Junior Michael Shaw will be part of a heated competition to start at tailback.

With the recruiting class of 2010 signed, Michigan football fans can officially turn their attention to spring practice, and ultimately how the team will look come fall. With some assistance from MGoBlog’s depth chart by class and the resources available at The Wolverine (including Michael Spath’s very early look at the 2011 depth chart and Matt Pargoff’s in-depth look at this year’s recruiting class), I’ve done my best to project how the depth chart will look like this fall. Today, I’ll break down my outlook on the offense, and tomorrow I’ll do the same for the defense.

I’ve tried to include every notable scholarship player, including all the true freshmen. Because of this, and the uncertainty of many player’s positions heading into spring practice, I recommend taking the positions listed below with a grain of salt, especially along the offensive line and defensive secondary — at this point, it’s far too early to know who will be playing where. Instead, I wanted to do this to get a feel for the talent and depth of the team, and also be able to use this as a reference for player eligibility. For player eligibility, I’m using what MGoBlog has listed, and for player heights and weights I’m referring to last year’s official roster or Rivals’ recruiting data — I’ll do my best to note if a player has made reported weight gains or losses where applicable. Without further ado, let’s check out the depth chart:

Quarterback: No surprises here — Tate Forcier should head into the fall as the team’s starting quarterback, and I expect Rich Rodriguez and his staff will do their best to keep true freshman Devin Gardner on track to redshirt. Denard Robinson will remain the backup quarterback, and true freshman Conelius Jones will only see the field if the quarterback apocalypse occurs (nothing against Jones, but I don’t think anyone wants to see our second-choice true freshman athlete get forced into action).

Running Backs: The most interesting position battle on offense will be for the starting tailback spot, but with sophomore Vincent Smith sidelined for spring practice with a torn ACL, Michigan fans will have to wait for the fall to see how that one turns out. Smith appeared to be the probable 2010 starter until tearing that ACL against Ohio State, but by no means was he a shoe-in for the spot — junior speedster Michael Shaw, 2009 scout team standout (and former Rivals four-star) Fitzgerald Toussaint and athletic redshirt sophomore Michael Cox will all compete for snaps with the first team in the spring. Freshman Austin White is a solid pass-catching threat who could see situational time in the fall as well.

[UPDATE: Thanks to JC for bringing to my attention that Kelvin Grady is moving over to running back for the spring. That change is now reflected in the depth chart, as well as Teric Jones moving back to offense. For now, I've put Jones in the slot, but he may also see snaps at running back as well.]

At fullback, Mark Moundros returns, although he saw his playing time diminish as Michigan further implemented Rich Rodriguez’s offense last season. A player to watch will be true freshman Stephen Hopkins, a 6-0, 235-pound bulldozer who could see time at both tailback and fullback — the coaching staff has expressed interest in using him like West Virginia used Owen “Runaway Beer Truck” Schmitt, who lined up both as a traditional fullback and as the only back in single-back sets. Hopkins could be called upon in short-yardage and goal-line situations.

Wide Receiver: This would be one of those instances where you can basically ignore my guesses at position — I didn’t make much differentiation between X and Y, so treat all these players as simply outside receivers if you want to make things more simple. Darryl Stonum and Junior Hemingway both started at times (read: when healthy) last season, and should reprise their roles in 2010. Sophomore Je’Ron Stokes saw intermittent playing time as a true freshman, and should have a much larger role with the departures of Greg Mathews and LaTerryal Savoy. Of the incoming crop of freshmen receivers, I think Ricardo Miller has the best chance of seeing early playing time — both Robinson and Williamson could use a redshirt year to develop physically, while Jeremy Jackson could have a difficult time earning a role over more athletic receivers on the roster. If Cameron Gordon stays on the offensive side of the ball, he could be a guy to watch next season — he has great physical tools for a receiver.

Slot Receiver: Michigan has an abundance of talent at the slot, including arguably the two best receivers on the roster in Roy Roundtree and Martavious Odoms. Both players will see the field plenty in 2010, and I expect to see Michigan go to more four-receiver sets in order to get their best players on the field as much as possible. Kelvin Grady should show improvement after spending last season struggling with the offense, but he will be pushed for time by promising redshirt freshman Jeremy Gallon, a player who many thought would contribute immediately after stepping on campus. That didn’t happen, but the talent is still there — the only question is whether there is enough playing time at the slot to go around. Terrence Robinson appears to be the odd man out at slot receiver at this point — unless he shows better hands and a great deal more comfort with the knee injury he suffered as a freshman, he’ll have a hard time cracking the lineup. Drew Dileo could contribute on special teams, but expect him to redshirt unless he wins a job as a returner.

