Road to Playoffs in '19

Beat OSU, win the rest of the games. 

Quality D Lines are always about rolling a bunch of guys through who can make an impact. Gary and Winovich are obviously huge losses as they were impact players consistently. Solomon showed some flashes and we were counting on him to be a major factor. Mone and Marshall were occasional impact guys, more depth though. 

So we have 4 guys With some experience. Uche has shown the most consistency to be an impact player.  Kemp has shown flashes as has Paye and Dwumfour.  

We will miss Bush a lot. 

I don’t expect both corners back. 

I'm worried about even just getting past Army. That's going to be a ranked team coming into our stadium next year. Monken is a hell of a coach, and has changed the entire culture of Army football. His team won't be even remotely intimidated by Michigan, and they will be expecting to win. That's going to be a game where the run game has to keep Army's offense off the field for as long as possible, and the defense is going to have to make some huge stops. 

Assuming we get past Army, I do like the fact that all three rivals are at home. Losing to ND would be rough, but not a dealbreaker. Has nothing to do with how we fare in conference or with winning the Big Ten. But losing to MSU or OSU means the playoffs are essentially gone. 

Honestly, its hard for me to even think this team could make the playoffs until I see it beat a good OSU team. Not getting fooled anymore after what happened this year. Until I see them win again, with my own two eyeballs, I'm going to assume we lose that game every single year. 

Offense is good enough to beat anyone in 2019. Defense has talent — some unproven — schedule is tough once again. 

Thanks, B1G, for once again giving us the best of the Big Ten West. 

Still can’t believe we took ND in the middle of the schedule...unreal

I figured this was common knowledge, but thanks anyway...

I am not optimistic about 2019.  Heavy losses on Defense.  D Line in particular will struggle to stop the run and corners will be inexperienced after departures for the NFL.  Don Brown is great at 1 thing, but his scheme can be exploited.

On offense, Harbaugh and Pep play with fear.  They do not scheme to win...they scheme "not to lose".  This is not an aggressive offense.  They do not attack the opponent and to not take advantage of favorable matchups with the big, speedy WRs and TEs vs. opponents. 

The OL will continue to be slightly better than average.

3 losses next year minimum. 

Sorry that is just how it appears right now.

9/28 Rutgers

10/5 Home vs. Iowa

10/26 Notre Dame Home

11/16 Sparty at Home

11/30 Ohio State at Home

The inconsistent use of designating a HOME game is killing my inner OCD.  Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!

Somebody prob posted this already but we cannot overlook Army. They’ve got a terrific team.

The OSU game is huge but I have to admit I get much more enjoyment out of beating MSU. I hope we absolutely hammer them next year.

We might have a loss or two here and there but the competition is just going to get tougher for everyone else as well. It’s conceivable to see East winner with 3 losses depending upon who those loses are to.

Don't sleep on Army.

Is Indiana as our second to last game a new tradition?  3/4 years it is starting to feel like it.

We'll lose a game or two before OSU but we're going to need to beat the Buckeyes this year or we're going to be staring into the abyss ... or at least waiting until 2021 with Senior McCaffrey and this '19 class as non-draft-eligible-yet juniors. Black and Martin might/should still be around too. 

Anyway, I gotta believe we'll get 'em next year. The whole season will hinge on that. And if the losses are to Wisconsin and Penn State on the road and our wins are the home rivalry games it will be a good season. 

I’d skip any preparation for Middle TN and work on defending the triple option that Army will bring.  They are a good team and return almost everybody from a ranked team.  

Edit: didn’t see the 20 previous Army posts 

A couple comments.

I had no idea we played ND at the end of October.  (Channels William Shatner) "we have a bridge?  Why in the hell aren't I notified about these things!?"  This is good.

Army scares the shit out of me.

@IU scares the shit out of me.

There will be close calls for sure but assuming the offense takes a leap forward and the young guys on D develop and sort of "hold serve" compared to 2018, Michigan being 11-0 heading into OSU is not exactly crazy talk.  Don't underestimate what a guy like Dax Hill can do for the D.  That said we will need at least one of Hill and Long to come back.

This may sound lame, but I think it really helps our playoff hopes that Ohio State just lost one of the best coaches in all of college football over the last several decades and replaced him with a very untested new guy. 

11-1

lose to either Maryland or Indiana

That’s a tough schedule but it’s mitigated by the fact that the three toughest games are at home in MSU, OSU, and ND.  Iowa, Wisconsin, and Penn State could pose a challenge as well, especially if our defense is no longer automatic. Does Notre Dame return Ian Book? If so that game will be very difficult, as he is elite. 

We loose 4-5 next year so who fucking cares. Dumb thread