Let's talk Michigan vs. Northwestern...

[detroitjohn]

Northwestern comes to Ann Arbor to face a red hot UM defense and a so-so offense that still is doing enough to produce 200 yards of rushing per game. I've been following UM football since 1976 and this is one of the best three defenses I've seen over 40 years (85 and 97 were the other two). On offense, UM brings a solid running game, currently dinged with their starter, De'Veon Smith, hindered by a bad ankle. Their passing game is a big question mark, though Rudock looked better at home than in his two road games?

• What does Northwestern bring to the table on offense to counter attack UM's attack defense? How good is your offensive line?
• What does Northwestern bring to the table in terms of passing and rushing defense? How are they at covering tight ends (UM uses them a lot in passing game)?
• Harbaugh appears to like to hold plays back that he hasn't yet shown. How do you think Fitz counteracts his coaching schemes?
• What will Northwestern bring that will challenge UM and might surprise?

Btw, remember both the 95 and 96 losses to NU like they were yesterday (that 96 one almost brought me to put a boot through my TV, so frustrating)...Thanks, I'll hang up and listen...Go Blue!

 

[Deeringfish]

I'm not the greatest expert but our teams seem to be very similar. The biggest difference is we have a very talented young QB with very little experience where UM have an experienced QB with average talent.
We have a great D especially deep in the secondary, and up the middle.
Our Oline is coming together and we are deep at RB and tight end.

Sound familiar?

 

[detroitjohn]

I'm not the greatest expert but our teams seem to be very similar. The biggest difference is we have a very talented young QB with very little experience where UM have an experienced QB with average talent.
We have a great D especially deep in the secondary, and up the middle.
Our Oline is coming together and we are deep at RB and tight end.

Sound familiar?

Mirror, mirror...except our defensive line has been the strongest unit, followed closely by the DBs, with the defensive weakness at LB. Our QB is vulnerable, the only edge I give UM in this game is the home field, where their defense has played absolutely lights out and their offense has scored in bunches and spurts.

 

[PURPLE Book Cat]

Mirror, mirror...except our defensive line has been the strongest unit, followed closely by the DBs, with the defensive weakness at LB. Our QB is vulnerable, the only edge I give UM in this game is the home field, where their defense has played absolutely lights out and their offense has scored in bunches and spurts.

NU's weakness is its QB/WR combo, though that has steadily improved as the season progressed. Likewise, NU's OC has probably revealed only about 1/3 of the playbook, both for strategic and QB preparatory reasons. Michigan's D will need to adjust, which should be a fascinating dynamic during the game.

The two keys should be whether Michigan can bottle up Justin Jackson again (he's better this year, but more importantly the NU O line is MUCH better) and whether Michigan turns the ball over. JJ ran all over Minnesota, which coming into last week's game had a touted defense.

 

[shakes3858]

Northwestern comes to Ann Arbor to face a red hot UM defense and a so-so offense that still is doing enough to produce 200 yards of rushing per game. I've been following UM football since 1976 and this is one of the best three defenses I've seen over 40 years (85 and 97 were the other two). On offense, UM brings a solid running game, currently dinged with their starter, De'Veon Smith, hindered by a bad ankle. Their passing game is a big question mark, though Rudock looked better at home than in his two road games?

• What does Northwestern bring to the table on offense to counter attack UM's attack defense? How good is your offensive line?
• What does Northwestern bring to the table in terms of passing and rushing defense? How are they at covering tight ends (UM uses them a lot in passing game)?
• Harbaugh appears to like to hold plays back that he hasn't yet shown. How do you think Fitz counteracts his coaching schemes?
• What will Northwestern bring that will challenge UM and might surprise?

Btw, remember both the 95 and 96 losses to NU like they were yesterday (that 96 one almost brought me to put a boot through my TV, so frustrating)...Thanks, I'll hang up and listen...Go Blue!

1. Our Oline is killer and allowing our running backs to gain yards in chunks. You'll be dealing with a 3 headed monster at RB. Justin Jackson is the best running back I've seen in college football since Bo Jackson. Warren Long is the power back but has break away speed when he hits the second level. Solomon Vault is the speed back but loves running people over.

