Michigan Football, Team 137, 2016 Season.

[lineygoblue]

That does it. I want tickets to this game. Worth the price of admission.

http://michigan.247sports.com/Bolt/Michigan-names-Brady-honorary-captain-for-week-three-47079928

Imagine the ovation this guy is going to get.

[Hannibal]

Damn, we just think too much alike. I just hope the OL plays the way they did v.s. Florida. That really was impressive. Deveon Smith looked good that day too because he was finally healthy. So much of the enthusiasm about this year's team is due to the bowl game and the fact that there are so many returning starters, but it's essentially the same team that couldn't stop OSU. When MSU stops the run in E. Lansing, will Speight be able to avoid the rush and make the throws? I'm doubtful, but we'll know more after the Wisconsin and Penn State games.

A big part of the optimism is also linked to the historical performance of some coaches in their 2nd year and some teams that have come out of nowhere when year 1 under that coach wasn't overly impressive. That's one thing that I want to see this year -- some guys on the offense like Kalis and/or Braden looking like completely new guys and physical domination when we don't expect it.

[iam416]

Buchanan:

Quick point -- I really don't think OSU will have a good defense. They'll have some outstanding parts, but a defense is the sum of its parts. OSU's dangerously young secondary and non-McMillan LBs are objectively unproven. I can't go beyond satisfactory as a season prediction because of that.

However, if teams choose to ignore weak spots and play into strengths, then who knows. I watched an uber-talented OSU team ram their head into MSU's front 7 whilst ignoring their shitball secondary. So, hey, maybe HARBAUGH!!!!! will elect to run DeVeon The Tackle Breaker all day between the tackles and ignore Chesson and Butt. Fingers crossed!!!

[Jeff Buchanan]

...... So, hey, maybe HARBAUGH!!!!! will elect to run DeVeon The Tackle Breaker all day between the tackles and ignore Chesson and Butt. Fingers crossed!!!

Heh. Don't count on it.

Re osu D. I'll obviously have to go with your take. But then there's ufm's body of work. That conts for a whole hell of a lot IMO.

Maybe you see weakness/lack of talent or experience by position on defense. I can't comment because while we have Mgo/Brian doing UFRs (pretty technical) and you boys have 11 Warriors (not quite as technical), I just don't look at 11 Warriors unless there's a link about something pertinent.

Even though I watch most all of osu's football games on the slim hope I'll find some obviously exploitable weakness about which I can phone my Jim Harbaugh and tell him about it, for whatever reason (I'll get to that) teams don't seem to take advantage.

IMO, the reason apparent weaknesses on tape don't transform into exploitable ones in game is because if ufm is anything, he's exceptionally good at covering weakness with scheme. My suspicion is that he emphasizes this with his coaching staff and stresses don't put your players in positions where they will fail. Results are predictably good. i.e., consistently good defenses (and offenses for that matter ....... think what ufm could have done with Bauserman!).

[Ghengis Jon]

There's a great article on the back page of the WSJ about Michigan fullbacks under Harbaugh. It's a great read....I did not know that neither Alabama or Clemson even has a fullback on the roster.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/whos-got-it-better-than-jim-harbaughs-fullbacks-1472591215

[UMStan White]

need to be a subscriber to read the article

[whodean]

I"m readying for some GD football already.

[jaadam4]

amen to that

[Detroit Dan]

Smith had 42 carries for 108 yards against Sparty, OSU and Penn State. Given that he is, apparently, second only to Fournette in yards after contact, he must have been hit in the backfield roughly 40 of those 42 carries and turned 0 yard carries into his impressive 2.57 ypc against those teams because he breaks so many tackles.

I predict that Chris Evans will be the starting running back by the time of the OSU game. Everyone is talking about how good he is, and it's clear he's doing stuff that hasn't been seen before.

[lineygoblue]

Don't count out Ty Isaac.

[WM Wolverine]

M wins at least 1 from Iowa, Sparty and Ohio State.

-

Chris Evans is receiving a lot of practice hype, he's mostly being used a lot in an H-Back type role. He's often running with De'Veon Smith as his lead blocker to get to the edge, somewhat similar to how Ohio State used Braxton Miller in the run game.

[jaadam4]

M wins at least 1 from Iowa, Sparty and Ohio State.

I'd rather say we'll win at least 1 against Oiho and Lil Brother

[Hannibal]

I want both.

[Detroit Dan]

Thanks WM. So it may be Smith and Davis as running backs at the same time.

IAM makes some good points about our running game last year, but overall our offense was good. We struggled against OSU, but were able to do fairly well offensively through innovative play calling. We struggled against MSU, but shut down the offense at the end, confident victory was in hand. The first game of the year we struggled, but that was a tough game on the road with new everything.

This year should be better offensively because:

- 8 of eleven starters are back (fullback, quarterback, and center gone).
- The freshman are evidently competing well against the veterans. There has been a lot of practice hype this year, including from the head coach.
- The offense is practicing against a top defense.

So the offense was good last year, and should step up to very good this year, which is good enough to win everything provided that the defense is as good as advertised.

For those of you who aren't wearing rainbow glasses, how would you feel about this offense if Ruddock were QB? The QB issue is legitimate, as are the running game concerns. That freshmen are pressing for OL and running back playing time is a good sign. And the QB competition seems to have gone well.

The key to Harbaugh's success seems to be the way he manages the competition. I was sure O'Korn would be the starter, as Speight was a holdover and O'Korn was brought in by Harbaugh. That Speight won speaks well to the validity of the competition.

[lineygoblue]

I'll leave my rainbow glasses on until I see that wearing them is wrong.

I'm going to believe that whoever the starting QB is on Saturday, that he's the guy who has earned the job. As I've read more info on Speight, and his preparation for the season, he could be a sleeper that we've all made the mistake of under-estimating.

We're about 2 days away from finding out.