Michigan Wolverines Football 2016

[upfootball]

Michigan is a very good team, but it has a few weaknesses. Hopefully they can work on that. If they run the table they could be in a great position.

[Hueby]

Good to stay positive. Sounds like the fans still believe in this team. Had the day to digest what happened. Don't want to take anything away from Iowa as they played inspired and made the plays when they needed to-especially late in the game. They were very well prepared. Can't help but to think of the special teams play- UM running into the punter 2x, Iowa's nice punt/downing the ball near the 1 yd line, the missed blocking that led to the safety, also kept seeing Speight over throwing 2 open receivers who had their men beat, the offense not sustaining their last drive...but they will get things corrected for Indiana!

GO BLUE!

[Hueby]

Here are the B1G standings to date. Looks like Michigan QB Speight is out for the rest of the season but Harbaugh hasn't officially confirmred this. But expect O'Korn or Morris to be under center vs Indiana.

Penn State is on a 6 game win streak. Some good races going on in each Division. Should be exciting the next few weeks!

East Division

Michigan 6-1 (9-1)
Ohio State 6-1 (9-1)
Penn State 6-1 (8-2)
Indiana 3-4 (5-5)
Maryland 2-5 (5-5)
Michigan State 1-6 (3-7)
Rutgers 0-7 (2-8)

West Division

Wisconsin 5-2 (8-2)
Nebraska 5-2 (8-2)
Minnesota 4-3 (7-3)
Iowa 4-3 (6-4)
Northwestern 4-3 (5-5)
Illinois 2-5 (3-7)
Purdue 1-6 (3-7)

Here are the games this week:

Iowa at Illinois Champaign, IL TBA BTN
Northwestern at Minnesota Minneapolis, MN TBA
Maryland at Nebraska Lincoln, NE TBA
Wisconsin at Purdue West Lafayette, IN TBA
Ohio State at Michigan State East Lansing, MI 12:00 pm ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
Indiana at Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 3:30 pm ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
Penn State at Rutgers Piscataway, NJ 8:00 pm BTN

Source: Big ten.org

[Hueby]

Finishing up here at work - was able to get scoring updates on the Michigan -Ohio State game via my phone. Thought Blue had them 17-7 early in the 3rd. Sounds like an exciting game....but not sure if I want to read any articles or watch what I recorded!

10-2. Been a fun season- especially in the B1G.

[Hueby]

Looks like there will be some fall out and lots to talk about in this game. Watched it last night but our VCR cut the game off in the 4th quarter!

Anyways after reading some articles about Harbaugh' s post game comments it reminded me of this memory from a few decades ago. A guy I knew - who is actually a U.P. football coach- went down to Lower Michigan and went to listen to Bo Schembechler. Michigan had recently lost a hard fought bowl game.

Anyways Bo broke down the game on film for them and pointed out many errors/missed calls by the officials. But then the to-be coach told me how Bo went over and showed them where Michigan had their chances and where they failed to overcome these areas/had other opportunities. That conversation always comes to mind and I can still hear that to-be coach echo Bo' s words --- where and how Michigan really lost the game.

I remember learning how No game will ever have perfect officiating and human mistakes will be made.

(It's funny though both Woody and Bo would vent later about bad calls!)

Losing to that team south of Michigan totally sucks and bites the big one- but it appears the rivalry is back to the previous standards!!!

[upfootball]

Great game. Some mistakes and some breaks that did not go Michigan's way did not help, but it is what it is. Good season. A little short of a great season. Can piss and moan about how other skated into better situations, but Michigan had destiny in their control and didn't get the job done (even though it was a tough job).

They are going to get a fantastic bowl game and likely finish in the top 5 when all is said and done. That's pretty good for year 2.

[PolarBear]

If you look at where they were 3 years ago, this is an unbelievable turnaround by UofM in such a short time. Not a UofM fan (I'm more an MSU fan), and I loathed Harbaugh as early as this year, but he has admittedly grown on me. I didn't care for his sleepover recruiting tactics, strange tweets, and weird motivational stuff he does...but I realize we are in a different era of football than we were 10 years ago.

I have the utmost respect for coaches that inherit great players and make them excellent...and this is exactly what Harbaugh does. This also makes me question Dantonio as a coach, since they are only a couple years removed from a league title and they aren't even in a bowl this winter. He should have had his pick of the litter, recruiting-wise.

[upfootball]

I have the utmost respect for coaches that inherit great players and make them excellent...and this is exactly what Harbaugh does. This also makes me question Dantonio as a coach, since they are only a couple years removed from a league title and they aren't even in a bowl this winter. He should have had his pick of the litter, recruiting-wise.

What I look for in a coach is does your team get better from game 1 to game 13? Can you take just about any talent and adapt the team to be the best it can be? Are your players developing into better players. Can your teams step it up against great competition or do you just look good kicking the snot out of patsies?

With Hoke and RichRod the answers to all of those questions were the opposite of what I think a good coach can bring. Now I think Hoke is a stand up guy, he just isn't a good head coach. HIs players and his teams never got better. Harbaugh without question has answered these questions. The man is a football coach. A great one. Michigan absolutely needed him. Since RichRod that program was sinking faster than the Titanic.

