Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (TK23Blue)

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:46:09 GMT

blueinflorida

One question I have is.....Why have we not thrown the ball to Carson Butler more??? The dude is a freak athlete and could be one of the top tight ends in the country. Send that guy down the seem and throw it to him.

Thank you! That throw is there-take it! And slants please! If our QB's don't kick it in gear and soon, we're in trouble. Frankly I'm surprised how poorly they throw a football. Both of them. Just not good at all.

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (blueinflorida)

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:10:58 GMT

One question I have is.....Why have we not thrown the ball to Carson Butler more??? The dude is a freak athlete and could be one of the top tight ends in the country. Send that guy down the seem and throw it to him.

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (MichiganFanInOhio)

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:02:14 GMT

BigBlue06

Remember RR said he isn't working with the entire playbook yet so maybe that is where the intermediate passes are...running over the middle.

One thing I didn't see written was how awful ND's special teams are, particularly the kicking game. Their place kicker and punter are horrible. We could definitely make a difference in that respect.

I can tell you one thing, if Michigan plays nearly every series like the opening drive against Miami this won't even be remotely close!!!

Good!!! After going against Utah's place kicker who couldn't miss to going up against Miami's punter who couldn't hit one under 60 yards it will be nice to see some average kickers... I couldn't believe that Miami punter last week. Talk about changing field position. He'd boom off a 60 yarder every time and the way Warren was returning them, it seemed he was pinning us inside our 20 every freaking time?! I think some of the praise as to why Miami was able to hang with Michigan last week definitely needs to go to their punter!

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (BigHouseFootball)

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:04:50 GMT

Well I said i was back and forth on this and I've flip flopped again, I'm going with Michigan to eek this one out 10-6, two FGs by Notre Dame. This is a must win for Michigan if they want to make it to a bowl game, they lose this one and they stand 1-2 and they would have to go 5-4 the rest of the way and the schedule gets tough when they head into Big Ten play with Wisconsin, Illinois, Penn State, Michigan State, and Ohio State.

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (UM-Carolina)

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:47:42 GMT

I like how Weis is now backpedaling and saying the comment was meant as a tribute to Bo. That would make sense if he said it in a news conference as tongue-n-cheek and left out the part of UM using our new regime change as an excuse. Also, it seems a little funny that someone would pay tribute to a rival's old coach in front of their own supporters.

He does, however, seem like the type of person who respects every opponent. ;)

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3578311

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (BigBlue06)

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:45:34 GMT

Remember RR said he isn't working with the entire playbook yet so maybe that is where the intermediate passes are...running over the middle.

One thing I didn't see written was how awful ND's special teams are, particularly the kicking game. Their place kicker and punter are horrible. We could definitely make a difference in that respect.

I can tell you one thing, if Michigan plays nearly every series like the opening drive against Miami this won't even be remotely close!!!

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (MichiganFanInOhio)

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:49:41 GMT

umgoblue14

Sorry I hope I am wrong but I do not see us beating ND. All they have to do is to stack the line and stop the run. Our QBs cannot make good passes over 20 yards! Our defense will be on the field too long and ND will get their payback.

What I'm wondering is where are all of the intermediate passes? It seems Michigan has been calling for either screen passes or 15-20+ yard downfield passes. Nothing really inbetween. With all of the speed we have at receiver, why not try to connect more on some slants with our abundance of slot receivers??? I think we could really exploit some defenses doing this and it could get whoever is playing QB into a bit of a better rhythm setting up the deep balls.

And as far as ND stacking the box forcing us to throw, didn't they do this last year when we had Ryan Mallet making his first career start as a true freshman? I seem to recall that Michigan STILL ran it down ND's throats. ND knew it was coming and they STILL couldn't stop us! I know that Michigan will be relying on a young inexperienced line to open things up this year, but the running game actually started to show some signs of life last week against a Miami (OH) defense that had 9 starters returning including all 3 LB's that were named to the Butkus watch list (first time that's happened BTW).

