The Blue Board

I don't know if the first look at the offense was discussed before, but that is where I saw the numbers for Gallon at 80 catches, 1300 yards, projected out over a whole season once Gardner started at QB.

http://mgoblog.com/content/first-look-2013-offense

And not to be harsh, but generally speaking we are replacing who we lose with as good or better talent. Kovacs and Roh probably leave the biggest shoes to fill on defense and Denard and Lewan on offense. Considering Denard was injured most of the season, we already suffered the loss of him to some extent this year. And Gardner got some invaluable experience as a starter that should make the transition to a new QB smoother than normal.

Yogi Ferrell, that's it. I think IU is going to run us off the court in Bloomington. It will be such a high profile game they will be up for it and the environment with Game Day will be crazy.

I was talking to some Indiana fans down in Florida, they stated that they had that game circled. Burke and Stauskus scares them.

Defensively, I largely expect that to be true for UM, as well as on the OL. It should pop up at random positions on the entire team as well.

It's really the case with MSU at several positions as well.

Taiwan Jones was stealing minutes from Chris Norman already.

Johnny Adams was good, but he lacked good size. Trae Waynes and Jermaine Edmondson both likely possess more raw talent. It remains to be seen if they will utilize their talent as well or better than J5 utilized his.

Then you look at the OL, and it is very likely the case there. Jack Allen was named to the Freshmen All-American team, and showed steady improvement over the course of the season. Burkland and Fonoti both possess more raw talent at the Tackle position than Dan France (although they may or may not replace him). And its probably likely that a player like Benny McGowan possesses as much or more raw talent than the current guards.

Two spots we will definitely be losing raw talent is at DE with the loss of Gholston and TE after losing Sims. Both of those players, though they didn't always show it, were gifted as hell. Physical freaks that are near impossible to match, talent-wise. However, their backups are likely more refined. TE could be a question mark, with highly talented (but converted from WR) Caesar potentially moving up the ranks there. At DE, there are a couple physically gifted players who most are quite excited about, with Shilique Calhoun and Joel Heath (who has drawn comparisons to Gholston).

Obviously, with all of these players, pure talent doesn't mean that they will flip the switch on the field. That is a question that really can't be answered until the player goes on the field and either performs, or doesn't (see Maxwell, Andrew).

Edit: You could potentially include RB as one of the positions where the talent level of the replacement may be lower. Bell is hella talented, but I think there are some highly talented young players too, particularly Nick Tompkins and Gerald Holmes.

Their only real impressive win is Louisville. Kentucky is out of the rankings. If we beat Ohio and Minnesota next week, we'll have the same amount of impressive wins as Duke.

I think setting up a time and creating a lot of build up to return is something he would do. He likes to joke around and he seems like the guy who would like nothing better to create a stir by coming back. Remember he has not accomplished the goals of the team and OLs don't get injured as much as other positions.

I don't get what you are saying.

Duke has beaten:
Louisville- neutral
OSU
Minnesota- neutral
Kentucky- neutral
Temple- neutral
VCU

If UM beats OSU and Minnesota, Duke still has better wins with Louisville... (UK/Temple/VCU = NC State/KSU/Pitt)

None of those last three are ranked while NC state is the top 25 and K State is in the top 20.

It will be close, but hard to not give Duke the edge with a neutral court W over Louisville- don't care how close it was.. that's impressive

Why? Duke beat OSU at home (barely) and Minnesota on a neutral court. If we beat them both on their home floors, how is that not more impressive? The reality is, we don't really know how good Louisville is. For all we know, they will wilt in BE play. At least with OSU and Minny we know both UM and Duke played the same teams.

It's not worth arguing until it happens, because I think this argument includes a lot of assumptions on both sides. UM fans are able to envision the situation if they win @OSU and @MINN, whereas I think most MSU fans view it much less likely that you win both, and therefore I think our thoughts may reflect that.

Of course. If we lose the games, the argument is moot.