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Michigan didn't look like the better team today. Ohio WAXED the Wolverines.
Yes, it reminds me of Bo Schembechler. I saw him coach in person as a teen college student in the midwest back in the 80s. He never did win a champsionship and retired in 1989. Michigan, despite it's great history of football, just would always come up short until Griese played in the late 90s. Schembechler never got to experience one. They played some great bowl games with memorable victories, but this pattern of missing the mark has been going on for decades. It's just like the 1980s all over again with Schembechler. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/08...4862556603200/
I wish Michigan had beaten Notre Dame back in the fall. The Domers narrowly escaped in LA with a win against the worse team in the Pac-12. USC kept it close most of the time and tripped over themselves with bad penalties and crucial turnovers. Now, ND is likely going to get into a mismatch against a real team in the CFP just like in 2013.
I remember when ND beat Michigan when the Wolverines missed a field goal at the end. But at the time there was steroid abuse on the ND team. Steve Huffman was the whistle blower and told his story to SI. That link for some reason has been missing in recent years. But there are still stories out there. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...277-story.html
Next year will probably be worse than this year for Michigan. They go into next season without an established quarterback, an ineffective O-Line, and a below average receiving corps. The defense is good, except when they play a good offense, giving up 42 points to Penn State, 24 points to Wisconsin, and 31 points to Ohio State.
Next year, Michigan plays in South Bend at Notre Dame the first game of the season; if Michigan couldn't beat South Carolina at the end of this season, they're not beating ND on the road in the opener, with Michigan carrying the same or worse flaws as they have at the end of this season. The Northwestern game is an away game, and the Wildcats always are best at home. Wisconsin, Michigan State, Penn State, and Ohio State will all be better next season, so count those as losses.
Barring the son of Krypton donning the winged helmut and the maize and blue and starting at QB next year, the Michigan Wolverines football regular season record for 2018 will be 6-6, and 1-7 against OSU and MSU over the past 4 years. Not as bad as the Rich Rod era, but still stuck as the best also ran in the Big Ten.
I made this post back on Jan 3, 2018. Totally wrong about the season record for 2018, but then, who would have thought that the Big 10 would have been so incredibly bad this year? In the conference, Michigan State and Wisconsin were 5-4 and Penn State was 6-3. Northwestern did go 8-1, beating lousy MSU and Wisconsin and losing by 3 points to Michigan. Ohio State wasn't as sharp as previous years and did lose to Purdue (who went 5-4 in conference). But OSU did stomp Michigan...badly.
And Michigan? 8-1 in conference and 11-2 overall, with losses only to Notre Dame and OSU.
But tell me, what was Michigan's signature win this season?
Eking out a 3 point win over an unranked Northwestern on the road?
Beating an overrated #15 Wisconsin at home?
Winning on the road against #24 Michigan State, who started an injured Brian Lewerke at QB?
Beating #14 Penn State at home, against another injured QB, Trace McSorley?
They may not be burning their khaki pants down in Ann Arbor, but even Jim Harbaugh know that this is another season of futility for the University of Michigan football team.
I made this post back on Jan 3, 2018. Totally wrong about the season record for 2018, but then, who would have thought that the Big 10 would have been so incredibly bad this year? In the conference, Michigan State and Wisconsin were 5-4 and Penn State was 6-3. Northwestern did go 8-1, beating lousy MSU and Wisconsin and losing by 3 points to Michigan. Ohio State wasn't as sharp as previous years and did lose to Purdue (who went 5-4 in conference). But OSU did stomp Michigan...badly.
And Michigan? 8-1 in conference and 11-2 overall, with losses only to Notre Dame and OSU.
But tell me, what was Michigan's signature win this season?
Eking out a 3 point win over an unranked Northwestern on the road?
Beating an overrated #15 Wisconsin at home?
Winning on the road against #24 Michigan State, who started an injured Brian Lewerke at QB?
Beating #14 Penn State at home, against another injured QB, Trace McSorley?
