M-Borg vs. THE Flavortown U Thread, Orig. by Buckeye Paul, absconded w/by talent.

[hack]

That's an impressive bit of spin. Your second paragraph indicates how silly your first one is. If this keeps up, forget you being here on this forum 11/25. We're all coming over and camping on your front lawn.

[iam416]

Why the "if"? I've been assured by M faithful that the 2nd half against IU is the definitive harbinger of failure. If OSU can't stop IU, I doubt they can stop M. Incidentally, it also means IU's offense is way better than UNL's.

Start your celebrating, Hack. OSU is doomed for failure and M will win big in Columbus (scoring at least 49 because, well, the offense is at least as good as IU).

I guess all I can do is foolishly cling to 7-0 and the nonsense notion that all is not lost, not only for this season, but for the entire UFM regime. He is afterall, RichGOD part 2. Or so goes the M party line.

Woe be to you boys if, for some inexplicable reason, you're wrong.

[Jeff Buchanan]

So, yeah I can see the injury thing. ufm can't do much about that and, if I recall correctly, you were concerned about the depth at LB early. So, I'll give you that.

But fickle appears to be to meyer what Gibson was to Rodriguez and, the beat goes on in c-bus. Harbinger of collapse? Certainly not, but an indicator of organizational disorder? Yes, I could make an argument like that stick.

You tell me. Why was osu's defense, not just in the 4th quarter in a prevent mode, but throughout the game giving up big plays and big chunks of yardage? Was fickle putting the D in man to bring pressure up front? That's a shitty stragtegy against a team like IU. Like tAFA, IU has mediocre talent that is well coached, it appears, to run that version of the spread. While its true M gave up a lot of yardage to AF and their unique offense, everyone does, that was M's second game and M's defense has quantitatively improved. osu's, no, its numbers have gone south.

Against IU's spread run by a pretty accurate QB who can throw down field, I'd think you'd adjust finding a balance between giving up big plays (which osu's D did any way) in a prevent mode protecting a big lead and bringing the inside LB blitz to get in the QB's face. Are you telling me that osu's tackles are so shitty that they are getting handled by IU's OL so as to make that stratgey tenuous? If it is, osu's D and fickle have more problems than fundamentally being able to hold on to a potential INT.

If ufm were the coaching master you churlishly insist he is, he'd be shaking up the defense right now by his physical presence and maybe some coaching personnel changes. I'm not talking about firing fickle. I thought Belima's firing of his OL coach was stupid. But get on the practice field and get involved with the players, and, TBH, maybe he's doing that but if he is it isn't turning into improved individual play, is it. Put Fickle in the press box on game day and have meyer don the DC's head set and make the defensive calls. If meyer would never do that kind of thing, then he is a lot like Rodriguez who simply "didn't have time for that."

No, I'm not predicting the collasps of osu football, but my God, man, its fun to watch osu' s D flail around and then be able to legitimately mock it post game. M fans suffered through that shit for 3 frigging seasons with RichRod and I'm taking a lot of pleasure in watching you boys pound the table top and throw bricks at the TV screen over osu's sucky defense.

Keep in mind, we all agree the Big Ten is pretty weak but having osu's D struggle against its perennial bottom dwellers like IU while watching M's D absolutely stifle, like they should, the offenses of Purdue and Illinois, brings a lot of joy to my aged heart. Rodriguez proved he cold never do that, losing to Purdue on a regular basis and allowing Illinois drive the play involving Michigan in one of the highest scoring games in its history. Defense? Rodriguez didn't have a clue. Based on ufm's result on that side of the ball to date it looks like he may not either.

Whoot.

[Hannibal]

Thing about the IU-OSU game is that IU left a shitton of yards on the table by dropping passes over and over again. They started hanging onto them a bit more in the second half, which is also why they had about 300 yards of offense in that half. If anything, the yardage totals and the score don't reflect how shitty OSU's defense played.

[iam416]

If ufm were the coaching master you churlishly insist he is

Ordinarily, I would flail that idiocy, but, as I undertand, I'm not allowed to use the past when speaking about UFM. I guess all I can say is he is 7-0.

