Do we really have a chance to win a NT with Harbaugh?

[tarun262]

Not because he can't coach or recruit - he's one of the best. But because the refs hate him and as a result we get zero calls for us in our favor. They held us all day long - we got shafted against OSU we got shafted against FSU. What gives? At some point if you are playing against the refs you won't really ever have a chance to win.

Terrible. Personally I hope JH has so much talent on his team that he spanks the crap out of teams.

On another note - I think our Srs are just not very good - I feel like a lot of our freshmen are better then our seniors which is really encouraging for the future. 2017 will be great! Go Blue!

 

[ChicagoBlueFan]

Not because he can't coach or recruit - he's one of the best. But because the refs hate him and as a result we get zero calls for us in our favor. They held us all day long - we got shafted against OSU we got shafted against FSU. What gives? At some point if you are playing against the refs you won't really ever have a chance to win.

Terrible. Personally I hope JH has so much talent on his team that he spanks the crap out of teams.

On another note - I think our Srs are just not very good - I feel like a lot of our freshmen are better then our seniors which is really encouraging for the future. 2017 will be great! Go Blue!

Can you win a title with such atrocious offensive line play?
Did they have 15 TFLs against us? Ridiculous.

 

[maelfan]

The least of our problems in his six losses has been the refs.

In four of the six losses, yes including MSU last year, he was out coached.

Utah was a wash. OSUat home last year was what it was.

He was vastly out coached in the other four losses, especially our offense against opponents defense, something that is supposed to be his expertise.

Anyone not concerned about the glaring shortcomings on offense in four of those six losses has blinders on.

 

[ILiveBlue-GoCats]

UK fan by birth UM fan by marriage, SEC refs,especially this crew, are bad. My wife and I saw a lot of holding tonight. Too many not to call, seems suspect to me.

 

[Reality Man]

Refs are not the reason UM lost these close games.

Even if I remove the OL & running game and some conservative coaching (Iowa/OSU) this team had their chances at the end of games and couldn't win. By the way...they were all essentially road games.

Say what you will but nonetheless true.


RM

 

[ecrosswhite]

Yes

 

[BigHouseBallin]

I honestly don't think UM is as talented as some of us think they are especially on offense. The OL is average. The RBs and WRs are pedestrian. The QB is inconsistent.

I want to see Harbs with a legit OL, a legit RB and a game changer or two on the outside.

 

[tarun262]

Clearly you are watching a different game guys. I saw about 20 holds today that were not called included a couple where our D-line was straight tackled. You have to give kids a fair shot to play. This out-coached bullshit is crap. JH is in his 2nd year with players not really fit for his system and he has pulled out 20 wins...I would say that is pretty darn good.

 

[ArrowheadBlue]

It's amazing to read about how talented and experienced some of our posters are in coaching. You can second guess anyone including Meyer and Saban.

This team lost for several reasons as noted above.

 

[BigHouseBallin]

If people don't think Harbs can win a natty they're out of their damn minds... Give us another D like this one with some real talent on offense to go with it and we can beat anyone in the country. We don't have the depth of the top programs yet but that changing rapidly with each class Harbs brings in...

 

[33hawkfan]

He can't even beat Kirk Ferentz, that's a hell of a long way from winning a title. But hey thanks for letting the B10 down tonight.

 

[detroitjohn]

Not because he can't coach or recruit - he's one of the best. But because the refs hate him and as a result we get zero calls for us in our favor. They held us all day long - we got shafted against OSU we got shafted against FSU. What gives? At some point if you are playing against the refs you won't really ever have a chance to win.

Terrible. Personally I hope JH has so much talent on his team that he spanks the crap out of teams.

On another note - I think our Srs are just not very good - I feel like a lot of our freshmen are better then our seniors which is really encouraging for the future. 2017 will be great! Go Blue!

I didn't think we got shafted one bit by the refs in this one.

 

[ChicagoBlueFan]

He can't even beat Kirk Ferentz, that's a hell of a long way from winning a title. But hey thanks for letting the B10 down tonight.

Not being able to beat Kirk "NC" Ferentz is a bit shameful.
Still holding steady at 0?
Good try.

 

[maelfan]

Players not fit for what system?

Who else would he have wanted at his corners this year and last year to fit his system?
Tight end?
Receiver?
The entire d line?
I will give you linebacker and RB but will not give him a pass on the o line he inherited. None of the OLs who played this year are better than they were 24 months ago. None. Any improvement in OL play in 24 months and we beat MSU last year, Iowa this year and OSU this year. Aside from in game poor decisions, including tonight's 2 pat conversion , zero improvement from an entire unit in 24 months is coaching.

IF UM were 22-4 instead of 20-6 I could say that's about right. The loss to Iowa was Brady Hoke-esque. Take your pick between tonight and MSU last year as games where better coaching for 60 minutes would have produced a win.

Players fitting his system had nothing to do with his six losses. Nothing.

Clearly you are watching a different game guys. I saw about 20 holds today that were not called included a couple where our D-line was straight tackled. You have to give kids a fair shot to play. This out-coached bullshit is crap. JH is in his 2nd year with players not really fit for his system and he has pulled out 20 wins...I would say that is pretty darn good.

 

[JP2Blue]

I don't think Harbaugh has been anywhere near great, but this team definitely had its shortcomings.
Big lumbering QB's - Speight - Not a championship QB IMO.
Slow RB's - Deveon - I'll never know why the coaches favored him...
Pedestrian WR's - Chesson & Darboh

Losing 2 of your best players in Peppers & Butt really hurt us tonight.

