly touted freshman relievers? There's no way they got better.
The wierd thing is that UM will be starting 4 - 4* offensive lineman and we're completely unsure how it will perform.
Well, the interior 4-star linemen have proven themselves more or less. Who's worrisome is JBB. He hasn't performed up to expectations. But Harbaugh did say that he is going above and beyond, with knowledge that this is his last year of football potentially.
I'm willing to give JBB the benefit of the doubt. Currently, at worst, we've got 4/5 great starting offensive linemen. By all accounts, Runyan played like a stud this spring. Let's hope Runyan can keep it up and JBB is solid.
Thats the angst that permeates every aspect of American culture today talking. I for one am confident our OL will be much improved and we will get stellar QB play. Our highly touted freshmen receivers are now sophomores and we will see the corresponding leap in their play. The D will be top 5 in the nation once again. This team is primed to make a deep run. Im not afraid to be disappointed. But Im confident I wont be.
I don't know if it was missing 2 years ago. Speight may not be the most talented QB in the world but he was still one of the best QBs in the conference. If he doesn't get injured we beat OSU and go to the Big Ten championship game. Last year it was definitely the difference between 8-4 and 11-1.
Obviously Patterson is a huge upgrade, but the line still needs to keep him upright. It really comes down to the tackles for us, because QB should be a definite positive if Patterson can stay healthy.
So, I was inclined to agree with you, because from what I remember the only thing missing in 2016 was any semblance of luck, but Speight was bad in the Iowa and Ohio State games.
He was 11-26 in the Iowa games for barely over 100 yards and threw a terrible pick in Iowa territory in the 2nd half as Michigan was driving.
In the Ohio State game, he:
- threw a Pick 6 when OSU's offense wasn't doing anything
- fumbled on the 1 yard line as Michigan was about to go up 17-7
- threw a 2nd INT in Michigan territory that leads to OSU's 2nd TD
He finished 23-36 for 219 yards and 3 horrible turnovers. We can argue whether or not he was injured (and maybe that hit in the Iowa game prevented Michigan from making the CFP), but he was a major contributing factor in the two regular season losses.
Last year, we all know that O'Korn turned wins against MSU and OSU into losses.
The failure to find a good QB is basically the difference between "Harbaugh is the next Saban" to "Should Michigan consider firing Jim Harbaugh?"
No question he was bad against Iowa. I definitely think the injury played a big factor in his performance against OSU. Not saying he was great in 2016 but he was good enough to win the Big Ten if he had stayed healthy.
Are you forgetting all of the overthrown balls last year? In the opener against Florida he missed a WIDE open receiver running free down the sideline that would have resulted in a TD by throwing 3 ft over his head directly OOB like he was trying to get rid of the ball before being sacked.
He wouldn't have made a difference last year.
Dude you are making me sad
"- fumbled on the 1 yard line as Michigan was about to go up 17-7"
I completely blocked that from my mind until now..WTF, shoulda/woulda/coulda but F*$# we couldve had 2 W's in past 3 years
Michigan got the ball back and scored a TD on the next drive.
Obviously impossible to project things like this, but they score and go up 17-7, then kickoff and there's no guarantee Michigan gets the ball back again inside OSU territory (like they did after the fumble) and scores another time.
I get it, totally, but those big plays can swing games completely. We score and go up 17-7, stadium fuckin erupts, we kick off, hold them to a punt....just could change everything. But I get what you are saying.
Except this is exactly what happened. We got the TD after the fake punt, then forced a punt. This of course was followed by Speight throwing a pick that set up OSU's second TD.
This is the main reason I'm so optimistic about this year compared to the last two years. Speight was probably pretty banged up for the OSU game, and if so, probably explains some of the turnovers if he's tentative. But his backup has been O'Korn and a very young Peters. Fast forward to this year and you have 5 star Shea Patterson with a few years of collegiate experience in a very tough conference, his backup would probably be Peters, who was a highly ranked recruit and looked decent last year given his inexperience, then McCaffrey, which I remember reading some reports saying he's ahead of Peters, so there's that, then your fourth string is Milton, which even though a freshmen, everything I've read makes it sound like he's even in the conversation for possibly next year already. I don't remember a recent stretch where I've felt confident in the 2nd string guy, let alone going 3 or 4 deep.
Agree with you assessment here. But this is a two way street regarding on-field performance...here the coaches have to coach better and the players have to play better. My goal as a coach was always to encourage/facilitate my players to be internally driven-be prepared to fearlessly make the rapid, decisive decision...but holy cow, even very good players often find it difficult to grab the bull by the horn and be up to making that split-second decision that is often the difference between success or failure.
I so remember Bill Cowher being interviewed shortly after Polamalu retired-being asked what made Troy such a great player. Bill's answer, "Quite frankly, he played better than we could coach". And that is so true. You can coach your ass off but you cannot simulate the nuances of every (or any for that matter) play as it presents-you certainly cannot with all the moving parts on the football field.