Defense? Rodriguez didn't have a clue. Based on ufm's result on that side of the ball to date it looks like he may not either.

Lemme fix that for you, Buchanan. Based on ufm's results to date at Ohio State. Again, we obviously can't consider any of his past results. That would be nonsensical.

Thing about the IU-OSU game is that IU left a shitton of yards on the table by dropping passes over and over again.

At least you watched it, Hanni. The other thing, since we're talking about things, is that OSU left at least 3 interceptions on the table and dropped several big passes themselves.

Anyway, it looks like Ohio State is done. The 2nd half against IU portends doom. I was hoping for 10-2 this season, but I'm not sure how that's going to happen.

[iam416]

I wonder if this is what Auburn fans did when The Nick flailed about in his first season at Tuscaloosa and even lost to Monroe. I wouldn't be surprised. Of course, I rate Auburn fans as being a shred more rational and having lots less temerity than M fans.

[WM Wolverine]

It's wishful thinking that Urban Meyer doesn't have a clue about defense and it's importance. Urban Meyer's Gator teams usually were excellent on that side of the ball.

[Hannibal]

I try to look at it from the perspective of "how would I feel if this was my team"?

How would I feel if my team gave up an average of 433 yards per game to BCS conference competition? Probably, not too good.

[iam416]

Flame thread, WM. Take that rational view elsewhere.

[Hannibal]

I wonder if this is what Auburn fans did when The Nick flailed about in his first season at Tuscaloosa and even lost to Monroe. I wouldn't be surprised. Of course, I rate Auburn fans as being a shred more rational and having lots less temerity than M fans.

So should I be afraid of what happens to Michigan in this rivalry when RichRod's awesome talent has graduated and we're stuck with Hokeattison's 4* talent?

[WM Wolverine]

Still, you have to wonder about the talent the Buckeyes have defensively if they allow 35 points in a half to the Hoosiers. Can't just blame the linebackers as the receivers were open downfield the entire game.

[iam416]

How would I feel if my team gave up an average of 433 yards per game to BCS conference competition? Probably, not too good.

How would feel if your team was 7-0? How would you feel if your QB, a true sophomore, was improving every game and on the verge of booking himself a place in NYC? How would you feel if you were ranked in the top 10?

I guess I should be gnashing my teeth and feeling "not good" about the failed UFM experiment. But, you know, I'm a diehard -- I'm going to cling to those few shreds and desperate false hope for a little while longer. Well, at least until UFM loses a game.

[iam416]

Still, you have to wonder about the talent the Buckeyes have defensively if they allow 35 points in a half to the Hoosiers. Can't just blame the linebackers as the receivers were open downfield the entire game.

The big play -- after Miller threw an INT in the endzone -- was a Wynn shallow cross where he inexplicably had a LB running after him. That got IU back to 31-24. As I said, I'm not going to lose sleep over giving up 14 points in the final 3 minutes. The had IU 4th and long -- blitzed, didn't get there and IU made a play. They then gave up a ridiculous onside.

The problem, talent-wise, is LBs at the moment. And it still remains to be seen whether Fickel can be the man as DC. Heacock was really, really good. Fickel is sort of caught in between at the moment. He was raised under Heacock and his philosophy. But UFM wants to attack and put pressure on the QB. Heacock's system was fine because, in part, they had fantastic LBs. They could run and play in space and close down underneath routes. Shazier has that ability, but he's still really undisciplined. Sabino is ok. No one else is ready.

IU also picked on Doran Grant when Howard went out. Grant will be pretty good, IMO. But he's not quite ready.

[Hannibal]

In 2009, RichRod, Tony Gibson, and Gerg gave up 435 yards and 33 points per game to Big Ten + ND competition. OSU is currently allowing 433 yards per game and 34.5 points per game to Big Ten + Cal competition.

An irrational person might look at those statistics and conclude that maybe OSU doesn't have an NFL caliber defense this year. But it's a good thing that we have rational people on this forum.

[iam416]

I don't think OSU has an NFL caliber defense this year.

So, how many will M put up against OSU, Hanni? 45? 50? 75?