The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent
vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums
here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules
document is now in effect.
The [College Football] Thread. Universities, Divest from Israel! CHAMP WEEK IS LIVE
Posts
You're welcome!
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
3DS: 2981-5304-3227
1) Can Michigan stop Henderson without committing safeties? All year Michigan has hung back in essentially a two deep shell in prep for this game, even against teams who cannot throw like Minnesota or PSU. They've relied on their defensive line to destroy the opposition OL and hold everything down. DTs in particular. If they need safeties, that opens things up for Harrison, which is how OSU wins the game.
2) Can OSU pass protect? Michigan's been getting elite pressure numbers all year and McCord has struggled against pressure. But the collection of OLs Michigan has faced has been...not great. If Michigan gets home, OSU's going to struggle to move the ball.
3) Which (if either) head coach is appropriately aggressive? Ryan Day historically gets tight in big games and in particular The Game. He does not like going for fourth downs. Does this continue? Meanwhile, Sherrone Moore in his interim duties has been pretty passive himself. Coached very much like he's coaching Iowa. Related note: throw play-action. Michigan averages 12 ypa on it, but doesn't call it often, it's baffling. PSU game was sorta understandable because Chop Robinson was murdering us, but he was also quite conservative against Maryland, only calling one shot the whole game. Speaking of Chop Robinson murdering us...
4) Does Karsen Barnhart hold up? He's had a rough two weeks. He's got to be a lot better or get help with TE/RB chips or get pulled.
5) Related to that: Is JJ McCarthy Jim Harbaugh's spirit animal? Or vice versa. They're similar players and dudes and McCarthy has had his worst games without Harbaugh on the sideline. I think that's potentially the biggest impact of the Harbaugh suspension. Michigan will probably be slow getting a play in at least once and waste a timeout, but that's relatively small potatoes. Or was the Maryland game basically a random bad day where McCarthy was making bad decisions? Also: he twisted his ankle against PSU? Is he 100%?
6) What's Jim Knowles' approach? Two years ago, Ohio State played a pretty vanilla defense the whole game and got absolutely fucking paved. Last year, Knowles was committed to the idea that would never, ever happen so he devoted all of his resources to the line of scrimmage. Which went great down to down but disastrously on ~8 plays. When he did back out and leave a safety to clean up big plays, Michigan once again paved Ohio State for an 8 minute touchdown drive. All year this year Ohio State has been devoted to the "no big plays" approach. To their credit, I believe they have allowed exactly 1 such play all year (on a Fumblerooski against Rutgers). But the vaguely competent run games they've played (ND, Rutgers, PSU until they abandoned it) have had decent success against them. So does Knowles try what he did last year or stick with the style he's played all year? I presume the latter, but could see shift to the former if Michigan runs OK.
7) Does Marvin Harrison Jr win the Heisman? I think Michigan is largely the better and more consistent team. But Ohio State has the best single player. And if Will Johnson isn't following him around, when he's matched up against not Will Johnson, he should be able to dominate. Josh Wallace is our other starting corner, but got pulled last week for biting on a double move against Maryland. We moved Mike Sainristil out there, and while I love him, he is definitely a nickel and not an outside corner (for one thing, he's 5'9" and more laterally quick than straight line speed). Basically the hope is that Sainristil follows Egbuka around much like last year (they kinda split the match up) and Johnson follows Harrison around (OSU mostly refused to throw at Johnson last year). But that makes you play man and you enter crossing route hell like PSU did. So you have to mix it up which means Harrison will be up against not Johnson at points. That's terrifying.
My thoughts:
Michigan's better on both lines, has the better quarterback, and it's at home. I think they should win the game. I think OSU's defense is very good, but can be run on without safety help. McCord gets enough pressure to make one or two vital mistakes. Harrison scores twice and gets an NYC invite, but it's not enough to win the game or the trophy. McCarthy rebounds and plays a solid game, contributing with his legs in particular.
Michigan 31-24
They should be. The Big Ten is awful.
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
McCarthy dishes out an absurd NFL throw a couple times a game.
He’s so lucky no one peeked
The decision is sketchy. The throw is insanely good.
Magic Online - Bertro
So they'll feel bad and give you the call next time.
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
Because it’s a major call and they don’t get to just get away with gifting stuff scott free. Or at least make them think twice about cashing those Michigan checks.
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}
{Twitter, Everybody's doing it. }{Writing and Story Blog}