Michigan Week

[swerb]

MICHIGAN 7.5 Ohio State

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Buckeyes win. Denard get's picked 3 times, including one pick 6.

[swerb]

I have a bad feeling about this game.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

I'm not worried. Braxton will shred their D with his running. They won't be able to stop Herron.

Buckeyes win. Book it.

[DrPoove]

The fact that UM now has a more than competant coach and staff and we do not is a very bad combination.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

We may rush for 400 yards against that soft D. John Simon or Big Hank hits Denard once and he's gonna need to be scraped off the turf with a shovel.

We're gonna win.

[JCoz]

This is going to be a very tough game to get a win in.

This is the worst team since maybe 2001 to go to Michigan looking for a win. Defense looked as bad as it has all season this week. Offense wasn't far behind. Meanwhile Michigan may be coming off its best win of the season and maybe the best win for the program in several years.

And they have the coaching edge for the first time since 2000.

I'll be rooting like hell for the bucks but there is nothing, and I mean nothing, rational pointing to a buckeye victory this Saturday.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Other than Nebraska, who have they beaten?

[JCoz]

Other than Nebraska, who have they beaten?

Purdue?

It really isnt about how great I feel Michigan is, I didnt even insinuate that I feel that way. Its about how shitty this buckeyes team is playing, and how badly the coaches have performed all season.

Is this not the worst Buckeye team we've brought there in the last decade?

Are we not coming off one of the shittier performances of the season, despite being at home for senior day with all the players that were suspended earlier in the year?

Do we have the better coaching staff?

[Cerebral_DownTime]

I'm just not worried. I think our DLine controls the LoS. Denard is prone to throwing shit passes, that should bode well for our secondary. You give them a steady dose of Brax, Boom, and Hyde. Pound the rock, baby.

[JCoz]

I'm just not worried. I think our DLine controls the LoS. Denard is prone to throwing shit passes, that should bode well for our secondary. You give them a steady dose of Brax, Boom, and Hyde. Pound the rock, baby.

Yah, you see a heavy dose of of Brax, Boom, and Hyde.I see a heavy dose of Walrusball.

You see Denards arm punts and I am recalling more blown coverages in one season than in the last 4 seasons combined.

This is certainly a beatable Michigan team, and the outhouse is not a scary place to play. My heart says there is no reason we can't win this game, but my head says we probably wont.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

I don't give a shit what anyone says. This is Ohio State Vs Michigan, and we're gonna win goddamnit.

[Bayou Tribe]

tOSU by 13, Denard Robinson is the most overhyped player in college football this year. Buckeyes get a guy in his face early on and he's going to be heaving up pop flies.

[danwismar]

Michigan is the weakest 9-2 team I can remember in a while. They benefited by not having to play the top two teams in the Leaders (Wisc, PSU), and Brian Kelly should be fired for letting them go 80 yards in the final 30 seconds to beat ND.

Still, they're peaking at the right time. Toussaint is playing well, taking the heat off Denard. Mattison has the defense playing much, much better. I think the streak ends this Saturday. Take heart, though...the way my predictions have been going, that gives OSU a great shot.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

3 Facts about Wolverines.

FACT: Wolverines are considered all but extinct in Michigan.

FACT: Wolverines are the largest member of the skunk family, they smell like shit soaked in turpentine.

FACT: Wolverines are stupid and no one likes them.

[neoleo]

Purdue gave up like 700 combined yards rushing to Wisconsin and michigan the two weeks before we played them and they shut us down. If we can't run against Purdue's D, I'm not so confident against anybody, even michigan's soft underbelly of a defense.

Edited to add actual stats:
Wisconsin vs. Purdue - 54 rushes for 364 yards, 6.7
michigan vs. Purdue - 53 rushes for 339 yards, 6.4
OSU vs. Purdue - 47 rushes for 163 yards, 3.5
(Purdue ranks 85th nationally allowing 183 rushing yards per game and a 4.3 ypc)

This means nothing in the grand scheme of things, it's just statistical evidence of why I'm not at all confident in our offense. We caught Purdue (pur-fucking-do) on the tail end of back-to-back whoopings and we couldn't even get an average number against the 85th ranked run defense in the nation. For the record, michigan ranks 43rd against the run, two spots below OSU's juggernaut defense.

