Michigan Football, Team 137, 2016 Season.

[iam416]

No blame. It turned to crap, though.

[hodgkal]

Who would have predicted the collapse of MSU and Iowa? They are the reason I predicted a killer schedule. Now it looks like all the chips will be on the table on Nov. 26th. And we will not have played a real road challenge until then. I'm worried!

All this hype is not healthy. One game at a time, guys. We still have some vulnerabilities. That said, it is not a given that the Buckeyes will prevail. As the experts say, "that's why you play the game".

[WM Wolverine]

Mike Dantonio himself predicted the fall of MSU when he said, "pride comes before the fall."

[BlueInCostaRica]

I think ol' Mike-Mark borrowed that one from the Good Book.

Proverbs 16:18 New International Version: Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.

I'm not a religious type, but there are some really good football analogies in there.

[Detroit Dan]

If we're talking schedules, we would be remiss if we didn't point out that Michigan beat Penn State 49-10, whereas Penn State beat Ohio State. I suppose we should criticize Michigan for only beating Hawaii by a score of 63-3, but that would obviously be silly.

I believe Michigan will prevail this year against OSU, as Urban's team has not demonstrated strength in crunch time. They collapsed at Happy Valley, against a team Michigan demolished. You can blame that on home field advantage, or you can see it for what it is. Michigan is better than OSU, with senior leadership, star power, and a more confident fan base. Even Talent predicts a Michigan victory.

[iam416]

If we're talking schedules

You're not talking about schedule; you're talking about results.

[Pasadena Blue]

Even Talent predicts a Michigan victory.

Talent is sandbagging. The only one who is a more accomplished sandbagger (and by a large margin) is AA.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Talent is sandbagging. The only one who is a more accomplished sandbagger (and by a large margin) is AA.

You're right on AA ....... talent? I don't think so.

Maybe I misread or skimmed some of AA's early Alabama season predictions. When I called him on how mostly wrong he'd been on this, his response was something about Bama not covering the spread. OK.

talent, OTH, saw the PSU train heading osu's way even though he held out hope for a narrow osu win in HV. He also saw the risks associated with a fired up nFw team coming to c-bus and playing their best game. They did, They lost.

He's also been entirely up front and in detail about:

• osu does not have a WR that can take the top off a defense and they don't.
  
• jtb has some limitations that are not completely overcome by his wizardry in the escape department and he does - he's a great short to mid range passer. Beyond that and as the range to his receiver increases, he's not good.
  
• osu's D is talented but young and is susceptible to getting confused by well planned and executed plays by an opponent's offense.

So, no, he's not sandbagging about his sense that M is going to win this season in c-bus. He'll probably take osu and the points which will probably be 1-2 by game time and the action will be all on M to win by 3.

Have I got this right, talent?

[The Oracle]

Osu will be favored. Everything else you got.

[iam416]

My statements are always "at the time" -- but I still hold the bulk of those opinions.

* I don't think OSU's WRs are as good as they need to be. However, they're starting to use KJ Hill more and even working Binjamin Victor. The latter is a true frosh who will be really good, but is not big enough nor strong enough to have a huge impact. The former, however, I think can really give them something. I'm really hoping he keeps it up against Maryland and Sparty. So there's some hope they'll have WR play that can at least pose some sort of challenge to M. It's not really there, yet.

* I don't mind JTB's deep throws. He's ok. Sometimes he's really good; other times he's bad. My bigger concern with the passing game has been the inability to work the 7-15 range in rhythm. He did that much better against UNL, but he also faced zero pressure absent a blitz. But JTB isn't really my concern at all.

* My other offensive concern is the OL. They left Prince on a island against PSU and they destroyed him. He has all the talent in the world and, IMO, will be a high draft pick. But right now, he's vulnerable, as is Jones. If you watched PSU, they just blitzed and blitzed and blitzed in the 2nd half. And they were largely successful. M will do the same thing. I'm not optimistic that the OL will handle it with the efficiency necessary to get first downs let alone sustain 10 play drives.

* I'm not worried about the defense getting confused or whatever. I'm far more concerned about their DT play. It's not good against physical offensive lines. I'm also concerned about OSU's willingness to let their worst CB match up against the other team's best WR. If you want a favorable matchup, stick your #1 in the slot. Finally, they have a tendency to give up 1 or 2 head-scratching drives. They'll dominate for long portions of the game and then give up an 80 yard drive out of nowhere.

I think the matchup against M's defense is hugely problematic. JTB will have to be outstanding. And not in a Troy Smith way where he just has to be good JTB -- he'll have to be phenomenal JTB (like against Sparty in 2014).

I think the matchup against M's offense is better, but they're going to have to problems in the middle and M will absolutely get great matchups against OSU's 3rd or 4th CB -- Damon Webb or Damon Arnette.

Finally, I actually picked OSU to win against PSU. I did say they'd have harder time than they should with NW. I also thought the UNL game would be close. Finally, I thought the Wisky game would be an absolute dogfight. I'm optimistic about this week because, well, Maryland. That's not a hard road game.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I don't mind JTB's deep throws. He's ok. Sometimes he's really good; other times he's bad. My bigger concern with the passing game has been the inability to work the 7-15 range in rhythm. He did that much better against UNL, but he also faced zero pressure absent a blitz. But JTB isn't really my concern at all.


ahhh, this makes perfect sense.

I've seen him throw a decent long ball but it always seems that his receivers aren't in the same place as he expects them to be or a bad ass CB is hanging all over them and they aren't going to win that one quite yet.

[Detroit Dan]

talent, OTH, saw the PSU train heading osu's way even though he held out hope for a narrow osu win in HV.

Actually, Talent predicted OSU would cover the 19 point spread against Penn State...

Ohio State (-19') at Penn State. I've talked lots about this in the OSU thread. Here's all I really care about -- Franklin is being cagey with his LBs. He has said Carbinda may be back and Brandon Bell, too, though, reading between the lines, that seems less likely. Carbinda is their leading tackler from last season and a legitimate B10 player. The alternative is a walk-on. Same deal with Bell, though the marginal value decrease is less. I'm surprisingly bullish on OSU for this one. I think they can win by 21-24. I reserve the right to change if the weather looks bad (right now, cool with highish winds--ugh). But, F, I'll back UFM and the Buckeyes. (http://www.detroitlionsforum.com/for...postcount=8241)

Fortunately, I was there to set things straight:

Michigan beat Penn State by 39, but I doubt Ohio tops them by 19. Penn State has been on an upswing, and Ohio has slipped a bit. (http://www.detroitlionsforum.com/for...postcount=8256)

Anyway, there's no issue now, as Talent and I both predict Michigan to defeat the Buckeyes on the 26th.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Newsome just tweeted that he was getting out of the hospital after 38 days. Wtf kind of knee injury keeps you inpatient for 38 days anymore? My 70 yr old mother for her hip replaced and was out of the hospital in several days.

[Pasadena Blue]

Must have had significant nerve damage and maybe even some cacciatore compromise. Will be a long road back. Godspeed young man

[The Oracle]

No nerve damage from all reports, but multiple surgeries.