Fact or Fiction: Expectations are lower at Michigan
National recruiting director Mike Farrell and national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney tackle three topics daily and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1. Expectations have been lowered for Jim Harbaugh at Michigan.
AP
Farrell’s take: FACT. How loud are the critics regarding Harbaugh yet again losing to a Top 10 team after the Wolverines loss to Penn State this past weekend? They don’t seem to be that loud. That’s because people have now come to expect it.
I’m not talking internally at Michigan where they still expect big things from Harbaugh and are paying him that massive salary, I’m talking about the media and to some extent the fan base. Harbaugh arrived at Michigan and all the talk was about winning a national title and a return to glory. Now? It’s about defending his record and making excuses about how he’s better than Rich Rodriguez or Brady Hoke was. Expectations have fallen in Ann Arbor, at least from the outside.
Gorney’s take: FACT. Harbaugh already has three 10-win seasons at Michigan, so I’m not going to hammer the guy, but he simply doesn’t win big games and there’s just no getting around it. Forget the College Football Playoff, where Michigan would have to beat Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma and the like. He can’t beat top-10 teams, can’t beat rivals like Ohio State, got clobbered and looked unprepared against Wisconsin earlier this year, went down 21-0 early to Penn State and couldn’t win in Happy Valley. The expectations at Michigan are to play for national titles. The reality is that they’re still nowhere close.
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2. LSU has the most talented defense in college football.
AP
Farrell’s take: FACT. This is a tough one because all the attention is being paid to the LSU offense and there are many talented defensive rosters out there including Ohio State. But where are the weaknesses on defense at LSU? The secondary is loaded with first-rounders, the linebackers are athletic and cover a ton of ground and the defensive line is beyond balanced when healthy. I’d give them the nod over Ohio State and others.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. LSU might have the best offense in the country but not the best defense, although that could be the case by the end of the season. The Tigers gave up 38 to Texas, 38 to Vanderbilt and 28 to Florida.
Wisconsin is better, Alabama might be better, Oregon might be better, Penn State is better and let’s not forget about Clemson, Florida, Georgia and Utah, which is always underrated. I like LSU’s defense a lot and there are a lot of marquee names across the board, but it’s not the best in the country. With that offense, it doesn’t have to be.
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