[neoleo]

All of that being said, it's michigan week and that still means something. In fact, this game might mean even more to me than it has in the past decade. This is the ONLY thing we have to play for. Go Bucks!

[WiscTribeFan]

There are 10 years of pent up rage building inside UM's football program. If their coach has any sense of what DickRod didn't do, he's motivating them to come out, knock OSU to the ground and crush their windpipes until they stop breathing, then kick the body a few times for good measure.

This is going to be a motivated group on Saturday. They are going to come out with their foot on the accelerator and they aren't going to take it off. I don't like our chances, but this season has been just so damned depressing, it's hard for me to see the potential for OSU to win.

I hope I'm wrong.

[DrPoove]

3 Facts about Wolverines.

FACT: Wolverines are considered all but extinct in Michigan.

FACT: Wolverines are the largest member of the skunk family, they smell like shit soaked in turpentine.

FACT: Wolverines are stupid and no one likes them.

Substitute CDT for Wolverines and maybe you have some accurate statements.

This isn't about Michigan being good, it's about tOSU being bad and being horrendously overmatched, on paper, in the coaching department.

Add that to a road game in a hostile stadium dying for a victory and it is not a good equation.

Do I hope the Buckeyes sh*t all over UM's season? F yeah.

Do I think they will? No.

[Madre Hill, Superstar]

tOSU wins and Gordon Gee calls it the greatest season in team history and gives Fickell an extension.

All told, I think I want to drink myself stupid Saturday morning and check the scores Sunday morning.

[FUDU]

Not feeling great about this game but it is very winnable.

But honestly if there was ever a year when a loss to scum wouldn't really hurt that bad, this is it.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Not feeling great about this game but it is very winnable.

But honestly if there was ever a year when a loss to scum wouldn't really hurt that bad, this is it.

Fuck off, asshole.

[exiledbuckeye]

UM's seniors have never beaten Michigan State or Ohio State. It would be damn nice to see OSU keep it that way.

[furls]

Reality check here:

1. There is no team leadership on this OSU team. No one. The all american 4 year starting center who rolls 4 snaps per game to Braxton Miller. An offensive team that just stands there as a freshman QB has to push between 2 PSU defenders to get back to the huddle, no one has his back? NO LEADERSHIP on either side of the ball.

2. No leadership on the side line or in the booth. No in game adjustments, just surprised and shocked looks after half time.

3. Michigan has a bad defense overall and a porous run defense. tOSU cannot capitalize on it because Jim Bollman is the worst play caller in history. You cannot count on running the ball into 8-9 man fronts, even scUM can stop that.

4. The margin for this offense is so slim that any mistake ends a drive. Rolled snap on 2nd down for five yard loss = punt unless Miller converts a miracle 3rd down QB draw that everyone is expecting (see point 3). False start penalties are drive killers, even on first down. Michigan's D is on par with Purdue and this offense made them look like the 85 bears.

5. The LB play is absolutely fucking PUTRID (except Shazier). That is why the read option is destroying this defense. The play keys off the DE, if the LBs are good then defending it is trivial (see OSU vs. Michigan during the dick Rod era) if the LBs don't read it, the first guy with a shot at the play is the FS 10 yards down field (unless you have some bad ass run supporting CBs and the QB keeps). Storm Klein and Sabino are generally out of position (almost all the time) and Klein is just to slow to make up for it. Sabino can make up for it with some speed, but it still causes 5 yard gains. Shazier is just so young that he ends up out of position as well. The most positionally sound LB this year was Sweat.

6. Tyler Moeller sucks but is still playing the majority of the snaps. The guy is just not good. Sorry, I know he is a Buckeye through and through (blah, blah, blah) but he stinks and needs to ride the pine.

