Sunday, December 31, 2017

Preview: South Carolina

Time: Noon
Location: Raymond James Stadium
Weather: 63 and 70% of rain
TV: ESPN2
Stream: ESPN App
Line: Michigan - 7.5

Bowl games are a funny thing, they fall in between an exhibition vs. an important game for some programs.   Who wants to be there is usually the difference between winning and losing.   I have seen Michigan destroy a Florida team in the Citrus Bowl who had checked out for the NFL Draft already and I have seen Michigan sleep walk in the Orange Bowl in the first half.    You never know. 

Michigan will have added pressure on Monday as they are the last Big Ten team to play a Bowl Game and could give the Big Ten an undefeated Bowl record.  That type of pressure is good, as it gives the players more motivation to play well.   The little yelling match at bowling also didn't hurt.



Tale of the Tape
Michigan OL vs. USC D line = Michigan
Michigan Offense vs. USC D = Push
Michigan D vs. USC O = Michigan
Coaching = Michigan
Intangibles = Push
Bloomin' Onion vs Coconut Shrimp= Shrimp



These two teams are pretty much mirror imagines of each other.   Both are pretty bad on offense and both teams play good defense.   Sounds like there is a good chance of rain on Monday, which could mean a messy field and an ugly offensive game.  

See the source image
Sing "Tie me kangaroo down sport" (the theme song of WWF's Bushwhackers) if......
  • Don Brown and his "dudes" dominate USC's offense
  • Brandon Peters plays like he is the long term solution at QB
  • Michigan's offense doesn't turn the ball over
  • Michigan is motivated to play
  • Two weeks of practice and a month of rest has helped the Wolverines
  • No Rust
  • No injuries
Yell, this is just an exhibition anyways if.......................
  • Michigan keeps USC in the game with its offense
  • Michigan can't run the ball
  • JOK plays a lot
  • Michigan's defense is on the field too much and gets tired
  • Michigan doesn't want to be there and has moved on to next season
  • Michigan's special teams looks like a mess

You will notice this is about what Michigan does and doesn't do vs. South Carolina's strength.   The Gamecocks offense is really bad and they fired their OC right after the Clemson blowout.   Is this a good change? probably but who knows what the new OC has up his sleeve.   The defense is a bend but don't break and should give Michigan a few opportunities on offense.  I expect a lot of field goals by the Wolverines.  

The weather is the wild card and I hope it doesn't rain.  This is not the rainy season in Florida but the outlook keeps showing more and more chance of rain.   I really like Michigan's TE's, Evans, and Higdon in this game if Peters plays well.   I see lots of 5-7 yard passes and some throws to the running backs.  Move the ball between the 20's, score a couple TD's and kick a ton of field goals. 

South Carolina will struggle against Don Brown defense, unless they come out with a ton of new stuff they haven't put on tape.   That seems like a challenge in two weeks worth of practice.  The key to this game is how clean the Wolverines are on offense and do they keep the Gamecocks in the game  with short fields and easy points.

Michigan 27 South Carolina 9

5 comments:

HabitChanger said...

You left Julius Welschof off of your 2018 list.

Goose said...

The b10 was underrated and written off by most especially espn. I'm glad to see all the team's win maybe they can get the respect and recognition these young men work so hard for. Great job to all the b10 team's. Are you paying attention ESPN? There are really good football team's outside the sec.

SecondChance said...

I don't see Mich winning this game by 18 points. Will probably be close late, and hope Mich can pull out the win.

EzmoB said...

HOLY SHIT HOW BAD WERE WE IN THE 2ND HALF!!!!!!!!!!???????????? What a joke!!!!!!

Goose said...

Well damn