Your thoughts on teams with “phantom” records
October 16th, 2021 at 12:20 PM ^
Get your popcorn ready!!!
October 16th, 2021 at 1:03 PM ^
Initially said Michigan, but realized I didn't believe myself. They have a tremendous amount of talent, teammates and are playing well as a team. Their strength of schedule has also contributed to their 6-0 start.
Clemson is a team loaded with talent that appears to be an average team. At least on offense.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:18 PM ^
Sports radio said that UofM has the 2nd best front 7 on defense next to UGA. I believe their source was PFF.
October 16th, 2021 at 4:08 PM ^
With all due respect to the sports radio gods and PFF fancy stats, Michigan does not have a top-two front seven.
Barely top-three, if we're being honest.
October 16th, 2021 at 4:27 PM ^
“Barely top 3”
I need the “not sure if serious” meme please
October 16th, 2021 at 12:20 PM ^
Nebraska is a real team. Not sold on Coastal Carolina. Will see how they fare against App State on Wednesday. Michigan has been better than all of their opponents so far. We'll see if that continues as they go through the meat of the schedule.
October 16th, 2021 at 12:45 PM ^
Might want to check in on what Minnesota is doing to Nebraska ...
October 16th, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
IDK how I feel about this. Nebraska clearly "was" a good team that just couldn't quite eek out a win.
They threw everything they had at Michigan, heart and soul. That kind of loss is crushing and may be the final "nail in the coffin" on their season.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:39 PM ^
Tanner Morgan is having himself a day.
If Cade hits half of his deep balls for us, we utterly destroy Nebraska.
October 16th, 2021 at 5:17 PM ^
We definitely broke Nebraska. They clearly shot their wad against us and had nothing left for Minny.
October 16th, 2021 at 12:54 PM ^
Classic letdown game scenario for Nebraska
October 16th, 2021 at 3:21 PM ^
Absolutely.
I do agree that Nebraska is better than their record; I just don't think they're that much better. They're about to be 0-5 in games settled by 8 points or less. Win two of those and they're 5-3 now.
Realistically, they're a 7-5 team that's going to finish 5-7 or 4-8. Part of that is Martinez not cutting down enough on mistakes; last week it was the fumble struggling for extra yardage and this week the safety.
October 16th, 2021 at 3:36 PM ^
Nebraska may have a good team, but they have a head coach that is under pressure to win. That typically causes the team to play tight and make critical mistakes.
October 16th, 2021 at 4:30 PM ^
Oh yeah. They gave up their second safety this week on a bad play by Martinez at a time when the game was still in reach. Minnesota scored when they got the ball again and that was basically it.
Add to that another fourth down stop inside the 5 and there's your loss. (Although I like the aggressiveness, but it hasn't worked out for them.)
October 16th, 2021 at 4:13 PM ^
How many games has Nebraska lost due to untimely turnovers and horrible special teams?
I don’t know Frost’s contract or the composition of their team’s roster by class, but if I’m them, I bring him back with the understanding that 2022 is his last year if they don’t massively improve.
I genuinely think he’s a solid coach and the right coach for them, but there is so much working against Nebraska without access to their old recruiting grounds, perpetual turnover, and more.
October 16th, 2021 at 12:20 PM ^
Oklahoma, Iowa, Penn state.
October 16th, 2021 at 12:51 PM ^
We’re going to find out how good Kentucky is today.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:14 PM ^
Yes indeed. My guess is not nearly as good as Georgia.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:01 PM ^
Okie and Iowa definitely top the list
October 16th, 2021 at 12:21 PM ^
While I think Iowa is a really good, if not great team, they probably lose to PSU if Clifford doesn’t get hurt. Iowa state is also not as good as everyone expected. The rest of the schedule is really soft so they should skate into Indy.
October 16th, 2021 at 12:36 PM ^
Tentatively, MSU. I think the luster of their win at Miami wears off a bit each week as we see how bad Miami actually is. In addition, who have they played? With that said, MSU has played well, even if the competition hasn't been great.
October 16th, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
To be fair, Michigan is the same. We both squeaked by Nebraska by 3, and we both played teams who were at one point top25, but aren't good. No statement wins by either team.
October 16th, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
Agreed.
The thing that makes me nervous about the game in a couple of weeks is that, on paper at least, it would appear that MSU has an advantage in many ways
MSU QB >>UM QB
MSU WRs>>>>UM WRs
MSU RB = UM RBs (maybe this is a slight advantage for UM, but MSU's running game is no slouch).
With all that said, a lot of MSUs offense has come as a result of big plays, not necessarily long drives that are strung together. Are they truly an explosive offense, or have they benefitted from busted coverages/poor defense? I don't know. Nonetheless, I am still very nervous about the game and don't have a lot of confidence that M will go into EL and come out with a victory.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:02 PM ^
Fortunately our QB doesn't play one-on-one against their QB. It's our offense against their defense and vice versa.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:03 PM ^
I was just thinking the same thing. Where are we better? Maybe OL and edge rushers. Other than that, everything else is either close to a push or a lean towards MSU.
*Edit* I should include Kicker and Punter.
*Edit 2* Maybe not, MSU's kicker and punter have both been sending bombs today.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:33 PM ^
MSU has a good team but I really think we're being too pessimistic about our own offense. According to SP+, UM has the 26th ranked offense and MSU has the 28th. Yes, UM has flaws on offense but this isn't a bad offensive team. I think we're underselling the team here.
October 16th, 2021 at 3:02 PM ^
Curiously, you left out the OL and DL, and the defenses in general. Context is important.
October 16th, 2021 at 6:49 PM ^
Those things are true but we are better on both O-line and D-line, and it's not even close.