 

[tarun262]

I doubt that if JH was a coach we would have recruited majority of our O-line, Smith, Ty Isaac, Darboh, or Chesson. Our Srs did not show up the last few months. We had so many dropped balls, O-line was terrible, etc. Basically our offense was off and that has to go on the seniors on offense. I know you hate everything about Michigan because you probably have not taken your meds (Maelfan that is) and nothing we can do would ever appease you but if you watch closely the younger kids out performed some of our stars for a majority of the season. You could see it today - Smith was useless and we had movement when Evans was in there. Kalis and Cole were the ones getting burned constantly on the O-line versus Bredeson.

JH is an old-school football coach and to do what he wants he needs to get folks that can establish the line of scrimmage and this O-line just was never able to do that except against PSU. Our O-line has some bad habits and I think as younger kids come in they will be more fundamentally sound compared to some of our Seniors. Chesson, Butt and Darboh dropped 15+ total passes in our 3 losses. If your 3 seniors do that, you are not going to win.

 

[Coach Ryan30]

We have a mediocre O line.
We have a mediocre QB
We have no top level running back.
We do not have a top level down field threat at the WR position.
Our best player is a punter all things considered.
Yet, we are 20-6 under Coach. How does that happen? Because he is damn good. Anyone at the MSU game last year? Terrible loss in a game that we should have never been in. That takes coaching. Tonight's game. Anyone see the difference in speed, athleticism tonight? Yet we should have won. That's good coaching. Offense sucks? Take a look at the talent. That's good coaching. Defense is great you say? Take a look at the talent. Ahhhhhh, see my point.

Good coaching will only take you so far and thats when players need to make plays. 4th down vs. OSU? The punt vs. MSU? The missed tackle on the kick off tonight? Ring any bells? Players must make plays and in some critical moments that has not happened and in other situations it has. We have some of those players but still not enough.

Let us not forget years ago we were washed up. Dead. 5-7. WE LOST TO RUTGERS! Now we are driven to blinding madness because our expectations have been set high. Athletics and competition are cruel. Inch here, inch there. The highs are real high and the lows are terrible. Dreams not realized. Expectations lost. My dad use to say "Rather be on a lucky team than a good team". We are a good team right now.

We have one of the best coaches in athletics period. Perfect? No. But was Saban a goat when Auburn ran back the field goal attempt to win the Iron Bowl? Shit happens. You had a team tonight who did not give up. That is the true reflection of our head coach. We are in great hands. Be supportive and write a post to help with your frustration. Here's to 2017! I have to go coach my team now...

 

[Sleeping Storm]

The least of our problems in his six losses has been the refs.

In four of the six losses, yes including MSU last year, he was out coached.

Utah was a wash. OSUat home last year was what it was.

He was vastly out coached in the other four losses, especially our offense against opponents defense, something that is supposed to be his expertise.

Anyone not concerned about the glaring shortcomings on offense in four of those six losses has blinders on.

That whole first year wasn't his fault. His only lost game was Iowa that's it

Refs shafted us bad vs Ohio. First game vs Ohio is whatever. Utah was whatever. Michigan state was all on the Punter. Sort of harbaughs fault I guess?? And this one ehh

 

[tarun262]

I didn't think we got shafted one bit by the refs in this one.

Really - there were some bad calls, not really as bad as OSU but we got called an awful lot for penalties while FSU did not and that hurt us. The big plays were surprising to me though in this game...a huge punt return, a 92 yard pass, a 80 yard run. We lost contain too often and that is the effect of not having someone like a Peppers.

On a side note, I know Peppers was our team MVP but crap, if not for Kenny Allen we likely lose our last 4 games and that too by a lot. That dude has been so clutch since the Wisconsin game. He'll have a solid NFL career somewhere. Today, his punts were all-world, his FGs were clutch and he saved a TD on a punt return.

 

[tarun262]

We have a mediocre O line.
We have a mediocre QB
We have no top level running back.
We do not have a top level down field threat at the WR position.
Our best player is a punter all things considered.
Yet, we are 20-6 under Coach. How does that happen? Because he is damn good. Anyone at the MSU game last year? Terrible loss in a game that we should have never been in. That takes coaching. Tonight's game. Anyone see the difference in speed, athleticism tonight? Yet we should have won. That's good coaching. Offense sucks? Take a look at the talent. That's good coaching. Defense is great you say? Take a look at the talent. Ahhhhhh, see my point.

Good coaching will only take you so far and thats when players need to make plays. 4th down vs. OSU? The punt vs. MSU? The missed tackle on the kick off tonight? Ring any bells? Players must make plays and in some critical moments that has not happened and in other situations it has. We have some of those players but still not enough.

Let us not forget years ago we were washed up. Dead. 5-7. WE LOST TO RUTGERS! Now we are driven to blinding madness because our expectations have been set high. Athletics and competition are cruel. Inch here, inch there. The highs are real high and the lows are terrible. Dreams not realized. Expectations lost. My dad use to say "Rather be on a lucky team than a good team". We are a good team right now.

We have one of the best coaches in athletics period. Perfect? No. But was Saban a goat when Auburn ran back the field goal attempt to win the Iron Bowl? Shit happens. You had a team tonight who did not give up. That is the true reflection of our head coach. We are in great hands. Be supportive and write a post to help with your frustration. Here's to 2017! I have to go coach my team now...

Agree with most of what you say - coaches can only do so much but it's the players that need to step up. This season to me will go down as one where our Srs really never stepped up in big games. 15+ drops in the 3 losses by Chesson, Darboh and Butt combined. O-line constantly shitting the bed in the 4th quarter. Smith thinking he can bulldoze anyone and getting zero yards. Players have to play and I think at the end of the day against really good teams our talent gap was exposed but yet we were in a position to win all those games. 2017 should be fun, 2018 should be great!