Michigan Monday is finally up at the Ozone

I don't know what we have seen, based on the season so far, that says we aren't capable of beating osu and/or MSU. They're good teams, but so are we. The big house isn't as intimidating as it should be, but traveling in college football is harder than probably any other sport. I think that might mean something when our rivals come to Michigan this year. We're a team that's improving from week to week because our coaches hold players responsible to the team for their mistakes and we didn't have any experience in Harbaughs system to start the year. Plus, we have good fundamentals on D. We tackle well, diagnose plays on the fly, rarely blow coverages. I don't see MSU or osu sneaking guys behind the safeties or running for huge gains with their ground games. And neither MSU or Osu has an elite defense from what we've seen. Finally, MSU and osu are what they are, they've been together for a while and they're not going to improve dramatically. They're solid teams, but they're also a bit overrated. Who knows what we'll be when we play these teams, but we've got nfl level coaches and highly recruited players at every position. I think that will mean close games at the very least.

...is how the coaching staff preps and alters schemes based on the specific opponent. I always had the feeling that under Hoke, we essentially had one basic scheme for everyone we played. 

I think the general consensus is that we are finally experiencing the benefits of great coaching and we are physically and emotionally prepared to face MSU.  But I also think that we match up well with OSU's offense when Cardale Jones is under center.  I like our chances against OSU better with Jones at QB than JT Barrett.  It seems like with Jones, the OSU offense is based on a physical running attack using both Elliott and Jones and an assortment of downfield shots.  I like our ability to stop the running attack with the occassional shots at our corners.  Of course, the flip side of that is I have no idea how our offense will perform against OSU's defense.  I have significant concerns that Rudock will need to see and attack tight windows.  Right now, when he is required to do that, he typically tries to scramble or throw the ball away.

Anyone else prefer to see OSU with Jones at QB over JT?

I'll agree with Gerdeman that we'll know a lot more about Michigan after Northwestern and MSU. I think that line play, as always, will tell us more. Specifically, when we play against teams with a big, dominant OL, we'll see just how good our DL is. Conversely, when we play against a team with a big, dominant DL, we'll see just much our OL has improved.

So far, our OL has kept the QB clean and opened up lanes for the RB corps. And so far, our DL has been able to rip through the OL of the teams we've played. Both our OL and DL have looked dominant. But I vaguely recall the same thing when RichRod was here . . . Michigan dominated weaker OOC teams, but really struggled when we hit the Big Boys. I think we've seen a ton of improvement from those sorry days. But I still don't know that our linemen have really been challenged.

There is a clip of Kalis just being obliterated by one of the Utah defensive linemen. Not a pretty sight. The guys are going to have to play better than that against MSU and especially OSU.

Some nervousness creeping into the usual Gerdemann snark and into the comments as well.  OSU bloggers don't know how to deal with a good Michigan.  We have been shitty for most of the Web 2.0 era.  For most of the existence of youtube and Twitter we have had no opportunity to talk shit to our rivals.  I'm making a mental note of all of the times that I see OSU fans say that they wish that we would be good again to make the conference respectable.  Of all of the insults, that one really hurts the most.  We have been bad for so long that they take their wins over us for granted and they have forgotten the pain of losing to us.   I'm looking forward to the day when this blog can finally celebrate a win over legitimately good MSU and OSU teams.

Our season will be determined by how close we are to our ceiling and how much improvement we can make from week to week. So far, we have seemingly made drastic improvements since our first game against Utah. If we continue on that trajectory, the sky is the limit. If we are close to our ceiling already, we will struggle in B10 play. 

I think we have room to grow, especially on O as the guys get more comfortable with the schemes and start believing in each other. The team could make some huge strides here in the next few weeks.

"The Wolverine front four controlled everything. They were like a mining company store. Sure, they paid BYU to work for them, but they charged them to use the pick ax, the helmet lamp, the burlap sack, and those suspenders weren’t free either. It was complete control and BYU had no choice but to pay up, and when they left town they were completely broke." But if I work all day on the blue sky mine (don't tell Rosenberg) There'll be food on the table tonight (Cracker Barrel?) And if walk up and down on the blue sky mine (running steps) There'll be pay in your pocket tonight (travel per diem only fellas) And some have sailed from a distant shore (Darboh and O'Neill to name but two) And the company takes what the company wants (I thought we got rid of Brandon) And nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground (that Canham carpeted)

"The Devil Wears Khakis"

http://www.elevenwarriors.com/house-ad/2015/09/60495/new-shirt-the-devi…

Someone better with gifs than I can post up the image.

Folks are tripping in Columbus when they become fixated on our coach... This is exactly the kind of thing I want to see, and I would imagine Jim Harbaugh as well.