Agreed! Time to go nuclear and start breaking the stupid NCAA rules like every other elite team does! We've got our heads so far up our asses with this self righteous "our students actually go to class" stuff.
OSU over the last 10 years is the best they have ever been in their history. Same cannot be said for us.
If you don't think they were head and shoulders better from just a straight player ability standpoint than us then you were watching a different game.
Their O line the last two years has completely destroyed our D line and that's been the difference maker. They give their QB a clean pocket for any throw they want to make and give their backs 3 yards before they're even touched.
Nothing to do with coaching. When you can just bully the opponent on the line, you win. You can blame crossing routes or whatever you want all day, but that's not the issue.
If you look at recruiting rankings over the past 5 years, OSU averages the number 5.8th ranked class in the country (which is good for third best in that time frame), while we average 15.4th, good for 16th.
We've been consistently performing ABOVE our talent level over this time frame, but OSU is just on another level talent wise. It's only going to get worse (as OSU has currently the 2nd ranked class and we have the 8th) unless we get better on the recruiting trail.
How do they such consistently better players? OSU under Urban went total warfare on us, burning Atlanta, fire bombing Dresden, dropping A bombs on civilian cities, and it worked. They break nearly every NCAA recruiting and student guideline but it works. Similar to Alabama, Clemson, and the other contenders.
The rules of The Game have changed, and we're getting left in the dust.
I had no idea what was going on when number 67 ran in and started playing defense. Lo and behold, it was the younger Speight, and he played pretty well!
I think you missed the point of the "little brother" insult.
"It's (at best) lazy and uncreative, at worst needlessly misogynistic, and if pointing that out makes me some PC goof so be it; I'd rather be called that than be the man or woman who calls other grown men and women little children as if that's fucking cutting."
As someone with 6 little brothers, it's a terrific insult. They're always busting their tails to beat you, always playing with a chip on their shoulder, and (just like in this rivalry) they're unbearable when they do beat you.
Winovich had the perfect follow up to the insult last year. Sometimes you do let them feel like they're going to win just to yank the carpet out from under them. And sometimes they get pretty cocky and you need to flatten them to put them back into place.
It has nothing to do with thinking it's cutting to call someone a little kid. Just enjoy it. Life's too short to read subtext into a pretty straight forward comparison.
Fans had every right to be disappointed after the Wisconsin game, but not to the extent that I saw.
This has been a big change in offense (and even defense to some extent) and it was always going to take some time and actual game experience for it to come together.
The annoy vocal minority of fans who were calling for Harbaugh's head after that Wisconsin game are the ones who are having to eat it now.
Let us who didn't overreact enjoy the loudmouths being wrong lol.
Given how miserable their offense is, MSU is going to just play the same way they've had to the last couple years: just run and pray your defense gets a turnover.
Remember when they punted from their own endzone on third down against OSU last year? They just play field position with this offense.
We kept trying to bring the house last year against OSU against a much better passing QB and it didn't work.
We just spied McGrone on Book all game and our D-line was able to get some good pressure throughout the game even though it didn't end up in many sacks.
If we can do the same to Fields (spy him for contain and get enough pressure to force bad throws) then we'll stand a chance.
Warriner said on Tuesday that they're running many of the same plays they have all year. Players are not used to the changes in the offense and it's clicking.
Gattis is an elite offensive mind. Everything seems to be coming together halfway through his first year and that's not bad at all for a first time playcaller!
I think it's telling how ND seemed to push Georgia's O-line all over the place but we were able to move them off the ball pretty well.
The new strength and conditioning program has been showing up this year and you have to love that. Last year ND's defensive front was able to push us around and Shea was running for his life. Same players this year, but with very difference results.
ND looks big against everyone they play, and we were every bit as big as them this year. This program is headed in the right direction.
We definitely got bailed out in the endzone. Both were on third down, both resulted in TDs.
You have to think though that we got the bad end of that because we still could have kicked a FG and on the ND bailout call, it's a pick that puts us in great position.
Appreciate the makeup call, but just make the right call in the first place.
We didn't see much of this last year and Wimbush ran all over us. Ian is a pretty good scrambler and he got nothing going on the ground because he didn't want anything to do with Cam just staring him down.
If we have any shot of beating OSU this year, it's with the same formula.
Just because we don't cover the spread often doesn't mean we're a bad team. Just means that if you're putting money on games you should take Michigan straight up!
They always have a sneaky amount of talent on their team. Just watching them line up against Georgia and USC, it's crazy how big everyone on their team is. They were just too big and too strong for us last year. We've made some gains in that department, but going up against them will be a big test for us.
