Heading to Illinois

Anyone else?

Yep.

This team has not inspired me.

Good God! Are there ANY defenders on the Illini?

I subscribe to the there are no bad road wins school. Sundays are so much better after wins. I have ratcheted down my season expectations though and expect a loss next Sat at Penn State. Nonetheless I will be watching hopefully even if I'm pessimistic.

Hope for the best and expect the worst is how I've come to think of this team. For awhile yesterday, everything was clicking. Is that our team, or the one we saw in Q3?
Patterson made a huge mistake coming back. Cost him a few mill, I bet.

wshoes wrote:

"... next Sat at Penn State. Nonetheless I will be watching hopefully even if I'm pessimistic."

Shoes, about the best way, if it's at ALL good, I can express my sentiment regarding our chances at Happy Valley is: "Cautiously Optimistic, Mildly Pessimistic".  In other words, probably NEITHER---certainly neither to any large extent/degree.

For all the plodding our entire team showed in the 3rd and into the 4th at Champaign, two things:
[1] As one of the announcers (and whoever he was, I thought he did a fine job) pointed out, it's HUMAN NATURE, when success comes easily and
    profusely, to "take your foot off the gas".  And as we all know, in a football game---particularly in a road environment---once you do that, it can
    be tough to put it back ON the pedal.
[2] For all its ineptitude in the 3rd, and the goddamned fumbles (again), our offense stepped up to the plate WHEN IT HAD TO. Hitting the clutch throw
     to Black got Patterson off to a good start, which was IMPORTANT when (as Ufer would express it ) "our 'daubers' were down."  And it was he who
     fought through a tackle on 4th and 3, at the 11, when a FG would really not have changed the game much. And the pass to belly-sliding DPJ was
     perfect (despite an appreciable wind to impede it). I'm fine with a  unit that performs IN THE CLUTCH, whilst most "fans" only laud one that piles up
    650  yards and wins by 5 TDs.

As for Penn State: Prior to last night, they hadn't played ANYONE. Yes, winning at Kinnick is impressive, ANY TIME. For any team. But I have to believe
(at least somewhat) that Nate Stanley was still suffering (to some degree) from the SHAKEN CONFIDENCE he had to suffer after our first-class beating
of him the prior week. And Iowa's turnovers helped PSU as well.

Which Michigan team will show up: the one which piled up 356 yards and 28 points while pitching a shutout in the 1st qtr., or the one which had about 40
yards of offense and was outscored 25-0 for the first 20 minutes of the second half?  OR, for a most important dichotomy:  The one which shrugged off
the Beaver Stadium mystique of  "Old (PSU) Grads' Day" and won at Happy Valley 28-16 in '15, or the one that got blown out there 42-13 two years later?

So far, my trouble with this team is never knowing which version will show up from game-to-game or, as in yesterday, even quarter-to-quarter. No consistency! Hopefully, the offensive output for much of the game shows they are starting to jell.
Next week is critical. Progress must be shown.

dwoody wrote:

"...Next week is critical. Progress must be shown."

Could NOT agree with you MORE...

Penn State let see. Night game probably a white out against a rank team on the road Pattersen starting at QB I see LOSS.

the artist formally known wrote:

Penn State let see. Night game probably a white out against a rank team on the road Pattersen starting at QB I see LOSS.

In memory of MLive, "Water is wet."