If, and that's a BIG IF, our passing game can get into any sort of rhythm whatsoever, I would expect Michigan to have a good day in South Bend. It would be great timing if Threet could iron out his accuracy problems he's been having. I really don't see the Irish offense putting up too many points on our D. Yes, our secondary has looked vulnerable at times, but I think if SDSU's front 7 could get pressure on Clausen, I'm confident that our's can as well. Pressure from the front 7 makes your secondary look a lot better and if they can put Clausen on his back early and often making him flustered, bad things will be sure to follow for ND!

I'm not guaranteeing a win like that idiot Lou Holz did for ND. But I wonder if he did any back pedallling after watching Notre Lame's less than inspiring win over a terrible SDSU team???

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (UM-Carolina)

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:07:12 GMT

I am predicting you will see a more balanced offense. We will have 250+ passing yards and 150+ rushing. The mid to long range passing has been abysmal, however, this is the week it starts to click a bit.

UM 24, ND 13

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (Conquering Hero)

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:30:32 GMT

ND = Cupcake until proven otherwise.

Respect has to be earned on the field.

This is the same ND team as last year that we could have lined up 11 members of the marching band and still destroyed. And Charlie Weis is still their coach. Exactly who on this Notre Dame team is there for our defense to worry about?. A frosh receiver?

We'll get a lot of our talented guys touches and we'll run the football. Anything Threet or Sheridan can do will just be gravy. I predict the defense or special teams add a score at some point as well.

A lot of great talking points and analysis in this thread, but the only thing I'm worried about is shooting ourselves in the foot with costly mistakes. As long as we don't do that, we'll be fine.

BigHouse also makes a great point about not having to play from behind with this inexperienced offense. A good start to the game and calming all those early stomach butterflies is key for this unit.

24-10 MICHIGAN

Go Blue!!

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (blueinflorida)

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:48:00 GMT

SCM---I agree---we match up with them w/ our defense vs. their offense. Our defense SHOULD dominate their crappy offense. Hell, SDSU outplayed them imo. I just haven't been impressed at all with our defense. I mean, yeah---we gave up 6 points to SDSU and 10 yards of offense or something to Utah in the 2nd half. But there have been far too many third and long conversions, poor linebacking play on underneath routes and I'm thinking along the lines of BigHouse----just feel like at some point our safeties are gonna get beat (S. Brown) and ND's gonna get a big play.

I hope I'm wrong.

I will say this-----if we dont have any turnovers I think we win the game. And I want this game badly. Going into Wiscy 2-1 is a whole lot better than heading into that game 1-2. But I digress....Like you always say----one game at a time.

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (MJackson)

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:41:52 GMT

everyone here knows my hate for ND. I simply can't stand that arrogant, overrated team and its coach.

I agree with SCM. Andre Ware and others kept saying how Miami-OH could have been up by if they didn't make mental mistakes (dropped passes, most notably), and he's right, they could have played better, and, quite possibly, have won the game. but what no one is talking about, is that Threet overthrew 4 (by my count) passes where the WR was WIDE open. two of those were on the third drive, and after we didn't cash in, Lopata missed the FG. another was an overthrow to, I think, Stonum, on the far side where he beat his man by several steps, and I didn't see a defender in front of him. that's a potential 14 points left on the table that we didn't cash in on

to me, the game plan for the ND game is going to have to be vintage UM. Run the ball, to set up the pass. I saw the game against SDSU, and I really believe that we have a chance to put up some yards. from what I saw, their front 7 was average, at best, especially when you consider that they were blitzing like crazy without getting enough pressure or causing bad throws from the Aztecs QB. their linebackers had a tough time covering their spread formations, and, we have some guys who should be able to take advantage (Odoms, Shaw, McGuffie, etc.).

I feel VERY good about our D against their offense. but, like you all know, the game is played on the field and not on paper, and that means that our D-line has to play to their potential, which means, DOMINATING their O-line, similar to last year. if we do that, we should be in great shape. it's ironic, because I also thought our secondary would be very good this year, especially with Trent and Warren both returning. But the departure of both the safeties, especially Englemon, has been tougher than I thought. Brandon Harrison has been solid at the SS, but Stevie Brown has, to be nice, struggled mightily. he's missed several open field tackles, taken bad angles, and missed an INT opportunity against Miami-OH.