Agreed! We need to make an effort not to be the entitled, toxic fanbase that our players say they have to tune out every week.
It's hard to swallow, but we're not on the same level as OSU, ND, or Bama, and that's because we haven't brought in comparable talent. Heck, ND and OSU consistently steal the top recruits out of Michigan, and the top Michigan recruit last year went to Wisconsin!
Recruiting is arguably the most important aspect in college football and Harbaugh has done a good job of bringing in good-to-elite recruiters for assistant coaching roles over the last couple years. This wasn't the case during his first couple years. Fisch and Drevno were liabilities on the recruiting trail. Gattis is elite, and Nua and Campinele have a lot of talent in that department.
Just because we haven't won many big games over the last couple years does not mean that we're headed in the wrong direction. "Clemsoning" was a term that they had to deal with before they finally built up enough talent. Harbaugh is just on what would appear to be a faster timeline than Dabo.
We'll probably need to wait another couple years before we're actually challenging for championships, but we're making progress. The roster now may not be as polished as in ones over the last couple years, but the ceiling is infinitely higher.
He may not be great, but he's the best QB we've had in years. Comparing his numbers last year and this year to past QBs we've had, he's better than anyone going as far back as Brady.
Michigan just isn't a Heisman-caliber QB destination.
We were gashing them with the RPO with the WR sweep. I wonder why we got away from that in the second half.
I liked the resolve of the team to stop the IL momentum cold after they scored 25 points in a row.
They could really only move the ball when they moved their #1 receiver out against Vincent Gray. 5th year senior versus RS freshman.
You have to like the development of Haskins into a serviceable number 2 running back. He's a big, physical guy and he and Charbonnet are going to be problems over the next couple years.
McGrone looks better and better after every game. After terrible LB play killed us against Wisconsin, watching him gives me a lot of confidence in that position moving forward.
No Lavert Hill and no Kwity Paye was evident, but the young guys stepped up in the 4th. After a terrible 3rd (and with momentum meaning everything in college football) that was good to see.
It sure seemed like Carlo Kemp lived in their backfield. Our linebackers just couldn't clean things up. Probably because Josh Ross left early for the second game in a row.
I don't want to rewatch the game but how did Cam McGrone grade out? I was glad to see him get some run. It seems like he has a much higher ceiling than the rest of our linebackers.
Pep really seems like a really great guy with a heart for the players he coaches. No doubt he goes on to succeed at this next stop.
He just wasn't a good fit at Michigan. Add to that the fact is seems like he was never given the kind of control most good OCs need and he did take a lot of unnecessary flak from the fanbase, myself included.
All that said, I'm excited to move onto a more traditional offense. This is exactly what Brian Kelly did and they've gotten a lot better since he surrendered the reigns.
I imagine this is similar to the Ron Prince hire. Give the guy a place to take a little break from on-field coaching and interview for more appealing jobs than he was offered.
Great post. Winning starts in the trenches. We lost to ND and OSU because they controlled the LOS and did so in a dominant fashion.
Higdon has been a very good RB for us, but he does have some major vision issues. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Tru Wilson, who isn't the biggest or strongest guy, but sees every hole the line opens up.
Watching the ND and OSU losses, there were holes that Hidgon either didn't wait to develop, or just missed. Probably a symptom of going from blend to gap and then to zone. Hopefully Warriner can establish some consistency with the blocking schemes which will help our linemen enormously, as well as our backs.
Bringing in another four 4* recruits this year will help a ton as well. And Herbert will continue to bulk those boys up.
Working with Jay got him to (nearly) back-to-back thousand yard seasons.
Jay's good. I'm excited to see what he can do with a top 50 recruit, as well as an improving offensive line.
We're adding 4 legit 4 star offensive linemen who were recruited to run Warriner's zone scheme. We're trending up everywhere on offense - especially if the rumors that Pep is moving on are to be believed. Just need a real OC.
We've got the talent in the skill positions (could be better at safety) but just can't control the trenches to be elite yet.
But no matter how disappointing the end of the season was for us (again), just remember that Texas is also a school with a very proud fanbase and they just had their first 10 win season since 2009.
Trust the process, trust Jim, and trust Warriner, and say your prayers that we can bring Jedd Fisch back to run the offense.
Yoder called out Henson on one of his video reports for reporting on Nordin being kicked off the team. Henson responded with a Yahoo finance article that slammed Yoder.
Fun stuff, but none of it had to do with Michigan football lol.
Very excited to have him back! Best QB we've had in a long, long time. Makes everyone around him better.
My favorite moment of the 2018 season was when he and Higdon fumbled the handoff and he went straight to Don Brown, grabbed his shirt, and told him to get him the ball back so he could fix it.
