Is Michigan officially a dead program like Nebraska?

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Couldn't the same be said of Georgia. They righted the ship (when they hired Richt), recruited better (top 10 classes in most of the past 10-15 years), and now with Smart as their head coach they just need to give it time. Michigan has had a terrible 15-20 year run against Ohio State, Georgia has had a terrible 15-20 year run with Florida. Neither of them has won their conference in over a decade. I'd say they are pretty much identical right now, with the only advantage going to Georgia winning more games over the past two decades.

Except Michigan was just garbage for a good portion of the previous 10 seasons prior to Harbaugh.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

So Michigan was "broken" by Michigan standards but was in better shape than 99% of first year coaches.

Michigan was broken in the sense that few people expected anyone could come in and win 10 games after winning only 5 the year prior. We had this argument about potential talent. I was laughed at. Michigan had a lot of potential talent on the roster, and almost none of it was developed. That's the hard part about coaching. How many teams recruit well but can't win football games?

 

[7Samurai13]

Michigan was broken in the sense that few people expected anyone could come in and win 10 games after winning only 5 the year prior. We had this argument about potential talent. I was laughed at. Michigan had a lot of potential talent on the roster, and almost none of it was developed. That's the hard part about coaching. How many teams recruit well but can't win football games?

Right now it's looking like Hoke. Doing well with other peoples recruits but starts declining with his own.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

Right now it's looking like Hoke. Doing well with other peoples recruits but starts declining with his own.

If we didn't have the #1 defense in the country, I might be inclined to agree. But that's the best defense I've ever seen, so it's hard to say its' anything like Hoke. Hoke never did anything the best I've ever seen.

 

[Across The Field]

Oh sure, but I can't blame those previous losses on anything Harbaugh is doing. You have to compartmentalize coaching records. It sucks that we've had a string of coaches that can't beat OSU, but Harbaugh will hopefully break that.

Right, but Georgia also has a new coach, newer than Harbaugh, so I think the comparison is pretty apt between the two programs.

 

[Across The Field]

If we didn't have the #1 defense in the country, I might be inclined to agree. But that's the best defense I've ever seen, so it's hard to say its' anything like Hoke. Hoke never did anything the best I've ever seen.

When you shut down a legit offense, I will contend that you might have the best defense in the country. Right now, you've yet to faced an offense that's legit.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

When you shut down a legit offense, I will contend that you might have the best defense in the country. Right now, you've yet to faced an offense that's legit.

To be fair, we don't really play any.

 

[Across The Field]

To be fair, we don't really play any.

Not for a couple weeks, I guess.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

I'd also like to point out that we lost both our starting WR and our starting QB to season-ending injuries. Which isn't good no matter who you are. Look at what losing their QB did to FSU? Speight obviously isn't Francois but you get the point. The two guys Harbaugh pegged as the starters are no longer playing.

 

[7Samurai13]

I'd also like to point out that we lost both our starting WR and our starting QB to season-ending injuries. Which isn't good no matter who you are. Look at what losing their QB did to FSU? Speight obviously isn't Francois but you get the point. The two guys Harbaugh pegged as the starters are no longer playing.

Speight didn't look that good to begin with and people were calling for him to lose the starting job before the season started. If Speight was so far ahead of everyone else, then why did we not know who was starting until gameday against Florida?

 

[RobBase]

Not sure about dead, but obviously overrated, and Harbaugh's return to the NFL could come this off season.

 

[Across The Field]

I'd also like to point out that we lost both our starting WR and our starting QB to season-ending injuries. Which isn't good no matter who you are. Look at what losing their QB did to FSU? Speight obviously isn't Francois but you get the point. The two guys Harbaugh pegged as the starters are no longer playing.

