You may be right but if he had the same scenerio this week iwonder if he would take a knee at the 4 yard line with two minutes left and game in hand. He may do it but most coaches would run it i think if playoffs are on the line.
Michigan opens up as 12 pt favorites
- Thread starter Turk
- Start date
Winning trumps win margin, but quality wins and then pt margins certainly come into play during playoff discussion. Imo this michigan game will be our toughest remaining challenge. Thorson has been rattled away from home plus i dont think iowa is anything other than a solid sparring partner. And wisconsin will b tough but it isnt "wow" this year.
The SOS is probably due to us having EIU on the slate instead of a lower level FBS team like UNLV, but kudos for Michigan scheduling one heck of an OOC trek. Our FBS schedules are probably comparable.
Man, you really can draw a strong conclusion from one data point. Do you think a quick Duke defense with a couple of NFL players in the defensive backfield had anything to do with it? Did NU win the game?
To hell with the points. Even having this dialogue legitimizes how f*ucked up the ratings system is. It's the raters fault for succumbing to superficialities; NU is not to blame here, Folks.
We saw, ARGUABLY, one effort to run up the score last year backfire, namely what ND tried to do against us. Any play that threatens certain victory must be eliminated. Any number of things could have happened on the Quero play; he's a young player unused to sprinting with the ball. Messing with Duke down in the Red Zone with the game in question: same considerations apply. Injury risks also mount.
It will be interesting to see how he does at michigan. It seems as if he is ahead of the growing pains we expected him to have. Still a bit concerned at the big house because his tightness at duke was noticeable. Albeit a small sample at this point.
Wow. Really? That just makes my blood boil. Hope the coaching staff uses that as iPad material for the players.
Also, it'll be hard for Michigan to cover if they can't score. Just pointing out the obvious.
I'm sure Iowa fans are equally outraged by the omission of its program. But I would get it if they simply referred to Michigan State and Ohio State as the B1G headliners, leaving Michigan out of it. Those two programs have elevated conference play over the last few seasons, with Ohio State's national championship the keynote event last season. But what has Michigan accomplished to merit inclusion in the B1G pantheon? One non-conference loss? If Michigan prevails against Northwestern next week, one can only imagine wall-to-wall coverage of panegyrics reminiscent of how Pravda covered the Soviet politburo.
That is obviously true. Hard to have a big spread in a game that probably won't have many points scored. I'm also wondering what the O/U will be. I'm thinking I'd take the under on any number above about 31.
Iowa was not excluded. They are not in any of the three BTN televised games this week. That was what the announcement was about. BTN has OSU/Maryland, MSU/Rutgers, and UM/NU.
Let's not talk about playoff team until we get past at least the next couple weeks. If we win them, we might be in the conversation but till we do we are not. And we have to get by MICH for any of it to happen.
It does to give the shutout which is very special Not since 95 in a BIG game. Had nothing to do with style points and everything to do with giving the players a chance at something special.
LOL. Game plan? Adjustments? Execution? What do those things have to do with football? (sarcasm alert).
Stop with the playoffs. Just win the games and that will take care of itself.Heck the important polls don't even come out for a few more weeks. And at that time, if we are still undefeated, we will be in the conversation. If we win the next couple games, we likely will have beaten 4 ranked teams (DUKE should be ranked by then) in our 7 games including a couple that are likely to be playing for their conference championships and still be undefeated. Who else would be able to say anything like that? MSU and dOSU? Not. Anyone in the SEC? Not. PAC 12? Maybe Utah. ACC? Not and Big 12? Not.
Don't need to run up the score but do need to win the games and continue the D. The rest will take care of itself. Don't need to run up the score. Just need to win.
I don't understand why people are bringing up the talent issue. This is the same Michigan talent we seen the last couple of years. Harbaugh didn't bring in any new players except the Iowa QB who isn't a barn burner. Their defense has looked good but they haven't played anyone whose offense is exceptional except Utah, who scored 24 points on them. (And before anyone points out our 19 to Ball State, remember where Ball State started on those TD drives). Michigan is as talented as we are but we have a real talented team playing and our offense is starting to get in sync. I think 27 on the Minnesota defense is more impressive then 28 on the Maryland defense. Michigan should be favored at home but with two of the best defenses in the league, how in the hell do you even expect a TD to score let alone expect a team to win by more then a TD? This game has 10-9 written all over it.
The entire sports media is DYING for Michigan to return to it's past glory, and doing it with such a lightning rod like Harbaugh is the cherry on top for them...and doing it in his first year is another cherry...so they're all trying to will it to happen. Northwestern on the other hand...Stanford and Duke already beat us to "the smart kids did it!" storyline...we're just third to the party (if/when we actually make it). But at least we're getting some love...I agree with you that if anyone has an axe to grind with a lack of respect...it's Iowa. Even if we beat Michigan on Saturday...we'll hardly have a moment to catch our breath with Iowa waiting for us a week later.
The only example I can think of is if we run the table but lose a close one in the BIG championship, or lose one along the way but then run the table. Unlike you, I wouldn't be so sure that a NU BIG champ that is 11-1 would be a lock, if that team is NU. Winning is primary. However, points matter. They always have mattered with most everything else being equal. And Style matters as well. OSU jumped in the playoffs because some said it overcame the QB injuries. From here forward, I doubt Fitz leaves points off the board and doesn't take a knee on the 4 yard line with 2 minutes to go with a two score lead. Just my opinion.
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