Tight End: It will be interesting to see how much the tight end position gets utilized in 2010 — starter Kevin Koger’s role diminished as the season wore on last year, and Rich Rodriguez hasn’t taken a recruit at the position since he took over at Michigan. Still, Koger finished fifth on the team in receptions last year, and early in the season appeared to be Tate Forcier’s go-to guy in the red zone, so I’d be surprised if the tight end position was phased out completely. That’s good news for Koger, but Martell Webb and Brandon Moore may have a tough time seeing the field in the fall, as I’m guessing Rodriguez would prefer playing one of his talented slot receivers instead of a backup tight end. This position group could be one of the keys to Michigan’s offense in 2010 or completely gone from the depth chart by 2011.

Offensive Line: Please, please don’t take these position groupings too seriously — there are several players on the line who could start at multiple positions, especially Patrick Omameh and Mark Huyge, who both could start at either tackle or guard. The wild cards along the line are Ricky Barnum and Quinton Washington, who could easily challenge for a starting guard spot over Huyge/Omameh. I expect Omameh, who showed a lot of promise at guard last season, to start somewhere along the line, but more experienced linemen like Huyge and Perry Dorrestein could be bumped from the lineup in favor of younger (but more highly-touted) linemen.  I don’t think the coaching staff would be very comfortable with a line full of freshmen, sophomores and Molk, but they’ve been steadfast in their assertions that the best players will see the field regardless of age. Other than Molk at center and Schilling at left guard, I wouldn’t be surprised to see any combination of players along the line in 2010.

Kicker: Redshirt freshman Brendan Gibbons has the inside track for the placekicker position, but he was supposed to win the position last fall before giving way to walk-on Jason Olesnavage. Olesnavage has graduated, but don’t rule out the possibility of walk-on Scott Schrimscher winning the job. Redshirt senior Bryan Wright has lost multiple battles for the placekicker position, and likely will be relegated to kickoff duties again in the fall.

Similar Posts:

• How Much Can We Expect Tate Forcier To Improve?
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Defense
• The Denard Conundrum
• Wolverines on the Web is All Manny, All the Time
• Recruiting Update: Part I (Early Enrollees)

What does Michigan do with Denard Robinson in 2010?

The news that highly-touted high school recruit Devin Gardner has enrolled early at Michigan has spurned a lot of discussion about the quarterback position at Michigan. Many think he’ll be competing for the starting job, and quite possibly could be too talented to keep off the field in 2010, even if a redshirt year gives Gardner an extra season of distance between himself and Tate Forcier. Others think that, no matter what, Gardner should be redshirted.

The man few can agree about, meanwhile, is sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson. After getting beat out by Forcier for the starting role last year, Robinson alternated between sound barrier-breaking dual threat (see: Western Michigan) and frustratingly inaccurate turnover machine (final 2009 stats: 14-31, 188 yards, 2 TD, 4 INT). The question is, then, is Michigan comfortable with Robinson as their backup/situational quarterback in 2010, or is the reward of playing Gardner greater than the risk of his redshirt year? And, if Gardner does step in and play at quarterback, where does Michigan play Robinson?

It’s obviously far too early to have any definite answer to these questions — Gardner just arrived on campus this weekend and hasn’t taken a collegiate snap, and nobody can tell how far Forcier and Robinson have progressed until spring practices are in full swing. It’s never too early, however, for speculation, so let’s take a look at what Michigan can do with Robinson this season:

