Yes, it sucks, but I'll still be rooting for M next year (2020 Roster and Reasons for Optimism)
Like the title says, I'm looking forward to next year because that's what we do. If you don't wanna do that, don't comment. "This is unacceptable. Same shit next year. Blah blah blah." Yes, there are plenty of concerns for next year and the future, but you're not going to share anything insightful or new with that, so don't bother.
I think Michigan should be better next year, and I'm doing it in the format Brian does. I feel like these are rational takes, although some may need a little explanation
DEFENSE (more than 11 b/c packages)
CB Ambry = Ambry
CB Gray < Hill
Hill was good, but he wasn't Jourdan Lewis. Gray is by no means a burner, but he has size and length, and his weaknesses seemed to be playing physical against the run and technique in coverage. Those both seem entirely fixable. If he improves both significantly, he'll be as good as Hill. Did Gray get burned by OSU at all? OSU caught a deep pass on him but he was there and just didn't play the ball well. Seems the weaknesses were Hudson and Metellus.
Nickel DJ Turner = Gray
S Hawkins > Hawkins
S Hill > Metellus
Metellus wasn't bad but was not a boring safety versus Indiana and OSU. Dax will still be young, but the potential is through the roof.
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LB McGrone > McGrone
LB Ross > Glasgow
Viper Barrett = Hudson
Hudson also had a bad game against OSU. A very good blizter, but a weakness in more traditional LB roles and sometimes in coverage. I thought I've read Barrett is stronger, but he's only 7 pounds heavier on the roster (207 to 200). Not much game experience as a viper, but he's been around a couple years.
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DT Dwumfour > resorting to a DE
Weird year for Dwumfour. He was injured for a lot of it, and then seemed to be coming on. Someone on Twitter thinks he may have gotten hurt against OSU because he didn't notice him later in the game. Anyone know? In Jdue's Twitter game review, Dwumfour seemed to be doing OK in the 1st half and then it seemed he was gone.
DT 2020 Hinton > 2019 Kemp
Backup DTs 2020 Kemp / Mazi > 2019 Hinton
These are a bit more based on hope than what we've actually seen, but Mazi and Hinton were 2 5-star or near 5-star talents in exactly the worst position on the field for Michigan. We absolutely need them to step up, and they absolutely have the talent to do so. Hinton showed flashes. Mazi started getting in later in the season. Not sure if Kemp will be around, but he should be. Losing him is more troublesome from a numbers perspective than play on the field though anyway.
DE Hutchinson = Hutchinson/Uche/Danna
DE Kemp = Kemp/Uche/Danna
Backup DEs Vilain/Welschof/Upshaw < Uche/Danna
Losing Uche's pass rush is a big one, but he also still didn't even play half of the snaps. It sucks losing Danna as a backup, but he wasn't better than the starters. It's easy to forget Vilain was a top-100 recruit because he's been injured. Seems he was healthy all year, so hopefully he can finally play. If he takes a significant leap he could definitely replace Uche in passing downs. The first sentence of Vilain's recruiting profile, "Luiji Vilain is a prototype edge rusher who packs the letter I into his name four times in eleven characters. Universally hailed by scouting services, Vilain's Army game surge nearly took him to five star status on 24/7." IIRC, Lorenz said the staff was high on Welschof but probably not gonna happen until next year. Obviously he was super raw when he came in.
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Seniors not losing their minds against OSU >>> Losing their minds
Brown = Brown (hopefully more evenly distributed)
Last year was definitely a scheme issue that got exposed too late for Michigan to do anything about. This year it was more personnel-driven. The lack of DTs absolutely killed us against good OLs.
That's quite a few '>' with the loss of Danna and Uche the main '<'. You could argue losing Hill will be bigger. You could argue losing Uche will be bigger, but you could also argue we'll be just as good there, especially if Vilain can stay healthy. Dax, Hinton, and Mazi could take bigger leaps than I posit here.
