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Michigan wins 38-13 over Wisconsin (now 4-2). Wisconsin lined it up and ran the ball as expected. They were able to move the ball on the ground at first, but once Michigan settled in, Wisconsin remained one dimensional and couldn't get the passing game going.
Michigan's offense was adequate (too many drives stalling out still), and in light of injuries the defense played pretty great. The offense line really seems to be coming together as a unit, and the running game moved the ball well. The heavily penalized Wolverines played a very disciplined game for once.
Next week Wolverines (6-1) at Michigan State (4-2). State seems to be getting its act together, and it is coming off a big win over Penn State. They aleays play against Michigan hard. I think Michigan wins with better talent, but I think it will be a close game.
I wish you all had beaten Notre Dame in football. Now, the media "darlings" are being slated for a playoff spot by "experts". The problem is that another horrifying mismatch with Alabama could happen. If the Wolverines had just beaten ND convincingly, that could have been prevented. Perhaps FSU, USC, or even Syracuse could stop them. Navy has also won recently. Another 2012-style-of-mismatch needs to be prevented. And I am saying this despite being a Domer (LOL).
To be fair, if Michigan wins out in the Big 10 and beats Ohio State, then they could be in the CFP instead of ND - especially if they lose one game. It's just that Michigan should have beaten them when they had the chance.
Don't worry about Notre Dame, they are going to lose to either Northwestern or USC, so we can eliminate them from the playoff. Northwestern is one of those teams you don't want to play at the end of the season as Pat Fitzgerald is one of the better coaches in the conference he ALWAYS has his teams ready to play, and they will compete in every game no matter who the opponent is. And USC is a lot better at home, where that ND game will be played, than they are on the road.
I wish you all had beaten Notre Dame in football. Now, the media "darlings" are being slated for a playoff spot by "experts". The problem is that another horrifying mismatch with Alabama could happen. If the Wolverines had just beaten ND convincingly, that could have been prevented. Perhaps FSU, USC, or even Syracuse could stop them. Navy has also won recently. Another 2012-style-of-mismatch needs to be prevented. And I am saying this despite being a Domer (LOL).
To be fair, if Michigan wins out in the Big 10 and beats Ohio State, then they could be in the CFP instead of ND - especially if they lose one game. It's just that Michigan should have beaten them when they had the chance.
NCAA and the media will always hype Notre Dame when winning because they "travel well".
Harbaugh is now winning the games he needs to win. It will be epic if Michigan wins out. The date with OSU could have the most impact it's had in a long time. One game at a time.
21-7 over MSU (now 4-3) in East Lansing. Still a lot of issues to work on for Michigan (now 7-1). Getting the win in East Lansing was needed. Defense played pretty lights out, holding MSU to under 100 yds of total offense. They held MSU to 0-for on 3rd downs. The only score was the result of a very short field from a Michigan turnover in the red zone. The one thing the Michigan D needs to work on is discipline. Too many unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. It's an emotional rivalry game, and both sides were getting flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct a lot, and MSU wasn't even able to capitalize on the penalties, but that kind of play will end up being super costly in many games.
Offense had trouble getting into rhythm in the first half, and couldn't capitalize on amazing field position. Patterson made some amazing plays with his feet, as well as the long TD to Peoples-Jones, but still struggling to deal with pressure at times. The receivers had trouble getting open, and that was part of Patterson's difficulty. Some throws were great, some were off the mark or dangerous. Higdon played well, with some good runs.The O-line played decent. Hopefully Bushell-Beatty's injury is minor.
On Special-teams, Michigan had the fumble recovery on the MSU punt return. Harbaugh seemed not to trust Nordin, and the single field goal attempt was a complete shank. He has seemed off the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure if the issue is physical or mental. Hopefully, whatever the issue is, it gets fixed quickly.
Bye week now, hopefully some guys like Gary can get healthy before playing Penn State.
Predicting a slow start after the off week, but Michigan (7-1) wins over Penn State (6-2) with adjustments made at half-time. McSorely will give Michigan trouble, but I expect eventually they will figure out how to contain him.
Dominant win over a ranked division foe. Rutgers and Indiana are the only remaining opponents before 11/24.
Not much to say about this one. Offensive line had a good game, executed well. The defense played great. Michigan 42-7 over Penn State (now 6-3). I do think PSU could have kept this a little closer if there execution had been better, but Michigan pulled away after the half with relentless play wearing down PSU's defense. McSorely was never able to get in a rhythm. The only down note for this game for Michigan was Dylan McCaffrey broke his clavicle, so is probably done for this season.
Next week Michigan (now 8-1) vs Rutgers (now 1-8). There is no reason to expect this will be even close.
Michigan scores 42, holds Rutgers to 7. A good chunk of Rutgers yardage and their only score came on an 80 yd run in the 1st quarter. It looked like someone blew their assignment and it was off to the races for Rutgers' Pacheco.
After that play, both offense and defense looked efficient for Michigan, but Rutgers (now 1-9) is the worst team in the league.
The injury bug is starting to pop up for Michigan. Lavert Hill (corner) and Josh Uche (DE) both left the game with injuries. Josh Mettelus (safety) was suited but didn't play. I'm not sure what his injury was. Solomon (DT) was out with injury today as well. Hopefully the depth of the defense will hold things together.
Next week, Michigan (9-1) will play Indiana (5-5). Predicting a Michigan win, but the Wolverines can't get caught looking ahead to OSU. Indiana can score, and while they haven't been consistent this year, I predict they get a couple of scores before Michigan tamps down after the half and pulls away.
Michigan 31, Indiana 20. The Hoosiers (now 5-6) kept this one closer than I predicted. I thought indiana might score some point, but thought it would be mostly on a few big plays. Instead they seemed to be able to move the ball well, especially in the 1st half. As I predicted, Michigan pull away in the second half, but Indiana still had a shot fairly late in this game.
Indiana played a little dirty, and a couple of injuries were the result of cheap shots. I don't generally think of the Hoosiers as a dirty team. It sounds like the targeting by Jones against Edwards only caused a concussion, which is lucky. Hopefully Chase Winovich recovers quickly from Stepaniak's cheap shot, but my guess is he may be out against OSU. Michigan left too many points on the board with drives stalling out in the Red Zone. The only good thing about that was Moody got to come on a kick some field goals, and he looked consistent going 6/6. I'm not sure what is going on with Quinn Nordin, but he hasn't looked sharp a lot of this year, so it's nice to see Moody get a shot.
Michigan (10-1) vs OSU (10-1) this Saturday. The winner wins the Big Ten East Division and takes on Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game. Vegas seems to be favoring Michigan early, and I agree that on paper Michigan looks better. When I've seen OSU play this year, they seem like they can be beatable. The game is in Columbus, where Michigan hasn't won in almost 2 decades. This could be the year, and I hope the Wolverines win, but I think OSU will come out to play their best game, and will win a close one over Michigan at home.
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