Don't let the passing stats confuse you. Since our defense is so good, we've been playing with the lead the entire year except for a few minutes against Stanford and about a qtr vs Duke. Fitz has let our RBs do the work, but our RS freshman QB Thorson is the real deal. Great arm, great head, lots of weapons.

2. Are you familiar with the show Sesame Street? They have a song that goes:

One of these things is not like the others.
One of these things doesn't belong.

What doesn't belong: 6, 31, 41, 42, 55? Yep it's 6. That's how points Stanford scored in a game. We took 2 heisman trophy candidates in Hogan and McCaffery off the list. 2 things you won't be able to do this game: 1 pass the ball vs our secondary and 2 run the ball past our line.

3. We have this guy called Mike Hankwitz (Michigan class of 69) running the defense. Hankwitz has been running college defenses since before Harbaugh was throwing INTs in Pee-wee games. What is Hankwitz going to do? Hell, I don't know. Neither does Harbaugh. Let's just say, I'm not really worried about Hankwitz being surprised by anything.

4. Nothing. If you we start with the ball, we're gonna jam it down your throat. If you start with the ball, we're going to take it from you and then jam it down your throat. You can talk all day about "surprise this" or Michigan "wasn't ready for that." Bottom line is you're going to get punched in the mouth from the opening kickoff and we're not going to let up for 60 Minutes.

 

[shakes3858]

Sorry I forgot one thing. Go cats!

 

[detroitjohn]

1. Our Oline is killer and allowing our running backs to gain yards in chunks. You'll be dealing with a 3 headed monster at RB. Justin Jackson is the best running back I've seen in college football since Bo Jackson. Warren Long is the power back but has break away speed when he hits the second level. Solomon Vault is the speed back but loves running people over.

Don't let the passing stats confuse you. Since our defense is so good, we've been playing with the lead the entire year except for a few minutes against Stanford and about a qtr vs Duke. Fitz has let our RBs do the work, but our RS freshman QB Thorson is the real deal. Great arm, great head, lots of weapons.

2. Are you familiar with the show Sesame Street? They have a song that goes:

One of these things is not like the others.
One of these things doesn't belong.

What doesn't belong: 6, 31, 41, 42, 55? Yep it's 6. That's how points Stanford scored in a game. We took 2 heisman trophy candidates in Hogan and McCaffery off the list. 2 things you won't be able to do this game: 1 pass the ball vs our secondary and 2 run the ball past our line.

3. We have this guy called Mike Hankwitz (Michigan class of 69) running the defense. Hankwitz has been running college defenses since before Harbaugh was throwing INTs in Pee-wee games. What is Hankwitz going to do? Hell, I don't know. Neither does Harbaugh. Let's just say, I'm not really worried about Hankwitz being surprised by anything.

4. Nothing. If you we start with the ball, we're gonna jam it down your throat. If you start with the ball, we're going to take it from you and then jam it down your throat. You can talk all day about "surprise this" or Michigan "wasn't ready for that." Bottom line is you're going to get punched in the mouth from the opening kickoff and we're not going to let up for 60 Minutes.

I forgot to mention the defense you saw last year in the great M00N game that stifled your offense by wrestling players to the ground is gone, replaced by starved hounds of hell that prefer to swarm and then devour their prey, I doubt Bo Jr. escapes without a mark if at all ...this will be a fun, old style game that UM has been arming itself for, cannot wait

 

[shakes3858]

replaced by starved hounds of hell that prefer to swarm and then devour their prey

Awww what a cute little puppy... can I play with him after the game?

 

[detroitjohn]

Nice boy, what's that chew toy?

 

[SmellyCat]

Seems like the main difference is last year was low scoring because of inept offenses, this year will be low scoring because of terrifying defenses. I can't wait.

Go Cats.

 

[shakes3858]

Nice boy, what's that chew toy?

Rondell Biggs's steriods.

 

[detroitjohn]

Seems like the type of thing you would find laying around the streets of detriot.

As opposed to the blood-free streets of Chicago, right!

 

[detroitjohn]

This Harbaugh team is much more like the angry, pissed-off UM teams of the 80s under Bo than anything you've seen in the last 20 years, and more competently coached than anything we've seen since then.