Every single advanced metric I can find has us between 4-12 and MSU between 22-35. What does it all mean? Pretty much nothing, we will see in 2 weeks what the truth is.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:06 PM ^
Indiana moving the ball on Sparty, but one pick six puts MSU in the lead
October 16th, 2021 at 1:42 PM ^
First half that vaunted Sparty offense went six possessions/six punts.
Looked a lot like Colorado under Tucker when visiting a couple years back.
Perhaps against actual competition (and Nebraska "at home via Miracle" is the only team they have played...Miami is awful) they are who we thought they were...
October 16th, 2021 at 2:56 PM ^
We had a bit of a miracle against Nebraska too, and haven't beaten anyone better than Miami. Just trying to keep things in perspective. Their struggles with Nebraska and IU might be on par with our struggles against Nebraska and Rutgers.
October 16th, 2021 at 2:59 PM ^
Wisconsin and Washington are both batter than Miami.
October 16th, 2021 at 3:59 PM ^
I don't know. We actually had an offense against NEB. MSU sucked on offense.
October 16th, 2021 at 5:00 PM ^
They were outgained, 320-240, on the road. The QB threw two picks. And they still came up with the W. Indiana had three turnovers, and those were more costly. My sense is there's a lot more parity in the Big Ten than we've ever seen before.
Is Michigan any different? Take away the two second-half fades, and I think so. But that's 1/6th of the season in those two halves. I think it's too early to make this assessment, especially coming off the bizarre COVID year and the unusual experience distribution this year (which might be the reason parity is far greater).
Northwestern scares me, hopefully unreasonably.
October 16th, 2021 at 12:54 PM ^
Iowa - defense is outstanding, but their offense is awful. They are probably a 6-10 team this year but I think any team in the top 5 with a healthy roster could house them. PSU I think would have won easily had Clifford not gone down.
Kentucky - I don't think Florida is all that good, and that's the only win they have against a team with a pulse. I don't think they are bad necessarily, but they are not the 11th best team in the country
Wake Forest - They haven't played anybody. Arkansas is ranked a spot behind them at #17 and I think they would take Wake to the wood shed.
As for Sparty.. as much as it pains me to say, I think they are legitimately good. It's true they haven't played any team that's very good, but they have disposed of all of their competition with ease outside of Nebraska. I think we all know Nebraska is better than what their record indicates. Sparty is beating bad teams in the way that good teams do. Halfway through the season their running back is leading the country in rushing, and their passing offense has been explosive. Their defense is competent, albeit not spectacular. In this year of college football, to me they look worthy of their top 10 ranking. The game on 10/30 will not be for the faint of heart. That will be a very challenging game for Michigan to win. I think Michigan can do it, but they'll have to play their best game of the season thus far.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
Bro. We haven’t even played a ranked team yet. What is this?
October 16th, 2021 at 1:14 PM ^
The one not yet stated. For me. Is Cincinnati. Throw ND on there too, which emphasizes the point.
Decent team? Sure. No.3 in the country? F-no.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:54 PM ^
Forgot about ND, they could easily have 3 losses.
October 16th, 2021 at 11:27 PM ^
Agreed. I’m surprised it took this long for someone to say UC. They are a solid team, but there’s a very good chance they will be ranked as the #2 in the country. No way are they actually the second best team.
I also don’t think we know how good Michigan and Michigan State are. The game between them will be a good measuring stick for State, but I don’t think we will know how good Michigan is until they go to Happy Valley.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:20 PM ^
Iowa and UM. I still think we have 3 losses coming. I certainly hope not but on paper we arent as good as OSU PSU or MSU.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:30 PM ^
On paper*, we are better than MSU, about as good as PSU, and are not as good as OSU.
*That paper being SP+*
October 16th, 2021 at 4:15 PM ^
For the love of God, the love on this site for MSU. It is a rivalry game. That is the only reason it will be competitive. MSU has been playing like crap. For a fan site, we are way too much down on Michigan. Two road games in a row is not easy. Wisconsin D is legit. NEB was a night game on the road. We did better than anyone thought. We actually had a good offense in the second half on the road.
If we lose, we lose. MSU has not shown that they are better than M, certainly not on paper.
October 16th, 2021 at 4:51 PM ^
You are dogging MSU and saying two straight road games for us is "not easy." Sparty is 7-0 with four wins away from home. Fu%k them, but your post has some "holes."
October 16th, 2021 at 6:18 PM ^
This board would have had us as the underdog to Sparty if we were down by 2 at the half to Indiana while we punted 6 straight times and had less than 50 yards of total offense
October 16th, 2021 at 7:12 PM ^
This board would melt down calling this team another fraud and the fire Harbaugh crew would be everywhere. This fan base just doesn't support the team anymore, that's why you have players saying things like if we lose a game you will just say we suck again.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:25 PM ^
Iowa is the clear champion of this category. They have punted 40 times this season, which is #5 in the country. For comparison, Michigan has punted 19 times. Their offense is dreadful and their defense was getting shredded by Penn State before Clifford got hurt.
By the way, PSU might belong on here if Clifford is out for a while. With him, they're quite good. Without him, they have an offense that can't run or pass.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:43 PM ^
Ferentz is an adherent of the "punting is winning" thinking
October 16th, 2021 at 1:59 PM ^
As good as PSU has been with Clifford (and I happily will eat crow about Clifford, the dude has taken the next step up and become a great college QB), their rushing attack is mediocre at best. Even if Clifford comes back, you have to wonder if he will be able to play at 100% and whether PSU can remain as effective offensively as they had been prior to the injury.
October 16th, 2021 at 1:26 PM ^
I've got great ideas for this. I'll pass them along tomorrow, after the games.