1. Backup/situational QB — Michigan can choose to play Robinson in the exact same role they had him playing in 2009, serving as an insurance policy for Forcier while also taking snaps as a change-of-pace quarterback. If, after spring and fall practices are complete, the coaching staff thinks this is the best place for Robinson, I would call this the best-case scenario — it means that the staff is comfortable with Forcier as the starter, and with Robinson as a reliable backup, giving Gardner a year to learn the offense and an extra season on the back end of his collegiate career. Make no mistake; this coaching staff will not let something as trivial as a redshirt year determine how they use Gardner — they know the most important thing is to win, and to win now. If this is how the situation plays out, it will be because having Forcier and Robinson handling quarterback duties give the team the best chance to win.
2. A little bit of everything — Robinson did play a few snaps in 2009 as a slot receiver and running back, but did not play at either position enough to pose much of a threat as anything other than the gimmicky, trick-play sort. With a full season plus spring practice under his belt, however, Robinson could begin to learn these positions and develop into a jack-of-all-trades, on top of being the backup QB. This is an interesting possibility, but also has a few flaws. First, if Robinson is in fact the backup quarterback, I think Michigan fans will all want him to give his full attention and practice time to developing at the position. After all, if Forcier goes down for any length of time, Michigan will need Robinson to be much further along at QB than he was last season. Second, it’s risky to have your backup QB (Forcier’s insurance policy) subjecting himself to injury at positions where Michigan already has several capable players. I like the idea of Robinson seeing the field as an athlete, but I also like having a backup QB in one piece.
3. Full-out position switch — It’s tough to watch Robinson at QB and not think that his tremendous athletic ability (just check out his most recent exploit: running a 6.81 60-meter dash to win against OSU in his first collegiate track meet) is somewhat wasted there. Many fans are clamoring for Robinson to be used like former Florida Gator Percy Harvin, who lined up at receiver and running back (and occasionally took direct snaps) while terrorizing SEC defenses for the Gators’ national championship squad. If Gardner is the real deal, and Rich Rodriguez can’t help but let him see the field in 2010, then this is where Robinson belongs. There are issues here as well, however: Michigan’s depth at receiver and running back are both strong, and Robinson would have to learn a new position. This is where it helps that Gardner is enrolling early — if DG shows in spring practice that he’s a better quarterback already than Robinson, the staff can start Robinson’s transition to another position earlier, and give him a better shot at making a big impact in 2010.
4. Robinson to defensive back — Out of everything here, this is the least desirable option, in my opinion. Yes, Robinson was recruited by Florida to play defensive back. Michigan has recruited a ton of DBs in the last couple classes, however, and there’s no guarantee that Robinson would ever see significant time on defense, especially since he’ll have to learn a whole new system and position partway into his college career. Also, Robinson is the type of explosive athlete you want to see with the ball in his hands. Unless something catastrophic happens in the defensive backfield, this should never happen.

The quarterback battle as a whole, and what Michigan decides to do with Robinson specifically, may be the biggest story for Michigan in the offseason. I haven’t even mentioned the other quarterback in Michigan’s 2010 class, South Carolina dual threat Conelius Jones, who will be enrolling in the fall, although I don’t expect him to compete for immediate playing time. Robinson is a special athlete with the talent to be a game-breaker on offense — the question, of course, is where exactly he can have the biggest impact. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Similar Posts:

• How Much Can We Expect Tate Forcier To Improve?
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Offense
• Wild Recruiting Weekend Recap
• Wolverines on the Web Has a New AD

Devin Gardner: Enrolling early, after all.

So, it figures: last week I put up a post running down the list of potential recruits that could round out Michigan’s 2010 class. This weekend, Michigan has a huge visit week, resulting in two commits for this class — neither of whom were in my rundown. Sorry, everyone.

Michigan actually ended up with three commitments this weekend — linebackers Davion Rogers (Rivals 3*, #26 OLB, former West Virginia commit) and Jake Ryan (Rivals 3*, #45 Ohio prospect) both pledged for the class of 2010, and Cass Tech corner Delonte Hollowell became Michigan’s second early commitment for the class of 2011, joining fellow defensive back Greg Brown.

Rogers, who is listed at 6′6, 210 pounds, says he will be a “stand-up defensive end” for Michigan, which leads one to believe he’ll be playing Craig Roh’s hybrid spot. With Rogers’ frame, he’ll probably be taking a redshirt year to fill out and learn the defense. Here are his highlights, courtesy of ScoutingOhio.com — Rogers shows off impressive instincts and sideline-to-sideline speed:

Ryan, a 6-3, 225 pound outside linebacker from Westlake, Ohio, showed up lately on Michigan’s recruiting radar and received a scholarship offer during his official visit this weekend — he committed today, so he was obviously very excited to be offered by the Wolverines. Ryan boasts a very impressive highlight tape himself, coming from the OLB position to terrorize opposing backfields:

