Shockers

[highfly24]

I haven't been able to watch much today but after looking at some scores, and catching the end of the Mich/Mich State game. Wow, what a day for college football. That was one of the craziest endings I've seen. There have been a wide variety of ones to choose from but this one is certainly up there too. At the moment, TCU is looking pretty pedestrian in Ames too.

Ole Miss loses to Memphis, and pretty handily. I expected Memphis to be respectable but I did not see them pulling it off. That was pretty nice for the program and major vindication to a team that has been dismissed all season. Iowa is the real deal. Northwestern is a pretty good team but they were manhandled by Iowa. Iowa is well in control of a weak West division, who had that 6 weeks ago?!?

In FCS news, North Dakota State lost at home to a pretty bad South Dakota. South Dakota State is good but not the Coyotes of South Dakota. That's 2 losses for the 4 time defending champs.

[billybud]

TCU and Mich. State have both won on miracle finishes this year,,,,these are plays that fans talk about for years...one set with a broken heart, the other set giddy.

[armchairqb]

The final play of the Michigan State-Michigan game is up there with Flutie to Phelan for BC over Miami. And that lateral-fest that finished off the 1982 Cal-Stanford game. Michigan had that game signed, sealed and delivered. So little chance for that crazy of a finish to happen.

[Cane from the Bend]

Michigan was punting with 10 seconds left -- there could possibly have been a punt return for a touchdown, or a fair catch with sme kooky gimmick play, or a prayer from the blue bomb -- so, the game was not necessarily decided; However, it sure seemed to be.

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[Eric]

Oh well, just another miserable loss to go down into the annals of recent Michigan history. Nothing to see here, move along

This stuff doesn't happen to Jim Harbaugh until he dons the maize and blue. Then his teams can't execute punts. It's incredible. If we were down 7 the entire game and just lost, that's one thing. To have the win in your back pocket with a chance at competing for a playoff spot and a win against an arch rival (and recruiting rival) and then to blow it at the end is just absolutely miserable. I can't be mad at Harbaugh, but I feel like I need to be mad at somebody. Maybe the universe .

Yeah you just lost for the 7th time in the last 8 years to a recruiting rival and you'll have to wait 365 days until you can set the record straight. And even then you might lose next year and be 0-2 against Sparty since beating them straight up is difficult enough without gift-wrapping them W's. Yeah, this isn't going well already. I'm pretty sober right now, but the more I type about this and reflect on this the more upset I'm getting. They can go 10-2 and get a "New Year's Six" bowl and beat Ohio State, but this season is already a disastrous failure because they couldn't get a freaking punt off. The entire season is ruined and pointless from here on out in my honest opinion. Any future accomplishment in 2015 is stained by what could have been. I guess it hurts because you have faith that when you have a guy who is competent and knows what he's doing at the helm, that this stuff shouldn't happen to you. And yeah you have three straight shutouts of garbage offenses, whoopty-do. You're still 0-2 against good teams and you haven't seen anything to give you faith going forward that you're going to get those elusive wins, at least this year. Oh well, onto 2016! Oh, right, we're still not going to have a legit QB since John O'Korn or Shane Morris aren't going to get it done. Okay, onto to 2017! Maybe that's the year we get the residual Brady Hokeness washed out of our collective mouths. Yay, two more years!

[Cane from the Bend]

Well, the guy before Hoke didn't do much for Big Blue either.

I will say, it does show how quick the turn around can be, with the right guy in the commander's seat --- [just ask florida while they scrape the remnants of the Muschamp off their shoe].

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[Spence]

Oh well, just another miserable loss to go down into the annals of recent Michigan history. Nothing to see here, move along

This stuff doesn't happen to Jim Harbaugh until he dons the maize and blue. Then his teams can't execute punts. It's incredible. If we were down 7 the entire game and just lost, that's one thing. To have the win in your back pocket with a chance at competing for a playoff spot and a win against an arch rival (and recruiting rival) and then to blow it at the end is just absolutely miserable. I can't be mad at Harbaugh, but I feel like I need to be mad at somebody. Maybe the universe .