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OFFENSE
QB McCaffrey = Shea
Shea was throwing very well by the end, but we still sorely missed a functional QB running game. Brian didn't talk about it, but Magnus said Shea missed a lot of opportunities to cut upfield and instead kept trying to get the edge against OSU. Dylan has shown himself to be a more willing runner and has good speed. Hopefully concussions aren't an issue. We still don't really know how good of a passer he is, but he didn't get to be a solid 4 star just by being able to run. He'll have plenty of experience in the system. Of course Milton could get the job, but either way you have to figure the winner will be a good QB.
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RB Charbonnet > Charbonnet
RB Evans >> Tru
RB Haskins = Haskins
RB Turner > fumbling Turner
A lot of people have speculated Charbonnet has been playing hurt, and it's hard to disagree. We were already salivating at the idea of Evans in a Gattis offense. It really sucks Turner had a couple fumbles, and I hope he gets a fresh start in the offseason and doesn't transfer (nothing heard, just depth chart worries). He was faster than the others and ran hard. The fumbles were probably just bad luck.
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I'm assuming only Collins leaves.
WR DPJ = DPJ
WR Bell > Bell
WR Black = Black
WR Cornelius Johnson < Collins
Surely Collins this year is a much better WR than Johnson will be next year. I'm basing this largely off of how Collins was utilized. It's hard to make a comparison with Collins because he was the most talented guy on the offense, made a huge impact when he was targeted...but was usually only targeted a couple times a game. So does it suck to lose Collins? Absolutely. Is 681 yards (800 with PIs?) irreplaceable? Definitely not. Also, Collins didn't always seem to be the most enthusiastic blocker.
SLOT Sainristil/Jackson > Sainristil/Jackson
TE Eubanks = Eubanks
TE All > McKeon
Our TEs have been fine blocking, but man I really wish we had kept Asiasi. All doesn't have his size, but he's talented and seems to love blocking.
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C Ruiz = Ruiz
LT 2020 Mayfield = Runyan
RT Steuber = 2019 Mayfield
LG Whoever < Bredeson
RG Whoever < Onwenu
I have no idea who the guards will be, but the team has a lot of talented bullets in the chamber. They will almost surely be good guards but probably a bit behind this year's guards.
Gattis >>>>>>>>>>>> Gattis
I don't think the personnel will be better next year, but I don't see a drop off, except maybe at WR if there's an exodus. Either way, I think this will be made up and then some by the offense being coherent right from spring practice. They can build off of this year, instead of figuring things out halfway through the season. That should make for a much better offense overall. Yes, things were clicking before The Game, but Michigan needed to do that early in the year to really become an unstoppable TD machine by the end of the year. At the end we were still just starting to get a taste of what they could do with guys like Jackson.
OSU being just really really good >> OSU as maybe the best team in 30 years according to SP+
I wasn't as upset about the loss as last year. It shouldn't have been that bad, but OSU is insanely good this year, Michigan was sort of a paper tiger all year on defense without DTs, and the offense needed to do more than just start clicking before OSU.
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:17 AM ^
As for your title, I too will still be rooting for the team next year same as every year. As for the content of your post.... I always try to be as optimistic as possible (within reason), but we seem to be ignoring recruiting high level DTs, and CBs. This team will have to replace a QB, starters on the OL, CB, Safety, and be much better on the DL to even be as good as we were this year. I think McCaffrey has the potential to be really good, but I can't ignore what my eyes showed me this year, which was a QB who threw a pass that was nearly intercepted almost every game he played in. On top of personnel issues, I think there are fair questions regarding the mental toughness of this program. I noticed players walking around, unenthused, making stupid mental errors, and flat out giving up when the going got tough against Wisconsin, and OSU. We are talented enough to beat everyone on our schedule except OSU, but if I'm being realistic there is no way the Michigan program as it stands now will make it to the OSU game undefeated. I can easily see a loss or 2 from Washington, or the stretch of WI, PSU, MSU, and potential trap game at Minnesota. I love Don Brown, but on his watch the DL has gone from 8 deep, to not having a legitimate DT on the roster. Watching what true Big 10 OL's do to our DL is embarrassing and the lack of any depth will set us back a few years. Not trying to be negative, but this program will need to take a long hard look in the mirror or its another 9-3 type year in 2020.
