5-7 in 2018?
I was talking with a friend I trust on things related to Michigan football and he laid out what I thought was a fairly convincing scenario in which we go 5-7 this year, with losses to ND, Nebraska, Maryland, Wisconsin, MSU, Penn State, and OSU.
The crux of his argument boils down to the OL failing to develop significantly (they need to be a lot better), Shea is not ruled eligible and Peters continues his performance from the South Carolina game. An opening loss to Notre Dame makes the mgocommunity restless and there are calls for McCaffrey, who is pushed into the starting job and doesn't show to be demonstrably better than Peters. Our inability to pass protect puts all of our QBs in a bad spot, and we still can't run the ball when we need to. Wide receivers continue to drop key passes on third downs, failing to develop one iota under Pep/McElwain. We defense our way to 5 wins but against tougher teams we stumble, and we go 0-3 against the rivals.
I wanted to throw this up to the mgoboard and see what you all think, if this is just an outlier position or if it sounds realistic or plausible.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:24 PM ^
same reaction from your readers
February 16th, 2018 at 3:57 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 3:57 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 3:58 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:05 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
Are you suggesting that going 11-2 (the losses being to OSU and MSU) would warrant calling for Harbaugh's job?
February 16th, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 3:59 PM ^
I think your 46 down votes (and counting) should tell you all you need to know about what we think. Congrats.
February 16th, 2018 at 3:58 PM ^
We could go 0-12 next year, or 12-0. Yeah, 0-12 is highly unlikely and you could paint a scenario where 5-7 is a distinct possibility BUT -
Jim Harbaugh has had one bad season to offset a career of success.
We can reasonably expect improvement at literally every position except LT and QB. We have three reasonable answers at QB, and you can point out dozens of team who can get by with average LT play. So basically all we need is for awful to become average, but hopefully more.
You and your friend should relax and try to enjoy your summer.
February 16th, 2018 at 3:58 PM ^
let's not forget that this information came from a friend HE TRUSTS ABOUT MICHIGAN FOOTBALL. I mean, if it was just from a regular friend it would not be board worthy, but this is a friend HE TRUSTS ABOUT MICHIGAN FOOTBALL.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:01 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:03 PM ^
I can think of a worse case than that, we go 0-12.
fuckouttahere
February 16th, 2018 at 4:04 PM ^
I literally just scrolled through all the comments and looked for your name/picture so I could downvote you. I knew without reading your comments that they had to be just as bad, if not worse than the post.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:05 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:06 PM ^
I'm all for voicing your opinions but this is just plain stupid. If you're trying to get a rise out of people, mission accomplished. If this is a serious question, I'm left in disbelief. Also, if this is a friend you trust on "things related to Michigan football" you should really reconsider your sources. Wow.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:06 PM ^
Do realize that basically the entire defense is coming back next year? You do realize that the youngest college football team in America is going to be year older and more mature? Do you understand the words that are coming out of your keyboard? Just stop!
February 16th, 2018 at 4:06 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:08 PM ^
Someone's not reading the room.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:08 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:08 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:09 PM ^
Worst case OL is Bredeson, Onwenu. Spanellis, Ruiz, and JBB. I’d say Spanellis v. Kugler is at worst a wash, Bredson v. Cole is a bit of a downgrade, and the other 3 are better if for no other reason than one year more experience. Best case is probably Newsome, Bredeson, Ruiz, Onwenu, and one of the Redshirt Frosh- with Spanellis and JBB as primary backups — better in every spot compared to last year.
At QB - I would take the winner of a year-older McCaffrey, Peters battle over every game starter last year except maybe Speight before injury.
WR and TE will be much better than last year, FB and RB a wash.
That Equals a better offense. The defense will be better than last year overall despite the loss of Hurst.
Finally - despite the all-time shitty offense last year we easily could have (should have) won every game last year except PSU and maybe Wisconsin.
If that sounds like 5-7 you may want to talk to a doctor about mood altering medications.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:15 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:36 PM ^
Best case is probably Newsome, Bredeson, Ruiz, Onwenu, and Anderson one of the Redshirt Frosh- with Spanellis and JBB
February 16th, 2018 at 10:13 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:11 PM ^
0-12, 1-11, 2-10, 3-9, 4-8, 5-7, 6-7, 7-6, 8-6, 8-5, 9-5, 9-4, 10-4, 10-3, 11-3, 11-2, 12-3, 12-2, 12-1, 13-2, 13-1, 14-1, 15-0
February 16th, 2018 at 4:24 PM ^
Georgia Tech was 5-6 last year. So, while highly unlikely, that is possible. If you're going to include predictions like 0-12 and 12-3 (which I think means making the CFP with two losses and then advancing, but losing in the final) then you might want to include other highly unlikely scenarios.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
in case the sun explodes in a supernova, Earth gets hit by a meteor, someone starts World War III or any other number of scenarios btw now and opening day. All would be equally as optimistic as the OP's premise.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:11 PM ^
I'm curious to know what the expectations truly are for Michigan fans? What if we lose against ND, MSU and OSU and go 9-3. Is that reasonable? Should we be satisfied?
I need to realign my expectations as well and like most other people here I tend to get my expectations up (Big ten championship and in the CFP) every year before the season starts. Not sure where I should be at now though. Thoughts?
February 16th, 2018 at 4:11 PM ^
based on everything going wrong at the worst possible time. Similarly, a utopic scenario sees Patterson connecting with receivers behind a rejuvenated O-line and Higdon and Evans both approaching 1000 yards in the season, the defense proving as good or better than last year, and the team going 10-2 or 11-1 or (what the hay) even undefeated.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:14 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:15 PM ^
One bad year when we went a whopping 8-5. Eight and FIVE! Harbaugh and Drevno both were here to turn around a 5-7 team into back to back 10-3 teams.
A bad season ending in 8-5 should be viewed as a sign of program stability. Worst possible outcome was and is 8-5. Chin up.
February 16th, 2018 at 10:08 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:15 PM ^
Well sure, this is possible. You could also write up a worst-case scenario for every other team in the country, one of which would include Ohio State losing to their archrival at home to lose their bid to the B1G title game.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:17 PM ^
This isn't Brady Hoke's Michigan!
February 16th, 2018 at 4:35 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:21 PM ^
Who upvoted this thread?
February 16th, 2018 at 4:23 PM ^
A man who just wants to watch our MGoWorld burn.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
His second account.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:23 PM ^
is going to be gawd-awful, I think our defense should be good enough for at least 6 wins-- if not more. Remember, this is the Big 10, which always finds a way to put 2-3 games on your schedule which defies all logic.
So even if you think that everyone on offense will either plateau or get worse-- which, seriously?-- even 5-7 doesn't make sense tome.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:24 PM ^
February 16th, 2018 at 4:36 PM ^