BTW, is it just me, or has Morgan Trent been playing less than stellar compared to last year? I thought he'd be even better than last year, considering he was the most improved player from 06 to 07, but he's been beat on a few plays deep, which was rare last year, and he's not even going against great competition. Hopefully, it's just a bad game, and he can shake it off and be a stellar corner like last year. Warren, on the other hand, has been lights out. It seems as though he got taller, and has IDEAL size for a corner. he's been making plays all over the field, and almost got two INTs, although they would have been tough catches.

I hope we win by 5 TDs, but know that it probably isn't going to happen. but I do think that if our D-line plays well, like last year, and there's no reason why they can't, we might be able to win rather convincingly. maybe 10-17 point margin. but being that the game is in SB, and our team is VERY young, especially the QB and skill positions, I'll take a win any way it comes

can't wait for the ND game, just like every year

go blue!

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (Ghost_of_Yost)

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:26:59 GMT

For what it's worth... using Sagarin (who currently ranks Michigan as the 21st best team in the land), Michigan is favored by about 5.5 points by rating:

82.14 - [73.51 + 3] = 5.63

and by about 4.5 using the pure points method:

80.16 - [72.73 + 3] = 4.43

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt08.htm

Ghost

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (scmgoblue)

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:17:07 GMT

I still like the way we match up all over the field. Like always, this will come down to execution and turnovers. We took care of the football a lot better last week, but I think this team has barely touched its potential as far as execution goes.

I still think that if the quarterbacks manage to execute downfield at ALL, then our offense is capable of putting up some yards and points on this defense. SDSU was running behind the ND secondary most of the day, and our guys have not had trouble getting into space and getting open... the problem has been getting them the ball.

Naturally this is a huge "if", but if Threet and Sheridan manage anything above the level they've shown so far (which, frankly, is not asking much... at all), I think we're more than capable of moving the football and putting points on the board.

Big House, your concern with the safeties is valid... the one thing I hope to see Saturday is for us to come out from the opening snap and get right in the face of the ND receivers with our corners to try to take away their ability to simply sprint downfield. We are fortunate enough that we have a LOADED front four and a decent group of linebackers behind them, the safeties should be able to play over the top while we try to get pressure with our front seven... their entire focus of the safeties this week should be to not let someone get behind them. I think if we take away the lob ball by disrupting routes and coming after Clausen time and again then I think the Notre Dame offense is going to be in dire straits against our defense.

I do think that if Michigan can manage to improve on their execution at all we're going to be able to do some things on Saturday.

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (Mblueblood)

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:13:18 GMT

Its going to come down to our secondary against their passing attack. Both of Michigan's recent opponents had a lot of balls dropped by receivers. I wouldn't count on this from this point on. If we're not better prepared we could get blown out by ND. I Just hope to see significant improvement this week.

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (MEECHIGANN)

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:03:32 GMT

We gotta make sure we get up 2 scores in the 4th quarter cause if it's 10-6 or something like that you know ND will get one of those lucky call/sketchy fumble returns or some kind of weird play to take the lead and win ugly. As long as we stay up by 10 or more we can weather the storm, I just remember 4 years ago being up 9-0 all game them losing when ND finally moved the ball and we were too conservative to come back, again with a lot of freshman and coaching too conservatively. Nothing to lose this week since no one expects greatness, a win's a win this year.

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (heisman)

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:48:02 GMT

If UM blitzes on every down, I don't know how NoD will even score. If your offense can just run it a bit and not turn it over, they win easily.

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (Eric72GoBlue)

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:00:48 GMT

BigHouseFootball

I've been going back and forth on this game for awhile. At the start of the season I thought we would have no problems with Notre Dame. Then I thought that ND would beat us, then after watching their game I have a feeling the winner might win it 3-0!

