I agree it's hard to say a single play "completely changed the game" in a 38-13 blowout... but maybe if we don't score on that drive then maybe they don't stop giving the ball to Jonathan Taylor and maybe Paul Chryst doesn't make so many dumb decisions like not giving him the ball on 3rd/4th and 2.
Again, not saying it'd change the result, but maybe MI has to beat a less dumb Paul Chryst for at least another drive or 2.
I was happy to see a coach making a smart 4th and < 5 at midfield call:
Line up, hard count to draw the defense offside or take the delay of game and give your punter a little more room to drop one before the end-zone. AND IT WORKED! NW did jump and if the OL had reacted then the game should have been over (assuming the refs get the call correct... if they don't, then false start and again, just punt with 5 yrds of extra room)
Between this and the QB kneel/FGs by Herm and others, is it possible that coaches are getting less dumb at the end of games?
Can't I be hopeful for next season and not be calling for Harbaugh to be fired (like an idiot) AND be disappointed and angry at what this program has done so far? 10 wins in the first two seasons isn't nothing but last year they underachieved. That team should have won the Big Ten, should have beat Ohio State, and should have made the CFP. They didn't. Some of it was bad luck, some of it was bad refs, some of it was injury but at the end of the day they didn't get it done. Doesn't mean Harbaugh should be fired or that you should even blame him necessarily. It does mean that I can be a little angry about it.
As for this year. "Have we already forgotten what a truly bad team looks like?" Hoke and RR teams often didn't look too different than this. This is a truly bad offense. This is a very good but probably not quite great defense. Hoke had similar at times. RR had the reverse. Most of this is on the O-Line which is mostly not Harbaugh's fault. A lot of this is on the QB which is Harbaugh's fault... or at least is the very last problem any of us thought he would have in year 3. Before this season the narrative was "there is no way that with this many prospects (Rudock, OKorn, Speight, Malzone, Gentry, Peters, McCaffrey, Morris (ok maybe not Morris)) Harbaugh doesn't have a good QB in year 2-3". And the Speight injury is really the excuse we are going with? He wasn't good this year. He was good at times last year but were any of those times against good teams? The belief that we'd be that much better (90% "headed towards 9-3 at worst"??) is almost as asinine as calling for Harbaugh to be fired. Maybe he gets better and returns to good Speight of last year... or maybe John OKorn never comes in and plays "can't tackle me i'm the.. Oh Hey Zach Gentry!" and we lose against Purdue.
I think Harbaugh will turn this team around and we will start competing for the Big Ten every year. People calling for him to be fired are idiots. People asking him to do more to be worthy of the hype are reasonable. What's the time table for this expectation? In my opinion: Win 9-10 games every year and you should stay. Dip to a 6-7 win season with a losing record to rivals and no trips to Indy? At $9 million a year maybe consider other options. (I'm not expecting him to dip to 6-7 wins FWIW)
That isn't really the suggestion though... nobody wants to trade the $9 million coach who hasn't won for the $3 million coach who everyone knows can't win. They're saying maybe the $9 million coach wasn't such a guaranteed winner and maybe another younger cheaper option could have given the same results.
I'm not saying I would do this either. 10 win seasons his first two years is not unimpressive and I still have hope that he will continue to improve. I just don't think it's unreasonable to question whether his ultimate success is really as inevitable as the hype made it sound.
I thought this line of questions was going towards what is acceptable gamesmanship and what is unsportsmanlike and over the line... Unsanitary or unsafe conditions vs. things like pink locker rooms. Unfortunately people are dumb.
Recent Comments
"I thought Turner again demonstrated his value late" Next week he needs to move on to "Engage Physically"
"It was crazy"
Especially the week before big games when there are potential mystery targeting penalties to be called.
I believe both teams have lost a combined 1,376 games since Murderwolf showed up... At least according to Wikipedia.
I agree it's hard to say a single play "completely changed the game" in a 38-13 blowout... but maybe if we don't score on that drive then maybe they don't stop giving the ball to Jonathan Taylor and maybe Paul Chryst doesn't make so many dumb decisions like not giving him the ball on 3rd/4th and 2.
Again, not saying it'd change the result, but maybe MI has to beat a less dumb Paul Chryst for at least another drive or 2.
I was happy to see a coach making a smart 4th and < 5 at midfield call:
Line up, hard count to draw the defense offside or take the delay of game and give your punter a little more room to drop one before the end-zone. AND IT WORKED! NW did jump and if the OL had reacted then the game should have been over (assuming the refs get the call correct... if they don't, then false start and again, just punt with 5 yrds of extra room)
Between this and the QB kneel/FGs by Herm and others, is it possible that coaches are getting less dumb at the end of games?
Can't I be hopeful for next season and not be calling for Harbaugh to be fired (like an idiot) AND be disappointed and angry at what this program has done so far? 10 wins in the first two seasons isn't nothing but last year they underachieved. That team should have won the Big Ten, should have beat Ohio State, and should have made the CFP. They didn't. Some of it was bad luck, some of it was bad refs, some of it was injury but at the end of the day they didn't get it done. Doesn't mean Harbaugh should be fired or that you should even blame him necessarily. It does mean that I can be a little angry about it.
As for this year. "Have we already forgotten what a truly bad team looks like?" Hoke and RR teams often didn't look too different than this. This is a truly bad offense. This is a very good but probably not quite great defense. Hoke had similar at times. RR had the reverse. Most of this is on the O-Line which is mostly not Harbaugh's fault. A lot of this is on the QB which is Harbaugh's fault... or at least is the very last problem any of us thought he would have in year 3. Before this season the narrative was "there is no way that with this many prospects (Rudock, OKorn, Speight, Malzone, Gentry, Peters, McCaffrey, Morris (ok maybe not Morris)) Harbaugh doesn't have a good QB in year 2-3". And the Speight injury is really the excuse we are going with? He wasn't good this year. He was good at times last year but were any of those times against good teams? The belief that we'd be that much better (90% "headed towards 9-3 at worst"??) is almost as asinine as calling for Harbaugh to be fired. Maybe he gets better and returns to good Speight of last year... or maybe John OKorn never comes in and plays "can't tackle me i'm the.. Oh Hey Zach Gentry!" and we lose against Purdue.
I think Harbaugh will turn this team around and we will start competing for the Big Ten every year. People calling for him to be fired are idiots. People asking him to do more to be worthy of the hype are reasonable. What's the time table for this expectation? In my opinion: Win 9-10 games every year and you should stay. Dip to a 6-7 win season with a losing record to rivals and no trips to Indy? At $9 million a year maybe consider other options. (I'm not expecting him to dip to 6-7 wins FWIW)
That isn't really the suggestion though... nobody wants to trade the $9 million coach who hasn't won for the $3 million coach who everyone knows can't win. They're saying maybe the $9 million coach wasn't such a guaranteed winner and maybe another younger cheaper option could have given the same results.
I'm not saying I would do this either. 10 win seasons his first two years is not unimpressive and I still have hope that he will continue to improve. I just don't think it's unreasonable to question whether his ultimate success is really as inevitable as the hype made it sound.
Brats Padrillo?
I thought this line of questions was going towards what is acceptable gamesmanship and what is unsportsmanlike and over the line... Unsanitary or unsafe conditions vs. things like pink locker rooms. Unfortunately people are dumb.