A few things about 2008
The first 5 weeks of 2008
It's a mini-tradition of mine to look ahead at each team's upcoming schedule as soon as a season is in the books. Here are some of the non-conference games that caught my eye:
August 30th
Southern Cal @ Virginia
Clemson vs. Alabama (in Atlanta)
Hawaii @ Florida
Michigan State @ Cal
Tulsa @ Texas Tech
Fresno State @ UCLA
Utah @ Michigan
September 6th
Auburn @ West Virginia
Tennessee @ UCLA
Miami @ Florida
Cincinnati @ Oklahoma
Oregon State @ Penn State
September 13th
Ohio State @ Southern Cal
Michigan @ Notre Dame
Arkansas @ Texas
Oregon @ Purdue
Kansas @ South Florida
Cal @ Maryland
Oklahoma @ Washington
Wisconsin @ Fresno State
Hawaii @ Oregon State
UCLA @ BYU (again)
September 20th
Georgia @ Arizona State
Iowa @ Pitt
Colorado @ Florida State
Miami @ Texas A&M
Boise State @ Oregon
Notre Dame @ Michigan State
September 27th
Virginia Tech @ Nebraska
West Virginia @ Colorado
Purdue @ Notre Dame
Death to all who call them the “Fighting Zookers”
Illinois had a very respectable year, even including the blowout loss against USC in the Rose Bowl. But I think we’ll find out how good they really are next season, when the schedule is a bit tougher, including:
Speaking of Iowa, they have a fairly easy schedule next season, so a bounce-back should be in order. The Hawkeyes have "as many as 18 total starters" back, according to this extra-early Wikipedia page.
For the people who have never heard of MGoBlue.com
Here's Michigan’s 2008 Schedule:
8/30 – Utah
9/6 – Miami (OH)
9/13 - @ Notre Dame
9/20 - BYE
9/27 – Wisconsin
10/4 – Illinois (Homecoming)
10/11 – Toledo
10/18 - @ Penn State
10/25 – Michigan State
11/1 - @ Purdue
11/8 - @ Minnesota
11/15 – Northwestern
11/22 - @ Ohio State
In terms of difficulty, that's probably an average Michigan schedule. Is 4 losses the current over/under until the QB situation gets resolved? Steven Threet gotta eat!
It's a mini-tradition of mine to look ahead at each team's upcoming schedule as soon as a season is in the books. Here are some of the non-conference games that caught my eye:
August 30th
Southern Cal @ Virginia
Clemson vs. Alabama (in Atlanta)
Hawaii @ Florida
Michigan State @ Cal
Tulsa @ Texas Tech
Fresno State @ UCLA
Utah @ Michigan
September 6th
Auburn @ West Virginia
Tennessee @ UCLA
Miami @ Florida
Cincinnati @ Oklahoma
Oregon State @ Penn State
September 13th
Ohio State @ Southern Cal
Michigan @ Notre Dame
Arkansas @ Texas
Oregon @ Purdue
Kansas @ South Florida
Cal @ Maryland
Oklahoma @ Washington
Wisconsin @ Fresno State
Hawaii @ Oregon State
UCLA @ BYU (again)
September 20th
Georgia @ Arizona State
Iowa @ Pitt
Colorado @ Florida State
Miami @ Texas A&M
Boise State @ Oregon
Notre Dame @ Michigan State
September 27th
Virginia Tech @ Nebraska
West Virginia @ Colorado
Purdue @ Notre Dame
Death to all who call them the “Fighting Zookers”
Illinois had a very respectable year, even including the blowout loss against USC in the Rose Bowl. But I think we’ll find out how good they really are next season, when the schedule is a bit tougher, including:
8/30 – vs. Missouri (in St. Louis)They also have a potential trap game at home against Iowa on Nov. 1st (between Wisconsin and OSU). The Hawkeyes beat Illinois this past year. So could the Illini be looking at, say, 5 regular season losses? With Rashard Mendenhall going pro, I think Illinois will be taking a step back in 2008.
9/27 – @ Penn State
10/4 – @ Michigan
10/25 – @ Wisconsin
11/15 – Ohio State
Speaking of Iowa, they have a fairly easy schedule next season, so a bounce-back should be in order. The Hawkeyes have "as many as 18 total starters" back, according to this extra-early Wikipedia page.
For the people who have never heard of MGoBlue.com
Here's Michigan’s 2008 Schedule:
8/30 – Utah
9/6 – Miami (OH)
9/13 - @ Notre Dame
9/20 - BYE
9/27 – Wisconsin
10/4 – Illinois (Homecoming)
10/11 – Toledo
10/18 - @ Penn State
10/25 – Michigan State
11/1 - @ Purdue
11/8 - @ Minnesota
11/15 – Northwestern
11/22 - @ Ohio State
In terms of difficulty, that's probably an average Michigan schedule. Is 4 losses the current over/under until the QB situation gets resolved? Steven Threet gotta eat!
Permanent Link Here - posted by Nick at 9:27 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks for the thoughts. There are some great non-conference games. OSU @ USC! that should be an awesome game.
As for UofM over/under for losses. I'd actually venture 5. I think next year will be one of the worse years in the past half-century. I know that's a bit pessimistic, but I'm getting bad vibes from Rich Rod's hard-core entrance. Even if we do get Pryor, how would that go starting him as a freshman? New scheme, freshman QB, new left tackle (although Pryor is a leftie), no Mike Hart, new coaching staff.
I see losses @ Notre Dame, @ Penn State (they have to win sometime against us), @ Ohio State, and maybe two at home (take your pick: Wisconsin, Utah, Illinois, and possibly even Northwestern.)
You wrote a lot about Steve Threet last year. How talented is he? What are his comps? Can he run the spread like Pat White?
I don't think Threet is anywhere near a "true" spread QB. He might have good footwork and decent pocket presence (we'll find out soon, I guess), but I don't think he has the mobility to run anything close to what Rodriguez is envisioning.
He played in a form of the spread in high school, but I honestly don't know how effective he was with the zone read option or anything like that. He took snaps from the shotgun and either handed off or passed, I would guess.
God, that's a horrible home schedule. Shame on the athletics department for feeding us miserable MAC teams at home every year. OSU goes out and finds great nonconf matchups (Texas, USC, I think Oklahoma in a few years) - why don't we?
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