7. The secondary cannot hold on to the ball. I cannot remember a guy dropping as many INTs as Bryant has this year. Denard Robinson will throw plenty of ducks this Saturday. The problem is that our DBs will drop them.

8. tOSU does not have any speed in the front four. Simon is pretty damn fast for a 3 Tech DT, but right now he is playing as tOSU's "Speed Rusher" on the outside, where his speed advantage is not as pronounced. tOSU needs a real WDE, the outside pass rush has sucked all year. Hankins, Bennett and Bellamy and Goebel have been very good filling out the line, but this team lacks pass rush and neither Klein nor Sabino have displayed any ability to get to the QB on blitzes.

9. OSU's secondary should be able to easily cover scUM's pedestrian WRs. Roundtree is their only good WR. That said, I am not sure that this really matters because the LB play has been so bad that I am not sure that scUM will actually have to throw the ball.

Personally I think scUM should win this game by 2 TDs. My heart is with the Bucks on this one, but my brain screams bad matchup and bad loss. I think the Bucks only hope is recognizing that they are going to be relegated to the Poulan Pro Chainsaw Bowl and this is the last relevant game they will play this year for LF. Hopefully, these guys love Luke enough to send him out Earle Bruce style with an unexpected win over the Skunkbears. I am praying that they can find unity this week.

[JCoz]

5. The LB play is absolutely fucking PUTRID (except Shazier). That is why the read option is destroying this defense. The play keys off the DE, if the LBs are good then defending it is trivial (see OSU vs. Michigan during the dick Rod era) if the LBs don't read it, the first guy with a shot at the play is the FS 10 yards down field (unless you have some bad ass run supporting CBs and the QB keeps). Storm Klein and Sabino are generally out of position (almost all the time) and Klein is just to slow to make up for it. Sabino can make up for it with some speed, but it still causes 5 yard gains. Shazier is just so young that he ends up out of position as well. The most positionally sound LB this year was Sweat.

Its actually worse than you might think, because IIRC, I think OSU attacks that read option by taking away the read, or reading it for the opponant by always crashing the DE and having the LBer scrape and clean up the play, the LBer's shouldn't have to think much at all for those plays, its just they are so fucking bad (particularly Sabino, christ I've NEVER seen a LBer out of position more than him)that they still always manage to be in the wrong place or failing to get off blocks.

[furls]

Sabino is always out of position and Klein cannot get off a block (or catch someone in pursuit). It is absolutely awful.

Here are some very interesting stats:

-Jonathan Hankins (60) is 3rd on the team in tackles and has more tackles (as a DT) than Sabino (50) or Klein (41).
-Shazier (38) is only three tackles behind Klein in about 1/3 the reps!

-Andrew Sweat is first on the team in tackles (68). Guess who is second. You are probably thinking it is Simon, and he sure does get a lot of hype (well deserved), but he is 6th. The sad fact is that a safety is our second leading tackler (makes sense considering how many plays the LBs miss). More on this in the next bullet.

-Since 2007 (I couldn't find tackling stats any earlier) Ohio State's top two tacklers have been LBs and it usually is not very close. Generally, the "Star" (LB/Safety nickelback) is third. Tough to say who the "Star" is on this year's team Bryant has been filling that role more than Moeller but it still does not excuse Moeller's god awful play this year.

-I don't remember who said it, but someone said that Hankins is not active enough to be an elite NFL prospect. His 60 tackles disagree with you.

-Simon leads the team with 13.5TFL. Most since 2007? Gholston with 15.5 in 2007. Big difference there is that Gholston only made 37 tackles that year. Simon is on pace for 50 this year (still not as many as Big Hanks ridiculous 60).

[furls]

One last point on tackling (play making on D).

Here is some perspective on Hank's 60 Tackles... He is on pace for 71-72 this year. The most tackles since 07 by a DL? Cameron Heyward 48 last year. Heyward, known for his relentless motor led all OSU DL in tackles every year he played except his freshman year and he still never broke 50. Hank is a legitimate top 15 pick in next year's draft if the defense gets him enough hype wit good overall play.