January 11th, 2022 at 11:24 AM ^
No idea. Who even votes on the annual Hip National Championship? What's the difference between a good and a bad hip, other than osteoporosis? If we win, do we get a trophy in the shape of a hip? According to Shakira, I know "hips don't lie," but little else about hips. I have so many questions...
January 11th, 2022 at 11:24 AM ^
We are either a QB going #1 overall type talent or 2-3 years of sustained top 5 level recruiting away from a national championship.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:28 AM ^
You bring up a good point with Shakira - I think she has the next 5-10 championships locked up.
Unless maybe JLo can make a run at her
January 11th, 2022 at 12:06 PM ^
Hips don't lie.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:29 AM ^
I believe it is hip and in slang "I'm hip to that" or "that is one hip dude."
It would be hip to win a championship.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:50 AM ^
Hip isn’t limited to what it used to be:
January 11th, 2022 at 1:07 PM ^
That's way more hip than my now-sore hips can handle.
Great find, though!
January 11th, 2022 at 11:54 AM ^
This...everyone acts like Clemson didn't happen. They won titles without having rosters stacked with 5 star players. an elite qb and playmakers at WR and rb (which we have) is a huge step in the right direction. Every elite defense in the last 5 years has given up tons of points to really good pass happy teams. Clemson has scored on Bama & OSU, OSU has scored on Clemson, Bama has scored on everybody, LSU scored on Bama & Clemson, and this all-time defense Georgia had got roasted by a 5'9 QB and 1.5 elite receivers.
January 11th, 2022 at 12:36 PM ^
Clemson? Huh? They won the National Championship in 2019 with Lawrence (QB), Etienne (RB) and Higgins (WR). They won the National Championship in 2017 with Watson (QB) and Mike Williams (WR). That team also had Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence. Both teams had a kid named Hunter Renfrow. That's pretty elite.
January 11th, 2022 at 4:34 PM ^
They also had some pretty stellar defenses at the time. Not Georgia or Alabama level and helped by the offense, but it was nevertheless a pretty good defense. Isaiah Simmons is another one.
January 11th, 2022 at 4:40 PM ^
I think his point is Clemson's recruiting during their run of success was on par with/lower than Michigan's, with the notable exception of all-world QBs in Watson and Lawrence. Sure, they had some other great players, but so does Michigan.
Hunter Renfrow was a 2*, I believe - so he's evidence that not all big contributors need be top recruits.
Clemson's classes, Per Rivals:
2012 14th
2013 14th
2014 13th
2015 4th
2016 6th
2017 22nd
2018 8th
2019 9th
IMO Michigan can win National Championships recruiting at their current level (annually somewhere between #5-15), as long as they continue to develop players and find hidden gems. Finding/developing a top QB would make it far more attainable.
Clemson is a good model, and probably more realistic for us than 'bama or Georgia.
January 11th, 2022 at 8:50 PM ^
I feel like you're backing up his point.
January 11th, 2022 at 12:00 PM ^
If I were still there, I can tell ya, baby. . . we'd be a lot closer.
Signed, Mr. Kool
January 11th, 2022 at 12:37 PM ^
And to show just how hard it really is, Alabama had both 2-3 years of top 5 recruiting classes and a #1 pick caliber QB plus a HOF coach and still couldn’t win it this year.
January 12th, 2022 at 12:37 PM ^
they also played without their top 2 WRs for most of the game, and Josh Jobe was out a good portion of the year. Excellent recruiting is nice, but those guys have to play.
January 11th, 2022 at 2:38 PM ^
I have two titanium hips. Do I have a shot at the title?
Safety tip for you youngsters, buy better running shoes and don't run on concrete.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:24 AM ^
As close as a #3 team has ever been.
January 11th, 2022 at 1:02 PM ^
That may be, but the gap between #2 and #3 is still quite large.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:25 AM ^
I’m hip for a ship. Defensively, the answer to your question is zero starters but plenty of rotation pieces.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:28 AM ^
I think JJ could win the starting job at UGA this offseason
January 11th, 2022 at 11:26 AM ^
I don’t think anyone is very close who isnt recruiting top 5 multiple years in a row. The talent gap between us and Georgia was big and thats hard to scheme around
January 11th, 2022 at 11:29 AM ^
That is a Tragically Hip view
January 11th, 2022 at 11:32 AM ^
One that only Canadians care deeply and passionately about.
