What will Michigan's Football record be this year?
Understanding the schedule is not out yet, we know there will 8 conference games along with a "championship crossover" game.
I see a 6-3 record with some growing pains similar to early last season. OSU and Wisconsin will be trouble and I can see an additional road loss.
I hope for Harbaugh's sake, Milton looks like a top 3 Big Ten QB by year end.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:23 PM ^
8-2, they lose to OSU and finish 7-1 in conference, but win the division because OSU's game with Rutgers is cancelled and they lose to Penn State to finish 6-1 in division. They win the crossover game with Wisconsin, but then lose in the playoff to Ohio State. So a BIG title, a trip to the playoff, two wins over Wisconsin, wins over MSU and PSU, but two losses to OSU.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:22 PM ^
so a double dong punch year
September 17th, 2020 at 5:23 PM ^
4-4(Hard guessing the last game because we don’t know who it is)might be likely. This team will be breaking in a whole new O-Line, new QB, new WR’s(save Ronnie Bell) and 2 new starting corners. That’s a ton to replace and a lot of unproven players. Hope they do great and push for Indy, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tad bit worried about this season.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:28 PM ^
5-4 or 4-5
OSU and Penn State are losses. OSU, in particular, will be a skull-fuccing of proportions we haven’t seen. Like 70-3 or something.
Wisky and Minnesota are losses if we play them.
This team is just not experienced enough, and is by far the least talented team (departures) that has been fielded in at least 5 years.
I would treat this season’s schedule like a bunch of live practices to get everyone in the future plans experience and just get ready for next year.
If we had everyone returning, I would have said 8-1.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:55 PM ^
Penn State and Wisconsin have both been awful in AA. Psu lost Parsons and Hamler, two of the players that gave us the most trouble. Wisconsin lost a lot on offense and their defense is just ok. I do think Minnesota is a loss though, only because we haven't beaten a team with a pulse on the road in forever. 6-2 if they play a whole year, which I doubt will happen
September 20th, 2020 at 7:49 PM ^
I don’t think Minnesota is a loss due to the fact that they are replacing most of there defense. The most experience they have is in the secondary. There offense is pretty good though and they return there whole offensive line. But our defense is always good and this is supposed to be the most talented secondary in Harbaughs tenure. There will also be a small crowd so road games don’t really scare me this season.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:31 PM ^
46 and 2
September 17th, 2020 at 5:31 PM ^
Do we have Wisconsin on the schedule? If not that helps, because normally I think we had both the biggest Western heavyweights on the schedule, UW and Minnesota. If we can skip them, that helps.
Rutgers, Maryland, IU and MSU should all be wins. So doomsday scenario, to me, is 4-4. PSU is a coin-flip, and hopefully we catch them in the second half of the schedule. OSU is a loss. No way around that. And then if we can avoid Wisconsin and Minnesota for the West draw, I like our chances of winning the crossover game.
My guess is 6-3. Maaaaaybe 8-1 we can avoid UW and Minnesota and we catch PSU in the second half of the schedule. PSU is beatable. But I will bet on 6-3. Losses to OSU and then some combo of PSU/Wisconsin/Minnesota. We'll win one of those three.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:40 PM ^
If there was ever a year where 9 wins would be welcome, it's this year.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:40 PM ^
I guess the question might be can Joe Milton do a good impression of Ben Roethlisberger (6'4" 240lbs with a strong arm that can stand in there and throw while taking a hit) and can one of these speedsters be anywhere close to Antonio Brown? I know that's crazy to think, but some of the tangibles look like these are possibilities. If so, the skies the limit. However, we have almost no tape on any of the above. Combine that with the possibility that there could be significant losses due to COVID and the normal bunch of injuries, and it feels like trying to pick a perfect NCAA bracket.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:07 PM ^
Best case scenario is 4-4 but I think 3-5 is most likely.
September 19th, 2020 at 1:30 PM ^
4-4 is best case? You are not only pessimistic, you are void of logic
September 17th, 2020 at 6:13 PM ^
I would say 4-4 and it depends on who we play int he 9th game. I doubt we can beat OSU, Penn St., Wisconsin, or Minnesota with 9 new starters on Offense and 6 on Defense. Honestly Indiana won't be a cup cake either. I hope we do better but on paper this does not look like a strong team.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:56 PM ^
Undefeated going into the OSU game and then Covid cancels the season.
September 17th, 2020 at 8:03 PM ^
Well since there's no schedule... I assume they'll definitely play MSU and OSU. I can't see a world where they lose to Sparty or beat the Buckeyes so 1-1.
Assuming they stick mostly divisional - Rutgers, Maryland, Indiana - Ws. PSU loss.
4-2
Could definitely see the likes of W, Minnesota, Iowa, and even Purdue and Illinois giving them a run for their money out of the west. Northwestern always plays tough but finds ways to come up short. And Nebraska... Well fuck Frost.