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:19 AM ^
Don't know who leaves or stays yet. Nico and Ambry could definitely leave early and would hurt. Don't know about transfers in or out. Also we do not know about Don Brown, stays, goes mandates by Harbaugh if any. Lots of things to happen this winter off season.
In many areas we upgrade in ability but lose some as well. Depth at DT is a major issue and will be again if they don't take DT's in this class! Which still appears they are not looking to do so. You need a rotation of 4dt's that can play and need a difference maker. We all are hoping Hinton and or Smith are that player. Hoping Kemp and Dwumfor return healthy with eligibility for a 5th year. Doesn't change that 2021 and 2022 are on the horizon and dt roster is way to thin.
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:20 AM ^
I think the run game should drastically improve next year w/ Dylan. The one expectation Shea failed to live up to was him being billed as a true “dual threat” QB. Him getting yards on the ground was a result of blown assignments by the opponent, not b/c of any athletic advantage on Shea’s part. Dylan is a legit athlete who should be able to make defenses respect the threat of him running, which should open up bigger holes for Zach (who I think is going to take a leap regardless) and the rest of the RB’s. We’ll make a jump on defense just due to experience alone. Won’t be talent upgrade but we should be more consistent. If Dylan can be effective in the pocket, Michigan should hover around 11 wins (including bowl game).
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:41 AM ^
So Gray’s only issues are strength and technique?
December 3rd, 2019 at 6:23 PM ^
You're free to point out all the times he's been burned if you think that's a concern.
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:42 AM ^
IMO, next year's prospects depend on 2 things, QB and who leaves.
Patterson was excellent the 2nd half of the season, it made the offense hum. He will be a big loss.
The depth and overall prospects depend on who is returning. Ruiz, DPJ, Collins, Black, Paye, Kemp, and Dwumfour are the key to the season IMO. Collins is probably gone, Kemp has said this is his last season. DPJ is probably 75% gone. Ruiz and Paye are big keys IMO. Ruiz will grade out high and could leave. Paye is someone I think we very well could lose, others dismiss that thought, but I think he'll test well and will go top 3 rounds. Black is a mystery, he's talked of going pro, but I think he doesn't get drafted at all, I'd have to say he comes back. Dwumfour I think returns.
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:50 AM ^
Nothing wrong with taking a glance at next year. I actually think guys like Giles Jackson and Sainristil need to be out there damn near all the time. I believe Evans could be nuts in this offense and also believe the defense will, and should be, better than this year.
That said...scheduling has as big of an impact as anything in CFB so that is damn near as important as the roster.
This is just me going off the cuff here as of December 2019 so take it with a grain of salt, please. My gut tells me going cross country winning is hard so a good chance to drop the first game and it's difficult for me to see them beating UW and PSU back to back and then osu at home...quite challenging. I have no idea how UW and psu look going into next year but with both games at home I'd think they'd win at least 1 and I'm hopeful 3 of 4 in the UW/PSU/MSU/Min stretch. They very well could be in the position of playing for the chance to go to the BIG champ game going into columbus.
Sept. 5at Washington LOSS
Sept. 12BALL STATE WIN
Sept. 19ARKANSAS STATE WIN
Sept. 26WISCONSIN* WIN
Oct. 3PENN STATE* LOSS
Oct. 10at Michigan State* WIN
Oct. 17at Minnesota* WIN
Oct. 24PURDUE* (HC) WIN
Oct. 31Bye Week
Nov. 7MARYLAND* WIN
Nov. 14at Rutgers* WIN
Nov. 21INDIANA* WIN
Nov. 28at Ohio State* LOSS
The bright eyed, rosey cheeked side of me says they could have a good chance of going into the osu game 11-0 or 10-1. The pessimist says likely 9-2 but with only 1 big ten loss.
