September 26th, 2021 at 9:09 AM ^
I hope this is hyperbole because if you're depressed after a football game you need some perspective.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:13 AM ^
Lol right? This has to be satire
September 26th, 2021 at 9:19 AM ^
I feel like there's a competition on this board to be the most performatively ridiculous. Actually that's the entire internet.
Anyway, I'd take us and the points in theory because Wisconsin is far more likely to make a catastrophic mistake. But really I would never touch this game with a ten foot pole because who the fuck knows about us. And Vegas agrees, which is why it's home -4.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:27 AM ^
Being on this board and Twitter (if you're on Twitter) is your problem. All this irrational negativity is understandably affecting you. This year people seem to want some kind of lock-tight guarantee every week that we're going to win out the rest of the season. When is that ever going to happen?? It's going to be a bumpy ride. If you can't handle it, maybe you should get off the ride, for your own sake.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:48 AM ^
Lol. I know you are not new here so don’t understand what you are referring to about a “bumpy ride “. We are Michigan fans all we know is a bumpy ride. I have no problem with a bumpy ride - my issue is the fact that we seem to be flying directly into the turbulence when there’s clear air right next to it. This has been going on for seven years with no change in sight - THAT’s why people are frustrated. Harbaugh hasn’t learned any lessons, And whether he makes it through this year or five more years the team under his direction will never reach its potential
September 26th, 2021 at 9:56 AM ^
I know why people are frustrated, but nothing is changing either way until the end of the season. Either he will pull it out and end up having a good enough season or he won't and will likely be gone. The amount of hair-on-fire posts are futile at this point. I get that people have some form of PTSD but calling for firings now is performative and ridiculous. It's not going to happen. I believe this is the shit-or-get-off-the-pot season for Harbaugh. I think he knows it. It's going to be rough but none of us knows the outcome at this point.
September 26th, 2021 at 11:10 AM ^
You're failing to account for nuance.
September 26th, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
Does it deserve nuance? It's pretty straight forward. Everyone thought Harbaugh would be the guy to beat Ohio State. He's pretty good otherwise but the big games elude him year after year. He's gotten more of a chance than most. This season has shown promise but it's also been regressive at times which is unbearable for some fans. It seems to trigger a sort of mania where they can experience extreme love and hate during one game, or from game to game. They feel a loss of control and respond by predicting failure to protect themselves from inevitable pain and disappointment. And that prediction feels very real. I only know this because I've been following Michigan football pretty closely for 15 years and this is the pattern, although this year it seems to be ramped up by a lot.
September 26th, 2021 at 12:09 PM ^
15 years? Then you don't remember the last B1G title. Try 50 years and that might put it more into perspective.
September 26th, 2021 at 12:41 PM ^
I said closely, on this board, and in particular, the fans. I graduated in 87 so I've been going to games since the mid 80's. Harbaugh and I graduated the same year, so I remember what it was like to feel like you'd win every game, and then to win those games.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:51 AM ^
There is a faction that wanted Harbaugh gone last year (they could be right about that). Because that didn't happen, they are finding ways to cast as much negativity as possible. Yesterday's second half was ugly which gives them plenty of ammo.
September 26th, 2021 at 10:01 AM ^
I did think Harbaugh should have been gone after last year. He wasn’t and he did seem to improve his staff. I think Mike Hart is an excellent addition and the backs looks very good this year.
The problem is this game looks very similar to the struggles we’ve seen for years now. If he goes into Madison and wins I’ll admit that he’s doing some good things. I don’t and didn’t expect this team to be undefeated. Can you go into a hostile environment against a team with a good defense and win a game?
Can you throw when the run has been shut down? Can you play with intensity away from home? Can you find a playmaker who isn’t Blake Corum or Haskins? Can you play from behind? Will you put your players in chances to succeed?
I think a lot of these questions will be answered in Madison. I understand the badgers are 1-2 but that dline is good. I’d love nothing more than to be wrong about Harbaugh. Eating crow would be delicious. We’ll see. Season is 1/3 of the way done. Lots of questions remain.