 

[KramerCat91]

• What does Northwestern bring to the table on offense to counter attack UM's attack defense? How good is your offensive line?

While NU's OL is a work in progress, it has been holding up just fine and might be the closest to full strength it has been all season depending on the day-to-day progression of a lineman who appears to have suffered a concussion. So at this time it isn't clear that the offense will need to do anything special to counter UM's defense especially since UM's hybrid DE/LB is injured.

 

[detroitjohn]

While NU's OL is a work in progress, it has been holding up just fine and might be the closest to full strength it has been all season depending on the day-to-day progression of a lineman who appears to have suffered a concussion. So at this time it isn't clear that the offense will need to do anything special to counter UM's defense especially since UM's hybrid DE/LB is injured.

Losing Ojemudia is a blow, but we also lost one of our 2 top d lineman (Mone) before the season began and they haven't lost a beat. Ojemudia's backup is a senior with lots of experience, I wouldn't anticipate much of a drop-off.

 

[detroitjohn]

While NU's OL is a work in progress, it has been holding up just fine and might be the closest to full strength it has been all season depending on the day-to-day progression of a lineman who appears to have suffered a concussion. So at this time it isn't clear that the offense will need to do anything special to counter UM's defense especially since UM's hybrid DE/LB is injured.

Michigan just held BYU to 100 yds of total offense, I have to believe business-as-usual is not going to be the game plan for NU's offense.

 

[nycat33]

Think of NU as a better version of Utah

 

[Hungry Jack]

"Justin Jackson is the best running back I've seen in college football since Bo Jackson."

Did you stop watching college football after Bo left? I like JJ, but this is a fantastic leap.

 

[Walker Fan]

Newsflash. UM beat UNLV, Oregon State, Maryland and BYU at home. BYU played UM after playing at UNL, Boise State and at UCLA. Could they have run out of gas v. UM? NU has beaten Stanford and went to Duke and beat them? Who has the better resume?

The question was who does NU have on offense? 4 star Illinois High School Player of the Year - Sophomore Justin Jackson, 4-star RS FR QB Clayton Thorsen, Sr. 4-year starting WR Christian Jones, four-year starter Vitale at FB/Superback. Improving offensive line.

NU has four NFL future draftees on defense in DE Dean Lowry, MLB Anthony Walker, S Iguibuike, CB Matthew Harris and maybe Van Hoose. Where are all the draftable UM players - maybe TE Jake Butt and who else? Taco? They have a nice team, but this team is not filled with NFL players like in 1970s-1990s when the players were all getting nice cars and the car industry was booming.

 

[Walker Fan]

Newsflash. UM beat UNLV, Oregon State, Maryland and BYU at home. BYU played UM after playing at UNL, Boise State and at UCLA. Could they have run out of gas v. UM? NU has beaten Stanford and went to Duke and beat them? Who has the better resume?

The question was who does NU have on offense? 4 star Illinois High School Player of the Year - Sophomore Justin Jackson, 4-star RS FR QB Clayton Thorsen, Sr. 4-year starting WR Christian Jones, four-year starter Vitale at FB/Superback. Improving offensive line.

NU has four NFL future draftees on defense in DE Dean Lowry, MLB Anthony Walker, S Iguibuike, CB Matthew Harris and maybe Van Hoose. Where are all the draftable UM players - maybe TE Jake Butt and who else? Taco? They have a nice team, but this team is not filled with NFL players like in 1970s-1990s when the players were all getting nice cars and the car industry was booming.

 

[KramerCat91]

Losing Ojemudia is a blow, but we also lost one of our 2 top d lineman (Mone) before the season began and they haven't lost a beat. Ojemudia's backup is a senior with lots of experience, I wouldn't anticipate much of a drop-off.

Since NU has largely been able to neutralize opposing DLs it isn't clear to me what it would do if UM's DL turns out to be superior to NU's OL. The coaches have been patient on offense and eventually the opposing DL tires and NU's offense starts clicking.

