Anyone else concerned about the Army game?
Jim has done everything he was brought here to do EXCEPT beat OSU/win the Big Ten (which are basically the same thing). If he can't beat them this year, with all that experience on offense, at home and vs. a new Buckeye coach, it is fair to question whether he ever will -- at least with any consistency.
Without a doubt. My question is how are they on defense? If we can exploit their defense then great; if we are struggling to score then that would be a rough day for us.
The way we tend to lose games like Army is to play poorly on offense, turn the ball over, and stall inside the 20 yard line. That gives the defense no margin for error and that creates opportunity for the other team. In other words, we'll lose this game if we play poorly....like the way most upsets happen.
Concerning that it will be closer longer than what is comfortable? Absolutely. Worried that it still won't end up being a two-three score victory at minimum? Absolutely not.
You should take that whole week off to mentally prepare.
I don't have much of an opinion yet but I do know I will feel much better if we aren't playing at a snail's pace too.
Army was #84 last year in S&P. They were massively lucky record-wise, winning close to 3 games more than their single-game statistical win probabilities would have predicted (the only other teams in the country with 2+ additional wins beyond expectation were Kentucky and-sigh-OSU).
I'm expecting a game like Air Force in 2017, with more scoring. Tight into the 2nd half, but not a game Michigan is in real danger of losing in the 4th quarter.
Eh, a bit, like normal. If you come into a game against a triple option team and you don't have the defensive gameplan to stop them, it's going to be a long game. Michigan also has real questions in the center of the DL.
The upside is that a lot of Michigan's defensive questions regard youth and perhaps modest talent deficits. These are real issues, but Michigan will spend time repping option concepts in the offseason, and if players learn and execute their assignments, they should be fine. Even if they're not quite up to previous standards.
Still, it's not stupid to be concerned in football terms. This is a really good service academy triple option team, and they are capable of turning a big game or two into a rock fight. So there's a chance it could be Michigan. Hopefully it's a breeze game and nobody gets hurt.
I am. If you're being honest with yourself and you look at army's results from last year. You can replace Michigan with Army and I would have guessed we would have similar scores and probably the same record.
Michigan absolutely crushes every team on Army's 2018 schedule outside Oklahoma, which was the only team it played in the S&P top 50. The next best opponent was Duke at 51, which beat Army by 20.
You think we lose to duke last year? That we beat Hawaii and Miami of Ohio by less than one score? That we squeak by Air Force and navy? This is a confusing take. Army beat no one of substance last year and their best game was a loss to OU that was entirely at the feet of the fact that Big 12 defenses are hot garbage and they still only gave up three scores to Army.
WD, I'm picturing you sitting bolt upright out of a sound sleep with this on your mind.
Yes. I’m very concerned*.
*As concerned as one can be about a game that far down the road and being a grown adult with a family to think about.
Outside of a 2016 win vs. Navy, and a 1972 win vs. Air Force (e.g., 2 fellow military academies), Army has not defeated a ranked program since 1968 (California).
Army had some good performances in 2018. But they still were only a mid-tier team (actually a bit below at #84) per S&P+, and as a program they still have their structural limitations.
They will be an underdog against Michigan and deservedly so.
Some interesting information on this site:
Army returns 51% of the defensive production (Michigan 50%).
Army returns 80% of their offensive production (Michigan 76%)
Similar stories for both teams. I'm guessing Michigan has a better ability to reload on the defensive side than Army does. Should be an interesting game though.
Another Brandon hangover. These service academy games do nothing good for the UM football program except maybe for getting money to our troops. Other than that, the game prep is a waste of time for the rest of the season and the cut block from the triple-option scheme is too high for injury risk.
Non-conference opponents should be teams that run offenses similar to our B1G opponents.
It’s May. I don’t plan to start worrying about football games until mid-August at the earliest. If I really feel the need to worry about something between now and then, I will opt for worrying about losing basketball players to the NBA or maybe not signing a target recruit or how long it will take Michigan hockey to become elite again. But maybe I just won’t worry.
Only if they use nukes :)
I know you're trying to be funny, but all you did was show you didn't watch any Army football last year!
Uhhh... you missed the joke. I don't let football games "concern" me because there's A LOT worse things out there.
Thankfully mutually assured destruction is no longer a main one.
