A Somewhat Contrarian Opinion on NU-Michigan

[ZJSARENOTFREE]

If you think the way we’re playing is comparable at all to the last 10 years then I don’t even know what to tell you.

Is it better than Frost, yes... Still have won anything of significance yet. I'm still on the Matt Rhule train and will support any coach, but as of now we have beat 2 absolute cupcakes and shit the bed on the first real test. I'll agree it is better, but still nowhere close to where we want to be.

 

[ZJSARENOTFREE]

Every team beats itself using your definition. Missed FGs happen, players sometimes miss tackles. If every single player made every single play they theoretically could make, then you’d basically never lose. That’s not how this ever works.

K... The difference in that game is Michigan basically did everything they were supposed to do. Their players played to their standard, made the tackles, made the field goals and won... When are we finally going to do that against a worthy opponent? Beating bottom feeders is fine, but at some point a team has to mentally get over the hump. Obviously a lot of that is football, but we continue to make excuses for our team. At some point these dudes need to rise up and actually execute how they are supposed to.

 

[Cornicator]

K... The difference in that game is Michigan basically did everything they were supposed to do. Their players played to their standard, made the tackles, made the field goals and won... When are we finally going to do that against a worthy opponent? Beating bottom feeders is fine, but at some point a team has to mentally get over the hump. Obviously a lot of that is football, but we continue to make excuses for our team. At some point these dudes need to rise up and actually execute how they are supposed to.

I agree about the missed field goal. That just can't happen in big game situations. The whole kicking operation is clearly better this season, but missing kicks in big games from manageable distance can't occur when you're trying to knock off a better opponent.

However, Nebraska made up for the empty red zone trip with a Hail Mary touchdown. If we are going to say they didn't take advantage of the opportunity to score on the first drive, then I think we also have to say they made a big time winning play before the half.

 

[RedDeanRedemption]

It’s year 3, we shouldn’t be that far away from a top 15-25 team talent-wise. I don’t understand the hand waving about the talent disparity, how much better are we going to get under Rhule?

 

[Chi7397]

K... The difference in that game is Michigan basically did everything they were supposed to do. Their players played to their standard, made the tackles, made the field goals and won... When are we finally going to do that against a worthy opponent? Beating bottom feeders is fine, but at some point a team has to mentally get over the hump. Obviously a lot of that is football, but we continue to make excuses for our team. At some point these dudes need to rise up and actually execute how they are supposed to.

If they lost, their fans would be saying they made mistakes like giving up a Hail Mary TD.

“I am frustrated we don’t beat better teams” is fair enough but it’s not the same as “this team beats itself” which is a dumb take.

 

[MaxHuskers34]

I am a degenerate so I spend most of my down time at work rewatching games/highlights of the current season. So far on my 3rd rewatch I have seen 2 "Targeting" calls that were missed. Also other missed calls that were detrimental to some drives.
Now I know there are plenty of things that aren't called every game that "could be called", however some of these are egregious from the refs.

1. Dylans 1st attempt, Barnham launches up and makes contact with his his forearm on Dylans head.


2. Jacory makes a reception in the 2nd quarter. Starts getting dragged down. Michigan defender squares and leads with Crown of the helmet into Jacory.



3. PI on Emmett Johnson when the ball is 3 yards from him in the air still.


4. Michigan TE practically tackles Rex Guthrie on crucial 3rd down in the 4th quarter.


Overall 4 big missed calls. Did these decide the game? No. Although you could argue the final no holding call was a very impactful no call as Michigan would move down the field and take another 7 minutes off the clock.

 

[TheXHerb]

K... The difference in that game is Michigan basically did everything they were supposed to do. Their players played to their standard, made the tackles, made the field goals and won... When are we finally going to do that against a worthy opponent? Beating bottom feeders is fine, but at some point a team has to mentally get over the hump. Obviously a lot of that is football, but we continue to make excuses for our team. At some point these dudes need to rise up and actually execute how they are supposed to.

Michigan dropped 2 sure TD passes in the game. They had a huge secondary break down on Barney's TD pass. They gave up a really easy to defend hail mary pass for TD.

They hardly did "everything they were supposed to".


It feels to me that you are still just emotionally disapointed we lost and need to look for things to blame it on and justify your need to point out what you feel needs to be done about it (as if the coaches don't already know this, and more than we do).

We lost a close game, just like every other college football program loses games. By a handful of plays that could have gone either way. You should go back and watch our losses last year and the stupid shit that we did fundamentially that cost us games, and compare it to this one. You will feel better about it.