Hollowell comes from a long line of talented but pint-sized corners from Cass Tech, following in the (small) footsteps of Boubacar Cissoko and Dior Mathis. Hollowell is listed at 5-8, 163, and even that might be generous, but he has generated interest from the likes of LSU, UCLA, Michigan State, Iowa, and Illinois, so the talent is obviously there for him to be an impact corner. Hollowell has nice highlights, as well — I like how he reads the quarterback and breaks on the ball, and he packs a lot of punch for a guy his size:

Adding to the good cheer was the news that Inkster quarterback Devin Gardner, who had attempted to enroll early but ran into paperwork issues while trying to graduate high school early, will in fact enroll at Michigan and start classes this week. This is great news for Michigan — now Gardner will be able to get a jump on learning the offense, developing physically, and give Tate Forcier some elite competition for the starting job. Even if Gardner eventually redshirts, he’ll still be a threat that should push Forcier and Denard Robinson to improve mightily on their performances from 2009.

It’s been a great weekend for Michigan sports (even hockey got into the act, taking three of a possible four points from fourth-place Alaska-Fairbanks this weekend). Here’s hoping we have many more to come in 2010.

Similar Posts:

• Wolverines on the Web Watches People Run
• Recruiting Update: Part II (Rounding Out the Class)
• The Denard Conundrum
• Wolverines on the Web Has a New AD
• Recruiting Update: Part I (Early Enrollees)

Roy Roundtree looks like he will be an integral part of the 2010 offense.

There’s not much left to say about the 2009 season, so I’m going to go ahead and take a look at what the 2010 team will look like. First up is the offense, which should see little turnover from a very young unit. Just a note: I’ll be referring to players by what class they will be in for 2010 (for instance, I’ll be calling Tate Forcier a sophomore).

Quarterback: There will be a lot of speculation about the quarterback position, especially with the way Tate Forcier finished his freshman campaign. Forcier obviously has the inside track at the starting position in 2010, with a full season as the starter in Rich Rodriguez’s system under his belt. Denard Robinson has shown value as a situational quarterback, but hasn’t shown the passing ability to be a full-time solution at the position. The wild card will be the presence of incoming freshman Devin Gardner, Rivals.com’s #1 quarterback in the Class of 2010 and a threat to start from the moment he steps on campus. Unfortunately, Gardner will not be able to enroll early, and will have a tough time learning the offense quickly enough to unseat Forcier. In all likelihood, we’ll see the same quarterback rotation that we saw in 2009 — I doubt Rich Rodriguez wants to put his job on the line with another true freshman starting at the most important position on the field. Forcier should be an improved player when we see him next fall, and hopefully the rookie mistakes that marred the Ohio State game will be largely absent from his game a year from now.

Running Back: Michigan loses two talented (but oft-injured) tailbacks in Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown, but there is still a lot of talent returning at the position. Junior Michael Shaw and sophomore Vincent Smith should provide a solid one-two punch similar to how Michigan rotated Minor and Brown when they were healthy. They could be pushed for playing time by redshirt freshman Fitzgerald Toussaint (a highly-regarded four-star who put up very impressive numbers in high school) and redshirt sophomore Mike Cox, who at the very least will provide some depth at the position. Smith showed flashes of real promise in the second half of the season, and scored Michigan’s only touchdown against Ohio State on a nice 18-yard reception — he has showed an ability to run between the tackles despite his small stature, and could turn into a workhorse-type back. Shaw is more in the Carlos Brown mold (right down to the consistent nagging injuries), a guy with track-star speed who is a threat to take any run the distance. The Wolverines will also add Livonia Stevenson running back Austin White, a three-star tailback who is a very good receiver out of the backfield, and the large (6-0, 235 lbs.) Stephen Hopkins in the freshman class, although both will have an uphill climb for playing time. Despite losing two senior backs, Michigan looks to be in good shape at running back in 2010.