Yeah you just lost for the 7th time in the last 8 years to a recruiting rival and you'll have to wait 365 days until you can set the record straight. And even then you might lose next year and be 0-2 against Sparty since beating them straight up is difficult enough without gift-wrapping them W's. Yeah, this isn't going well already. I'm pretty sober right now, but the more I type about this and reflect on this the more upset I'm getting. They can go 10-2 and get a "New Year's Six" bowl and beat Ohio State, but this season is already a disastrous failure because they couldn't get a freaking punt off. The entire season is ruined and pointless from here on out in my honest opinion. Any future accomplishment in 2015 is stained by what could have been. I guess it hurts because you have faith that when you have a guy who is competent and knows what he's doing at the helm, that this stuff shouldn't happen to you. And yeah you have three straight shutouts of garbage offenses, whoopty-do. You're still 0-2 against good teams and you haven't seen anything to give you faith going forward that you're going to get those elusive wins, at least this year. Oh well, onto 2016! Oh, right, we're still not going to have a legit QB since John O'Korn or Shane Morris aren't going to get it done. Okay, onto to 2017! Maybe that's the year we get the residual Brady Hokeness washed out of our collective mouths. Yay, two more years!

I know at the beginning of the season I said that Michigan couldn't beat Ohio State this year. I didn't think they could beat Michigan State either. I was wrong on both counts. Michigan is playing better right now than I have seen them play since Lloyd Carr was on the sideline. They are playing like a team that expects to win. What happened last night was a fluke. Michigan was the best team on the field yesterday. Connor Cook was on and the Michigan corner were playing lights out to shut him out. The lines played really well too. Michigan has a few skill positions to sure up, but they are absolutely back. That is an honest assessment from someone who won't give them props unless it is absolutely deserved. Will they get in the playoff? Not this year. Are they good enough to be there? As good as any other B1G team right now.

Conner Cook was throwing darts yesterday and Michigan was defending his passes. Ohio State's corners aren't close to stopping Cook right now. Michigan has lost to Utah (who I still think is the best team in the country right now) and Michigan State (who has an inside track to be the B1G rep in the playoff - they have one game to go) I wouldn't sell Michigan short. To get unto the playoffs you have to be lucky. To win you have to really be lucky. I don't like Harbaugh because he is a good coach and a true Michigan Blue blood. He will be good for TTUN in the long run and that will probably be good for the conference - even though that will end Ohio State's dominance in the B1G for now. I don't see a reason to be down if you are a Michigan fan. I see a reason for hope; one that hasn't been there for over 14 years.

[Eric]

I completely agree with you when I put on my rational thinking cap. But people had rational optimism after Hoke's first year, and look where we are now. The thing about this team is that Harbaugh is not walking into an empty cupboard, like a lot of people assume. Obviously most of our recruits are considered bust-material at this stage in their careers, but they do have physical talent. I guess it's a matter of stamping out the mentality of mediocrity.

What's annoying about this team is that they are all business and that they are all here to win right now. And they're good enough to win right now. But it hasn't resulted in a W against a good team yet. So, we wait.

Another obnoxious thing about this right now is that we need to start building a narrative. Something like, "Jim Harbaugh-coached teams don't have mental breakdowns" or "We can actually step up to our competition and beat our rivals once in a blue moon!" So far we're 0-1. Probably going to be 0-2 in another "tough" "moral victory" loss ("stay patient, Michigan fans! the future is bright!" will be the media narrative while we go 1-11 against OSU with a good chance to keep losing even if we close the gap talent-wise). Which sets up the stage next year. Let's say we're better, but it's still tough enough to beat OSU and MSU. Could be staring at 1-3 or 0-4. You bring in Harbaugh to win these games because if you don't win these games you don't win the division. You don't win the division, you don't win the B1G. You don't win the B1G, you don't get to the playoff. So it starts here. Of course they had them beat and lost on a fluke play, but perception is reality and perception is fueled by wins and losses. And let's be real here since MSU plays down to their competition and they were banged up. So we were about a score better than Central Michigan and Rutgers against MSU. So I don't know what that says either.