If losing Wilton Speight is what derails your offense, you never had an offense to begin with. Your biggest problem is the lack of offensive identity that's in part due to your idiotic timeshare at RB. Ty Isaac should be getting 20 carries a game. Chris Evans just isn't as good. His YPC is nearly 2 yards under Isaac, and if you take away his one run for 49 yards, his YPC drop 4.2 to 3.4, yet he's had almost the same amount of carries as Isaac. Establish a bellcow and let him lead the offense.

 

[Red_Alert]

I'm not sure what the problem is with the bolded statement? Again, Harbaugh didn't take over OSU. He didn't take over Clemson. He took over a broken Michigan team that only won 5 games the season prior. It took him 4 years at Stanford to get the ball rolling. Year 3 he only won 8 games. I have critiques (as any fan does when you lose) but at long as Harbaugh is winning 9+ games a year, I'm satisfied for the time being. The wins against OSU and MSU will come. I'm not stupid enough to wish away the best coach we've ever had because he's had close losses to MSU and OSU in the first three years.

 

[huskers1217]

I'm just not wearing corn tinted glasses

im not wearing pants

 

[outofyourmind]

Ordinarily I'd have something to say.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

If losing Wilton Speight is what derails your offense, you never had an offense to begin with. Your biggest problem is the lack of offensive identity that's in part due to your idiotic timeshare at RB. Ty Isaac should be getting 20 carries a game. Chris Evans just isn't as good. His YPC is nearly 2 yards under Isaac, and if you take away his one run for 49 yards, his YPC drop 4.2 to 3.4, yet he's had almost the same amount of carries as Isaac. Establish a bellcow and let him lead the offense.

Part of the problem is that Speight was one of only a few returning players on the entire team. And he performed well last year. I think losing Speight and Black are significant blows to this offense. While he had some issues overthrowing players early on in the season, he still managed games really well and the offense was more creative with him in there. As soon as he got injured, the offense became vanilla.

Honestly, I think Evans should be getting 20 carries a game and Isaac should be benched. Isaac hasn't shown the ability to do anything except break out on long sweeping runs that are well blocked. He simply cannot run up the middle. Evans or Higdon should be the primary back. Evans has shown an ability to get yards up the middle all season long and break free for big gains. Why it's still a rotation is beyond me.

 

[Sgt Brutus]

Do you want your threads bumped after jinxing your team? Because this is how you get threads bumped after jinxing your team!

Bookmarked for potential November 25 bump.

Jim Harbaugh would actually have to beat us first. Good luck with John "wounded duck" O'Korn.

 

[Across The Field]

Part of the problem is that Speight was one of only a few returning players on the entire team. And he performed well last year. I think losing Speight and Black are significant blows to this offense. While he had some issues overthrowing players early on in the season, he still managed games really well and the offense was more creative with him in there. As soon as he got injured, the offense became vanilla.

Honestly, I think Evans should be getting 20 carries a game and Isaac should be benched. Isaac hasn't shown the ability to do anything except break out on long sweeping runs that are well blocked. He simply cannot run up the middle. Evans or Higdon should be the primary back. Evans has shown an ability to get yards up the middle all season long and break free for big gains. Why it's still a rotation is beyond me.

I guess I'm not seeing it with Evans. In three of your five games this year, he's averaged 3.5 ypc or less. The Purdue stats are also skewed by his 49 yard run. Outside of that run, he averaged 3.7 ypc. That's really sad for such a supposedly talented back. Isaac is the only gamechanger you have at RB. You've given him over 10 carries in three games, and he's averaging 112 yards per game in those games. I really hope when we play you guys, you have that same mindset and start Evans. We'll give him 3 ypc like we gave him last year all day long.

 

[Sgt Brutus]

Exactly. People are really putting a lot of emphasis on a single loss in a monsoon.

You dumbasses couldn't move the ball BEFORE the storm. Spare me the bullshit.

 

[MAIZEandBLUE09]

You dumbasses couldn't move the ball BEFORE the storm. Spare me the bullshit.

That's fair, but we've had much better luck offensively in the 2nd half in most games this season.