January 11th, 2022 at 12:39 PM ^
I was looking to see if anyone made a TTH reference. Good on you mate.
January 11th, 2022 at 1:25 PM ^
But you're from IL, which isn't anywhere near Canada, so colour me confused.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:28 AM ^
I like the progress UM made this year, but after watching the DL, LBs, and safeties from both teams last night, I'd say they are a ways away. Watching GA shut down the heisman winning QB should slow down the "we are just an elite qb away" crowd.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:30 AM ^
I agree. Looking at next year's schedule, it sets up pretty well to go into the OSU game at 11-0 and see what happens. Pull it off and they will be back to the CFP, but I wouldn't expect a significantly different outcome.
January 11th, 2022 at 12:08 PM ^
I would, however, expect a more competitive outcome.
To paraphrase Harbaugh: "You get better at CFP games by playing CFP games."
January 11th, 2022 at 11:49 AM ^
Georgia doesn't win that game if Bama's top 2 WRs play. I know they won, and injuries happen etc, but they aren't significantly better than Bama.
You replace Vincent Gray with Will Johnson and Freshman LBs with Jr Linebackers, add in Bell and JJ with another years experience and that Georgia game isn't the same blowout. You can talk about OL and LBs but Bama had equal talent and couldn't do anything. That was never the key to win. Georgia has a mortal secondary and being able to exploit it is how you'd beat them.
So the question should be, how close are we to having an elite passing offense? The only one they faced ate them alive.
January 11th, 2022 at 12:05 PM ^
We’re putting a lot on a freshman cornerback. The difference is that our one 5-star cb doesn’t make us a championship teams. These teams have the luxury of developing their top players. I would love to see what W. Johnson, Sabb, Zeke Berry and Rolder look like next year and even more so in 2023. We need to stock the cabinet and remember that some of these players don’t always work out remember DGW, Osman Savage, Anthony Solomon, and Jalen Perry were all rated above 90 in recruiting (although it would be nice if Perry turns it around). Point is we need depth and breadth and need to develop our players as well.
January 11th, 2022 at 2:25 PM ^
If we played our best game that semi-final isn't a blowout. Yes, UGA took it to us and caused a shit ton of problems, but it still wasn't our best game.
January 11th, 2022 at 2:42 PM ^
Sigh. I remember when we shut down a heisman winning qb and beat Urban.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:29 AM ^
Recruiting needs a boost to be competitive for a national title. We get a few gems in every cycle, but we need a better balance of 3 to 4 star recruits in a cycle. It's got to be 50/50 or better, not 30/70 (4 star to 3 star) or whatever it's been for the last several years.
Hoke had a pretty good balance with this, but couldn't do anything with it. On the other hand, Jim was exceptional handling star players. 2016 had a very talented roster that he knew how to use. His only problem is he had a below average QB. So if Jim is leveraging this offseason in an attempt to boost NIL efforts to improve recruiting (and even get more compensation for him and his staff) then god bless him.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:52 AM ^
For what it's worth the 18-21 class had 50 four/five stars and 41 3 stars. (54.9%). The 19-22 classes had 54 four/five stars and 41 3 stars. (59.3%) So they have been getting the blue chip ratio. That said, they definitely need to use the momentum from this season to cash in on the 23 class to be close to top 5 and another season like this one in the fall to keep the ball rolling and get more talent in here to take the next step.
January 11th, 2022 at 12:11 PM ^
Interesting. I also looked at rankings and noticed that between 2018-2021 Michigan had 7 players ranked in the top 100 of recruiting (smith, Hinton and hutch were 100-110), Georgia had 40. This way If there’s attrition (a la Justin fields) you can absorb it better. I’d say it’s not about getting the 1-15 kids but more about populating classes with 5-6 kids in the top 50-80 in addition to 1-2 huge 5 star gets like we have been known to do (rashan, dpj, Dax, Donovan edwards, jj, Will Johnson)
January 11th, 2022 at 4:02 PM ^
This is how I looked at it. There were something like 8 players last night who OSU was in it up until the very end when they were recruiting them. Pretty good measuring stick of where your program is when you see players who you were really contending for in the NC game.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:29 AM ^
As Huey Lewis once told me, you gotta be hip to to be square
January 11th, 2022 at 11:29 AM ^
About 14 wins.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:31 AM ^
If you encounter a cross-eyed bear in the woods, what paw does he use to swat you?
