Aside from the obvious season opener...

[Columbusisawhore]

Aside from the obvious season opener for Michigan...

Which games are you most interested in watching for the opening week?

For me it is LSU/UNC and VT/Boise State.

[FLex500]

Aside from the obvious season opener for Michigan...

Which games are you most interested in watching for the opening week?

For me it is LSU/UNC and VT/Boise State.

I'm really interested in ND/Purdue. I have a feeling ND will look good and kick the dogsh*t out of purdue...I mean like really REALLY kick the everloving sh*t out of purdue. I think ND will have a very good offense and purdue has the worst secondary in the big ten.

ND will probably play purdue similar to how they play play UM as far as on offense. So very interested in that one.

[AbRKnight]

Aside from the obvious season opener for Michigan...

Which games are you most interested in watching for the opening week?

For me it is LSU/UNC and VT/Boise State.

Can't say that I have a favorite among these two teams, but TCU/Oregeon St. could be a good game. Oreg. St. could contend for the Pac-10 this year, as long as the rest of their players keep their clothes on... http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-nakedplayershocked

[osusteve]

Virginia Tech/Boise State is huge. I really don't want to see Boise State win this game. They will then go undefeated the rest of the way and we will have another national debate over whether they belong in the BCS National Title game.

[hail2mich]

The ND/Purdue game intrigues me. I am very curious to see how ND looks under Kelly. I'm not sure who I want to win that game. I really dislike Purdue because of Dan Hope, but a 0-1 ND team would have a ton of pressure on them (although a Michigan win against a 1-0 ND team would look better). I love college football!

[1OSUNUT]

If ND comes out of the gate and looks good on both sides of the ball - will that effect your thoughts on RR if Michigan loses in week 1 ?

I want to see if North Carolina has the defense everybody says they do, I want to see if TP really has improved his passing (even though OSU might not show much) and Boise is in a must win game against a very talented Tech team.

[FLex500]

If ND comes out of the gate and looks good on both sides of the ball - will that effect your thoughts on RR if Michigan loses in week 1 ?

I want to see if North Carolina has the defense everybody says they do, I want to see if TP really has improved his passing (even though OSU might not show much) and Boise is in a must win game against a very talented Tech team.

it won't really make me think any different. I like that QB notre dame has..actually I think he will be really good...and of course they have a sure handed all star reciever so that doesn't hurt either.

Purdue has a worse secondary than UM and ND will pass all over them. They will try to do the same think to UM. The nice thing was UM did have a shutdown corner...but don't anymore. So I can see ND passing all over UM and it could get out of hand.

I wish UM had a qb the first year for RR that ND has. Talent wise ND is not in the hole. They have the talent to matchup with at least 7 teams on their schedule and be better. Straight up talent to talent comparison I think UM was only comparable to 3 to maybe 5 teams on the schedule RR's first year.

[1OSUNUT]

But he has never played a game - nor has the running back and several other players. Kelly still had to come in and install his defensive and offensive scemes - it should be interesting. I don't think ND will be that fast on defense - and that is always thier problem. I would be surprised if ND came out on fire - but if they do I would question why Kelly was able to implement his scemes and have sucess while RR is still in a struggle.

The game next week will be very very interesting and it will have huge meaning if Michigan loses to UConn.

[amazinblue]

Michigan ND will be big regardless of what happens on Saturday - but, it will definitely be "bigger" if both teams win - OR - "bigger still" for the team that lost its opener.

I do think that Kelly has a LOT more talent to work with than RR did his first year. I think this has been true for the last few coaching changes at ND. Willingham recruited well - particularly after his success the first couple of seasons - and, when Weis took over, the talent that Willingham recruited were upperclassmen. The same is, to a degree, true now - the talent that Weis recruited, for the most part, are upperclassmen - the one question mark is QB - and, it's a solid question. How well Crist comes out and plays both this weekend and next will be a major factor in the outcome of the game. And, I don't believe there is any way you can compare Dayne Crist to either Threet or Sheridan - who were the QB's RR had to work with that first year.

[sparkysteve]

Boise State vs. Virginia Tech. I hope VT wins in a blowout.

[Downward Spiral152]

Boise State vs. Virginia Tech. I hope VT wins in a blowout.

me too me too... if Boise wins they could cost into the NC game

[amazinblue]

But he has never played a game (referring to Dayne Crist - ND's quarterback) - nor has the running back and several other players...

Nut,

Excuse me- but, before you post things here and make definitive statements would you at least take ONE minute to confirm whether what you're stating is accurate. Candidly, it's one of the things that absolutely pisses me off about your posts.