Outside Receiver: Michigan only loses two players, Greg Mathews and LaTerryal Savoy, from a unit that couldn’t consistently produce in 2009. Juniors Darryl Stonum and Junior Hemingway are your likely starters for 2010, and have the potential to provide Forcier with two solid deep threats if they continue to develop as players. Michigan will also return sophomore Je’Ron Stokes and redshirt freshman Cameron Gordon, a couple of four-star players from the Class of 2009, and will add some young talent in incoming freshmen Ricardo Miller, Jerald Robinson, D.J. Williamson, and Jeremy Jackson. Miller, an early commit who moved to Ann Arbor after playing his first three high school seasons at Dr. Phillips (FL), has the best chance to see the field early, although Jerald Robinson is the highest-rated player (Rivals.com four-star, #45 wide receiver) of the true freshmen and could also have an impact early on. The issue with the outside receivers isn’t talent — Stonum, Stokes, and Gordon were all four-star recruits, and Hemingway has been impressive when healthy — but consistency. Expect to see a lot of rotation at receiver until somebody steps up and establishes themselves as a consistent threat.

Slot Receivers: An injury to Martavious Odoms gave Roy Roundtree an opportunity to show his ability at slot receiver, and Roundtree may have edged out Odoms as the starter with his performance over the latter half of 2009. Both players should see ample playing time in 2010, and Roundtree’s emergence as Forcier’s go-to guy could mean Michigan shows more four-receiver sets next fall. Before his injury, Odoms had established himself as Michigan’s most consistent receiver under Rich Rodriguez, and also garnered praise for his downfield blocking and knowledge of the offense. Each player brings a different set of skills to the table, and Michigan will likely utilize both with regularity in 2010. There is a lot of depth at this position, with junior Kelvin Grady, sophomore Terrence Robinson, and redshirt freshman Jeremy Gallon all returning, to be joined by incoming freshmen Drew Dileo and Tony Drake. Grady, who saw his playing time decrease as Roundtree’s role expanded, could see more playing time as his transition from basketball to football continues. Many thought Gallon would contribute this season, but a late start because of academic clearinghouse issues forced him to redshirt — he’s a dark horse guy who could have a breakout season if he gets the opportunity. Overall, there’s a lot of talent in the slot, and Michigan should once again see the majority of their receiving production come from the position.

Tight Ends: Big things were expected from the tight end position, especially junior Kevin Koger, in 2009, but a strong start from Koger was followed by a disappointing string of drops as the position became more of a non-factor as the season wore on. However, there is still a lot of talent at tight end, with Koger joined by senior Martell Webb and redshirt sophomore Brandon Moore. The position will be one to watch in 2010 — Rich Rodriguez rarely utilized tight ends at West Virginia, but Koger has shown the potential to be a huge weapon in the spread. Along with Webb, who also struggled with drops this season, Koger may just be playing for the survival of the tight end position at Michigan next season. If he can catch the ball, Koger could be an All-Big Ten player next year, and a great safety valve for Forcier.

Offensive Line: The unit with the most turnover is the offensive line, which loses starters Mark Ortmann and David Moosman, as well as backup Tim McAvoy. However, Michigan returns five players who earned starts in 2009 in Steve Schilling, David Molk, Mark Huyge, Perry Dorrestein, and Patrick Omameh. Schilling (right guard) and Molk (center) will likely hold down their current positions, but the other three spots on the line are up for grabs, with a bevy of talented linemen all competing for playing time. Omameh performed well at right guard in the last few games of the season, and will likely earn a starting spot somewhere on the line. Huyge is another player that can play multiple positions, and should compete with Dorrestein and redshirt freshmen Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield for a shot at one of the tackle positions. On the interior of the line, redshirt sophomores Ricky Barnum, Rocko Khoury, and Elliott Mealer, as well as redshirt freshman Quinton Washington, will provide depth and push for playing time. Regardless of who earns starting spots on the line, the experience and talent at every position should mean an improved unit for 2010.

2010 Outlook: The 2009 offense improved drastically from a disastrous unit in Rich Rodriguez’s first year at Michigan. With Tate Forcier having a full year at Michigan under his belt — and hopefully with a greater appreciation for holding on to the football — the Wolverines should once again have an improved offense in 2010. Forcier will be the key — the offensive line should be better with experience, and there is a lot of talent and depth at all the skill positions. If Michigan can get more efficiency from the quarterback position — and they should — we could be seeing one of the nation’s most potent offenses next season.

Similar Posts:

• How Much Can We Expect Tate Forcier To Improve?
• Michigan’s Team of the Decade: Tight Ends & Fullbacks
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Offense
• The Denard Conundrum
• Recruiting Update: Part I (Early Enrollees)

Denard Robinson's season passer efficiency rating jumped over 76 points after the Delaware State game.