September 26th, 2021 at 10:18 AM ^
The problem with getting rid of Harbaugh is that we're in the desert again. People keep talking about the past 7 years with Harbaugh, but I don't have a lot of faith in our ability to finally hire the coach who's going to get it done after the last three coaches, each of whom was supposed to be "the one" and then turned out to be anything but.
September 26th, 2021 at 12:33 PM ^
The problem is with I-A college football itself. The current system with a 4-team playoff is basically guaranteed to leave most fanbases unhappy. People just want a crack at the playoff but the bar is set super-high, beyond the reach of most programs.
Every other level of college football has a 16-team playoff. If I-A had that, Harbaugh would have reached the playoff a few times already and we'd probably look at him completely differently. He has a higher winning percentage at Michigan than John Beilein did. But because he hasn't been able to finish the regular season in the top 4 of the country (something Beilein also never did), we see him as a failure.
I am 100% in favor of expanding the playoff because this current setup just sucks and takes the fun out of the sport.
September 26th, 2021 at 12:38 PM ^
I'm confused why you'd rather have the same team and coach every year that will never reach it's potential vs trying something new for chance at reaching it. If it fails, we're in the same place. They dont give out trophies for 8 and 9 win seasons.
September 26th, 2021 at 1:03 PM ^
Is there another coach out there who is guaranteed to have better outcomes? The grass is always greener....or is it? I'm not sold on Harbaugh at all, but I'm also not sold on some new coach coming in and having better results. We've been down that road and should understand what that road could bring.
September 27th, 2021 at 4:58 PM ^
A coward dies a little everyday.
September 26th, 2021 at 12:34 PM ^
Can you yell me one team, besides Alabama, for whom this statement is also not accurate?
September 26th, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
WestQuad watches us dismantle Washington and he was depressed about it. WestQuad watches us go 4 and 0 and has now concluded that it is a realistic possibility that we do not win another game all season. Don't be like WestQuad. Something is off about him.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:02 AM ^
Seems reasonable to me.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:04 AM ^
We are one good QB away from being a good team and it feels like it has been like that forever. If we get the 1st half Cade minus last couple of plays, this line will be covered by M easily. If not, we are in for a long day. Either way, I wouldn't bet on this game.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:08 AM ^
Cade looked terrible in the second half but the team looked terrible in almost every aspect. The defense gets a pass for getting stops when they had to but they got bullied in the second half.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:33 AM ^
Yeah. D demonstrated their bend don't break strategy and it worked. Rutgers caveat apply. Offense-- Cade was off. Running game was not creative in 2nd half. Or Rutgers figured it out. UFR will tell the story.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:37 AM ^
I mean, there were a handful of times that receivers were wide open as they should have been and Cade just missed them, so I can’t say they played terrible.
Also, there is definitely something to the way the running game was being called with nothing going to the edges, all between the tackles which was beyond predictable. I feel this team is much better than it’s second half today, especially on offense…..but defense was for sure missing Ross, who is for sure their defensive on field play caller. The guy who came in for him looked lost, might explain a lot of that option stuff that Rutgers got chunks on.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:43 AM ^
When you take Ross's absence into account, this was a good performance by the D imo. Keep in mind that we faced essentially the same Rutgers offense that put up 42 on us last year and passed for nearly 400 yards. Pacheco has also been a thorn in our side for years.
Yesterday we had one bad defensive drive (for the TD) but otherwise made plays when we had to, and didn't give up any big plays.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:54 AM ^
If the absence of Ross made this a good performance by our D, Rutgers D played off the charts down a CB (paint ball gun incident) and DL (targeting ejection).
September 26th, 2021 at 10:01 AM ^
Well, they did hold a Michigan rushing attack averaging 350 ypg to a third of that. Their run D looked a lot better than Washington's.
September 26th, 2021 at 11:21 AM ^
This^^^ and Wisconsin's rushing D is even betters than Rutgers.
September 26th, 2021 at 10:02 AM ^
Yeah, I think it's clear the M offense did not have a good day yesterday.