 

[boricua2001]

We can play paper wars on whose being drafted, whose played who...game still has to played on the field! Go Blue

 

[detroitjohn]

Newsflash. UM beat UNLV, Oregon State, Maryland and BYU at home. BYU played UM after playing at UNL, Boise State and at UCLA. Could they have run out of gas v. UM? NU has beaten Stanford and went to Duke and beat them? Who has the better resume?

The question was who does NU have on offense? 4 star Illinois High School Player of the Year - Sophomore Justin Jackson, 4-star RS FR QB Clayton Thorsen, Sr. 4-year starting WR Christian Jones, four-year starter Vitale at FB/Superback. Improving offensive line.

NU has four NFL future draftees on defense in DE Dean Lowry, MLB Anthony Walker, S Iguibuike, CB Matthew Harris and maybe Van Hoose. Where are all the draftable UM players - maybe TE Jake Butt and who else? Taco? They have a nice team, but this team is not filled with NFL players like in 1970s-1990s when the players were all getting nice cars and the car industry was booming.

Actually UM's defense probably has a number of pro prospects including Maurice Hurst, Willie Henry, Jabrill Peppers, and Jourdan Lewis...Taco is solid but probably not among our elite yet. I think a couple of their OL may also get a sniff. Their running game has been strong so far, struggling only vs and at Utah but who hasn't.

The big X factor for NU is preparing to coach against a much better staff than you've seen in a generation for UM. I don't know how the same NU coaching staff that has struggled vs a very mediocre Hoke staff fares against a much better staff and much better coached team.

 

[detroitjohn]

Since NU has largely been able to neutralize opposing DLs it isn't clear to me what it would do if UM's DL turns out to be superior to NU's OL. The coaches have been patient on offense and eventually the opposing DL tires and NU's offense starts clicking.

This is going to be a great game I think, I'm going to enjoy it going to it with my son...Go Blue

 

[goblue31602]

1. Our Oline is killer and allowing our running backs to gain yards in chunks. You'll be dealing with a 3 headed monster at RB. Justin Jackson is the best running back I've seen in college football since Bo Jackson. Warren Long is the power back but has break away speed when he hits the second level. Solomon Vault is the speed back but loves running people over.

Don't let the passing stats confuse you. Since our defense is so good, we've been playing with the lead the entire year except for a few minutes against Stanford and about a qtr vs Duke. Fitz has let our RBs do the work, but our RS freshman QB Thorson is the real deal. Great arm, great head, lots of weapons.

2. Are you familiar with the show Sesame Street? They have a song that goes:

One of these things is not like the others.
One of these things doesn't belong.

What doesn't belong: 6, 31, 41, 42, 55? Yep it's 6. That's how points Stanford scored in a game. We took 2 heisman trophy candidates in Hogan and McCaffery off the list. 2 things you won't be able to do this game: 1 pass the ball vs our secondary and 2 run the ball past our line.

3. We have this guy called Mike Hankwitz (Michigan class of 69) running the defense. Hankwitz has been running college defenses since before Harbaugh was throwing INTs in Pee-wee games. What is Hankwitz going to do? Hell, I don't know. Neither does Harbaugh. Let's just say, I'm not really worried about Hankwitz being surprised by anything.

4. Nothing. If you we start with the ball, we're gonna jam it down your throat. If you start with the ball, we're going to take it from you and then jam it down your throat. You can talk all day about "surprise this" or Michigan "wasn't ready for that." Bottom line is you're going to get punched in the mouth from the opening kickoff and we're not going to let up for 60 Minutes.

A few things here. First, you are basically telling us that you're one of the best teams in the country, yet you beat Ball State by 5? I repeat... BALL STATE.... 5 points. Shoot, Toledo beat them worse than that. They also averaged over 5YPC against this line we won't be able to run on.

We can also play the "one of these things..." 33, 35, 23, 0, 30. Those would be points for BYU this year with an extremely tough schedule. Guess who held them to 0?

 

[goblue31602]

Since NU has largely been able to neutralize opposing DLs it isn't clear to me what it would do if UM's DL turns out to be superior to NU's OL. The coaches have been patient on offense and eventually the opposing DL tires and NU's offense starts clicking.

