M #1 in SP+

Nice. This team has a lot to improve, but good to see things continue to trend up. So the preseason ranking is four weeks out. So, this has lot more in-season data now. 

Hope OL gels in a week or two and players come off injuries. Then, this team will be ready for November. 

Really like reading this.  Thanks for sharing.  Enjoying the season so far and have a feeling it is going to get better every week.  Not to thread jack but also enjoying the fact Michigan has Coach Harbaugh and OSU has Coach Day.  Coach Harbaugh has been hitting real triples for a long time and was winning AFC player of the year when Coach Day was still watching Felix the Cat cartoons.  Just sayin.

Defense is legit.  Not without areas on which to work, but legit.  Could have goosed those numbers by not soft-covering a team that can't throw downfield, but no one is doing much of anything so far this year against them.  And, not one game yet where we can really say the defense was fully healthy and present.

I think the oline and second cb spot need improvement if the team is going to achieve their goal; could also use a bit more edge pressure. BUT saying that, after watching ND/OSU last night, the Buckeyes are still SOFT no matter how much Eddie Munster cries about it. 

5 of the top 6 in this week's ratings will be in the "Big Ten" next season.

Yeah but how tough are we in the Ryan Day index? Call out an octogenarian tough?!

But #1 in our hearts .... wait ... just #1 in everything dammit

Yes but are we flashy enough? These fancy stats and wins are nice but I have feelings. I hold down triangle in Madden to run the no huddle with injuries and fatigue turned off. Isn't that exactly like real football? /s

Season is wide open for success.

People have been very critical of the offense, but they've been efficient outside of BGSu with 4 turnovers.

They've had very few possessions. Yesterday just 7 possessions including running the clock out. They're fine with letting the clock run and taking the play clock down before they snap.

We're winning games and giving our opponents very little game tape to watch.

Does this still include last year's stats?

The best part is this team can get even better

but the potential is still there

I mean, of course and this team has been pretty terrific. The reason people are freaking out is just because expectations are so high this year. We've been completely fine and playing with an obvious "avoid injuries and try a bunch of stuff out" mentality for the first few games. 

I believe Rutgers is underrated and will hang an LL on Sparty, as well as go bowling this season. 

As a Michigan fan, alumnus, third generation alumnus, blah blah blah. I've blead UM football for a long time. There was a time when I would have made a video similar to the "sparty meltdown" video. Instead of shaming that young spartan, I know both understand his emotions, and feel sorry for him. Football is a great sport and loving a team is, not anywhere near the true love one has for a child, but close in ones' visceral emotions in the success of something for which one has little impact on the outcome (clearly, a parent has more impact, but the success is out of the parent's hands. This is a metaphor and am not suggesting that watching football and parenting are anywhere near as important. But there are emotional similarities). To the spartan fan, nothing wrong with loving a team. It hurts way more than a victory feels good. This is the magic of the product. 

That all said, I'm looking at SP #1 and, instead of worrying about outcomes, I smile at where the program is. We can expect to see dominate defenses, an O line that is the best in the land. In the random roll of fate's dice, we may drop a few games. We may not get off to a strong start and not have enough to come back. Some team may out scheme us. It will be painful to witness. Regardless of outcome, I'm proud of this group of men, the coaches, the university and the fan base. We have demanded excellence, and dammit, it is here. I know there are only secular celebrations for the team that wins it all in the second week in January, but I think we should nod our collective heads at the greatness this program has become. It is awesome. I will cherish every win, but in a large way, we have already won.

Go Blue!

Area of unknown:   No Biff behind the scenes

Areas likely not better yet: special teams. Spoiled by Moody.  Punt and kick returns need work. 
 

OL needs to gel better. 

First 4 games 1997 - Considered one of the top collegiate defenses of all time. They had Charles Woodson!

1. Colorado, Baylor, Notre Dame, Indiana
   • Passing: 583 (175, 62, 205, 141)
   • Rushing: 306 (49, 92, 149, 16)
   • Total Yards: 889
   • Turnovers: 9 (4, 1, 1, 3)
   • Remaining Games: Team (823 Rushing , 1023 Passing, 20 Turnovers)
     • Northwestern (35, 135, 2)
     • Iowa (101, 86, 4)
     • Michigan State (95, 177, 6)
     • Minnesota (90, 12, 0)
     • Penn State (101, 68, 1)
     • Wisconsin (154, 81, 1)
     • Ohio State (119, 133, 3)
     • Washington State (128, 331, 3)

First 4 games 2006 - All time great run defense that got exposed at the end of the year through the air.

1. Vanderbilt, CMU, Notre Dame, Wisconsin
   • Passing: 794 (129, 188, 241, 236)
   • Rushing: 64 (42, 16, 4, 2)
   • Total Yards: 858
   • Turnovers: 11 (2, 3, 5, 1)
   • Remaining Games: Team (544 Rushing , 2130 Passing, 15 Turnovers)
     • Minnesota (108, 215, 0)
     • Michigan State (60, 252, 2)
     • Penn State (14, 200, 1)
     • Iowa (41, 197, 1)
     • Northwestern (13, 204, 5)
     • Ball State (47, 250, 1) - The memories came back :(
     • Indiana (26, 105, 1)
     • Ohio State (187, 316, 3)
     • USC (48, 391, 1)

First 4 Games 2022

1. Colorado State, Hawaii, UConn, Maryland
   • Passing: 441 (137, 113, 24, 269)
   • Rushing: 436 (82, 140, 86, 128)
   • Total Yards: 877
   • Turnovers: 6 (2, 0, 1, 3)

First 4 Games 2023

1. East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green State, Rutgers
   • Passing: 604 (132, 168, 124, 180)
   • Rushing: 322 (103, 61, 81, 77)
   • Total Yards: 926
   • Turnovers: 5 (1, 0, 3, 1)

Note: Was bored so wanted to see a comparison, maybe useful to someone.

Iowa.

#108 offense

#2 defense

Srsly has that even been approached before?  How is that even conceivably possible?  

Meanwhile FPI has us at 12th, with a 30% chance to beat Penn State and a 32% chance to beat Ohio State. Super weird that ESPN has two metrics that are vastly different