Dantonio is another really interesting topic. I said this to some people years ago. I told them I thought Narduzzi was the key to that programs success. The offense for State will spit and sputter no matter what kind of talent they have on it. It's always been that lockdown defense that has made them great. When the team has needed a play over the years it has been that defense that has done it 99% of the time. A trick play filled in the other 1%. I think Dantonio is a decent coach, not a great coach. The knock I have on him is he is predictable. If you are playing him on national television at night... he is going to run a trick play on special teams. I guarantee it. Jet sweep to the WR? About 10 times a game. Another knock is he cannot make a decision. He has co-defensive coordinators, co-offensive coordinators and his QB changes from quarter to quarter. Even if you look back to Connor Cook. It took him quite a while to stick with him. He rotated guys in there and actually started QB's that had no business playing. Bottom line... I don't see the talent recognition with him. He praises guys like Malik McDowell. I'm sorry but McDowell is the most overrated player in college football. The guy literally does nothing on the football field except get dumb penalties and make excuses as to why he is invisible. He may "drop" in the draft like Cook did. Yeah the staff at MSU is going to call him a 1st rounder and the expert analysis will agree because that's what they do. But the NFL scouts need to be right to keep their job. They will actually look at him and what he has done.

Next year will be a very telling year. MSU will not be able to claim youth. They will have to produce. Michigan will actually be young. I expect Harbaugh to have them in the top 10 anyway.

[PolarBear]

I have the utmost respect for coaches that inherit great players and make them excellent...and this is exactly what Harbaugh does. This also makes me question Dantonio as a coach, since they are only a couple years removed from a league title and they aren't even in a bowl this winter. He should have had his pick of the litter, recruiting-wise.

What I look for in a coach is does your team get better from game 1 to game 13? Can you take just about any talent and adapt the team to be the best it can be? Are your players developing into better players. Can your teams step it up against great competition or do you just look good kicking the snot out of patsies?

With Hoke and RichRod the answers to all of those questions were the opposite of what I think a good coach can bring. Now I think Hoke is a stand up guy, he just isn't a good head coach. HIs players and his teams never got better. Harbaugh without question has answered these questions. The man is a football coach. A great one. Michigan absolutely needed him. Since RichRod that program was sinking faster than the Titanic.

Dantonio is another really interesting topic. I said this to some people years ago. I told them I thought Narduzzi was the key to that programs success. The offense for State will spit and sputter no matter what kind of talent they have on it. It's always been that lockdown defense that has made them great. When the team has needed a play over the years it has been that defense that has done it 99% of the time. A trick play filled in the other 1%. I think Dantonio is a decent coach, not a great coach. The knock I have on him is he is predictable. If you are playing him on national television at night... he is going to run a trick play on special teams. I guarantee it. Jet sweep to the WR? About 10 times a game. Another knock is he cannot make a decision. He has co-defensive coordinators, co-offensive coordinators and his QB changes from quarter to quarter. Even if you look back to Connor Cook. It took him quite a while to stick with him. He rotated guys in there and actually started QB's that had no business playing. Bottom line... I don't see the talent recognition with him. He praises guys like Malik McDowell. I'm sorry but McDowell is the most overrated player in college football. The guy literally does nothing on the football field except get dumb penalties and make excuses as to why he is invisible. He may "drop" in the draft like Cook did. Yeah the staff at MSU is going to call him a 1st rounder and the expert analysis will agree because that's what they do. But the NFL scouts need to be right to keep their job. They will actually look at him and what he has done.

Next year will be a very telling year. MSU will not be able to claim youth. They will have to produce. Michigan will actually be young. I expect Harbaugh to have them in the top 10 anyway.

Good points! I'd also like to comment on the specific personality differences between the coaches mentioned...and a few others. I think one of the reasons Harbaugh is able to recruit and get the best out of his players is strictly due to the fact that he can meet the athletes on their level. Harbaugh is confident, cocky, brash, and has mad scientist aura that resonates with 18 year olds. The intensity and swagger that he has makes the kids believe that are part of something special, bigger and different. He's like Steve Spurrier in the 90's. It's a different breed of coach that athletes want to work hard for.

Dantonio is becoming more and more like a grandfather who idolizes and has watched too many documentaries on Vince Lombardi and Knute Rockne. That's fine when crafting a storyline for the media, but today's college football player doesn't respond to that type of personality. Dantonio seems more likely to scold you in a demoralizing way, while Harbaugh seems to get in your face as way of motivating you to do better. It's more tough love than punishment.

If you watched PJ Fleck of Western Michigan this year, he possesses some of the same characteristics that Harbaugh has, while Bonamego of CMU is more like Dantonio. Not surprisingly, Western did well this year while CMU hit a rough patch this season and played with absolutely no fire after a few tough losses.

[Hueby]

Good / interesting posts. We get to see Michigan one more time this season. Friday December 30, 2016. Michigan travels down to Florida to play Flordia State in the Orange Bowl. Kickoff 8 pm.

Western Michigan to play Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl!

[Hueby]

Well Michigan loses to Florida State 33-32. Ugly portions of the game but how they fought back was admirable. Frustrating watching Speight overthrow so many open receivers but it's history. Fun and interesting season that's for sure!