Michigan at Indiana, Saturday, 11/23, 3:30 EST, ABC or ESPN

[Jeff Buchanan]

The point of my post is temper your enthusiasm for M's offense after killing MSU.

Trends indicate downgraded road performances.

The weather does not look nice like it was for the MSU game - it's going to be wet, cold and windy.

IU's D scheme is a lot like Don Browns just with less talent but it's well coached if the metrics on it are an indication of that.

Shea has a well established history of doing well when he's kept clean to the extent that he doesn't feel like he's about to get drilled. He will bail if he does and that's a brain thing meaning the pressure may be mostly imagined.

Shea is good at improvising and the MSU game demonstrated the first time this season that his receivers helped him out there.

Shea's accuracy is inconsistent and depends on his perception of pressure.

[hack]

I think it's reasonable to suggest that the outing the QB and WRs had will only help improve their chemistry and confidence for the games remaining this year, but it's hard to see quantum leaps at this point. This team's going to peak at the right time and it probably won't be enough.

[Tom W]

Why do M fans think IU views them as a huge rival or something? IU thinks of OSU are more of a rival and they think of neither of them as much of a rival. They've also been about as close to beating OSU over the past 5 years as they have M. Whatever.

13+ years and counting of flinches, unfulfilled expectations, squandered opportunities, disappointments, bad breaks and inexplicable officiating- or at least the perception of them- will eventually get into one's psyche, It's BPONE (Black Pit of Negative Expectations) and it explains almost everything- except when the game has been on the line against Indiana. Completion of the BPONE process means that the Hoosiers have to have things go their way some next time.

Credit ohio for one thing- they've found ways, legitimate and otherwise- to win Big things in this period. They don't expect bad things to happen.

And if Lucy was setting up the ball for them to kick, they would find a way to kick her in the head if she tried to pull it away.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Couple of updates:

Tomorrow's wx fcst for Bloomington has improved considerably. There was lots of uncertainty yesterday about freezing rain turning to snow then rain later in the day. Having the 2:30 CST start helps as the weather improves from morning to afternoon. Winds are down, rain chance is decreased. Possible light shower during early part of the game, better after that. Hi in the low 40s.

FFFF Defense was up this morning. Seth's key points:

IU blitzes a lot our of a variable look D that's essentially a 4-2-5 to 3-3-4, 2-High look ..... a lot like Brown does. Seth mentions Tom Allen "is about a year ahead of M" in doing this.

Seth breaks down IU's D by charting defensive players in the PSU game and comes up with a couple of danger men. MLB Micha McFaden is a lot like McGrone with straight line speed but without the lateral quickness. Allen has done the same thing Brown has done which is to emphasize his DEs. 2 of them are good - Ziemba and Head but there's no depth. IU's DTs are just guys but the way Allen has shaped IU's D, he papers over the weaknesses in the interior DL with strong DE play and LBs filling gaps to clean up.

IU had poor S play last year and both of last years guys are back - it's a weak point.They do Brown's doubles thing but not as well as M does it. Allen blitzes his corners and Ss a lot to make up for it and hopes like hell they get to the QB before the ball gets out. So, we could see a lot of uncovered areas for Patterson to make quick throws between the Ss to whoever lines up in the slot. With aggressive LB play from IU, pass plays to the flats could be productive as well as TE screens.

With weather seemingly improving, I like the Gattis speed in space passing approach but if the run game is working - whihc I suspect they practiced the most this week - go with it.

[AlabamAlum]

A 3-3-4? That doesnt sound optimal.

[hack]

Well people sometimes just play fast and loose with these alignment definitions, so I applaud any effort to make them more grounded in reality.

[lineygoblue]

Just give me one more week of seeing a Michigan team that continues to improve.

I don't even care what happens against OSU. I've already conceded that one to the loss column.

Get the 9th win, accept the bowl that comes with it, and call it a decent season with room to improve.

[maxreturn]

The point of my post is temper your enthusiasm for M's offense after killing MSU.

Trends indicate downgraded road performances.

The weather does not look nice like it was for the MSU game - it's going to be wet, cold and windy.

IU's D scheme is a lot like Don Browns just with less talent but it's well coached if the metrics on it are an indication of that.

Shea has a well established history of doing well when he's kept clean to the extent that he doesn't feel like he's about to get drilled. He will bail if he does and that's a brain thing meaning the pressure may be mostly imagined.

Shea is good at improvising and the MSU game demonstrated the first time this season that his receivers helped him out there.

Shea's accuracy is inconsistent and depends on his perception of pressure.

I make my living from being an analyst so I understand the point you are trying to make. I also see the same things that you saw in the MSU game. Shea is still not consistently accurate and sometimes in his zeal to make a play makes some truly boneheaded decisions. But the fact of the matter is he made no turnovers in that game and had the best game since he came to UM.

If I were strictly looking at things as an analyst then the probabilities would suggest that Shea will continue his trend of sub-par performances on the road. But based on what I saw in last week's game I think that things have turned for him and you cannot deny that the rest of the team appears to be "hitting their stride". This is something that Harbaugh has been regurgitating in all of his post game pressers but until last week I didn't believe it.

Be skeptical if you will but consider this...OSU beat MSU 34-10 at home. UM beat them 44-10.

I think the key to this game is for the coaches to assure Patterson that it's not all on him to win this game and encourage him to get the edge more often. If they can succeed in this, our boys will win.

[Jeff Buchanan]

You're smoking hopium .......

Been there, done that. I've been clean and sober now for about 2 months. I got crushed over pre-season expectation for the Gattis effect after marginal performances in the OOC games and proof therein that M was NOT a good football team in 2019 with the blow-out loss to Wisconsin. Just a continuation of the 2 game dong punches to end last season.

This is Michigan, FGS. Nothing good happens enough times for me to be emotionally invested in the football program. I've become an unemotional analyst of the game. I look at it as analytically and as unemotionally as I can. I'm way better for that.

You'll get there. It took me a good 50 years.

[Jeff Buchanan]

It's 35 degrees in Bloomington with moderate rain and just enough wind to make it miserable. It appears there is a good chance that the rain will end by KO or shortly thereafter.

[maxreturn]

You're smoking hopium .......

Been there, done that. I've been clean and sober now for about 2 months. I got crushed over pre-season expectation for the Gattis effect after marginal performances in the OOC games and proof therein that M was NOT a good football team in 2019 with the blow-out loss to Wisconsin. Just a continuation of the 2 game dong punches to end last season.

This is Michigan, FGS. Nothing good happens enough times for me to be emotionally invested in the football program. I've become an unemotional analyst of the game. I look at it as analytically and as unemotionally as I can. I'm way better for that.

You'll get there. It took me a good 50 years.

Not hopium. Been there done that too. I just sense a psychological turn in last week's game. More confidence, more swagger, more consistent execution. We shall see. Go Blue!

[BadWolf]

Looking like the Lions defense...well, maybe not that bad.

That looked way too easy for Indiana.

[maxreturn]

I may be prophetic when I said trends are made to be broken. UM has beaten IU 23 straight. It's still early but a horrible start.

[BadWolf]

Might be a shootout.

[iam416]

Patterson somehow converts a 3rd down on a horrible looking play and the rest is easy. Unstoppable offense.