2013 Michigan Wolverines Football: Strugglin'

Zososoxfan

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I'll be the first to admit I was in full avoid embarrassment mode going in and the team completely blew my expectations out of the water. I'm very encouraged by the fact that this team can in fact play with osu and that the gap isn't as big as I had thought. It's disappointing that the play calling and execution weren't this good all season. Does anyone know why the stating safeties didn't play? Injuries?
 

Granite Sox

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Wilson was hurt.  Thomas Gordon didn't play until the second quarter, suggesting (once again) that he was in the penalty box for doing something stupid.  Avery started in his place (senior/final game) and was predictably terrible.  Furman has always had good physical talent and a willingness to stick his nose in there (he's been one of the better special teams players the past couple of years), but he doesn't have great acumen when it comes to play diagnosis and positional execution.
 
I consider Gordon to be a good physical safety who was the last line of defense in some cases against Hyde.  I think one of the issues was that the inside linebacker play was not stout at all (nor was the interior DL) so that once Hyde broke through the LOS, he had some serious downhill steam built up.  Miller tended to break to the outside on the occasions when he initially ran up the middle.
 
I think Wilson is pretty good.  I hope Dymonte Thomas progresses to a point where he can play more next year (although he was thisclose to getting ejected during the 2nd quarter fight as well for shoving and throwing punches... he seems like an 18yo knucklehead).
 

Dgilpin

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ESPN Bowl Projections has Michigan playing Georgia in the Gator bowl, I think that would be a pretty fun match up.
 

Dgilpin

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Just saw on twitter that Hoke announced Gardner and the rest of the staff will be back for 2014
 

twibnotes

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ESPN Bowl Projections has Michigan playing Georgia in the Gator bowl, I think that would be a pretty fun match up.


Fun for sure...but also a pathway to a 7-6 record in all likelihood
 

twibnotes

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Hopefully it's nothing, but it's distressing to see recruits like Peppers and Crawford making some noise about exploring other options. Such a bummer the Wolverines didn't convert that 2-pt conversion last week...I think that would have really brought some stability and optimism back to Ann Arbor.


http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/12/jabrill_peppers_to_rivals_dash.html#incart_flyout_sports


http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/12/report_michigan_commit_shaun_c.html
 

WayBackVazquez

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No Bowl thread this year, I guess. It's too bad mabrowndog seems to have retired; I'm certainly too lazy to do it.
 
Minnesota is putting on a very hard push for a Gator Bowl invite (including on the official athletic department twitter account). Seems a little bit odd, as you'd think the other bowls might not want to be such an open second choice.
 
I'm REALLY hoping for the BW3 Bowl for selfish reasons. A bowl game between the holidays and in the west is the only game I'd attend this year. And I'd prefer to see a matchup against Texas which might actually give us a chance at a win.
 

Senator Donut

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There's only one reason why MSU-OSU was not to decide a national championship. You're welcome.
 

sachmoney

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Domer said:
There's only one reason why MSU-OSU was not to decide a national championship. You're welcome.
Uh, you're welcome for what? It would've been to decide who is going to go to the national championship and I'm not sure either would have held up against Florida State. So I don't accept your "you're welcome." You're still chicken and I hate you Domers. :)
 

WayBackVazquez

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Domer said:
There's only one reason why MSU-OSU was not to decide a national championship. You're welcome.
This is especially rich coming from you.

I'm not sure there's an NFL team MSU could play that would make for a worse game than we had to endure last year,
 

Old Fart Tree

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WayBackVazquez said:
This is especially rich coming from you.

I'm not sure there's an NFL team MSU could play that would make for a worse game than we had to endure last year,
 
I think this is a case of history not repeating itself, but rhyming.
 

Dgilpin

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Well Buffalo Wild Wings bowl it is , good for WBV crappy for the rest of us. Personally playing on New Year's Day still has a huge appeal for me . Sure Kansas St is a much more beatable opponent , but I don't think anyone really will be excited about 7-6 vs 8-5. At least a chance to knock off a team like Georgia would have been a nice momentum boost , but that's not in the cards.
 

twibnotes

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Well Buffalo Wild Wings bowl it is , good for WBV crappy for the rest of us. Personally playing on New Year's Day still has a huge appeal for me . Sure Kansas St is a much more beatable opponent , but I don't think anyone really will be excited about 7-6 vs 8-5. At least a chance to knock off a team like Georgia would have been a nice momentum boost , but that's not in the cards.