December 3rd, 2019 at 10:02 AM ^
Curious why you have a 7-5 Washington team penciled in for a presumed win against Michigan, especially with a rookie head coach.
December 3rd, 2019 at 10:12 AM ^
Like I said...grain of salt. I have no idea the outlook for UW, UW, or PSU next year. The team has really not played well on the road in...forever? Going across the country to play at a pretty rowdy place to start the year with a new QB has me feeling like it would be a coin flip at best. I don't even think Washington will be better I could see UM rattling off 10 wins after that game and ending the year far better than Wash.
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:19 AM ^
That rookie HC has been groomed by Petersen and they've been together since BSU.
But yeah, I'm not assuming a loss in this game. Chalked it up to OP road game BPONE.
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:57 AM ^
And losing to Penn State @ home? No chance.
The Washington game is a huge question mark. Who is the HC? Do they stay In house? Do they go for an outside hire? There is a LOT of question marks on that team... not to mention, they lose their starting QB and a good bit of their offensive production, no?
December 3rd, 2019 at 12:25 PM ^
I wouldn't be surprised at all if we lost the Washington game. There are too many unknowns at this point and we do not play well on the road.
But lose to Penn State at home? We don't do that.
Assuming we're as good next year as we have been recently, we go into The Game undefeated in conference. Probably ranked in the top 4-6.
You know the rest.
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:22 AM ^
With serviceable QB play, that schedule is 11-1. No way Michigan loses to PSU on paper and M has essentially two scrimmages to prepare for their other pre-OSU hardest challenge in Wiscy.
December 3rd, 2019 at 2:17 PM ^
Expectations of this fanbase need to be realigned. 10-3 with a shot at the B1G before we inevitably lose to OSU is what is going to happen, okay? Until proven otherwise that's the best Michigan is.
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:55 AM ^
Unfortunately there is almost no chance the offense is as good next year. Start with the QB, one has to reasonably presume that McCaffrey isn't up to Shea's passing ability. Yeah he can run, but he's no running back. As importantly, the o-line will be hit rather hard. God, we need Ruiz to stay and shore things up a bit. I kind of expect him to go pro.
December 3rd, 2019 at 10:32 AM ^
I disagree with you that the offense will not be as good. It should be better.
QB - Shea was good by the second half of the season, but he was inconsistent and played terribly against Wisco and the first half of PSU. Not knocking him, but he did not win us a single game. Replacing him are McCaffrey and Milton. Both of whom will be upper classmen and both of whom had a good amount of recruiting hype. Also, don't discount the fact that we will not be installing a whole new system. Both replacements will be in their second year in a new system. The 16 bowl practices and entire offseason to rep that system should make a huge difference. Fans discount it, but installing a new offensive system takes a lot of time and almost always has transition costs.
WR - Nice is probably gone, but I don't think that the others will leave. Senior DPJ should be slightly improved, Black did virtually nothing this year (not necessarily blaming him - you can't catch the ball when it isn't thrown to you), but he could significantly improve over this year. Bell oozes potential, but dropped a ton of balls. I see an offseason with the jugs machine in his future, which could translate into big improvement. And, guys like Jackson, Sainristil and Johnson show a ton of promise. Despite losing NICO, as a whole, I actually think that our WR should improve.
RB - we return Haskins and Charbonnet, both young guys, who should be better versions of themselves, and hopefully even more comfortable in this offense. We also get Evans back and Turner has a year of improvement. This unit will be at least as good, and likely better just from aging and developing by a year.
