SEC Conference Record (Alabama Fans Coming in way too confident...)
I've known this before, but they are coming in WAAAY to confident. I've actually been taken aback at how confident they have been.
Obviously, the road would have been much easier with FSU, but to be honest I'm glad we have Bama. This is a special season and just like the Bulls had to do it with the Pistons, I think the Good Guys need to run over an SEC powerhouse to make this Championship season that much better.
Here is the reality:
SEC record against other conferences in 2023 (Didn't play B1G in 2023):
4-6 against ACC
1-2 against Big 12
2-1 against Pac 12
SEC record against other conferences in 2022:
7-4 against ACC
4-2 against Big 12
3-2 against B1G
3-1 against Pac 12
These guys are holding onto the past. Transfer Portal and NIL has evened the playing field folks.
December 5th, 2023 at 9:31 AM ^
Just win baby!
Also, Saban will have his team ready. This will be a dog fight and I'm sure Crying Day is sharing our signals and intel with Bama.
December 5th, 2023 at 9:41 AM ^
Saban having a whole month to prepare is scary. We can overcome though.
December 5th, 2023 at 9:50 AM ^
Semi-seriously here, I'm pretty sure Michigan's coaching staff is allowed to have the same amount of preparation time. I'd be concerned only if we had a staff of buffoons.
December 5th, 2023 at 9:53 AM ^
This is true, but we cannot just ignore that Michigan has looked unprepared and sloppy in every bowl game since 2015. It is real. That does not mean it is going to be the case this time but Michigan's bowl performance under Harbaugh does not inspire much confidence along these lines.
December 5th, 2023 at 9:59 AM ^
Tactics aside, yes, very much agreed. :)
December 5th, 2023 at 10:02 AM ^
2015? Try 1970.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:05 AM ^
We did good in 2015 when Florida's entire team either sat out or got suspended, except the one QB-like guy who did the cute trick play in the 1st quarter.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:14 AM ^
Hence the old joke: How are Michigan and marijuana similar? They both get smoked in bowls.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:13 AM ^
Yep, this is my concern as well. I am not sure what the deal is with Bowl Games with this team, but the bowl record speaks for itself. They SUCK in the post-season and until they don't I won't have any faith that they do.
Now maybe the worm turns this year, just like it did three years ago in the other game I lost all faith in, but until I see it I am not going to believe it.
December 5th, 2023 at 11:14 AM ^
Michigan seems to spend the month off doubling down on what they do good.
Other teams seem to spend the time to mix it up, and when shown a tendency they have done all year, spin off that in the bowl game with their you know - new plays.
We don't seem to like doing that, and that seems to be from Bo on down.
December 5th, 2023 at 11:35 AM ^
I disagree. In the past few years, the bowl games have had "new plays" and most of them do not work. The Philly special to Loveland? Yikes. Twice doing a fullback dive to players who had not game repped that play before, resulting in fumbles (McKeon, Mullings)?
We have been a bit snakebit on our "new plays" in the bowls.
Last season, the staff may have overlooked TCU some and were prepping for Georgia. It showed.
December 5th, 2023 at 11:37 AM ^
Last year the coaches were under the belief that they could just plug in Edwards to do what Corum did. They needed to just play the second half game plan in the first half.
December 5th, 2023 at 7:26 PM ^
TCU had our signals. How do you explain the perfect run blitz calls all game?
December 5th, 2023 at 3:53 PM ^
Yes. It's the innate conservatism in a program that relies psychologically on "tradition" to bolster its confidence and banish insecurity. The insecurity is rooted in fear of looking incompetent, unserious, or foolish. Let's get over ourselves and have fun.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:28 AM ^
We haven't won a bowl since the 2015 season, but some of those games could have easily gone the other way.
-We probably beat FSU if not for one missed tackle on their final kickoff return.
-We had a double-digit lead on South Carolina and were on the verge of slamming the door shut when Smith fumbled deep in their territory.
-We got screwed out of a TD in last year's game.
We haven't seemed to have gotten any fortunate breaks in a bowl since the Sugar Bowl 12 years ago. Maybe it's our turn.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:33 AM ^
"We probably beat FSU if not for one missed tackle on their final kickoff return."
Or if we had a kicker who could just put the fucking kickoff into the back of the goddamned endzone to begin with.
Still disgusted about that.
December 5th, 2023 at 11:15 AM ^
So... only 5 plays away?
December 5th, 2023 at 12:03 PM ^
Well no, Coach Day. That would be one play in each of the three games.
December 5th, 2023 at 12:17 PM ^
Yes, he does seem to have channeled Bo in that regard.
December 5th, 2023 at 7:21 PM ^
2015? How about 1981?
December 5th, 2023 at 9:53 AM ^
The concerning part is that Harbaugh doesn't seem to bowl prep very well.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:09 AM ^
Except for that one year at Stanford when they used all the crazy pre-snap motion to confuse the hell out of Virginia Tech.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:12 AM ^
I've always thought this too, but he actually the team prepared as fuck for Alabama in 2019. Lot of people forget that we were leading Bama at the half in that game with one of Harbaugh's lesser teams. They boatraced us in the 2nd half, but that was with Shea not being able to hit the broadside of a barn and us having no worthy defensive tackles to stop Najee Harris and company.
If Harbaugh can pull off a similar level of gameplan, we're in the money with this team
December 5th, 2023 at 10:25 AM ^
I just looked back through some bowl history. They lost to South Carolina (2017), Florida (2018) and Alabama (2019). All games were brutal for a variety of reasons.
