I am looking at MSU this season and struggling to see a win in that game for us this year. Help me to understand the basis for your optimism. Please save the "because we are Michigan" or "because we are due" or "because we now have JH" posts. Those mean nothing. Harbaugh is great and I have been his biggest fan since the mid-80s but (gag me as it pains me to say it but) Dantonio has proven to be a great coach with a great staff as well.
MSU apparently will be ranked something like 6th in the country, UM will be unranked. This is their team with the best chance for a Nat Championship since the mid-60s. They have an outstanding offense and (again) an elite defense. I see no holes on their veteran squad. Deep everywhere with the exception of maybe the WRs. They have a veteran QB who may be better than Cousins. Their OL and DL are the best I have seen under Dantonio. They return a very good and productive RB in Langford yet have a red-shirt freshman from Fla that absolutely tore is up in practice last year. On defense, they have to replace a great DB but seem to have done so each of the last several years without missing a beat. They have had (and I believe will continue to have) elite coaching despite the loss of Narduzzi. In short, MSU "has it going" with great coaching, talent and depth across the board.
Our Wolverine squad will be solid on defense but has critical "holes" on offense. Starting with the most important position - QB. Even with Rudock, this position is pedestrian at best. We have a very significant lack of talent at WR. Our OL may be better than last year (may be better) but that is not saying much as last year's squad was one of the worst in the conference - only PSU was worse. Our RB's have shown little to get excited about and the lack of downfield threats will mean that opponents will stack the line and our mediocre OL and RB play will be facing an uphill battle.
Admittedly, Harbaugh will help close the gap that has existed for the last several years between our two teams. That said, there are only two position groups where I would choose our players over theirs -- DL and TE.
MSU QB >>> UM QB
MSU OL >> UM OL
MSU WR > UM WR
MSU RB >> UM RB
UM TE >> MSU TE
UM DL > MSU DL
MSU LB > UM LB
MSU DB >= UM DB (I hope we are that close)
Now, the better team clearly does not always win in this nasty rivalry and MSU has won in the past with clearly inferior teams. That said, I simply struggle with what I would consider unfounded optimism that we will simply automatically win the game vs MSU simply because we have JH and simply because we are due.
MSU apparently will be ranked something like 6th in the country, UM will be unranked. This is their team with the best chance for a Nat Championship since the mid-60s. They have an outstanding offense and (again) an elite defense. I see no holes on their veteran squad. Deep everywhere with the exception of maybe the WRs. They have a veteran QB who may be better than Cousins. Their OL and DL are the best I have seen under Dantonio. They return a very good and productive RB in Langford yet have a red-shirt freshman from Fla that absolutely tore is up in practice last year. On defense, they have to replace a great DB but seem to have done so each of the last several years without missing a beat. They have had (and I believe will continue to have) elite coaching despite the loss of Narduzzi. In short, MSU "has it going" with great coaching, talent and depth across the board.
Our Wolverine squad will be solid on defense but has critical "holes" on offense. Starting with the most important position - QB. Even with Rudock, this position is pedestrian at best. We have a very significant lack of talent at WR. Our OL may be better than last year (may be better) but that is not saying much as last year's squad was one of the worst in the conference - only PSU was worse. Our RB's have shown little to get excited about and the lack of downfield threats will mean that opponents will stack the line and our mediocre OL and RB play will be facing an uphill battle.
Admittedly, Harbaugh will help close the gap that has existed for the last several years between our two teams. That said, there are only two position groups where I would choose our players over theirs -- DL and TE.
MSU QB >>> UM QB
MSU OL >> UM OL
MSU WR > UM WR
MSU RB >> UM RB
UM TE >> MSU TE
UM DL > MSU DL
MSU LB > UM LB
MSU DB >= UM DB (I hope we are that close)
Now, the better team clearly does not always win in this nasty rivalry and MSU has won in the past with clearly inferior teams. That said, I simply struggle with what I would consider unfounded optimism that we will simply automatically win the game vs MSU simply because we have JH and simply because we are due.