I worked my college's cafeteria when I was working on my degree. Same thing here. Pay them for what they can provide the institution outside the classroom and you can fire them if they don't perform to your standards.
And I'm 100% on board with making them take care of their insurance and taxes. Give students some guidance when it comes to handling finances. Teach them how to be effective operators in society. I wish I had that kind of guidance in college instead of being thrown to the wolves after.
Recent Comments
You know what’s not undesirable? At least doubling your salary ?
Chances of us getting pressure on the QB with no interior pass rush? Slim.
Could be a long day for our defense. Hopefully we see some good stuff from Hinton and Smith!
Agreed! Time to go nuclear and start breaking the stupid NCAA rules like every other elite team does! We've got our heads so far up our asses with this self righteous "our students actually go to class" stuff.
Just win!
OSU over the last 10 years is the best they have ever been in their history. Same cannot be said for us.
If you don't think they were head and shoulders better from just a straight player ability standpoint than us then you were watching a different game.
Their O line the last two years has completely destroyed our D line and that's been the difference maker. They give their QB a clean pocket for any throw they want to make and give their backs 3 yards before they're even touched.
Nothing to do with coaching. When you can just bully the opponent on the line, you win. You can blame crossing routes or whatever you want all day, but that's not the issue.
If you look at recruiting rankings over the past 5 years, OSU averages the number 5.8th ranked class in the country (which is good for third best in that time frame), while we average 15.4th, good for 16th.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-recruiting-schools-with-best-class-rankings-on-average-over-the-past-five-years/
We've been consistently performing ABOVE our talent level over this time frame, but OSU is just on another level talent wise. It's only going to get worse (as OSU has currently the 2nd ranked class and we have the 8th) unless we get better on the recruiting trail.
How do they such consistently better players? OSU under Urban went total warfare on us, burning Atlanta, fire bombing Dresden, dropping A bombs on civilian cities, and it worked. They break nearly every NCAA recruiting and student guideline but it works. Similar to Alabama, Clemson, and the other contenders.
The rules of The Game have changed, and we're getting left in the dust.
Couldn't agree more! And our players look big this year compared to years past.
There aren't many teams that can match up to ND and look the same size but we sure did this year.
Herbert got a lot of recognition last year but he needs some this year too.
That over-exaggerated intentional grounded flag drop had me cracking up. Hahah are you kidding me with that?
Shea is undefeated at home as a Wolverine, and it doesn't hurt that he's en fuego right now. We have a shot!
Eh, they lost 44-10. They needed those calls. We had yards to spare.
How about superstar NT Jess Speight!?
I had no idea what was going on when number 67 ran in and started playing defense. Lo and behold, it was the younger Speight, and he played pretty well!
The wildcat touchdown Haskins scored, Mason blew up his assignment. There were just so many holes the Haskins went a shorter route lol.
I think you missed the point of the "little brother" insult.
"It's (at best) lazy and uncreative, at worst needlessly misogynistic, and if pointing that out makes me some PC goof so be it; I'd rather be called that than be the man or woman who calls other grown men and women little children as if that's fucking cutting."
As someone with 6 little brothers, it's a terrific insult. They're always busting their tails to beat you, always playing with a chip on their shoulder, and (just like in this rivalry) they're unbearable when they do beat you.
Winovich had the perfect follow up to the insult last year. Sometimes you do let them feel like they're going to win just to yank the carpet out from under them. And sometimes they get pretty cocky and you need to flatten them to put them back into place.
It has nothing to do with thinking it's cutting to call someone a little kid. Just enjoy it. Life's too short to read subtext into a pretty straight forward comparison.
Fans had every right to be disappointed after the Wisconsin game, but not to the extent that I saw.
This has been a big change in offense (and even defense to some extent) and it was always going to take some time and actual game experience for it to come together.
The annoy vocal minority of fans who were calling for Harbaugh's head after that Wisconsin game are the ones who are having to eat it now.
Let us who didn't overreact enjoy the loudmouths being wrong lol.
Couldn't agree more. He shows up for The Game.
He was offended by it because he knew he could use it to motivate his team.
As bad as they are, you've got to play your best against them since they LIVE to play us.
Harbaugh said it best, Dantonio is a master motivator.
Real excited to have this guy back! He showed up in both OSU games he played in.
Terrific slot/RB combo. And if you've been following his workouts on social media, he's a freak athlete.
Put him next to the two bruisers in Charbonnet and Haskins and that's a backfield that can do some damage!
Given how miserable their offense is, MSU is going to just play the same way they've had to the last couple years: just run and pray your defense gets a turnover.
