Remember when we said this would be a three to four loss team before the season started? It was based on losing Nico and Thomas, having a new untested QB, and 4/5s an OLine, and and untested secondary.

That was before losing three starting OL, including Mayfield and the Center, both DEs, etc.

2020 sucks.

At least they figured out who the QB is (which should have been obvious after last week).

Hail to the Victors. /waves tiny flag

I guess the question now is, barring injury, will Joe Milton ever start another game for Michigan?  

BTW, I know high school stats are basically meaningless, but McNamara threw for almost as many yards just in his Sophomore year as Milton did in his entire High School career.  The kid holds every Nevada state record for a QB and went 23-2 over his last two years.   I know Nevada isn't a football hotbed, but maybe, just maybe, this kid is for real.  

Yeah our defense still is horrible, but maybe we have a QB.  And he is only a redshirt freshman.

Didn't catch the game live and just watched highlights. This is what I see

1. Cade has a fast release. Milton is not bad but ball comes out of Cade's hand super quick and he makes weird angle throws. He finds the open receiver, not just relying on arm strength to fit passes in coverage. That is all the a good college QB should do and you can win many many games. 

1b. He stood in the pocket despite pressure and stepped up. I was impressed. As a corollary: Shea had quick release but he bailed fast; Cade seems to stand a bit longer. This may change after a few hits? 

2. Michigan is just too young. Yes I am one of the posters that DOES NOT want Harbaugh fired. Look at the offense. I mentioned this when I caught a few glimpses of OSU vs Indiana game but seemingly little things make for drastic changes in CFB teams. Get good QB play and your offense is great. Michigan proved it in a tale of two halves of sort with different QBs. Cade possibly could've won the MSU game. 

3. I think Michigan needs to keep recruiting hard and hit the portal for D linemen. These young players - DON'T LOSE THEM - and keep building. Indiana looks good because they returned so many players, I believe Michigan could be a killer team with more experience. 

4. Be glad we are not in Penn state's position. They are in similar place but atleast Michigan has two wins. That is huge for recruiting and keeping sanity. I don't think coaches at Penn state suddenly lost their minds or ability to coach, but tiny things (subpar QB, injuries, departure, young roster) can lead to abysmal seasons. I don't care much for year 6 blah blah. Blaming Harbaugh for losing many players may be valid. Changes to defensive staff, ok, can live with that. Still, look for team to improve and I thought they did in the offensive department tonight with Cade as QB. 

5. This is not the bottom feeder Rutgers this year. A win should be cherished. Disappointed in the tone of this article. 

What a mess

All I know is Hassan Haskins is a damn DOG

Hopefully leads to offensive progression.

Defense needs to clean house.  Don Brown would resign if he had any pride left.

One of the greatest victories in UofM history!*

* Glitch Year adjusted

Been avoiding the forum all season because I knew it was going to be a total shitshow after the late start and there already were low expectations. 


The entire FBS is total chaos outside of a few outliers, yet here I am, reading  this thread like it's full of 200 freshly minted sports-analysts. 

This entire season is an anomoly. Michigan isn't the only team facing huge issues, and not the only team facing huge issues that would normally be performing better. 

I don't feel the need to even make excuses for this season or to count it. It's a shitshow  all around. 

Everyone who pays attention to the FBS as a whole knows it's a shitshow, yet you're judging this team as if everything is normal and has been normal. 

I know people are tired of "mediocre" seasons out of a program that's been performing better under harbaugh than the previous two experiments. 

I know I don't care to judge this season. 
People are stressed about a lot, the world isn't just football. 
This season shouldn't have played, big ten shouldn't have caved, and that's the end of me  giving a shit. They could lose out and i wouldn't change my  mindi that i'm not going to  make a real judgement until we're in a post-covid football  world again. 

This is the worst year of any of our lives to be building a young new football team. 

The advantage is going to go to the teams that have already been playing together. If we're lucky, this team will recover and gel up a little better over the next couple games and maybe have a shot at not getting totally smashed by OSU, but IDK. 

At this point, listening to the whining is already worse than watching the losing. 
This season really brought out the cro-magnon 

This game simply confirmed how far this coaching staff has fallen. 

I'm just happy to get a win. And it was a thrilling game, if not always for the right reasons.

As for the Milton - McNamara issue, Joe probably does look better than Cade in practice because of his NFL combine-measurables and our crappy defense that does nothing to expose his flaws.  

