The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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DECEMBER 2017 THE WOLVERINE 35 "We're not there yet. To get up over the top, that's got to be fixed. "In college football, if you don't have a stud quarterback, you're dead in the water. We've seen that this year. [Redshirt junior Wilton] Speight struggled and then got injured, and [fifth-year senior] John O'Korn came in, showed some flashes, but because the poor guy is running for his life half the time, he can't do what he does best. He's limited in some of what he can do as it is. "You've got to have that double dose of an offensive line that can con- trol the football game and a quarter- back who can go out there and un- derstand what's going on and make things happen. "I think [redshirt freshman Bran- don] Peters and this [true freshman Dylan] McCaffrey kid are the future, and the future looks bright at that po- sition. Coach Harbaugh does a good job of recruiting that talent and devel- oping that talent." Jansen: "I believe it will be next year. It's going to be a culmination of all the pieces finally coming together. We've had a great defense the last four years. Don Brown, in the last two years, has been a major factor in that, in the de- velopment of talent and the way that defense plays. I expect them to be that way for the foreseeable future on a yearly basis. "On offense, it's going to be a matter of putting all the pieces together and getting those guys to believe in the plays that are called. And not just the guys, but the coaches understanding what our offense is good at and not waiting until week eight to figure out, 'Hey, we can run the power play until somebody stops it.' "Let's figure out what those plays are in fall camp, so that when we get to Notre Dame next year — which is go- ing to be a hell of an opener — we're playing at a playoff level at that time. "Next year, with the competition that will be at quarterback, with Pe- ters, Speight and McCaffrey in the mix, that is going to drive those guys to be extremely good quarterbacks. And the competition in the backfield is going to be unbelievable, because we've got a lot of talent there." Ray: "It will be road wins, offensive line play, a defense that can match up against any team that they face, a lot of luck, injury-free football and figur- ing other people out. It might be three years. It might be longer than that. "Look at Wisconsin. They're unde- feated, but they're not great. Iowa was the same way. When you don't have to play anybody, you can put yourself in that position. "Michigan just hasn't had that type of fortune, except last year." Karsch: "I think next year 's team isn't an undefeated team, but the early call is that they play Ohio State in the regular-season finale, in Columbus, with the same stakes as last year. But I don't envision Michigan being 11-0 going into that game, in part because of the schedule. "Next year 's team is going to be leaps and bounds better, but 11-0 is probably not in the cards. And yet, I think Michigan is playing Ohio State for the Big Ten East title and a poten- tial playoff berth in the last game of the regular season." The Wolverine: Harbaugh opined that the playoff should be expanded to 12, even 16, teams. Agree or disagree, and why? Jansen: "I disagree. We've already seen that the playoff has made every bowl game irrelevant. I think it should be expanded, but eight teams is where it should be. When you look at the College Football Playoff now, the worst you can be is a one-loss team. "You've got to give credit where credit is due. Penn State got screwed last year by winning the Big Ten cham- pionship and not getting the chance to play for the national championship in the playoff. That's a prime example of why there should be eight teams. "Conference champions should get in. There are five conference champi- ons, so that automatically puts you at five teams. If you add three more, it's a little more inclusive, and you can in- clude a team like Penn State and Ohio State from 2016. "If you increase it to eight teams, you're going to be able to swallow up some of those issues. With five con- ferences, you're leaving some good teams out by limiting it to four." Ray: "I wholeheartedly disagree with that. I don't see 12 teams worthy of a national title shot. This isn't the NFL. That's like a wild card sched- ule, like the NFL, and you've got five weeks. "I think there are only five or six teams worthy of playing for the na- tional championship. The thing about college football is, it's a tournament from game one to when the playoff teams are announced. "You've got to earn the right to play for the championship, not just because you had a decent year and you're ranked No. 14 and you say, 'Oh, we're going to play for the national title.' "No. That's not college football." Karsch: "I disagree, vehemently. One of the charms of college foot- ball is that the regular season really matters. Every single week, there are games with national championship implications that feel like playoff games. "It usually works. We usually get four teams that we think deserve it. Any playoff angst that takes place in the first few weeks of the playoff standings is wasted air. There are al- ways surprises. "I feel like college football is becom- ing more like pro football, in terms of its presentation and its buy-in for fans, financially. I don't think it needs to become even more like pro football. "Leave it at four teams. The debate is fun. Every Saturday is fun. If you get to 16 teams, you're going to have two- and three-loss teams getting in. I think March Madness is great, but the regu- lar season in college basketball pales in comparison. It's not as intense. "I'd leave it at four teams for a long time, if not forever." Skene: "I disagree with Coach Har- baugh on that one, because I'm not convinced the ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th teams are anywhere close to what we see in the College Football Playoff right now. It seems like the top four or five teams are really good, then you've got some question marks at five, six, seven. "At a very maximum, the College Football Playoff should be eight. You take your five conference champions and then you get your three at-large teams. In my mind, that's about per- fect. "The playoff spots have to be extra special to get into. That's why I say eight as the maximum. I'd be all right with six — the five conference champi- ons and a sixth, and the top two teams get a bye. "The current system, with five ma- jor conferences and four spots, is just stupid. Someone is always going to be on the outside looking in. I don't like that at all. Get it to at least six, but I'd prefer eight." ❏