The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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ing because Michigan was clearly outmatched physically and got out- coached. Most fans were thinking, "Michi- gan had MSU beat and MSU beat OSU, so Michigan should beat OSU." Yeah right. College football is all about match ups. MSU doesn't run a spread-power attack and that favored Michigan's defense. OSU does run a spread-power attack with an athletic quarterback and a downhill running back, and that's why the defense strug- gled versus the Buckeyes. Who truly believed that Ohio State was 29 points better than Michigan in The Big House? I didn't expect Michi- gan to beat OSU, but I didn't think Michigan would get run out of the building in the manner in which they did. The Wolverine: Where did Michigan rank among the Big Ten's best teams this season? Simpkins: I think we were the third best. I think we would have beaten Iowa, I wasn't impressed with them. Their run to the Big Ten Championship Game was a lot easier coming out of the West than the East, and I think if we were in that division we would have been playing for the Big Ten title too. Ohio State was just a lot better than us, and then just the fact that Michi- gan State beat us, I'd have to put them ahead of us. Copenhaver: In the pecking order of where everyone finished, they would be fourth. But the way they played in that bowl game, they certainly would have had the guns to beat Iowa. And we should have beat Michigan State. I still have to put Michigan State up there, though, because of head-to-head, so they are the third-best team in the Big Ten. Van Bergen: They were second behind Ohio State. Probably close with Iowa. I understand Michigan State ended up winning the Big Ten, but they caught a lot of breaks. I don't think they were the best team in the Big Ten. Ray: Michigan was the fourth-best team in the Big Ten. The pecking order for me would be Ohio State, Michigan State, Iowa and then Michigan. Iowa and Michigan were the same team in a sense, and if they played in 2015 the game could have went either way. If Michigan played in the Big Ten West, then Michigan probably would have duplicated Iowa's success. The Wolverine: Is Michigan a playoff team in 2016? Skene: Not without a more dominat- ing rushing offense and improved play at the linebacker position. Simpkins: Talent-wise, I don't know if we're there yet, but the way this coach- ing staff develops players and designs a game plan, they might have a chance. But there are so many things that we have to see happen between now and then — who's coming back, who's leaving here and at other schools? Who's the quarterback? It's just unfair to even make a prediction. Copenhaver: I honestly think they can be. With the chemistry they have on their defense, with the majority of their guys coming back, with the track re- cord of the new defensive coordinator, I think we can have an elite defense again.