Is anyone worried? I would hope the entire Navy team is concerned about the army game.
But with respect to the Michigan - Army game, I worry about every game. But I'll wait for the Opponent Watch segment to determine how much to worry.
Given the fact that our opening game is against a well known football powerhouse in MTSU, I’m thinking that our Defense will spend a significant amount of time during the fall practice period on our Defensive scheme for the Army game. Thus, I do not concur with your analysis of why we should be more concerned over Army than any other game on our home schedule.
(FU Dave)
This is a horrible post.
Go look at Army's record when this game was scheduled. It was Baby Seal U.
Go Army, Beat Navy
But NOT M, Big hitting game, M 35-14
On Offense, yes, Army returns 80% of their starters, ranked 16th in the land in returning productivity. QB Kelvin Hopkins is dangerous as hell, running and throwing.
On Defense, no, Army will be a dumpster fire this year compared to last year with I think 4 to 5 starters returning. They will be a skeleton crew in 2019.
As for taking Oklahoma to the wire, this is because OU had zero scoring defense last year.
With few exceptions most Sooner footall games were shootouts last year.
This is why Lincoln Riley fired Ruffin McNeal as DC, and hired Ohio State's Alex Grinch to be their new DC in 2019.
It has almost gotten to the point there are no guaranteed wins for Michigan. So, yes. I am worried.
I wish we had a powerful offense like Clemson, OSU, and Alabama. Must be really fucking nice to know that your team is going to score at will against certain (most) opponents. I'm so sick of this dated "defense wins championships" bull shit. Where has that gotten us the past four years? I'll tell you: nowhere.
Not sure if serious or just emo...
This will be a tough game and Michigan will be severely limited when it comes to offensive touches because of Army's offense. The Michigan defense will have to be exceptionally good when it comes to option assignments or Army will grind it out and eat the clock. This game can be lost BUT it can also be won.
Nothing to worry about. The outcome is binary: we either win or lose. Now, when there is a continuum of possible outcomes, such as when a B10 championship game or playoff birth is on the line, that's when the anxiety begins to come in as precious mental energy is expended going through the different possible scenarios to see how things shakeout. But that's premature by the time Army rolls into town. If we win then great, but we will have to keep up the pace for the remainder of the season. If we lose, it will be moot because it will still be too early to know how everything will transpire for the rest of our season and that of our competition for those championship slots.
I am always concerned about every game. Remember 2007.....Appalachian State and their no-huddle, spread option?
All summer long I was teased for being scared of that game.
One of those times where you truly don't enjoy being right.
Yes. Extremely concerned. It's an L and I'm not being sarcastic.
We'll be good later on but Army and maybe even Wisconsin pose serious potential problems.
Yes, I am. The returning production they have, combined with the number of new and young defensive starters, doesn’t seem to be a great mix. Combine that with just the uncertainty of how an aggressive defense will do against an offense designed to take advantage of it. I can easily imagine putting up a ton of points and yards on MTSU, then being slowed down as much by lack of opportunities as anything.
I’m very worried but more upset that it’s on the schedule. Only a total dumbass....
on another note I really don’t want to be worried about it now or make it into an issue that gets more real. We should win that game by two scores or more.
We’ll struggle against Army if we play our usual hyperconservative run-run-pass offense. To beat a team like that when we have superior talent (which we will), we need to push the throttle wide open on offense from the first play. Put three or four WRs out there all the time, and pass them to death. Go for as many big plays as possible, always go on 4th down in their territory, and never take our foot off the gas. Have them worrying that if they make any mistakes, we’ll be back in their end zone in 2-3 minutes. Force them to abandon their clock-eating run game as early as possible, and it’s over.
Not worried. It's May. (I might be worried come August)
Just realized my boss is going to be in my ear leading up to that game. He's a West Point grad and he talks shit about Michigan for the fun of it because he knows I'm a fan. Maybe I'll quit before then.
Did you watch Oklahoma last year? They had no defense. Michigan has a defense.
Army may have some success but there's no way Michigan will let them run up and down the field as easily as OU did. The only reason OU didn't score more is because Army held the ball for a ridiculous amount of time...no way Don Brown and this D will allow that to happen.
And FFS it's May.
No... it's May so I am not worried.
Also... Michigan will spend way more than a week getting ready for Army. They have the entire month of August to prepare.