Well you know I would have to check back in after a long absence
I will say this: The last three editions of Michigan football teams have been very beatable. Ryan Day is the primary culprit. He gives us way too much respect and needs to lean into his playmakers on the edge more. His receiving rooms have been ridiculously talented over the last three years and our DBs should have been overmatched. In 21 and 22, I felt he was way too conservative. Less conservative yesterday, but that issue boiled down to Kyle McCord, who just doesn't have it. He should be at Indiana or tearing it up in the MAC, and I know he was highly recruited, but he has a hard ceiling. Ohio State can do way better, and I figure Day should have known coming into this season that he had a dud at QB. Should have been more active in the portal. Ohio State usually does better with a QB that has a scrambling threat, and McCord has zero of that element in his game.
I still believe Ohio State has the better team and that Day has screwed up three years in a row (cheating on Michigan's part probably helped us in 2021). I would have forced the ball into Harrison more, but with the limitation at QB, that may have been the wrong move.
Michigan has a lot of issues offensively that should get exposed in the playoff, assuming we get through Iowa. I think Iowa has a realistic path to a 17-13 type win over Michigan, if we can't consistently run the ball. I don't view our running game as being especially explosive, and if we get paired up with Bama or Georgia it will be tough sledding. Pass protection is average. We can only complete passes up the middle of the field. I've been complaining about it since the Hoke years, we have no downfield sideline threat and we have no size at WR. McCarthy doesn't get enough reps in this offense to really develop a rhythm and improve. He should transfer to the Big 12 if he knows what's good for his future, but I doubt that is in the cards. I think Michigan can take on Texas, Oregon, or Washington, but it would be a mild upset. We should be small favorites over FSU with Rodemaker at QB. Bama and Georgia will walk all over us, mostly because they will get their 30 points and we won't be able to match.
A lot of that has to do with the fact that the middle of the B1G is complete garbage. I firmly believe that Michigan or Ohio State would have most likely gone 10-2 if they played in the Big 12, Pac-12, or SEC. Our middle portion of the conference is non-competitive. Minnesota, Northwestern, Rutgers, Maryland, Illinois, Wisconsin, Purdue? They can't throw the ball, they have almost no skill at WR, they have no skill at the OT position, they have mediocre pass rushes, and their secondaries are bad. Bad, bad, bad football. Life in the SEC or Big 12 or Pac-12 is a lot different. If you draw South Carolina, UCF, or Washington State, you can't sleepwalk your way to a victory, and those are some of the easier conference games. Ohio State against Minnesota or Michigan against Purdue, there is literally nothing those teams can do to rise up and pull off the upset.
