Just incredible that we’re at this point. Literally the only way to turn around perception and direction of this program is to win the conference and beat OSU. Has about a 1% chance of happening. Probably less.
Prepare? Foreign word to this staff.
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They’ve appeared flat and emotionally disengaged from the first game on, at least to me they have. Seems to me that these games would be the most exciting events of a young man’s year.
I’m pretty certain we have him next year. And I have to say that I wish John Bacon weren’t quite the yes man he is, because there really is a marked contrast between Jim “Enthusiasm Unknown” Harbaugh and the monotone man we see before us now, and I’d like to hear the whole story. There’s a certain kind of guy who runs screaming through life, achieving a certain kind of success, and then realizes he can’t do that anymore, tries to modulate or is told by the people who love him that he must, and just becomes. . . a markedly different person. I have a hunch I would like the current Jimmy much better than the guy who was throwing footballs at kids’ heads out of his dorm room window while in college, but whether he’s connecting with the team any more. . . I have my doubts.
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I think that given that the failure to be competitive against good teams, particularly outside of Ann Arbor, is a trend of his entire tenure, the issue probably doesn’t lie with the effort level of these specific kids.
In general, very competitive people (like D1 scholarship athletes) expend effort unless they’ve been completely beaten down.
Sorry for being dense, what does any of that have to do with Bacon?
Because if anyone is well-placed to explain what has happened, it’s him. Maybe that day will come.
Noam Chomsky would say if he were willing to explain it in a non-AD-friendly fashion he probably wouldn’t have his access.
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Well that is quite the Catch 22. But if so, it should temper everything one reads of his.
'16 OSU for me. Meyer had such a disciplined approach to taking risks in that game, Jim did it emotionally. Plus, so much fucking Pepcat when it hadn’t worked in weeks. At that point though I merely thought that he would be clearly a notch below Meyer/Saban/Swinney, etc. I thought he’d still be a great coach at UM and would get us a ring at some point, if not be competitive year in/year out. But this has been something else. I was an optimist until this game. Can’t deny that they had two weeks to prepare for what’s probably their most predictable opponent, and they shit the bed in every possible way. The Mason carry was just insane. They’re taking risks no sane takes, and the players quit in the second halves of blowouts. There’s not much left here but tons of talent.
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I hate to see the speculation online, but it’s true that there’s a contrast, and its curious that a guy who spends his whole life that volatile can just flip a switch and never be like that again.
Think the Mason carry gets far more flak than it deserves. Fumbles are pretty random. Mason didn’t fumble all last year IIRC. Great inside the red zone. I can understand why they went with him (though think he’s an “inside the 5” type back, not at the 10). I know he’s been at DL, but I still am not all that upset about it. If we are at the one or two yard line next week, I’d be more than happy to give him another carry.
The issue is how we responded. Literally just fell apart after things don’t go our way. Same against Army. Just no response to any sort of adversity. That’s far more troubling to me than fumble issues. That’s a fixable problem. Psyche is much harder to fix.
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Mason is a fullback through and through. If you need 2 yards, he will get you 3. If you need 8 yards, he will get you 3. My issue was running the fullback from the 8 yard line on 2nd and goal. Even without the fumble, the best case scenario is 3rd and goal from the 5 after that. Worst case, well, we saw.
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By the end of the Army game, they weren’t. I get what you’re saying, and for a team not suffering a rash of fumbles bit short on RBs, this makes sense. But when you are trying to stress ball security to a team that has none, it’s another story.
Charles is not alone. The football program is a huge embarassment right now and that is all on the man in charge.
This narrative is kinda ridiculous.
Not competitive against good teams?
Year one (2015) - went deep into the fourth quarter in a one score game on the road against a ranked Utah team, lost to MSU on the punt block (they made the playoffs that year), beat PSU on the road, beat a ranked Northwestern team 38-0, hammered a talented Florida team in the Capital One Bowl.
Year two (2016) - beat a good Colorado team, beat a good Wisconsin team, absolutely crushed PSU 49-10 (they went on to be great), barely lost to OSU on “the spot,” barely lost to FSU in the bowl game.
Year three (2017) - hammered Florida to start the year, and while not playing well against MSU (who I believe was 9-3), the game came down to the final possession. Similarly, had a strong game plan against OSU and were very competitive with them for the most part.
Year four (2018) - close loss (again, down to the final possession) to an undefeated ND team that made the playoffs, hammered PSU and Wisconsin, held MSU to 93 yards and won 21-7 on the road.
I’m not saying the Harbaugh era has been an unmitigated success, or that this current team doesn’t have serious issues, but people act like we’ve never beaten a good team under him. It’s complete nonsense.
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There’s some truth to that, but I wouldn’t call second and goal from the eight a “short yardage” situation.
I’m more embarrassed by our fans than anything else.
Are you sure Wisconsin isn’t a really good team? Seemed like it to me. They have the best running back in the country, a really good OL, a QB who can throw the ball (a change for them), and a pretty strong defense. I think they’ve got a good shot at 11-1 this year.
We got blown out.
Here are some other teams in the Big Ten who have been blown out in recent years.
Wisconsin - Michigan beat them 38-13 last year at home. Bigger margin of victory than this year. And they scored a meaningless touchdown against a bunch of second stringers when it was 38-6. Lost 59-0 in the Big Ten title game in 2014.
Michigan State - blown out 49-3 by OSU in 2017, during a 9-3 season.
Penn State - lost 49-10 to Michigan in 2016 and 42-7 last year.
Even the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes - lost 49-20 to Purdue last year and 55-24 to Iowa in 2017.
Another news flash - Wisconsin is pretty good. Chryst has gone 10-3, 11-3, 13-1, and 8-5. I mean, I know one 8-5 year is enough to put most Michigan fans over the edge, but Wisconsin is a good program.
Right now, Harbaugh is 2-2 against Wisconsin, 2-2 against MSU (and it would be 3-1 without the luckiest play in the history of college football), and 3-1 against PSU. The elephant in the room is OSU. But during that time, Wisconsin has not beaten them, MSU has one win against them, and PSU has one win against them. So really, no one has been beating OSU.
I’m not saying I’m super satisfied, but it’s like people suddenly forget how bad things can be under the wrong coach. I’ll say this - Rich Rodriguez had a far better resume in 2007 than any of the “hot names” out there right now as coaching candidates. It can fail, and it can fail spectacularly. Look at Tennessee, Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame before Kelly, Nebraska, USC after Carroll - all of those schools have made several bad coaching hires and have had prolonged struggles at times. Between Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops, Oklahoma was terrible. Before Nick Saban, Alabama hired a ton of terrible coaches and did nothing on the field for years.
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Keep fighting those windmills Don Quixote.
Good counterargument.
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