OL - I understand the concerns. But if Ruiz comes back, we are replacing 3. Mayfield returns and will be a year older and stronger. That makes a big difference on the OL. Also, Steuber or Hayes should be able to replace Runyon with little drop off (Hayes has a higher ceiling), with the other sliding over to one of the guard spots. On the other guard spot, , between Filiagas, Honigford and Spanellis, we have the numbers that at least one should be more than fine. I do think that there will be some drop off on the line, but it should not be significant. Also, Wisconsin seems to do fine stocking a line with 2-3 star recruits and just letting them develop.
December 3rd, 2019 at 9:57 AM ^
I love our talent next year, but people are discounting the losses of Hill, Uche, Glasgow, and Hudson are huge. Uche and Glasgow were beasts this year. Hill was our best cover corner, and Hudson had a bad year, but still was a captain and knew his role. If Kemp also is done, it's a rebuilt defense. If guys like Thomas, Paye, and Dwumfour are also gone, it's a total rebuild on defense.
Outside of DT, we had great depth on defense this year, that depth will need to be rebuilt.
Mike Danna was also a very good player for us this season.
December 3rd, 2019 at 6:30 PM ^
Dwumfour?! Why does everyone think anyone who has ever started a game is gonna be gone next year?
December 3rd, 2019 at 10:08 AM ^
And what if we lose again to osu? Then what? We play in Columbus against an osu team that might be better next season. I wish I had your optimism. I just don’t see 2020 being much better than this season. We might end up 10-2 but another loss to osu means no big ten title.....again
December 3rd, 2019 at 10:18 AM ^
We are now in the range of people saying this osu team has eclipsed '01 miami, that crazy good 93 or 94 or whatever fsu team, etc. Maybe they are wrong but we are talking about a generational type of great team.
I digress because I also agree with you. They will be likely #1 going into next year and unreal + the game is in columbus.
Nevertheless UM has a team and schedule setup to have 0-1 big ten losses headed into the osu game. That's where we want to be, with that kind of opportunity. Can the capitalize? I'm not overly optimistic. I don't think anyone is.
December 3rd, 2019 at 10:10 AM ^
As someone who doesn’t follow recruiting and the depth chart as much as I used to (just because of life not some BPONE reluctance) I’d say this is the best post I’ve read on here in a while. Nice breakdown, thanks!
December 3rd, 2019 at 10:19 AM ^
2020 is going to be a fun team to watch. Lots of fresh faces and high talent youth.
Which mean chaos and danger.
December 3rd, 2019 at 10:37 AM ^
A rational take? Heavens No!
Look: OSU is just fucking good. Really good. You don't cheer on a team because they always win. You cheer them on so that when they win, you reap that reward.
Go blue. Beat Ohio. Bring on the bowl game and 2020.
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:15 AM ^
call me crazy, but...
even before Petersen stepped down yesterday I thought we had a decent shot at running the table going into Columbus next year. battle for the brown jug is going to be wild but otherwise we have a very favorable schedule with Sconnie/PSU both at home and MSU in free fall.
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:21 AM ^
Best case defense is we lose Uche, Danna, Glasgow, Thomas, Hill, Mettalus. Worst case is we also lose Kemp, Dwumfour, Paye, and Thomas.
Best case offense is we lose Runyan, Onwenu, Patterson, Bredenson, and McKeon. Worst case is we also lose Collins, DPJ, Black, Ruiz.
Most likely scenario IMO is we lose Kemp and Paye from the defense and Collins, DPJ,. and Ruiz off the offense.
December 3rd, 2019 at 3:31 PM ^
There is no way we lose Kemp, Dwumfor or Paye to early departure. Transfer portal, maybe, but they are all getting a significant number of snaps, so I doubt it. I think Thomas would benefit from a year of having a healthy offseason to truly show what he's capable of.
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:27 AM ^
Evans is one guy who I'm really interested to see how he fits into the offense. I don't recall UM passing the ball to much to the running backs other then a wheel route or screen every now and then. Evans catching the ball in space matched up one on one with a LB seems like it would be a big advantage favoring UM.