Game kicks off past 10 pm on Dec 28. Far cry from where I thought we'd be in year 3 of the Hoke era. I know I'm stating the very obvious, but next year is a HUGE year for the program. If we're back in the BW3 Bowl next year, alumni and fans are going to go ballistic.
 

Granite Sox

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Peppers re-affirms, but Campbell bolts.
 
Campbell's defection is a headline grabber for sure, but I honestly think they have decent talent at that position (Darboh, Funchess, Chesson, Harris, Ways, York, Dukes, Jones, Canteen) to be able to absorb the blow.  And all of those guys (with the exception of Canteen) are over 6' 2".
 
The issue is ensuring they have a QB that can reliably make good decisions and spread the ball around, and an OC that can install the right kind of passing game to complement the intended "man ball" running game.
 
*sigh*
 
Now I just made myself pissed again.
 

Zososoxfan

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Yeah, this definitely isn't good or fun, but it's also not crippling. IIRC, GC didn't take any other visits (or in the alternative, he wants to take more), so this may be just be a way for him to do so without violating Michigan's visit policy. As DPU said, by the time GC would get to UM, our WR corps wouldn't be in the direst of straights. He would probably get PT since he's such a specimen and would merit some PT, but he also wouldn't likely be a starter. At least not to start the year. I also may be just rationalizing at this point, so take this with a grain of recruiting salt. 
 

sachmoney

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I disagree. George Campbell is an athletic freak. He's going to be the DGB of his class. Wherever he ends up, he'll be too good not to play. You can't keep that level of athleticism of the field. I agree that UM can get along without him, but losing him is huge. He's going to be most impactful players of his recruitment class.
 

twibnotes

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For all the bashing, much of it deserved IMO, of Borges, Mattison has not gotten the job done in a lot of games this year.
 

Dgilpin

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They are getting blow out in a 3rd tier bowl game (not all that surprising) , with the resources committed at what point does the administration realize they deserve better. I would hope all the fans are already at this point. This is embarrassing for Michigan football.
 

twibnotes

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Does anyone feel good about the direction of this program under Brady hoke ?


No. Most definitely not.

But, he's back next year so I'm praying they make other changes to the staff and show significant improvement next year. Very hard to feel optimistic though.
 

Granite Sox

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sachmoney said:
Going to bed early last night was absolutely the right call.
 
Ditto.
 
Frustrated with myself for being so disappointed in 18-23 YO young men.  I shouldn't be disappointed in the players.
 
I'm upset with school/AD for being so incompetent in re-building this program.  They're an embarrassment to the legacy of Michigan football.
 
Have never seen a softer Michigan team in my life, and it galls me to say that.
 

twibnotes

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Ditto.

Frustrated with myself for being so disappointed in 18-23 YO young men. I shouldn't be disappointed in the players.

I'm upset with school/AD for being so incompetent in re-building this program. They're an embarrassment to the legacy of Michigan football.

Have never seen a softer Michigan team in my life, and it galls me to say that.
There were questions about hoke (no headset, too traditional, etc) even when optimism was the prevailing sentiment, but he was supposed to bring toughness back. That was supposed to be the given within the equation.

The whole situation is as perplexing as it is frustrating. They should be better.
 

Soxfan in Fla

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That game was a thing of beauty. Pizza Boy Brandon is pulling a Jerry Jones/Dan Snyder. Watching film with coaches, contacting verbal commits. Hoke is a joke. That team was its best under Hoke with RichRod recruits. Barely any Hoke recruits seem to be progressing. The State of a Michigan is being taken over by MSU. They are licking down the tip 2015 recruits and ever since they handed UM it's ass top recruits have been jumping ship and the offense has looked terrible outside of the OSU game.
 

Zososoxfan

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Yeah, that was all around pretty bad. Hoke and the program have a very big year coming up in 2014. I think there's enough people out there willing to accept the argument that Hoke's recruits are just starting to enter their upperclassmen years to get a pass (although not a free one) on this year. Next year, there needs to be marked improvement both in results and development of players. Anything worse than an 8-4 regular season puts Hoke's job in serious jeopardy and with the brutal schedule next year, that will be tough.  
 

sachmoney

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Hoke has sucked the joy out of MIchigan football for me. He raised my expectations but he hasn't really been any less frustrating than Rich Rod. He seems to say the right things, but talk and action are two entirely different things and his teams really haven't delivered on the field. They can talk about execution all day because it's an easy thing to say and no one is going to question them for it, but there's a lack of development and there's a lack of adjustments. I think Mattison is the highlight of the staff, but his guys took a huge step back this year. The defense faded immensely as the season went along. I'm just so disappointed with everything. It's embarrassing.
 
