Michigan 52, Indiana 7

[iam416]

Your deference to M football under Harbaugh is noted. I wouldn't be so sure about your last sentence though. Don't forget that going forward, you'll be saddled with the Albatross that is Ryan Day.

Not everyone can open their first 6 years at a school and never beat their end of season rival nor win a B10 title and then turn things around.

Perhaps OSU will show such patience with CRD, though he's only lost twice in 4 seasons to M, won 2 B10 titles (as many as, well, HARBAUGH!!! -- for now) and been to the CFP 3 times.

BUT, he's already lost more conference games in 4+ seasons than his predecessor did in 5 full seasons. And his precessor cauight absolute hell for that 1 loss in 5 seasons.

Standard is pretty damn high. I'm not sure patience is a thing at Ohio State.

[Hannibal]

Standards at OSU are wildly unrealistic after Meyer and after "15 out of 16".

[iam416]

Well, they probably are going forward for sure. The B10 is going to be very difficult in 2024.

They absolutely are unrealistic re the glorious 17-year run. That'll never happen again. Ever.

[iam416]

Anyway, Indiana is awful. Ohio State held them to 3, so there's no way they score against M. And, M will have about 50.

45-0. Maybe 52-0.

[Hannibal]

Day is, unsurprisingly, a pretty big step down from Meyer. Exactly where he is is hard to tell right now. I wonder how OSU fans would tolerate a 9-3 season. That would be their first "down" year in almost 20 years, excluding the one year Fickell outlier.

[iam416]

Well, we're going to find out.

[Mike]

Anyway, Indiana is awful. Ohio State held them to 3, so there's no way they score against M. And, M will have about 50.

45-0. Maybe 52-0.

We always have that one brain fart play that allows an opposing TD so it'll probably be 52-7.

[Hannibal]

The game might be too short for 52 points. We only got 52 against Minny because of two pick sixes and Harbaugh will be only too happy to shorten the game.

[Hannibal]

I decided to look at some of our OOC opponents' records so far and yeesh, they might be as bad as last year's OOC opponents. I'm not saying that I expected BGSU and ECU to be good, but the Falcons have been getting boat-raced by their MAC opponents and East Carolina lost to Rice and App St.

[iam416]

Yeah, but Vegas is tough!

[Mike]

The game might be too short for 52 points. We only got 52 against Minny because of two pick sixes and Harbaugh will be only too happy to shorten the game.

Oh, yeah. Good point. 38-3.

[Hannibal]

Oh, yeah. Good point. 38-3.

Good prediction. I concur.

If and when M is up by 24 points, I expect Harbaugh to yank JJ. I wouldn't write off the possibility that he doesn't play for the last 25 minutes.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Forgot to post this earlier: M opens as a 34 point favorite, the O/U is 47.8.

In other news:

John U. Bacon tweets that Michigan "insiders" he's in contact with have told him that Harbaugh will have a contract extension within the next 2 weeks that makes him the highest paid coach in the BIG. I wonder if their counting Tucker's ridiculous salary now gone.

[klondike]

Predictions: rain and discomfort
great for watching at home.

[lineygoblue]

Better unpack the rain gear and long johns, its going to be cold and wet. Air temps will be in the high 40's to low 50's but the wind and rain will make it seem colder.

The ball will be slippery, so there may be a few turnovers.