Michigan Football, Team 138, 2017 Season.

[Hannibal]

RichRod's first Michigan win.

[youtube]78-z1d6-9_c[/youtube]

We had such hope then.

[Detroit Dan]

Well said, Hanni and Jeff.

I hope Drake Johnson comes back. He's been one of my favorites. I like our stable of running backs this coming year. I'm not a big Ty Isaac fan, but the rest can eat up yardage quickly.

[Cody_Russell]

That 2008 team... still weird that M almost beat a great Utah team with Nich Sheridan at QB.
Sheridan and Threet. What a duo.

[WingsFan]

We had such hope then.

Yes we did, RichRod's marquee win. Wisconsin was ranked #9 at the time, chants of "Rich Rodriguez" was in the stands.

On a similar note - Michigan beat writer Mark Snyder the last of the co-conspirators of stretchgate abruptly quit the Freep the other night announcing at 1:30 in the morning (with no job lined up in the future) on Twitter (?) This after Harbaugh snapped at him a couple days ago for asking questions that he "already knew the answers" - was bombarded with "good riddance" tweets.

[Hannibal]

Rosenberg is still the main guilty party of stretchgate and as far as I can tell, he has yet to pay the price.

[Detroit Dan]

I've really been enjoying Nick Baumgartner's coverage of the team. He seems to love his work, and spends time on the athletic details.

[The Oracle]

Yes we did, RichRod's marquee win. Wisconsin was ranked #9 at the time, chants of "Rich Rodriguez" was in the stands.

On a similar note - Michigan beat writer Mark Snyder the last of the co-conspirators of stretchgate abruptly quit the Freep the other night announcing at 1:30 in the morning (with no job lined up in the future) on Twitter (?) This after Harbaugh snapped at him a couple days ago for asking questions that he "already knew the answers" - was bombarded with "good riddance" tweets.

I don't think I saw one good riddance tweet to him and he has another job. But I'm sure he cowered at the mighty Jim and packed up after that. He was a really good writer.

[UMStan White]

Really don't know whereto put this but a great story about McDuffie:

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2017/07/10/ex-um-player-mcguffie-discovers-new-rush-bobsled/103590584/

[WingsFan]

Yea that's a good story, I always like him. Less than 12 months now, kickoff will be here before you know it. And im ready for some football! Toss up vs FL im going to be optimistic and hope Speight proves me wrong.

[Detroit Dan]

Our defense should be good enough this year to get us to the B1G championship. It was last year, but the QB glitches at the end of the year cost us. Better depth in that respect could help us this year -- but remains to be seen. I want to see a 2nd string QB we can win with if necessary.

[Cody_Russell]

Our defense should be good enough this year to get us to the B1G championship.

Even with a newish secondary of LaVert Hill, David Washington, David Long, Tyree Kinnel, and Josh Metellus?
They are talented players and will get great coaching. However, they aren't that experienced. In 17, I'm not expecting as dominant of a secondary as 16 was.

[Detroit Dan]

They'll also have Brandon Watson, Khaleke Hudson (viper), Jalen Kelly-Powell, Ambry Thomas, J'Marick Woods, Jordan Glasgow, and Benjamin St-Juste. (Also, it's Keith Washingon, not David Washington.) So they should have pretty good depth there, if not experience.

Last year was special with Jourdan and Delano especially. Delano Hill was one of my favorites. His hit on JT Barrett was good enough to win that game for us, for example.

So you're right that we may not be as good as last year. Maybe the sophomores and above will be more comfortable with Don Brown's system. Anyway, even if the defense is a step down, they can still be good enough for a great season.

P.S. Also Brad Hawkins and Drake Harris have potential in the defensive backfield. More depth and athleticism.

[WM Wolverine]

Position by position, how many defenders for '17 M is an upgrade over '16 M?

[The Oracle]

Talent wise, it's close. Experience wise, not close. Get through Florida and they have a lot of time to get ready. Similar to osu last year.

[Hannibal]

Starters on the DL probably net out to be even. Backups are a huge downgrade because of lack of experience. LB probably nets out to even. DBs are a downgrade because of lack of experience.