Dayne Crist, ND's QB, HAS played in games for ND. As a matter of fact, when Jimmy Claussen had his turf toe bout last season - Dayne even took the majority of snaps in practice that week. Two of the games he played in last season were Purdue and Michigan State.

Armando Allen, ND's RB that you say "has no game experience" has, in fact, led the Irish in rushing for the past two seasons.

And, if you look at the classes that Charlie signed while he was at ND - you'll find that many of the classes were ranked higher than those signed by JT / OSU. According to Rivals, ND signed classes with the following ranks: 2010 - ND #14, Michigan #20, OSU #25; in 2009 - ND #21, Michigan #8, OSU #3; in 2008 - ND #2, Michigan #10, OSU #4, in 2007 - ND #8, Michigan #12, OSU #15, in 2006 - ND #8, Michigan #12, OSU #13.

[tpilews]

Nut,

Excuse me- but, before you post things here and make definitive statements would you at least take ONE minute to confirm whether what you're stating is accurate. Candidly, it's one of the things that absolutely pisses me off about your posts.

Dayne Crist, ND's QB, HAS played in games for ND. As a matter of fact, when Jimmy Claussen had his turf toe bout last season - Dayne even took the majority of snaps in practice that week. Two of the games he played in last season were Purdue and Michigan State.

Armando Allen, ND's RB that you say "has no game experience" has, in fact, led the Irish in rushing for the past two seasons.

And, if you look at the classes that Charlie signed while he was at ND - you'll find that many of the classes were ranked higher than those signed by JT / OSU. According to Rivals, ND signed classes with the following ranks: 2010 - ND #14, Michigan #20, OSU #25; in 2009 - ND #21, Michigan #8, OSU #3; in 2008 - ND #2, Michigan #10, OSU #4, in 2007 - ND #8, Michigan #12, OSU #15, in 2006 - ND #8, Michigan #12, OSU #13.

Tssk, tssk, you know we don't like actual facts and statistics around here.

[amazinblue]

Tssk, tssk, you know we don't like actual facts and statistics around here.

TPI, I should know better... I can handle different points of view - but, ignorance - or blatant mis-statements have me at wits end. Thank goodness they start playing in about two days...

[tpilews]

TPI, I should know better... I can handle different points of view - but, ignorance - or blatant mis-statements have me at wits end. Thank goodness they start playing in about two days...

I hear ya. I can't wait to see the Big House all finished. That place is going to explode saturday with all the anticipation and excitement for the re-dedication and new season.

[Revelli]

As a Michigan fan, you've got to be DVR-ing the Notre Dame/Purdue game. It's important that the team not look past UCONN, but as fans we don't have that restriction. We play both these teams this year, and we should all be going over this game like it's the F-ing Zaprudor film, considering how we faired last year; losing to Purdue and just squeaking by ND.

Just sayin'

[amazinblue]

Revelli,

I don't think the team is looking past UCONN. And, I also agree - that ND / Purdue game should be interesting too. I hadn't though to DVR it - but, it's a good idea.

[FLex500]

As a Michigan fan, you've got to be DVR-ing the Notre Dame/Purdue game. It's important that the team not look past UCONN, but as fans we don't have that restriction. We play both these teams this year, and we should all be going over this game like it's the F-ing Zaprudor film, considering how we faired last year; losing to Purdue and just squeaking by ND.

Just sayin'

I agree I think ND offensively will do the same thing to UM as they do to purdue. Purdue and UM have similar weaknesses on the defensive side.

[amazinblue]

I agree I think ND offensively will do the same thing to UM as they do to purdue. Purdue and UM have similar weaknesses on the defensive side.

Flex, Revelli, and others,

I believe that the ND game hinges on two things -one) how much time does Dayne Crist get to throw / how quickly can the D apply pressure, and two) how accurate is Crist's arm. I was tempted to add two other questions - though, they aren't as significant as the first two - and those are: three) how effective is Crist at running an uptempo / no huddle offense, and four) how much of Kelly's playbook has Crist absorbed.

I think Crist gives ND a few advantages over where Michigan / RR were in '08 - first, Crist was a very highly ranked QB when he was recruited; second, Crist is an upperclassman (I believe the equivalent of a RS Sophomore) - but, he's entering his third year at ND; and third, even though I loved Weis as ND's coach and wish he was still apprenticing there - just facing the ND D and Manti Te'o has to be good experience for Crist.

I still have confidence in our team - I'll DVR the Purdue game - and, will actually be going to the ND game.

[Columbusisawhore]

I forgot... Sam McGuffie is eligible to play this year and debuts against Texas. It will be interesting to see how he fares.