Sorry, I digress...
Re: Speight - I have rewatched many of 2016 games (possibly multiple times for RU and PSU) and was surprised how mediocre he looked compared to my memories.
The receivers bailed him out multiple times - something our Frosh and a less than 100% Perry were not as able to do last year- but the biggest difference seemed to be the OL. Pockets seemed to be just a bit better - either slightly longer or more reliable as far as complete busts. As much as we complained about that OL group at the time, Speight probably stays upright and 11-1 is still on the table in 2017 with the 2016 line. Patterson or 2018 Peters will a better QB than Speight though imo.
Bartons Simmons' voice is irritating to me, but he's one of the best scouting guys out there and likes Michigan so I choose to take his word as gospel.
Barton chose Michigan, therefore his voice is amazing.
This would be my exact description of Sam Webb.
This is excellent news, and will save me a great deal of valuable time on Saturdays this fall since I no longer have to watch the games. Can I offer anyone my tickets?
I’ll take them on the grounds that no one else has answered in 12 hours.
finally somebody who gets it.
Throwing out expectations for a moment, the bottom line is this. Heading in to year 4, there is optimism whereas in the past it was absolute pessimism.
Jim came in and over achieved for 2 years, primarily with guys he didnt recruit. And here we are year 4 with a laundry list of talented guys and high expectations. Right where we should be. We've got a bunch of legit football players who have developed well, and that is not something the predecessors can say.
Regardless of the record at the end of they year, we're on the right track and I feel like we've got a team that resembles Michigan football of days past. All that said, I do have high expectations and this team wouldn't surprise me with anything they accomplish.
Well, he isn't wrong - a lot of people here had guarded optimism about 2017 but there was also trepidation about it being a step back potentially from others, and it was indeed a step back. I think the quibble is just over how it looked, and it looked pretty awful on offense in particular for some stretches.
Patterson is obviously a great add and, I would think, the presumed starter right now - we just need to see how the rest of the offense forms and performs around him.
Agreed, but before we can worry about a plan B we need a successful plan A. Speight, Peters, and O'Korn all played like plan C's or worse last year.
Well, the good/better news is that the team will likely be as good or better next year too. There will be some huge losses on the defensive side of the ball but there will also be guys ready to step up. But here, the chances are very good that the Michigan offense will have progressed to the "days of old" auto pilot mode with outstanding O-line play that will take care of business and put games away. The skilled positions will, at least, be solid-WRs and TEs might be spectacular...who knows, maybe the QBs too.
Here is why I am feeling confident, more so than any other year in the past 10 years. Our DLine is so freakin deep that we can just plug and place and (hopefully) not skip a beat. Plus all the other freaks on the Defense in the LB corps and backfield. That type of constant pressure, with only 4, wins a lot of games even with poor offense. (I do think we are going to take a good leap forward on that side though)
Can you remember a time when we've had legit all-american candidates in all three areas of the defense (Gary, Bush, Hill, and Long?)
I can't remember a time when we've been that talented. Plus the evidence bears out that Year 3 of a Don Brown system is when the Defense really takes off.
2006 we had Branch, Woodley, David Harris and Leon Hall... all either All American or 1st Team All B1G. That defense was badass!
Deep D line??
3rd string D line-
WDE- Vilain , top 100
DT- DIB, top 150
NT- Jeter, 4*
SDE- Hutchinson top 150
Yeah, that's deep!!
Defense has never been the issue though since Harbaugh has been here
I'd rather not be the favorites and stay under the radar.
Agree. I prefer, when these guys who know nothing more than we do, pick Michigan to finish 3rd or 4th in the East. Make that chip bigger.
We’ll go as far as the OL can take us. If they can even just get to average, we’re contenders. If it’s more of the same, it’s hard to see us winning any more than 9 games given the schedule.
11-1 this year
Indy or bust
11-1 this year
Indy or bust
User name checks out
It is possible given our defense. All we need is a serviceable offense and a QB that can complete 60 percent or more of his passes and I think we can win the B1G. I think there will be several close games but I like the team with the better D in close games, or the better FG kicker.
That sounds just like 2016. Elite defense. Offense was serviceable. QB completed 61.6% of passes. Our kicker hit 82.6% of field goals.
But we were one play away from winning the B1G and going on to the playoff. The same fate may occur this season but may be this year we will get the big call or the ball will bounce our way. I'm confident 2018 team will be much better than 2017 and we will have a good opportunity to win the B1G and make the playoffs.
We’ll go as far as Mineral King takes us.
Just give us the damn trophy now!
Get the season here QUICK.
This is all BS,
we don't even know who the QB is.
Play the games.
The QB play will be better than last years QB play that is pretty much guaranteed. The skills positions will be better too. The Oline should benefit from better QB and skill position play plus better coaching.
Everyone knows who the QB is.