But in-game, in the heat of battle against an opposing defense is a different story.  McNamara is clearly better at being a college football QB in an actual under-fire game, not just practice drills. 

You are not holding your breath every time he releases the ball.  He does everything much quicker and makes everyone around him better, and therefore makes the offense faster.  He puts stress on a defense that Milton, who is tentative and stiff, does not.

Heck, he even makes the defense better since every opponent score is not do or die.  They can play looser with more fire and take some risks.

Should the coaches have seen this sooner?  Probably.  Harbaugh is still guilty of chasing what works in the NFL.  Milton has NFL measurables, McNamara does not.  But a college football game in not an NFL combine.  Harbaugh has struggled tremendously his entire time at Michigan with adapting to what works in modern college football, not the NFL, and it will be his undoing if he gets fired.

But for now at least, he has stumbled upon a QB - McNamara - that can win games in college.  Let's see what happens from here.     

Here’s the thing: Joe Milton had never looked good. Even in the first game he was plain yogurt.  He has zero understanding of the speed of the game, he stares down receivers, he throws with no touch and, just like every scouting report ever said about him, he’s wildly inaccurate. Give me the other guy.

Such negativity. Name another team who beat Rutgers football on November 21, 2020. YOU CAN'T. 

This victory will go down in the anal of Michigan Football.

Well, fuck me!

I got mad and turned the TV off when Nordin missed in OT.  I picked the wrong damn time to quit drinking and go to bed. 

At least I slept better last night with a win.  For today that makes me happy.

3 good things:

• Michigan's team is what it is, but it fought back

• Despite mistakes & setbacks, players made hard, tough plays (Haskins, Ross, McNamara, others)

• Harbaugh has stayed positive for the team (not blaming players, not whining about a decimated roster)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. Cade McNamara can play - so they did recruit a guy with potential and he showed. He also is the most effective QB we've seen so far because the offense seemed to work for him.

2. The team reacted with some spark and enthusiasm.

Cons:

1. The team has a lot of ability, but it isn't being developed or utilized or motivated. This game really showed it. Rutgers played with a lot of effort but their key plays were made by transfers - they did have a talent deficit in addition to a coaching deficit.

2. Odd breakdown of the defense at the end - and the first OT - was luck - it could have easily gone down 38-35 Rutgers, and should have ended with a Michigan win in regulation.

3. While it was a win it had the same feeling like the Michigan Illinois triple OT game  from Nov. 6, 2010 67-65.

lol.  The caption of the photo was perfect!

Many many years ago I heard an anecdotal story that one of Harbaugh’s UCSD players said he was the greatest motivator he had ever seen and a terrible human being. There was enough jerky behavior over the years that I was persuaded to that view, but when he came here I like everyone else embraced him as our own. But with the steady stream of top recruits (like McCaffrey, Solomon, Black etc) leaving early I wonder if that schtick just doesn’t fly with millennials. I look at Urban/PJ Fleck/Matt Campbell and they are very rah rah players coaches guys. Harbaugh isn’t. Maybe the game in this sense has just passed him by. Maybe this explains why we don’t get a lot of 5 stars or the share of 4 stars a school like Michigan should command.  Because many kids with lots of big program options can vote with their feet. 

Program used to compete with OSU. SIX years into this thing it’s all about hanging in there with Rutgers. 

Woo. Great investment. But at least he’s a Michigan Man. 

Three starting OL out, two starting DEs out, McGrone knocked out, starting QB benched in 1st half. Ugly win but I’ll take it.

Go Blue!

Absolutely 2010 IL all over again. I was at that game. It was fun and it was good...but with it being fun and good you knew that meant things were BAD. 

With that being said I will be more excited to watch to see Cade play and hopefully some offensive play calling and execution like the 2nd half. 

I really would not have had a problem with this team being “slightly better than average” and going 5-3 this year if the effort was there and you could see promise for next year. Maybe we will still get that with the qb change and all these young guys playing. 

There is a hell of a class coming in next year so I’m trying to be optimistic. 

Great to get a win. Hats off to Cade McNamara for leading the comeback. Just going to be happy with this win right now. We'll see if it marks an improvement in trajectory. 

“perhaps he found a quarterback”

Is there any doubt? McNamara played like a seasoned senior playoff QB and inspired his teammates in the process. I can’t remember the last time we saw that level of play from a Michigan QB. Ever?

Wallow in despair and negativity if you must. I went to bed happy and encouraged. Go Blue.