Remember when they punted from their own endzone on third down against OSU last year? They just play field position with this offense.
We kept trying to bring the house last year against OSU against a much better passing QB and it didn't work.
We just spied McGrone on Book all game and our D-line was able to get some good pressure throughout the game even though it didn't end up in many sacks.
If we can do the same to Fields (spy him for contain and get enough pressure to force bad throws) then we'll stand a chance.
Warriner said on Tuesday that they're running many of the same plays they have all year. Players are not used to the changes in the offense and it's clicking.
Gattis is an elite offensive mind. Everything seems to be coming together halfway through his first year and that's not bad at all for a first time playcaller!
I think it's telling how ND seemed to push Georgia's O-line all over the place but we were able to move them off the ball pretty well.
The new strength and conditioning program has been showing up this year and you have to love that. Last year ND's defensive front was able to push us around and Shea was running for his life. Same players this year, but with very difference results.
ND looks big against everyone they play, and we were every bit as big as them this year. This program is headed in the right direction.
…
Love these breakdowns.
My best friend is a ND fan and he told me going into the season and into Saturday's game that the biggest weakness they had was the LB crew.
You could tell that the gameplan on the ground was built to mess with them and it worked.
We had similar LB issues before McGrone took over (the Wisconsin debacle), which just goes to show just how valuable elite LBs are in a defense.
We definitely got bailed out in the endzone. Both were on third down, both resulted in TDs.
You have to think though that we got the bad end of that because we still could have kicked a FG and on the ND bailout call, it's a pick that puts us in great position.
Appreciate the makeup call, but just make the right call in the first place.
Luck o' the Irish!
Best: Having McGrone spy a mobile QB.
We didn't see much of this last year and Wimbush ran all over us. Ian is a pretty good scrambler and he got nothing going on the ground because he didn't want anything to do with Cam just staring him down.
If we have any shot of beating OSU this year, it's with the same formula.
I never thought he had a shot at the NFL until this year. He has been consistently unblockable all season long against good competition.
He was blowing up Wisconsin all game, our LBs just couldn't finish plays until McGrone was brought in, a little too late.
Love this guy!
Peoples-Jones, Charbonnet, and Nico all seem to be working out.
TE is a weird position to recruit out of high school. Asiasi played very well as a freshman but wanted to be closer to home.
Just because we don't cover the spread often doesn't mean we're a bad team. Just means that if you're putting money on games you should take Michigan straight up!
Michigan hasn't been an underdog in two years. Vegas LOVES us.
Lol this is good.
They always have a sneaky amount of talent on their team. Just watching them line up against Georgia and USC, it's crazy how big everyone on their team is. They were just too big and too strong for us last year. We've made some gains in that department, but going up against them will be a big test for us.
Agreed! We need to make an effort not to be the entitled, toxic fanbase that our players say they have to tune out every week.
It's hard to swallow, but we're not on the same level as OSU, ND, or Bama, and that's because we haven't brought in comparable talent. Heck, ND and OSU consistently steal the top recruits out of Michigan, and the top Michigan recruit last year went to Wisconsin!
Recruiting is arguably the most important aspect in college football and Harbaugh has done a good job of bringing in good-to-elite recruiters for assistant coaching roles over the last couple years. This wasn't the case during his first couple years. Fisch and Drevno were liabilities on the recruiting trail. Gattis is elite, and Nua and Campinele have a lot of talent in that department.
Just because we haven't won many big games over the last couple years does not mean that we're headed in the wrong direction. "Clemsoning" was a term that they had to deal with before they finally built up enough talent. Harbaugh is just on what would appear to be a faster timeline than Dabo.
We'll probably need to wait another couple years before we're actually challenging for championships, but we're making progress. The roster now may not be as polished as in ones over the last couple years, but the ceiling is infinitely higher.
He may not be great, but he's the best QB we've had in years. Comparing his numbers last year and this year to past QBs we've had, he's better than anyone going as far back as Brady.
Michigan just isn't a Heisman-caliber QB destination.
We were gashing them with the RPO with the WR sweep. I wonder why we got away from that in the second half.
I liked the resolve of the team to stop the IL momentum cold after they scored 25 points in a row.
They could really only move the ball when they moved their #1 receiver out against Vincent Gray. 5th year senior versus RS freshman.
You have to like the development of Haskins into a serviceable number 2 running back. He's a big, physical guy and he and Charbonnet are going to be problems over the next couple years.
McGrone looks better and better after every game. After terrible LB play killed us against Wisconsin, watching him gives me a lot of confidence in that position moving forward.