They may not be burning their khaki pants down in Ann Arbor, but even Jim Harbaugh know that this is another season of futility for the University of Michigan football team.
You're overreacting. The offense played much better this season. The defense had one terrible game, otherwise they played well. It is a good team, not great. Overall, I think the team showed a lot of progress this year from last. OSU has had better recruiting than Michigan for close to twenty years. They are a more talented football team. The thing that is confusing about OSU is how they managed to play so poorly most of the season given all the excellent athletes they have on their roster. Michigan has narrowed the talent gap, but it is not completely closed (and probably won't be as long as Meyer is there). Would it be great if Michigan could make the playoff? Sure, but the team is not there yet. Is the team mostly fun to watch, and are the games fun to go to? Yes, and it is a huge improvement from the Rodriguez/Hoke years.
IMO, Michigan didn't take that great of a step forward as much as the rest of the Big 10 took two steps backward. The Wolverines only look good when they beat up on weaker teams. When they ran into OSU, who had a better (but not great) offense, the Michigan defense got pantsed.
If Michigan did take a huge step forward, then what was their signature win this year?
IMO, Michigan didn't take that great of a step forward as much as the rest of the Big 10 took two steps backward. The Wolverines only look good when they beat up on weaker teams. When they ran into OSU, who had a better (but not great) offense, the Michigan defense got pantsed.
If Michigan did take a huge step forward, then what was their signature win this year?
I agree, and I'm not even a Michigan fan. Northwestern probably their biggest win of the year??
Wisconsin was awful!
Penn State had another underachieving year with Franklin
Nebraska ended the year well, but when Mich played them in September they were a joke.
Michigan State had half their team either injured or suspended
Iowa wasn't much better than Wisconsin was, but I don't think they played them anyways.
Anyone else in the Big 10 worth mentioning??
IMO, Michigan didn't take that great of a step forward as much as the rest of the Big 10 took two steps backward. The Wolverines only look good when they beat up on weaker teams. When they ran into OSU, who had a better (but not great) offense, the Michigan defense got pantsed.
If Michigan did take a huge step forward, then what was their signature win this year?
OSU had the #2 ranked offense in the country before the game (might be #1 now), so I'd consider that "great."
As for wins showing big improvement, I'd go with Penn State and Northwestern. PSU was a blowout. McSorely was playing a little banged up, but so was one of Michigan's top players, Rashan Gary. The team played great and would have shut Penn State out except for a garbage time TD.
The Northwestern game was one that showed just how far Michigan's offense has come along. The last couple of years, giving a 3 score lead to a team would have made a comeback impossible. Last year, trailing by even 2 scores, you knew the game was over. This years offense can score points, so if the defense can pick it up, which they did in every second half all season until OSU, Michigan had a good chance to win.
As for OSU, give them credit. They came in with a good game plan and didn't make the mental mistakes they had made all season. They have a lot of blue-chip athletes that Michigan couldn't cover with their typical man defense. When you are playing a team with better players, the only way you win is to play a perfect game while the other team makes mistakes. Michigan had a few big dropped passes, O-line protection of Patterson wasn't good, and the DBs had trouble covering OSU's wideouts in man coverage. OSU had a few less crucial dropped passes and penalties, but otherwise played their best game of the season.
Against teams that Michigan had better personnel, it won every game this year, the vast majority with complete dominance. This is what I think you are getting at with Don Brown's defense. Against teams that don't have blue chip qb/receivers, it is absolutely smothering and the opponents often turn in one of their worst games of the year. Against Notre Dame, where the talent level is similar, Michigan started out poorly but hung in there and kept the game competitive. The D made adjustments and played better in the 2nd half. The one team Michigan played that was clearly better, Michigan got destroyed (probably worse than they should have for the talent level difference). This is where Don Brown's defense struggles, because it counts on the cornerbacks winning one on one matchups. The same problems popped up last year. This is what Don Brown and Harbaugh need to figure out: how do the defensive backs help each other when they are playing superior athletes? Generally, the answer Brown has favored is to get pressure on the QB, but they weren't able to against the OSU line. Unfortunately, Brown's identity is man coverage, so I'm not sure he will want to switch to a zone against better teams. It will be interesting to see who they draw in a bowl game and what scheme they run.