I think we're looking at 9-3. I hope that doesn't result in a New Year's Six game because that would be a joke after having lost to every good team on the board. I think our best win in a 9-3 season would be over Penn State on the road.

[Eric]

I honestly don't think Michigan will get appreciably better than they are right now. They will get better, but they won't ever look like a 2005 USC or a 2012 Alabama. We'll get our recruits, they'll play tough football, they'll hand the ball off to the fullback. But they'll lose tight games like they always do. Maybe we'll get one Big 10 title in the next four years. Ohio State is the juggernaut because they have a system that works. If Michigan fans think next year is going to be amazing, they're being absolutely delusional. John O'Korn is not the savior of the Michigan football program. Neither is Morris. Neither is a redshirt freshman if they choose to go that route. The passing game will be just as weak as it is now. So, more of the same.

[Spence]

In my opinion yesterday was not a moral victory for Michigan. They won that game on the field and due to a million to one mistake they didn't get the win. They didn't almost out play Michigan State, they did out play and out execute them. Don't confuse Harbaugh with Hoke. Harbaugh is a proven top tier football coach who is capable of getting players to play to their potential. That was what Hoke was missing. Some coaches have it and some do not. Michigan isn't on their way back, they are back. They may or may not beat Ohio State this year, but they are capable of beating Ohio State. And if they are capable of beating us, they are capable of beating just about anyone in the nation.

As far as a national championship is concerned, so many things have to go right for a team to win you just have to be lucky to win. You have to peak at the right time. Ohio State wasn't the most complete team last year. They just happened to fall into the right situation. We got favorable matchups against Alabama and Oregon. To different teams may have yielded different results. I don't see Harbaugh falling on his face. He may leave to go back to the NFL at some point, but he isn't going to fail at Michigan. Here is to several good rock'em sock'em years in The Game. I hope we get you more than you get us.

[billybud]

Here is a shocker...

FSU has had zero turnovers through the first six games...leads the FBS in lack of turnovers...last year, Golson, at Notre Dame, was a turnover machine with 22 by himself.

Last season, with Winston, FSU had 32 turnovers...Jimbo has been preaching a more conservative game strategy, the zero turnover effect is certainly a by product of that strategy.

[donovan]

Michigan is back on and off the field. This is, in my opinion, one classy letter written to the Michigan fans.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13916071/michigan-wolverines-ad-jim-hackett-urges-angry-fans-lay-punter-blake-oneill

[Spence]

Michigan is back on and off the field. This is, in my opinion, one classy letter written to the Michigan fans.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13916071/michigan-wolverines-ad-jim-hackett-urges-angry-fans-lay-punter-blake-oneill

Yes it is. It is hard to believe any fan base would act like that, but the truth is there are fans like that in every fan base. The low of the low. They have so little going on in their lives that they live completely through their team. It is sad. I can understand fans being a little distraught for awhile, but to threaten the life of a college kid who already feels like dirt is crazy. It was a fluke. Something you will probably never see again. He mishandled the ball then panicked instead of falling on the ball. How many times did he do it exactly right? Lots of times.

[Eric]

All I know is that we are a combined 4-23 in our last 27 bowl / MSU / Ohio State games. We can't have nice things. End of story. Everything you say is completely rationally defensible and likely true. But....So was thinking Michigan had the W with a punt. I'll believe it when I see it.

[Eric]

And I think of it is as "moral victory." You should see all these Wolverine fans trying to stay optimistic and rationalize this to themselves. "State better watch out, because this is the last one they're going to get!" "At least we're headed in the right direction!" I'm so past moral victories at this point. The team is good enough to win these games, and they still can't get it done. I don't know what that says, but it's obnoxious. So it's like the Carr years revisited.

Really for me, it's the way they lost. Like I said, if they were down 7 the entire game and just lost, I wouldn't be as upset as I am now. Dejected, but not upset. The fact that they are good enough to win and still they find a way to lose is what set me off. Yeah they are better already than they were under Hoke and yes they at least have a chance (however small) to now beat Ohio State more than once a decade, but the results in big games are still the same.