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:34 AM ^
That was an encouraging read: thank you. I'm a bit doubtful the O line will match up, and QB is the largest spot on the roster to be so uncertain re: <,>,=, but I was actually more concerned coming into this year & last year than I am going into next year. Defense looked super-iffy pre-2018 & pre-2019, but came through well until exposed at the end. This year also couldn't have expected as good play out of RB as we actually got. So both 2018 & 2019 I was pleasantly surprised to the upside. (Can't help that OSU 2019 was best OSU team in my 50 years.) I'm actually more positive about 2020, even with these five key question marks remaining: do we get adequate replacement for Shea's, Nico's, OGs'+LT's, Uche's & L.Hill's productivity?
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:43 AM ^
The only part I disagree with:
“LT 2020 Mayfield = Runyan”
i actually think Mayfield > Runyan. May just be personal opinion, but Mayfield kept #2 on the defense in check all day. May be the only reason Chase Young doesn’t win the Heisman.
December 3rd, 2019 at 6:40 PM ^
Definitely could be. His potential is higher. He'll still be young though and Runyan ended up quite good.
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:50 AM ^
Yes, 2020 prospects look very good. Reason for optimism. Perhaps the talent gap between Michigan and Ohio State is reduced. It will boil down to how much will Michigan be mentally prepared to play and beat Ohio State in the Shoe next year?
I too am very emotionally invested in Michigan football, so it matters.
December 3rd, 2019 at 11:52 AM ^
I actually thought the offense in the first half was fine, but for the mistakes. I would like a UFR to get a grip on what happened to the offense in the second half, and why senior safety Metellus looked like he had at least two coverage busts. As for the defense, the problems at DT are fixable. The 56 points for OSU is a mirage. We handed them the last two touchdowns by going for it on 4th down, once on our own 30 yard line, and once around the 50. We did that because the game was, surprisingly, still in reach. Would they have scored anyway? Maybe. But the point is not that we were likely to win; we were not likely to win. But it was not the blowout it looks like, and to think about it moving forward I would like Brian to answer those two questions: second half offense and possible Metellus coverage busts. Without those (and the obvious mistakes) the game is at least not a blowout.
December 3rd, 2019 at 12:39 PM ^
Offense was for sure carving up OSU's defense in the first half and should have scored 24+ in that half. Second half honestly it just look like the whole team started to get emotionally beatdown/will started to get broken when they went down 3 scores and it started impacting the confidence and concentration of the offense. Also OSU is a really good defense, they were going to adjust some.
December 3rd, 2019 at 12:15 PM ^
Yea, next years our year for sure /s
I am excited about McCaffrey taking the reigns. Kid runs like a deer and can throw so letting him loose should be fun. They need to teach him to avoid contact as he’s been hurt a few times by not sliding and running into contact - I think it’s in his DNA so this may be hard to train out. Stay healthy Dylan!
December 3rd, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^
Would really like to see Michigan start the season unranked or somewhere in the 20-25 range. Always too much preseason hype.
December 3rd, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
Go to rehab.
LT 2020 Mayfield = Runyan - based on what?
You are doing this part wrong:
TE Eubanks = Eubanks
TE All > McKeon
The comparison would be
TE 2020 Eubanks vs 2019 McKeon
TE 2020 All vs 2019 Eubanks
Same with WR, you have:]
WR DPJ = DPJ
WR Bell > Bell
WR Black = Black
WR Cornelius Johnson < Collins
When the real comparison should be:
WR 2020 DPJ vs 2019 Collins (As DPJ would be assumed to step into the #1 role)
WR 2020 Bell vs 2019 Bell
WR 2020 Sanistril vs 2019 DPJ
You have to view these not just as player vs himself but as player in his new role.
December 3rd, 2019 at 6:57 PM ^
Oh yes. Sainristil next year will have the same role as DPJ this year. Thanks for clearing that up. Roles change and players change. You can't perfectly compare spots your way or my way.