No Lavert Hill and no Kwity Paye was evident, but the young guys stepped up in the 4th. After a terrible 3rd (and with momentum meaning everything in college football) that was good to see.
Reason 8: Football revenue is up a lot since he took over. Follow the numbers, baby!
Reason 9: Who are we going to replace him with?
Got it. Thanks!
It sure seemed like Carlo Kemp lived in their backfield. Our linebackers just couldn't clean things up. Probably because Josh Ross left early for the second game in a row.
I don't want to rewatch the game but how did Cam McGrone grade out? I was glad to see him get some run. It seems like he has a much higher ceiling than the rest of our linebackers.
Dan may own a Cleveland team, but he’s Michigan through and through. What’s he’s done for Detroit has been pretty incredible over the past 6-7 years.
Pep really seems like a really great guy with a heart for the players he coaches. No doubt he goes on to succeed at this next stop.
He just wasn't a good fit at Michigan. Add to that the fact is seems like he was never given the kind of control most good OCs need and he did take a lot of unnecessary flak from the fanbase, myself included.
All that said, I'm excited to move onto a more traditional offense. This is exactly what Brian Kelly did and they've gotten a lot better since he surrendered the reigns.
I imagine this is similar to the Ron Prince hire. Give the guy a place to take a little break from on-field coaching and interview for more appealing jobs than he was offered.
Seems like he could be an asset though.
ESPN gives him 7 career tackles at UM. He probably wants more playing time. I would! Best of luck to him.
Warriner got fired (essentially) at OSU. Big difference.
I wonder why we break up LB coach and OLB/VIPERs coach.
Why not just give someone the LB coach title?
Love the hire though! Bring in another young, good recruiter, AND a good coach to work with Dax and Metellus.
NJ has been good to UM over the last few years.
Great post. Winning starts in the trenches. We lost to ND and OSU because they controlled the LOS and did so in a dominant fashion.
Higdon has been a very good RB for us, but he does have some major vision issues. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Tru Wilson, who isn't the biggest or strongest guy, but sees every hole the line opens up.
Watching the ND and OSU losses, there were holes that Hidgon either didn't wait to develop, or just missed. Probably a symptom of going from blend to gap and then to zone. Hopefully Warriner can establish some consistency with the blocking schemes which will help our linemen enormously, as well as our backs.
Bringing in another four 4* recruits this year will help a ton as well. And Herbert will continue to bulk those boys up.
Karan Hidgon was the 484th ranked recruit when he came to Michigan with a mediocre offer sheet: https://247sports.com/Player/Karan-Higdon-30628/
Working with Jay got him to (nearly) back-to-back thousand yard seasons.
Jay's good. I'm excited to see what he can do with a top 50 recruit, as well as an improving offensive line.
We're adding 4 legit 4 star offensive linemen who were recruited to run Warriner's zone scheme. We're trending up everywhere on offense - especially if the rumors that Pep is moving on are to be believed. Just need a real OC.
A lot of the journalists who cover UM seem to think sending 4 guys to the NFL as early draft entries is a bad thing.
In a sport where recruiting is almost paramount, I think it's great!
Thanks for all you've done, David! Time to get paid!
12 seems like a fitting place.
We've got the talent in the skill positions (could be better at safety) but just can't control the trenches to be elite yet.
But no matter how disappointing the end of the season was for us (again), just remember that Texas is also a school with a very proud fanbase and they just had their first 10 win season since 2009.
Trust the process, trust Jim, and trust Warriner, and say your prayers that we can bring Jedd Fisch back to run the offense.
Yoder called out Henson on one of his video reports for reporting on Nordin being kicked off the team. Henson responded with a Yahoo finance article that slammed Yoder.
Fun stuff, but none of it had to do with Michigan football lol.
Good comparison. Gary has a much lower floor.
Jimmy Graham could never block but has had a pretty productive career.
Played the worst game of his Michigan career against OSU. Just never really developed reliable hands.
That said, he has a TON of potential and I'm sure NFL teams will be willing to spend a late round pick to try and develop it.
Very excited to have him back! Best QB we've had in a long, long time. Makes everyone around him better.
My favorite moment of the 2018 season was when he and Higdon fumbled the handoff and he went straight to Don Brown, grabbed his shirt, and told him to get him the ball back so he could fix it.
Next possession, 79 yard TD pass.
I worked my college's cafeteria when I was working on my degree. Same thing here. Pay them for what they can provide the institution outside the classroom and you can fire them if they don't perform to your standards.
And I'm 100% on board with making them take care of their insurance and taxes. Give students some guidance when it comes to handling finances. Teach them how to be effective operators in society. I wish I had that kind of guidance in college instead of being thrown to the wolves after.