UM Ranked #17 in AP, #16 in Coaches
October 8th, 2017 at 3:22 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:24 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:30 PM ^
That won't matter if Pep is still around. Really disappointed that Harbaugh, of all coaches, can't get a super star OC. I don't understand the cronyism with the offensive staff; he went out and got the best available candidate for DC when it came open, why not the same for OC?
October 8th, 2017 at 3:42 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 4:30 PM ^
There is some truth to this.
He's an offense guy. He likes to fiddle. He wants an ambiguous, malleable offensive staff with divided responsibilities where he can interject at will.
He could have just as easily brought in somebody like Joe Moorhead as Penn State did, a school coming off a shocking probation.
Even though that is the approach he took on defense with Don Brown (and hit the lottery because of it), it is nowhere near the approach he has taken on offense.
If Harbaugh took the Don Brown hiring approach on offense, does anybody think he would come up with the current offensive staff?
Not even close.
October 8th, 2017 at 5:38 PM ^
Harbaugh seems to get this about halfway. The decision to not replace Wheatley with another experienced RB coach was strange, and the blurred line of authority for offensive strategy and playcalling is weird.
October 8th, 2017 at 6:59 PM ^
Yeah, it's a strange setup.
I'd like to think that there is some deep sophistcated underlying logic that us ordinary fans just can't comprehend.
But there is a big part of me that's afraid that's it's nothing more than what we actually see . . . an offensive oriented coach that likes to fiddle and has a blind spot about hiring family and old friends.
October 9th, 2017 at 10:17 AM ^
This is speculation disguised as statements of fact.
Here's a fact: the offense hasn't had a terrible year under JH yet, and it hasn't had the top coordinator leave. (Durkin wasn't fired!)
Firing a coordinator mid-season is dumb because you can't hire anyone good mid-season. Jim is most likely to adjust after this season.
October 8th, 2017 at 4:12 PM ^
Michigan doesn't even need a superstar OC. With how good the defense is, a halfway decent offense is all that is needed, and they can't even manage that. Frustrating to watch
October 8th, 2017 at 4:17 PM ^
When did Pep become the great whipping boy? People seemed OK with him when he was hired...
October 8th, 2017 at 4:31 PM ^
We were undefeated when he was hired.
/s
October 8th, 2017 at 4:39 PM ^
I can't speak for others, but after researching Pep I didn't find a whole lot of positives. Worked with Harbaugh previously and got below average results in his OC stints. I would actually say terrible results if not for Andrew Luck being Andrew Luck most likely.
I was wiilling to give him a chance, but the WR's can't seem to get open 90%+ of the time, no one outside of black has any high-point skills, the QB's have regressed, just overall not impressed.
October 8th, 2017 at 9:03 PM ^
hated Pep Hamilton. He was too conservative and rarely open up the playbook to attack the defense. I was shocked that Harbaugh hired him because I didn't think his resume was good enough to be an upper echelon OC.
October 8th, 2017 at 3:25 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:29 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 5:25 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 4:20 PM ^
O'Korn has had three games of extended playing time - one in good weather (where he looked good) and two in bad weather (where he looked bad).
October 8th, 2017 at 4:34 PM ^
Good thing October and November in Big Ten country has some of the best weather of the year.
Uh, oh . . .
October 8th, 2017 at 4:38 PM ^
Actually the monsoon games usually occur early in the season. And snow games are like once a decade.
Let's see him in another game where it isn't almost literally impossible to throw a football.
October 8th, 2017 at 10:18 PM ^
Yeah because he really lit it up in the first half.
October 9th, 2017 at 10:01 AM ^
He maybe didn't "light it up" but O'Korn was decent in the first half. It's the play-calling and fumbles that did not help. And MSU moving the ball.
October 8th, 2017 at 3:29 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:29 PM ^
I'm still angry about last night's game but...then again, I thought we were probably headed toward another 10-3/9-4ish season from the get go followed by preseason Top 5 with a really difficult schedule in 2018...and we're pretty much on track to that...but this offense needs to be fixed
October 8th, 2017 at 3:30 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:32 PM ^
IDK about "way too high", 15-20ish sounds about right given the defense.
October 8th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:33 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 6:42 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:32 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 4:14 PM ^
So you're saying we're Boston College when they had Don Brown?
October 8th, 2017 at 3:32 PM ^
Seems about right to me. At this point, I'll be happy with any finish higher than 7-5. The road ahead is looking pretty tough.
October 8th, 2017 at 3:35 PM ^
Meineke Car Care Bowl, here we come!
October 8th, 2017 at 3:40 PM ^
Still too high. MSU being 21 should put us somewhere out of the top 25. We shall see though after the much expected 3 more losses by years end. Not trying to hate on this team but the fact of the matter is Michigan is just not that good. In reality Michigan was never really a top ten team. If we had an offense half as good as the D then Michigan is legit. Just not quite there yet. Way too many glaring weaknesses on the offensive side.
October 8th, 2017 at 3:53 PM ^
We likely have one of the top five defenses in the country. That puts us easily in top 25.
MSU was awful last night but for the two drives, one of which we gifted them with field position on one of our 5 (fffffffff!) turnovers.
We beat that team 8 out of tens Times all things being equal. Sometimes you lose to a team you are better than because you aren't better that day. Happens all the time.
To translate that into we don't belong in the rankings at all or we MUST be behind MSU is dumb. Not how it works with rankings.
October 8th, 2017 at 4:04 PM ^
None of our wins are looking all that great right now. And our loss looks even worse.
Top 16 is pretty generous.
October 8th, 2017 at 5:15 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:45 PM ^
Were any of you at the Spring Game? This was completely predictable. O-line is awful, and that makes our QBs panic.
October 8th, 2017 at 3:47 PM ^
What, exactly, did MSU do last night to earn a Top 25 ranking? One first down in the 2nd half. 35 yards of offense. They won because we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. MSU is a .500 team.
October 8th, 2017 at 4:00 PM ^
They beat the #7 team.
Which was never really the #7 team.
Yeah, I got nothing.
October 8th, 2017 at 4:31 PM ^
I'd imagine much of has to do with the fact they're 4-1, shoved it up the rear of the #7 team, albeit suspectedly ranked that high, and also because Dantionio has a team that finished 3-9 last year, lost most of their playmakers, and played walk ons last night.
He's done a marvelous job, perhaps his best of his tenure there, and here's the reward.
Sure, they may fall flat because their offense revolves around Lewerke. However, at least Sparty knows what they can and can't do and try to stay within it...novel concept.
October 8th, 2017 at 5:45 PM ^
Also, keep in mind they got absolutely blown out by ND, so no one is kidding themselves into thinking these walk ons are truly a #21 Team, it’s more of a courtesy to them for this win to keep posterity in ranking procedures when an unranked team beats #7. All the voters know MSU will look again like they did against ND.
This loss was completely on UM’s crappy play and failure to adjust.
October 8th, 2017 at 6:53 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:50 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 3:58 PM ^
Sparty shows up at 21 in the AP and 22 in the coaches poll.
We are ranked above them by reputation alone.
Which is stupid.
But whatever.
Suck it Sparty.
The disrespekt will never end. And you know you want it that way.
October 8th, 2017 at 4:49 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 5:07 PM ^
I mean things were going just swimmingly before the rains came...
October 8th, 2017 at 8:43 PM ^
October 8th, 2017 at 4:07 PM ^
You know who feels even worse than us right now? Florida.
After losing to Ed Orgeron, we were the one shred of credibility left in their tenuous record.
Now even that's gone.