My not secret confession is that I've enjoyed watching Michigan State play because of that defense more than Michigan all year. They're physical. They're tough. If Hoke's goals or expectations for what his team should look like were to come to life, they'd be like that MSU defense. Same reason I love watching Stanford or Alabama. Michigan is soft. That's it. Things aren't right.
 

twibnotes

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sachmoney wrote:
Hoke has sucked the joy out of MIchigan football for me. He raised my expectations but he hasn't really been any less frustrating than Rich Rod. He seems to say the right things, but talk and action are two entirely different things and his teams really haven't delivered on the field. They can talk about execution all day because it's an easy thing to say and no one is going to question them for it, but there's a lack of development and there's a lack of adjustments. I think Mattison is the highlight of the staff, but his guys took a huge step back this year. The defense faded immensely as the season went along. I'm just so disappointed with everything. It's embarrassing.
And some of the quotes from the players (e.g., Clark's quote about how a team needs to be a family) imply that Hoke has locker room issues. We know he's not an X's and O's guy, so what good is he if he can't even get all his guys pulling the rope the same way or playing hard in a bowl game?!

Brandon can say all he wants about Hoke being the long-term answer, but he's nuts if he isn't starting to consider alternatives if 2014 isn't a huge turnaround. I also think Brandon should be applying pressure on Hoke to make some changes. It sends an awful message to hold the line when a team so badly underperformed and shows such a poor trend.

I don't mean to say panic is the answer, but you can't stay the course completely. There needs to be a culture of accountability. Otherwise, take down the "those who stay will be champions" and spare me the "this is Michigan for godsakes" bc it's all bullshit if you allow incompetence to go unaddressed.
 

Zososoxfan

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Mgoblog does a Q&A column with an OSU counterpart every year before The Game and this year, one thing the OSU guy wrote that stuck with me was how Michigan's fanbase getting complacent has been very helpful to OSU (e.g. OSU fans were calling for Fickel's head and he was doing much better than Borges). It's hard to reconcile that though with the poor results post-Lloyd and the fact that RR didn't get a full class of recruits in (although the bigger issue IMHO will always be the fractured football family that didn't fully support RR) and it will take some breaks for Hoke to get through season 5. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Hoke has at least restored some harmony among the football family (boosters, alumni, etc.) and brought in some good/great recruiting classes, but if he doesn't get it together fast, the case to bring in a high profile and proven coach will become much stronger and justifiable. 
 

twibnotes

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Mgoblog does a Q&A column with an OSU counterpart every year before The Game and this year, one thing the OSU guy wrote that stuck with me was how Michigan's fanbase getting complacent has been very helpful to OSU (e.g. OSU fans were calling for Fickel's head and he was doing much better than Borges). It's hard to reconcile that though with the poor results post-Lloyd and the fact that RR didn't get a full class of recruits in (although the bigger issue IMHO will always be the fractured football family that didn't fully support RR) and it will take some breaks for Hoke to get through season 5. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Hoke has at least restored some harmony among the football family (boosters, alumni, etc.) and brought in some good/great recruiting classes, but if he doesn't get it together fast, the case to bring in a high profile and proven coach will become much stronger and justifiable.
Complacency is a double-edged sword. Brandon wants to be able to not only fill Michigan Stadium but also charge a premium price*. This gets harder, if not impossible, if the fan base is giving up hope, especially in challenging economic times.

*Friend of a friend had a chance to meet Brandon and talk at length about Michigan athletics right after Brandon took the AD job. Brandon spoke about how Ohio St, while our rival, was the measuring stick. They charged a higher price for their tickets, and Michigan needed to improve the quality of the product on the field, he acknowledged, to be able to command such a price.
 

Dgilpin

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Well it looks like one of out wishes came true , Hoke announced today that Borges will not be back for the 2014 season. It will be interesting to see who they bring in to replace him