The TCU game looked better last year. The team seemed to be prepared.....but officiating and some inexplicable play calls were their downfall. Hopefully this experienced team (and coaching staff) can pull it all together this year.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:45 AM ^
Its been said before, but were any of those Michigan teams (not in playoff bowl games) really focused for any of those games after losing to osu? They werent really good Michigan teams either.
December 5th, 2023 at 11:16 AM ^
Don't think that Bama team was very motivated to be at that bowl.
December 5th, 2023 at 12:00 PM ^
While I would have been inclined to agree, if I remember correctly, Bama didn't have many guys opt-out, and certainly not the amount you would have expected for a team with that kind of talent playing in the Citrus Bowl. That Bama team had NINE(!) guys taken in the first three rounds of the 2020 draft; four in the first, three in the second, and two in the third).
December 5th, 2023 at 10:19 AM ^
But did he do his bowel prep this year? /s
December 5th, 2023 at 10:09 AM ^
I'm not scared of Saban having a month so much as everyone else having a month to come up with yet another excuse to suspend Harbaugh. Saban will have the full weight of the B1G and NCAA behind him. At the very least, he's already gotten phone calls from half the B1G, freely offering him intel on Michigan because the B1G is by far the trashiest conference in the country.
The Alabama slobbering here right now is so bad, I can't decide if it's trolling or a fetish.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:10 AM ^
They are not going to suspend Harbaugh, and if they do, been there, done that.
December 5th, 2023 at 11:21 AM ^
I'm pretty sure the NCAA can't suspend him for the CFP, as the games are not NCAA games.
December 5th, 2023 at 9:41 AM ^
Don't forget Cade giving them everything he knows lol
December 5th, 2023 at 9:58 AM ^
Saban has one of the best, if not the best, coaching staffs in America. They will have a month to prepare for us, and we have vulnerabilities, especially our offensive line. We also haven’t faced a mobile QB like Milroe, except in practice. Harbaugh’s bowl record is abysmal. Alabama could easily win this game.
On the good side, the reconfigured OL will have several weeks to get better, and Harbaugh and his staff are excellent too in game planning.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:24 AM ^
But they will not be attacking each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.
Who's got it better than us?
December 5th, 2023 at 11:10 AM ^
"We also haven’t faced a mobile QB like Milroe"
Which is why this stat seems sort of strange to me:
In 287 pass attempts, JJ McCarthy has been sacked 18 times, or once every 16 attempts
In 261 pass attempts, Milroe has been sacked 38 times, or once every 7 attempts.
You'd think a QB as mobile as Milroe would be very hard to sack.
So, what explains the huge disparity in sack frequency? Is Alabama's OL lousy in pass protection? Or are the defenses Alabama has faced just that much better than the ones Michigan has faced?
December 5th, 2023 at 11:17 AM ^
Many QB's who look to run first have very high sack numbers. Michael Vick had an obscene sack rate even during his peak years. A less athletic QB will throw the ball away. I have also read comments that Milroe likes to hold the ball a long time. Remember, he was taking a lot of deep shots. That means having to hold the ball an extra second. Sack rate in this case is more attitude of the QB.
December 5th, 2023 at 12:36 PM ^
Saban is good but what makes Alabama is so many 5 stars. The talent level is great. Players make plays. You have to block and tackle.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:33 AM ^
Go, Blue!
Beat Bama
December 5th, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
They're seriously underestimating Michigan, and acting like this is peak Bama. Alabama is definitely beatable this year.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:14 AM ^
I think the best way to think about this year's Bama is that they're not a juggernaut, but they do play to their opponent's level. So that means almost losing to Auburn, Arkansas, and Texas A&M, but also holding their own with Texas and beating Georgia.
They'll be ready for us, and it'll be tight, but good teams have outmatched Bama this year
December 5th, 2023 at 10:37 AM ^
I wouldn't say they held their own with Texas. They were beaten by two scores on their own field.
December 5th, 2023 at 11:57 AM ^
Yes. This is not like '21, prepping for that unreal Georgia team. Nor is it like '22, overconfident prepping for a "weaker" TCU team. Realistic perspective going in this year.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:33 AM ^
Go, Blue!
Beat Alabama
December 5th, 2023 at 9:34 AM ^
Urban's Florida team did too! Tebow finished looking shell shocked.
December 5th, 2023 at 9:55 AM ^
That was a 41-35 game in favor of the good guys. Not a blow-out.
Some of Florida's numbers from earlier in that year:
- Offense: 17 against Auburn, 24 against LSU
- Defense: 42 against Georgia in the "cocktail" game
They had three losses coming into that game. It fit in reasonably well with the rest of their year. I doubt that Tebow was shell-shocked.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:41 AM ^
It would have been a blowout if we hadn't gone -4 in the turnover battle. Most shockingly, Hart (!) lost two fumbles. Turnovers aside, we dominated the game.
December 5th, 2023 at 11:12 AM ^
If Hart hadn't given up the ball twice in the red zone, we would have put up over 50 on the Gators.
December 5th, 2023 at 11:40 AM ^
Was that the game where he kept looking at his hands and laughing (in disbelief)? I just remember being super pissed that he was laughing, like I'm not sure what I thought he should have been doing instead, maybe down-ups or applying Stick-Em or something. Alcohol may have been a factor.
December 5th, 2023 at 12:42 PM ^
This. I was in Fort Myers and put my UM flags and helmet magnets all over the Suburban after a celebratory wash and drove around for effect quite happily. Took crap from their fans leading up to the game for several days while out and about. None of them thought it would be close.
December 5th, 2023 at 10:51 AM ^
Score in that Florida game not indicative. Hart fumbled twice because he was trying too hard. At least once as he approached the goal line. And our defensive line was dominant at the end.