The Notre Dame defense is bad, SDS marched up and down the field on them on some drives-Michigan marched down on Miami twice and that's about it. So which is worse-ND's defense or Michigan offense? Michigan cannot get in it's own way, meaning there cannot be any penalties. This team just cannot overcome them at this point, they are definitely drive killers.

Then you have the Michigan defense vs the ND offense. Notre Dame still can't run the ball, and the M line will be much better than SDS, so they are going to have to beat M through the air, which is a concerning. Is anyone else a bit surprised, and a bit concerned about the big passing plays the opposition has been able to complete against us? Now it is not every down, but there have been a lot of 3rd and longs that the other team has picked up through the air and our poor safety play has been talked about already.

This is where I think the difference will come. I just do not trust our secondary like I did last year, where it was the strong point of the defense. I think ONE time, I don't know when, I don't know who, but I think ONE time ND completes a long pass for a TD and that will be the difference.

If Michigan is to win they must play with the lead, I just do not think they have the fire power to come from behind on the road in a hostile environment.

Now I hope I am really wrong! I hope Notre Dame comes out and plays like they did against SDS and the Michigan offense can get things going with the poor play from their D. And the Michigan defense plants Jimmy into the turf all day long like they did to him last year and Quinn the year before.

I think this is going to be a game where the defenses dominate and the offense struggle to get anything going. But being at Notre Dame, I just cannot shake this feeling of one big pass play that makes the difference, add it to the list of strange things that have happened to Michigan in that stadium.

10-7 Notre Dame.

Nailed it. I still think Michigan will win 10-7, but what you said hit everything that I have hought about. Our secondary is playing like old typical slow Michigan. Not really slow Michigan, but more not knowing what to do, and taking bad angles. Oh well, I hope we win, cause I hate Mark May an Lou Holtz.

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (hart#20)

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:02:51 GMT

my point michigan needs a good game plan and the offense needs to stop keep the quaterback safe in the pocket and not get sacked

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (hart#20)

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:56:47 GMT

yeah there is a way michigan can beat ND if they can exacute on offense and stop the running and passing game, and if the the quaterback can have a good game and can aviod getting sacked.

Re:Ain't no way Michigan beats ND this weekend (BigHouseFootball)

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:30:07 GMT

I've been going back and forth on this game for awhile. At the start of the season I thought we would have no problems with Notre Dame. Then I thought that ND would beat us, then after watching their game I have a feeling the winner might win it 3-0!

The Notre Dame defense is bad, SDS marched up and down the field on them on some drives-Michigan marched down on Miami twice and that's about it. So which is worse-ND's defense or Michigan offense? Michigan cannot get in it's own way, meaning there cannot be any penalties. This team just cannot overcome them at this point, they are definitely drive killers.

Then you have the Michigan defense vs the ND offense. Notre Dame still can't run the ball, and the M line will be much better than SDS, so they are going to have to beat M through the air, which is a concerning. Is anyone else a bit surprised, and a bit concerned about the big passing plays the opposition has been able to complete against us? Now it is not every down, but there have been a lot of 3rd and longs that the other team has picked up through the air and our poor safety play has been talked about already.

This is where I think the difference will come. I just do not trust our secondary like I did last year, where it was the strong point of the defense. I think ONE time, I don't know when, I don't know who, but I think ONE time ND completes a long pass for a TD and that will be the difference.

If Michigan is to win they must play with the lead, I just do not think they have the fire power to come from behind on the road in a hostile environment.

Now I hope I am really wrong! I hope Notre Dame comes out and plays like they did against SDS and the Michigan offense can get things going with the poor play from their D. And the Michigan defense plants Jimmy into the turf all day long like they did to him last year and Quinn the year before.

I think this is going to be a game where the defenses dominate and the offense struggle to get anything going. But being at Notre Dame, I just cannot shake this feeling of one big pass play that makes the difference, add it to the list of strange things that have happened to Michigan in that stadium.

10-7 Notre Dame.