Michigan's DL goes at least 2 deep across the whole line with basically no drop in production. In fact, in some games the 2nd stringers outperform the first stringers. I can tell you one thing, and it's that our DL won't be worn down. We're too deep and too well conditioned.

 

[villox]

Startin' to feel a bit like Cal up in here.

 

[Deeringfish]

The big X factor for NU is preparing to coach against a much better staff than you've seen in a generation for UM. I don't know how the same NU coaching staff that has struggled vs a very mediocre Hoke staff fares against a much better staff and much better coached team.[/QUOTE]

A couple of guys have posted that this is the best UM staff in years and I have no doubt that it could be true but the season is young and statistically, transition years are not usually the improvement everyone is hoping for.
Your coaches are still getting to know your players and don't know who might be thinking MSU this week or who may already be getting cocky. Very few of them were recruited by the current staff and in moments of stress there will be sore spots. Your great coaching staff may be the exception to the rule or you may crash and burn before the season is over. A little adversity may be more disruptive than it would be on a team with a staff that has been in place for years.

 

[SmellyCat]

Startin' to feel a bit like Cal up in here.

I disagree. While there are the normal trolls, most have just been confident about a team that's done well. Cal fans were often dicks, and they talked smack even when their team had NOT done well. Yes, they won in Evanston last year. I won't take that away from them, but even in August of 2013 coming off a terrible season they were convinced their team was awesome and were plenty obnoxious about it.

Go Cats.

 

[shakes3858]

A few things here. First, you are basically telling us that you're one of the best teams in the country, yet you beat Ball State by 5? I repeat... BALL STATE.... 5 points. Shoot, Toledo beat them worse than that. They also averaged over 5YPC against this line we won't be able to run on.

We can also play the "one of these things..." 33, 35, 23, 0, 30. Those would be points for BYU this year with an extremely tough schedule. Guess who held them to 0?

So BYU scores 121 points against other teams, Stanford scores 169 and you want to compare the two? That's a average of 30.25 vs 42.25. That's not even close. But hey congratulations. You you stopped a team that has 2 miracle wins and is still only 3-2. Not to mention, that they're using a back up QB that last played football in 2011. Take out the 2 hail marys and the pick 6 to end the game and the numbers are 26, 21, 23 (in a loss), 0 and 30 (to a team that gave up 28 to Navy). That's 25 points a game. GOOD JOB BIG BLUE!!!

Ah, yes. We didn't beat Ball State badly enough. That's your argument? Yes, we played a bad game. We had too many turnovers in the 1st half. We responded in the second and took the game over. We then kept it going by decimating a good (not great) Minnesota team.

FBS teams Michigan beat in FBS games: 6*-10
FBS teams NU beat in FBS games: 11-7

*2 wins were by miracles.

 

[detroitjohn]

]

A couple of guys have posted that this is the best UM staff in years and I have no doubt that it could be true but the season is young and statistically, transition years are not usually the improvement everyone is hoping for.
Your coaches are still getting to know your players and don't know who might be thinking MSU this week or who may already be getting cocky. Very few of them were recruited by the current staff and in moments of stress there will be sore spots. Your great coaching staff may be the exception to the rule or you may crash and burn before the season is over. A little adversity may be more disruptive than it would be on a team with a staff that has been in place for years.

Great point though typically in the past a loss like they had vs Utah would have decimated this team's confidence. They have a long way to go in terms of proving themselves, at around 7 pm on Sat Woverine Nation will have a much clearer sense of where we are, though the indicators (top 5-10 national defense and okay offense) are that we are well on the way to a return. If UM and a big IF wins out the next 2 weeks we are looking at a top 10 status and bets off for the OSU game. I don't think Harbaugh is the kind of coach that looks past Northwestern. Let's check back in Sat night to see if I'm right.

 

[DaCat]

Comparing opponents and margin of victory seems like wasted energy. Let's talk about the 2 teams that are actually taking the field against each other.