OSU had the #2 ranked offense in the country before the game (might be #1 now), so I'd consider that "great."
As for wins showing big improvement, I'd go with Penn State and Northwestern. PSU was a blowout. McSorely was playing a little banged up, but so was one of Michigan's top players, Rashan Gary. The team played great and would have shut Penn State out except for a garbage time TD.
The Northwestern game was one that showed just how far Michigan's offense has come along. The last couple of years, giving a 3 score lead to a team would have made a comeback impossible. Last year, trailing by even 2 scores, you knew the game was over. This years offense can score points, so if the defense can pick it up, which they did in every second half all season until OSU, Michigan had a good chance to win.
As for OSU, give them credit. They came in with a good game plan and didn't make the mental mistakes they had made all season. They have a lot of blue-chip athletes that Michigan couldn't cover with their typical man defense. When you are playing a team with better players, the only way you win is to play a perfect game while the other team makes mistakes. Michigan had a few big dropped passes, O-line protection of Patterson wasn't good, and the DBs had trouble covering OSU's wideouts in man coverage. OSU had a few less crucial dropped passes and penalties, but otherwise played their best game of the season.
Against teams that Michigan had better personnel, it won every game this year, the vast majority with complete dominance. This is what I think you are getting at with Don Brown's defense. Against teams that don't have blue chip qb/receivers, it is absolutely smothering and the opponents often turn in one of their worst games of the year. Against Notre Dame, where the talent level is similar, Michigan started out poorly but hung in there and kept the game competitive. The D made adjustments and played better in the 2nd half. The one team Michigan played that was clearly better, Michigan got destroyed (probably worse than they should have for the talent level difference). This is where Don Brown's defense struggles, because it counts on the cornerbacks winning one on one matchups. The same problems popped up last year. This is what Don Brown and Harbaugh need to figure out: how do the defensive backs help each other when they are playing superior athletes? Generally, the answer Brown has favored is to get pressure on the QB, but they weren't able to against the OSU line. Unfortunately, Brown's identity is man coverage, so I'm not sure he will want to switch to a zone against better teams. It will be interesting to see who they draw in a bowl game and what scheme they run.
Some of it is matchups and game flow too. The fact that a Maryland team that Michigan is much better than hung 51 on OSU and should have beaten them and Purdue (another team that they are better than) beat OSU, tells me that Michigan definitely could have beaten them. Their defense is definitely susceptible. We just couldn’t get a good rhythm. Simple as that. I would say one criticism of the Harbaugh era is that when we are clicking, we are clicking. However, we don’t seem to do quite as well in grind-it-out games or games when we get down.
Some of it is matchups and game flow too. The fact that a Maryland team that Michigan is much better than hung 51 on OSU and should have beaten them and Purdue (another team that they are better than) beat OSU, tells me that Michigan definitely could have beaten them. Their defense is definitely susceptible. We just couldn’t get a good rhythm. Simple as that. I would say one criticism of the Harbaugh era is that when we are clicking, we are clicking. However, we don’t seem to do quite as well in grind-it-out games or games when we get down.
You don't understand that Urban Meyer's "friends and family" coaching system has torpedoed the Ohio State program the last two years, despite Ohio State's superior talent. Ohio State has been an underperforming team despite its superior talent. After the Maryland debacle, Meyer insisted that the defensive coaches make badly needed changes. If Maryland hadn't almost defeated Ohio State, it's possible that Michigan might have won "The Game" this year.
Read through this thread. Unfortunately, the Purdue loss and the Maryland game may once again keep Ohio State out of the play-offs.
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