 

[ZJSARENOTFREE]

I agree about the missed field goal. That just can't happen in big game situations. The whole kicking operation is clearly better this season, but missing kicks in big games from manageable distance can't occur when you're trying to knock off a better opponent.

However, Nebraska made up for the empty red zone trip with a Hail Mary touchdown. If we are going to say they didn't take advantage of the opportunity to score on the first drive, then I think we also have to say they made a big time winning play before the half.

I agree too that the special teams is definitely better and the kicking operation is part of that. I just hate missing what is a chip shot for him in primetime. I think he will be fine and is a good kicker.

 

[ZJSARENOTFREE]

If they lost, their fans would be saying they made mistakes like giving up a Hail Mary TD.

“I am frustrated we don’t beat better teams” is fair enough but it’s not the same as “this team beats itself” which is a dumb take.

You are free to think whatever you want...

 

[ZJSARENOTFREE]

Michigan dropped 2 sure TD passes in the game. They had a huge secondary break down on Barney's TD pass. They gave up a really easy to defend hail mary pass for TD.

They hardly did "everything they were supposed to".


It feels to me that you are still just emotionally disapointed we lost and need to look for things to blame it on and justify your need to point out what you feel needs to be done about it (as if the coaches don't already know this, and more than we do).

We lost a close game, just like every other college football program loses games. By a handful of plays that could have gone either way. You should go back and watch our losses last year and the stupid shit that we did fundamentially that cost us games, and compare it to this one. You will feel better about it.

First off, it is a message board. I know the coaches know what they need to fix. Most of us are here to discuss the issues, I don't need justification, just pointing out what I see and then engage in the discussion. People can agree or disagree, doesn't bother me.

We are early in this season where we have played 2 layups.. In the Cincy game we had a bunch of mistakes and lucked out big time. I'm glad we finally got the breaks in that one, but we had dumb penalties and they had 2 plays that could have been house calls, but we finally got the breaks. Michigan I will say didn't have the penalties, but the breakdowns and sometimes overall confusion wasn't good.

We know nothing about this team yet, and will get a better sense of where we stand going forward. I hope it is figured out, but so far I'm not seeing the progress I hoped to see. So we can agree to disagree. I'll eat crow when it happens, but as now we seem to be in the same boat and that is a Big 10 team in the 6-12 range and has trouble executing when it matters. I was hoping at some point we would finally get over some humps. If they don't shit the bed against MSU or Maryland that will help, but still nothing really matters for this team until the USC, PSU and Cockeye stretch. Those are the prove it games. For as much as Rhule pumps this team up, MSU, Maryland, NW, UCLA and probably Minnesota should all be wins, but I'll believe it when I see it.

The only thing I actually feel better about is the ST at this point. The D just doesn't have the dudes and the O has some major issues that could come to a head if the QB or RB get hurt.

 

[Bootleg11]

It's because we can't run the ball when we need to or, we refuse to run the ball when we should. If we throw another fade pass on second down at the 3-yard line I'm going to have a coronary.

My biggest positive from the Michigan game was we didn't fold down 10-0 early. We did show some fight.

I like Johnson...he's not great and that is part of the problem in the redzone.

 

[HerbRedman]

It’s year 3, we shouldn’t be that far away from a top 15-25 team talent-wise. I don’t understand the hand waving about the talent disparity, how much better are we going to get under Rhule?

It's not that complicated. Over the last few years, Michigan has averaged about 10-12th in the recruiting rankings. Nebraska has been averaging about 23-24th.

That may not seem like a big difference, but it is. That, coupled with development (which Michigan has), probably equals about a 7-10 pt difference on a neutral field. And Michigan beat us by 3.

You want to beat teams like that, you have to crack the top 15 rankings for like 2-3 yrs in a row.

 

[Milo-of-Croton]

They made more plays than we did. They were better this year,

 

[herbsinator]

It's not that complicated. Over the last few years, Michigan has averaged about 10-12th in the recruiting rankings. Nebraska has been averaging about 23-24th.

That may not seem like a big difference, but it is. That, coupled with development (which Michigan has), probably equals about a 7-10 pt difference on a neutral field. And Michigan beat us by 3.

You want to beat teams like that, you have to crack the top 15 rankings for like 2-3 yrs in a row.

By this ranking, we’re at roughly the bottom end of the top 25, which I think is about right and supported by most of the statistical power rankings. We should have more talent than our next 4 opponents. If we go out and play solid games, we should win those. If we don’t, then it’ll be time to start asking some more questions.

Edit: forgot to include the link: https://247sports.com/season/2025-football/collegeteamtalentcomposite/