January 11th, 2022 at 11:32 AM ^
probably a long way away, despite a great year this year. i think we'll be fine next year, a good team, a 10-2 type of team, but in the end not in the discussion for the championship. you simply can't lose that much talent and replace it unless you're bama/georgia/ohio.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:32 AM ^
We're pretty close as in there's not a lot of teams much better than us.
So that's pretty close - the same way the second tallest guy in Lilliput was pretty close to being the tallest guy in Lilliput during Gulliver's presence.
January 11th, 2022 at 11:34 AM ^
Our shot at a national championship next year rests on the offense, not the defense. While I am hopeful that Macdonald has learned a lot this year and that he would have a better game plan next year, our slim path to a national championship is going to rest on scoring lots of points.
Can our o-line stand up to a front 7 like Georgia’s next year? Can our receivers and qbs make plays with limited time and tight coverage? Can we create enough pressure through the air that it opens up the running game? I think there is a good chance we will be better on that front next year. Being good enough is going to take even better play from what was a very solid o-line, a qb growing a lot and a couple receivers becoming elite. Can Bell come back 100%, does Anthony continue to improve, can Erick All get even better? Can the playcalling continue to improve? It is not impossible, but a great deal must go right,
January 11th, 2022 at 11:35 AM ^
#3 is our ceiling at this point
January 11th, 2022 at 11:36 AM ^
Close two times!!! You trying to get begged???
January 11th, 2022 at 11:37 AM ^
We are two 5-Star elite linebackers, three 5-Star elite Defensive Lineman, and at least one 5-Star Safety away on Defense. On offense we are closer. I would say we need to add another 5-star or two to the offensive line and maybe one more dominant skilled position player, preferably a receiver or leapy TE. Easy peazy. Would just take 2 or 3 years straight of being in the top 5 recruiting nationally. Totally doable.
Edit: and two elite 5 star corners
January 11th, 2022 at 11:44 AM ^
Defensively, we're a long way away. The reinforcements coming in the '22 class are a couple of years away, and the LB's aren't really included in that class. They're close, but not capable of stopping teams like UGA and Bama right now. And maybe not Ole Miss, so long as Kiffen maintains the offensive magic he's had his entire career.
Offensively, much closer. I believe we have the QB - once he gets a full season as the starter under his belt. Another shared year just won't cut it in the playoffs. Cade can get us into the playoffs, but that's it (as we just saw). Also need Bell to be the #1 WR he was before his injury. If he comes back in that form, we have the threat at WR that scares a secondary. The OL needs improvement at the OC position. I love Vastardis, he gave more than he had a right to give this season. But Olu Oluwatimi (sp?) should be the upgrade needed, along with another year of seasoning, to get the OL to stand on its own. The inability to handle Georgia's interior DL hurt. It hurt bad.
I also think Haskins was a step slow at that level, as much as we all love him - and rightfully so.
Overall, offense is close enough to say it's at a level that can legitimately compete. The defense is not, yet, but it's close.
January 11th, 2022 at 12:14 PM ^
I think our pass blocking needs to improve. We have been a very very good run blocking team but I think we need to develop better pass protection. Bama couldn’t run on georgia ans georgia could barely run on bama (until the 4th quarter) but they both gave their qbs time despite great defensive line ans blitzing on both sides)
January 11th, 2022 at 3:51 PM ^
Last night Georgia was all over Bryce Young like a cheap suit. He must have been sacked, pressured or hit at least 10 times. So even Alabama struggled holding off the UGA front. I think we have to chalk up a lot of our offensive troubles to how good UGA's defense is. It's widely regarded as one of the best collegiate defenses of the modern era.
That said, yes, we do need to add more high end talent to the OL to help offset the imbalance to a great defense like UGA's.