After the disastrous years of Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke, Michigan thought they were on to something big by hiring alum Jim Harbaugh, a former quarterback himself for the Wolverines, who had had great success elsewhere, both in college and the pros as a head coach. But not so fast.
True, it would take him a couple years to get his own recruited players up and ready, but he's already had that.
And the results aren't exactly rosy.
Last year, Harbaugh's Maize and Blue squad went a pedestrian 8-5. Sure, they beat the patsies that always find their way onto Michigan's schedule. Yet they didn't defeat a single team with a winning record all year.
Michigan State thumped them -- again -- in their own Big House in Ann Arbor. They were absolutely killed @ then #2 Penn State.
After a feel good run of three games against Big Ten also-rans, they'd go down to then #6 Wisconsin, #8 Ohio State, and then succumb to unranked South Carolina in the Outback Bowl -- ending the season on a rather 0-3 sour note.
By comparison, the upcoming 2018 schedule for Michigan is far more difficult than it was last year.
The usual patsies aside, Harbaugh's pre-seasoned ranked #15 boys start off the season @ #16 ranked Notre Dame. Quite the formidable opener.
Along the way, they'll have to deal with #3 Wisconsin, @ #11 Michigan State, #7 Penn State, and @ #9 Ohio State. Again, all are ranked ahead of Michigan.
Throw in Nebraska and a game @ Northwestern, not exactly gimmes, and this season could turn out to be even uglier than last year.
Michigan fans and their local media have put great faith in quarterback transfer Shea Patterson leading them to the promised land they haven't sniffed in several years.
Yet Patterson himself, despite they hype, didn't put up eye-popping numbers during his two seasons at Ole Miss.
He threw for about a 60% completion percentage. Not bad, but hardly note-worthy. Twenty three touchdowns versus twelve interceptions, merely a two to one ratio, is not a very good stat for a supposedly hot-shot QB.
And that's assuming Patterson even earns the starting job, which is no given at this point. Other QBs in the system that have been faithfully toiling away for a year or two awaiting their shot aren't likely to take kindly to the "new kid" swooping into town and jumping ahead of them on the depth chart. Especially one who appears to be all hype with little statistical proof to back it up.
Yep, this will be an interesting, and telling, year for Harbaugh and his Wolverines.
Maybe they'll finally rise to the proverbial occasion and make UM proud again.
But given their brutal schedule, it's just as likely they'll crash and burn even worse than last year.
We'll see.......
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