Michigan Football, Team 139, 2018 Season

[iam416]

I didn't read this piece as rationalizing away another osu loss.

I'm not sure how you can't read it (or similar pieces) as such. I mean, the entire premise is HARBAUGH!!!! nearly salvaged a win with an unplayable 3rd string QB -- "we" win that game with any type of decent QB play. That strikes me as textbook.

[AlabamAlum]

Once Najee Harris reports to Ann Arbor, things, well, they are a-changing.

[THE_WIZARD_]

HARBAUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hack]

Strikes me as more accurate than much rationalizing from that site, i.e. the "they were unusually hot from 3 and failed to regress to the mean in the second-half" stuff.

[Wellington_beefhouser]

Once Najee Harris reports to Ann Arbor, things, well, they are a-changing.

Can never count this guy out when it comes to terrible jokes.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Good read on She Patterson by Kyle Jones of Eleven Warriors. I think he picks up on two Patterson weaknesses: (1) his mechanics go to shit when he faces a strong rush, i.e. he's not a drop back, step up pro-style QB. He bails/rolls out and hi-pressure defenses that are common today at the P5 level that can pressure and contain simultaneously (e.g., Alabama, LSU) caused him fits and apparently affected him long term. (2) Harbaughffense, as it has been run since JH got to Ann Arbor, is starkly different than anything he has played in; i.e., his talents are not going to be the great fit that they were in an Ol'Miss offense that featured an up-tempo, RPO, even under Longo from Houston, air-raid heavy styles.

While I agree in the position voiced by others here that Patterson didn't come to Ann Arbor to sit on the bench, all three QBs seemingly behind him - Peters, McCaffrey and Milton - have the experience and skill sets to thrive in Harbaughffense where Patterson may not.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/film-study/2018/05/93268/film-study-does-ohio-state-need-to-worry-about-ann-arbors-newest-resident-former-ole-miss-quarterback

[AlabamAlum]

Can never count this guy out when it comes to terrible jokes.

Hurtful.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Stifle

[WingsFan]

[Jeff Buchanan]

Not surprised by his STFU Angelique answer. Jim, as long as I've observed his coaching career, runs hot and cold with the press. He was notoriously awful to the press in SF during his last year there when things went to shit. Stone silence or responses that were intended to send a message to the idiot who was asking them to STFU were common.

He can be absolutely charming and open with the press, especially when M wins or to sports journalists he nurtures and likes. But there is much less of that, overall in his coaching career, than there is of how he responded to Angelique (a journalist he reportedly likes).

Now, let's get serious. Sure, I still think, as a Boomer, The Game is a big deal. That's because, like Charles Woodson (not a Boomer), we grew up with it - him a player, me a homer fanatic. Now? X-Gens might understand it and loved John Cooper, Millennials? Fading, mostly irrelevant, memories of the glory days of The Game. Generations after the Millennials, Gen Z? No clue and they don't care.

For me, Jim Harbaugh's legacy at M is going to rise or fall THIS year; he might get a break from serious fans one year after this one. I won't be among them. I'll still enjoy M football but he will have only raised the level of M football from never ran in the RR era and last two years of the Hoke tenure to maybe the also ran level stuck there by having his teams get 40/60 splits with MSU, getting beaten by ONE team he should have had his team ready for and ALWAYS losing to fucking ufm and osu...... that's not good enough. Why? Because with osu routinely performing at a high level and PSU on the cusp of doing so in the BT M will become the TEXAS of the BT or the Tennessee of the SEC.

I also think there is great potential for Neb and several other perennial never rans - Maryland, IU and Purdue come to mind - to beat M regularly and possibly surpass M as a regular BTCG participant. I'll be among the large number of fans who will stop buying season tickets ..... which is what M Athletic Director, Don Canham faced with then M Coach Bump Elliot. It is what led to his replacement with Bo Schembechler, a Michigan football legend that, if JH can't muster a Championship level 2018 season, can't beat ND, MSU, PSU and osu, will be unable to reach or surpass Bo's legendary status.

I do believe that is something he wants for himself and maybe more importantly for Michigan football. He'll be crushed if he doesn't get there and I believe that is the underpinning - the utter fear of that outcome - that will drive him and this M football team, in this season. Think of it this way and you can understand his response to Angelique's, in that context, dumb question.

[WingsFan]

Agreement with this post, Im a Boomer also (same age as Harbaugh). Its show me time, I still say 8-4 though this year. Be more than happy to eat a giant plate of crow. The Texas/Tennessee analogy has been floating around for a while now.

[hack]

1. I've seen a lot worse treatment of a disliked question than that. Nothing to see there.

2. PSU on the cusp? Chrissakes. They had a great year led by a guy picked second in the draft. Michigan was a proper reffing crew away from being in the playoffs a year ago. You can't judge a whole big complex thing using the most-recent data point and refusing to put it in context.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Hack, in the early predictions (Athlon, 247, Land of Ten, CFN) PSU is predicted to finish ahead of M in 4 of those 5 polls and either 2nd, behind osu or 3rd behind Wisconsin in the BTC.

247 has M going 7-5 and finishing 6th behind Purdue (before Patterson was declared eligible). PSU is in the top 3 in every prediction. So, yes, PSU is going to be a tough out from here on out.

After years of dissing James Franklin, it's pretty clear he's a good coach and can recruit. He tallied a Top 5 2018 class, If PSU gets 9 or more wins in 2018 w/o Barkley Hamilton, Gesikiy and Blacknail who all graduated and were drafted, I'd call Franklin a great, not just a good coach.

It's early. We really have no clue if Patterson will start and if he does that he, as predicted, is good for 2-3 wins taking M from a dismal 7-5 to 9 and 3 or 10-2. Regardless, PSU is, IMO, and as we speak, ahead of every other BTE team except osu. So, on the cusp, is fair characterization I'd think.

[Hannibal]

Patterson might take us from 7-5 to 8-4 but that's probably it.

Unlike with Hoke and RichRod, there is no savior after Harbaugh. He's our endgame. With those previous guys -- especially Hoke, you knew that the fans would start coming back if you hired a new coach -- especially if it was Jimmy. This time, that won't happen. We'll never again hire a coach who comes in with the resume and the hype that Harbaugh came in with.

[Hannibal]

There is chatter on mgoblog about a few departures. If the chatter is true then it's not a surprise since there were a handful of players who were sliding down the depth chart. Same of the names being bandied about: McDoom, Peters, Crawford, Walker, and Wheatley. Wheatley would be a disappointment. They should have tried to bulk him up to be an OT on day one since it was obvious we had nothing but crap in the pipeline there.