On the Michigan D, I worry the most about Jabrill Peppers who is an outstanding talent. We already faced the best safety in the nation in Duke's Jeremy Cash, and he was very disruptive especially to our run game. Until we wore them out and got a few explosion plays. CT has to be aware of who Peppers is covering and avoid him as much as possible. Our special teams have also done a great job so far limiting the impact of playmakers on the opponents' ST. Gotta continue to do that. Hope so see Usain Vault spring another highlight play(s), we'll need something special to overcome the M.

 

[phatcat]

Yes, that's it, my fellow, Cats. Come to the dark side - embrace the loathing of the baby poop M. They've been quiet now since circa 07, but the long-held obnoxious arrogance is back in full view. Thank the Lord I no longer live in S.E. Mich.

Since we are full on here, let's have a riddle: What does a Michigan fan have in common with a Michigan State fan? Answer: Neither of them attended the University of Michigan.

I got a million of 'em

 

[detroitjohn]

Yes, that's it, my fellow, Cats. Come to the dark side - embrace the loathing of the baby poop M. They've been quiet now since circa 07, but the long-held obnoxious arrogance is back in full view. Thank the Lord I no longer live in S.E. Mich.

Since we are full on here, let's have a riddle: What does a Michigan fan have in common with a Michigan State fan? Answer: Neither of them attended the University of Michigan.

I got a million of 'em

I think a lot of UM fans were humbled by the pat 8 years, you can find arrogance among any fan base. UM class of 1990 here, the Walmart Wolverine thing is a tired trope and a poor come back. I did apply to NU

 

[shakes3858]

Comparing opponents and margin of victory seems like wasted energy. Let's talk about the 2 teams that are actually taking the field against each other.

I really have nothing better to do and a lot of energy built up... plus our resume is way better than theirs so let's do it.

 

[detroitjohn]

Comparing opponents and margin of victory seems like wasted energy. Let's talk about the 2 teams that are actually taking the field against each other.

On the Michigan D, I worry the most about Jabrill Peppers who is an outstanding talent. We already faced the best safety in the nation in Duke's Jeremy Cash, and he was very disruptive especially to our run game. Until we wore them out and got a few explosion plays. CT has to be aware of who Peppers is covering and avoid him as much as possible. Our special teams have also done a great job so far limiting the impact of playmakers on the opponents' ST. Gotta continue to do that. Hope so see Usain Vault spring another highlight play(s), we'll need something special to overcome the M.

What I'm interested to see is how your freshman QB handles this big stage situation (100k fans, great D, etc.). It will say a lot about him if he thrives, he does have a good reputation and is getting props from UM commentators for his athleticism and intelligence.

 

[shakes3858]

What I'm interested to see is how your freshman QB handles this big stage situation (100k fans, great D, etc.). It will say a lot about him if he thrives, he does have a good reputation and is getting props from UM commentators for his athleticism and intelligence.

He'll be alright when we're up 3 TDs at half time and 50,000 of those fans give up and walk out.

I don't know why Detroit John, but I'm really enjoying poking you. Normally, I'm pretty nice to visiting fans that are being reasonable. Serious question though, if I'm driving to Detroit after the game, what time do you think I would arrive given game day traffic situations.

 

[detroitjohn]

He'll be alright when we're up 3 TDs at half time and 50,000 of those fans give up and walk out.

Love your confidence, a lot has changed in 12 months apparently for both schools. I'll just pray we hang on to respectability

 

[SmellyCat]

What I'm interested to see is how your freshman QB handles this big stage situation (100k fans, great D, etc.). It will say a lot about him if he thrives, he does have a good reputation and is getting props from UM commentators for his athleticism and intelligence.

I'm interested in that too. If he plays well in a win Saturday, the expectations for him and this team will reach the stratosphere.

 

[villox]

I disagree. While there are the normal trolls, most have just been confident about a team that's done well. Cal fans were often dicks, and they talked smack even when their team had NOT done well. Yes, they won in Evanston last year. I won't take that away from them, but even in August of 2013 coming off a terrible season they were convinced their team was awesome and were plenty obnoxious about it.

Go Cats.

OK but they've beat one team with a winning record, and that team only had a winning record due to two hail marys. They've had two shutouts which is very impressive, but they lost to the only really good team they played.

We'll find out Saturday which of us is for real, but all this "this is like nothing you've seen in 20+ years" is a bit much.