September 26th, 2021 at 10:04 AM ^
The way the second half was going pass plays were not going to work. They could have played walk-ons. Sounds terrible to say. I so hope it was something with Cade and the coaches can fix it. I so want this to work out and want to have some positive attitude. I am eagerly awaiting all the gossips about what went wrong with Cade at the end of the half.
September 26th, 2021 at 12:18 PM ^
Ross is the guy making the calls out there for the front 7, that’s what just about every MLB does, especially ones that are team captains. Corners don’t typically call the defense for the backend of the D, and especially for the front 7. Losing a 5th year senior, captain, playcalling LB mid game after a solid first half defensive performance is a much bigger loss than a sophomore corner who is clearly an idiot lacking in the leadership dept. Also, Avery is probably there best corner as he is B1G honorable mention guy.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:04 AM ^
Pretty much home field advantage spread.
Wisconsin look terrible against a bad looking Notre Dame team on their third string QB.
Michigan squeeked a win out against a sub-par team. Can we pass? Can we run against a good defense? We shall see.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:09 AM ^
We certainly can’t run up the middle against stacked boxes of elite defenses…that has been proven time and time again.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:28 AM ^
But has Harbaugh proven it conclusively?
September 26th, 2021 at 8:13 PM ^
He’s not ready to say. He’ll tell you after a few more, or maybe many more losses, trying the same thing. /s
September 26th, 2021 at 9:07 AM ^
Wisconsin's defense will put Gattis on the spot. You can make a case that the offensive approach (nearly all run v. pass) against Washington was strategically sound because Washington has great corners and played two high safeties all game. Washington was betting their front seven could stop the run, and Gattis took that bet. But Wisconsin's strength is the middle of their defense and stopping the run. Does Gattis adjust and attack the perimeter both running and passing? Does he attack down the field with deep balls? Or, does he try to "establish the run" into the strength of Wisconsin's defense because his starting QB has the yips and he does not want to risk turning the ball over?
The good news is that Wisconsin's anemic offense will likely keep the game close and give Michigan a chance.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:54 AM ^
Mertz was 18/41. We need our secondary to key in on a couple passes and give Cade field position with which he can work. Jake Moody may be the hero next week.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:09 AM ^
That line should go up significantly.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:15 AM ^
Place your bet.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:27 PM ^
Nope. Line is now essentially a pick'em, either UW -1 or UM -1.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:14 AM ^
Sadly it’s like Harbaugh is calling games like they are the 4th quarter of the 2016 OSU came.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:17 AM ^
The Oline is still soft. You can say they went in cruise control in the second half but they got bullied in the first half too. We won't be able to run on Wisconsin. Cade showed me something in the passing game though. I loved what I saw in those slants to Wilson and Sainristil. Wisconsin's secondary is weak this year but I still don't trust our defense either. They made Rutgers look unstoppable in the second half. We can't get pressure on anybody and that's concerning.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:51 AM ^
Unstoppable? They scored 10 points in a second half in which they had the ball nearly the entire time. Chill.
September 26th, 2021 at 10:49 AM ^
Yeah, but until the fumble the only thing that stopped their drives were a missed holding call in the end zone and a false start on second down inside the ten. We easily could have given up 21 instead of those 10.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:18 AM ^
Take the under. Easy money
September 26th, 2021 at 9:19 AM ^
2nd half Michigan loses this by 3 touchdowns.
Rutgers adjusted and gashed us up the middle making Hutchinson a non factor.
We failed to run up the middle into a stacked box.
Both of these bode ill for Wisconsin on the road.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:52 AM ^
How will 1st-half Michigan do?
September 26th, 2021 at 9:29 AM ^
Wisco's gonna pummel us...just like always...
September 26th, 2021 at 9:40 AM ^
If Cade can make the same throws that Notre Dame's third string QB was making against the Wisconsin zones, the game will at least be a close battle of field goal kickers, punters and dumb luck on turnovers and penalties.
September 26th, 2021 at 9:38 AM ^
Hammer the shit out of Wisconsin. Yesterday was our 2013 game against uconn. Sure we technically got the win and you can find some silver linings, but every flag is there that this is just a 7-5 team