Denard/Devin Combo Concerns Bucks

I am not sure where they were ranked at the time, but all three of Mich's losses have come against teams that are currently ranked in the top 17 (including two ranked in the top-three in ND and 'Bama). They're a "good 8-3" and that's why the spread isn't all that much in OSU's favor. The Buckeyes are favored by 4.5 points at home, meaning Vegas thinks this would be a pick-em game at a neutral site. Mich would be favored if the game were in Ann Arbor.

Meatchicken always concerns me...but why not think positive?

KEY on Denard and pick-off Devin (he's green)...problem solved!

Of course, I thought they would beat Wisky by 13...

Pressure Gardner, contain Robinson (which shouldnt be to hard as a RB, or WR if we keep him ass on the ground). Gardner is a rook, and will cave under pressure, He will throw off his back off and make mistakes.

They have gotten much better the last few weeks. It will be a battle. We have to turn up our offense and play lights out on defense. Go Bucks!

This. The safeties. That's my biggest concern. I'm so sick of looking at the back end of our secondary and seeing 2 slow-as-molasses glorified 4th and 5th linebackers getting beat deep. It's the reason we've given up so many big plays this year. It's the reason we let Wisconsin back into the game last year. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the excellent hands from Bryant in this year's Wisconsin game to pull down Montee Ball's fumble. I appreciate him finally breaking up a pass on 4th to win the game. The problem is that plays like that aren't the norm. Nobody fears our safeties. They can't catch, they don't always tackle well (half the time, they're too busy trying to hit someone really hard as opposed to actually making sure they're making the tackle), and they are slower than normal safeties. I'm sick of watching another team's running back get through our linebackers and corners and then thinking, "Oh shit, that's going to be six points." If Barnett and Bryant (and maybe even OJ) can play a solid game back there, I think we'll contain them enough to pull away with the win. If they get torched early and often (and let's face it, Devin Gardner is a better passer than Denard, not to mention we've struggled against 3rd string quarterbacks a couple of times this year), I see us losing another shootout (mainly because I think Mattison can prep UM's defense for our offense better than Fickell can prep our defense for their offense). Just my opinion. It probably won't be popular, but it's scUM week and I'd rather be honest with myself at this point in time.

I sure nope the guys are ready this game could be tough or we could just hit them in the mouth early and dominate.

Remember the saying about rivalries? Throw out the records. Don't worry about who almost beat UM or OSU had to go to overtime with. This game will come down to exactly what the kids in the interview are talking about...getting lined up, knowing who is where, knowing the situation, executing their technique, playing the next play no matter what happened on the last one and doing that for 60 minutes. Offensively, pressure will need to be applied by formation and motion...out flanking and getting a hat on a hat in the run game as often as possible, Braxton making the right reads in the option game and getting north and south on designed runs. In the pass game, he has to complete over 60% of the short and intermediate stuff and he'll have to complete the long balls when they take a shot. As far as wrinkles...that'll be interesting to see. A coach can always think of a million wrinkles. But what can your QB learn and execute that week while still keeping everything else straight? There's a fine line. We shall see. But as we all know, the offense will go as Braxton goes.