I'd predict 4-4 assuming they mostly stay in the east.
Gotta be real... Missing an experienced RB, highest ranked DT (I'm pretty sure) on the team with already poor DT play/depth, best OL, best CB, (arguably but I love Bell) best WR, and starting a new QB.
So uhh yeah, idk how to feel about that one boys. But not good.
September 17th, 2020 at 8:50 PM ^
We are fine at RB. Evans is back and we have Charbonnet, Haskins, and Turner.
September 18th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
Don’t forget Corum who could be the most talented. Turner hasn’t opted back in and has ball security problems anyway.
September 17th, 2020 at 8:03 PM ^
We'll get absolutely slaughtered by Ohio State. 59 to 21 or something in that range. That's a definite no brainer loss, as it is every year.
Probable loss to Penn State, probable win against Michigan State, should win against Indiana (always an upset looming there), Maryland, and Rutgers.
Do we know who we play in our cross divisional games? I've seen Wisconsin and Minnesota mentioned in the thread, but do we know for sure who we play? The original schedule had Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Purdue, and the one prior to the cancellation added Northwestern.
Depending on who they play, it could be 6 and 2 or 4 and 4. Go in between and say 5 and 3.
September 18th, 2020 at 12:48 PM ^
Day said he wants to hang a c note on Michigan so the goal will be to stay below that and call it a victory.
September 19th, 2020 at 1:29 PM ^
Low bars = sanity
September 17th, 2020 at 8:07 PM ^
To be honest, I am just happy that I will see them play this year.
I am really excited to see what our new QB can do for this team.
September 17th, 2020 at 8:11 PM ^
^ What he said
September 17th, 2020 at 8:50 PM ^
Michigan's record will be [clip of Joe Milton throwing it 40 yards jumping off one foot in high school]
September 17th, 2020 at 10:34 PM ^
4-4 or 5-3. Assuming the full season is played. I’m not too optimistic that games won’t be postponed/cancelled.
September 17th, 2020 at 11:12 PM ^
I am going to say 5-2.
Yes, I know 7 games but I’m predicting two will be canceled due to an outbreak and won’t be made up.
September 19th, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
Bold - I appreciate the nuanced prediction.
September 18th, 2020 at 12:34 AM ^
Having a first year starter at QB, 5 new starters on the OL, and only 1 returning WR with more than a handful of catches I am expecting this year to be a rebuild on offense. We might be forced to run more than we pass. Here is how I'd rank our conference...
1. osu 2. Penn State 3. Minnesota 4. Wisconsin 5. Michigan 6. Iowa 7. Indiana
8. Purdue 9. Nebraska 10. Northwestern 11. Maryland 12. Michigan State 13. Illinois 14. Rutgers
Best guess with no schedule is 6-3
September 18th, 2020 at 7:35 AM ^
My focus this season is hope for a stock up year by season end which is a Gattis offense that looks more prolific if the season is allowed to proceed to the end. The way I keep it fun is by focusing on goals and watch for stock-up signs of the new offense taking root. We have some fantastic coaching and talented players. I have my stat sheets ready. Lets see how Warriner can prepare his guys and who stays healthy, but I'm pumped!
September 18th, 2020 at 11:50 AM ^
Very difficult to say. There's a lot of latitude given a new QB & OL. I like the WR, TE crew and running backs as we have a lot of talent. Defense looks decent but need to stop the big plays. I hope Dax Hill becomes a monster and that will help a lot.
It would be easy to predict 6 and 2 with a loss to Penn State and OH State.
September 18th, 2020 at 4:30 PM ^
Testing could help us if the kids continue to stay negative. Like JH said stay positive, test negative, and play football. Maybe old fashioned discipline will give us an edge this year. Especially, if our opponents get sloppy and loose key players to positive tests. 8-1 or 9-0 if OSU gets sloppy.
September 19th, 2020 at 12:21 AM ^
Am I the only one that needs to see a schedule before predicting W/L? I have no fuckin clue.
September 19th, 2020 at 1:28 PM ^
8-1
Only loss is to Penn State.
Shock OSU, beat Wisconsin a 2nd time in Indy: B1G champs!
September 19th, 2020 at 7:26 PM ^
8-0 with a come from behind win against OSU at the end of the game. =)
- @Minnesota 32-17
- MSU 38-17
- @Indiana 45-24
- Wisconsin 30-23
- @Rutgers 38-9
- Penn State 24-20
- Maryland 32-10
- @OSU 31-30
Also ....... B1G champs!
This has been a weird year and I feel anything can happen. In truth I hope for the above of course but I feel the games that will be the tough ones will be Penn St and of course OSU. Like many on here have noted it just depends on what QB shows up this year. Over the past several years we have just missed the big play maker at that QB position. Let's hope this year is the year we find him.