Mayfield same as Runyan based on him having better physical attributes at tackle, highly rated, starting over other guys who have been in the program longer, playing quite well in his first year, and handling the best DE in the country pretty well.
December 3rd, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^
I mean there are plenty of reasons to optimistic about the roster itself next year and with it being year 2 for the new offense, but the elephant in the room for actually accomplishing the goals the team wants to is still trying to find a way to beat OSU in Columbus. OSU is the gatekeeper and until UM finds that key the ceiling will be good but ultimately disappointing seasons.
December 3rd, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^
I hear ya on this, I just don't think we'll be beating OSU for a while. If M were to go 11-1, would you be disappointed (earnest curiosity here, not sarcastic)?
December 3rd, 2019 at 1:25 PM ^
December 3rd, 2019 at 2:04 PM ^
I would have liked the score to be a little more competitive for sure, but at the same time I had this pencilled in as a L ever since the Army game. I dont know why people get so bent out of shape over predictable outcomes.
December 3rd, 2019 at 2:27 PM ^
There's plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Michigan seems to have finally found an offensive system that works for the 21st century, and you could tell it was really clicking by season's end. Heck, minus that fumble, the offense played pretty damn well in the first half of the OSU game. I was really impressed with how much time Shea had to survey the field and throw, and how much Chase Young was neutralized. Loss notwithstanding, the OL really showed a lot of progression on Saturday.
This team will always seriously contend for NY6 games with Harbaugh at the helm, and with a little luck can get to The Game at 10-1 or 11-0, also depending on how the schedule shakes out. Harbaugh has proven he can beat almost all the teams that regularly appear on his schedule, and once Wisconsin drops off the schedule that should make getting to those heights a little easier.
But its hard for me to envision much more than that right now. OSU is just simply on another level, and since Michigan isn't leaving the conference and OSU isn't shutting down its football program, that roadblock is always going to be there until some serious change in the tides happen. And that's fine. The program is what it is right now. Could be better, but could be a hell of a lot worse. Schools like FSU would be happy to trade places right about now.
December 3rd, 2019 at 2:53 PM ^
Thanks for writing this. Some solid takes.
I'm really hoping some combination of the 2019 d-ends emerges into being rotation pieces.
December 3rd, 2019 at 3:18 PM ^
Don Brown’s 2019 defense can best be summed up like this...
In 3 losses, 17 TDs against, 1 field goal attempt forced, 4th Q at Wisconsin after game out of reach.
December 3rd, 2019 at 3:33 PM ^
So, just ignore all of the positive things the D accomplished and cherry-pick the negatives?
December 3rd, 2019 at 7:12 PM ^
Yeah, exactly what this is.
FFS
It’s a good place to start to build a case for why he is not the defensive coordinator to beat the matchup that top teams present. As many have noted, great stats largely against lesser opponents. But seriously, try to justify 17 touchdown drives given up in three losses to only one field goal attempt forced.
That’s not cherry picking. That is emblematic of a larger problem that reared its ugly head for the second year in a row.
December 3rd, 2019 at 7:28 PM ^
Didn't we beat Notre Dame into a pulp and allowed like sub 200 yards? The Notre Dame ranked in the top 15?
How convenient to forget that..so yeah you're cherry-picking and a dishonest dickhead as well.
December 3rd, 2019 at 7:35 PM ^
I'm with you here. People seem to be fond of pointing out how statistically awesome our defense usually is. Always top 10 in the country. Sometimes it's the very best.
Thing is, those numbers mean jack shit when OSU is kicking our ass. Worse and worse each year.
OSU is the measuring stick. I don't care what we do against other teams.
December 3rd, 2019 at 6:42 PM ^
We have no idea where things will be either for us, for OSU, or for any other college football team next year.
I would remind you that Tressel's firing came at a time when nobody expected it in March of 2011, yes?
(Not necessarily saying anybody's going to be fired, just explaining that we don't have that sort of foresight).