I’m a numbers guy, plain and simple. I devour stuff like Smart Football, Football Outsiders, 82games.com, and FanGraphs. The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract is my go-to bathroom reading material. I’m waiting for a fantasy baseball league where VORP and WARP take precedence over RBI and ERA.

However, numbers can be deceiving. Take a look at just how much the Delaware State game affected Michigan’s national statistical rankings:

I mean, wow. Michigan gained at least seven spots in each major national statistical category. The Wolverines’ average yards of total offense jumped by over 50, while their average total yards allowed dropped by nearly 25. They even managed (by proxy?) to move up one spot in the net punting ranks despite not punting once against the Hornets. Space Emperor, indeed.

The statistical boon of facing a 1-3 FCS did not stop with the team totals. Individuals, as well, felt the joy of insane statistical outliers:

• Denard Robinson’s season (and, therefore, career) passer efficiency rating skyrocketed from a paltry 55.39 (for context, the 100th best qualifying passer in the country, Clemson’s Kyle Parker, has a rating of 106.55) to a very acceptable 131.83 (which would qualify for 54th in the country, just above Northwestern’s Mike Kafka). David Cone’s season rating went from 0.00 to 150.72.
• Vincent Smith more than quintupled his career rushing yards, going from 35 to 201. Mike Cox merely multiplied his total around 3.6 times, from 31 to 113. Both players’ career touchdown totals, of course, increased by an infinite amount.
• Ricky Reyes, JeRon Stokes, Brandon Moore, Terrence Robinson, and Cox all recorded their first career reception on Saturday. The 29-yard pass from Cone to Reyes comprises 26.9% of the duo’s combined career yardage at Michigan.
• A guy named Scott Schrimscher kicked an extra point for Michigan, the first point of his career, and also the first ever point in the NCAA by a man with the last name ‘Schrimscher’.

I could go on, but by now I think you get the point. Saturday’s game was fun for the sole reason that a lot of players saw the field who had never played significant time at Michigan before, and a few of the young guys got to put up crazy numbers. Somehow, those numbers count towards NCAA totals despite coming against a team that forfeited a conference game to play here, and Michigan is now a much better team, statistically speaking, than they were just one week ago.

The thing that bugs me about this whole thing is that many of the teams above Michigan in these categories have probably played similar creampuffs, making it really hard to figure out just who is the best, say, rushing team in the country. I do know this: Michigan is probably much closer to the 23rd best running team in the nation than the eighth.

What’s my point here? I’m not sure, exactly. However, I do know that I never want to see Michigan play a team like that again (and yes, I’m well aware that UMass is on the 2010 schedule). Hopefully Bill Martin and Co. can find a way to line the pockets of the athletic department without bringing in more sacrificial FCS lambs.

Similar Posts:

• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Offense
• The Coner Strikes Again!
• Wild Recruiting Weekend Recap
• The Denard Conundrum

Expect to see a lot of Vincent Smith against DSU.

My internet has decided to only work half the time, and at a snail’s pace when it does, so this is going to be a very quick “Five Things…”

1. Don’t get injured — If Tate plays more than a quarter, I’ll be a little concerned. Hopefully he’s smart enough to not scramble too much or take any big hits. I’m really hoping we can get the starters out by the second half and just put it in cruise control from there.
2. Lots of carries for Shaw and Smith — Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown may be the present, but they are also seniors. Michael Shaw and Vincent Smith have both shown flashes of tremendous talent at times (Shaw in actual games, Smith in spring practice, mostly). I’d love to see both of them get some work in with the starters and let Minor and Brown fully heal for Penn State.
3. Denard Robinson complete some downfield passes — Shoelace’s confidence can’t be riding very high after that pick against Iowa. If the coaches let him loose and allow him to sling the ball downfield, hopefully he’ll respond with a solid game. If he can’t show passing ability against Delaware State, you can pretty much write him off as a passing threat for the rest of this season.
4. No blown assignments by the defense — We shouldn’t have to worry about DSU moving the ball against the defense that much. However, much of the issues with the defense have not been schematic, but simply players missing assignments or getting out of position. This should be a game where the team can focus fully on fixing those kind of mistakes.
5. Don’t get injured — Seriously.

Prediction: 48-10 Michigan. If this game is much closer, I may start breaking things.

Similar Posts:

• How Much Can We Expect Tate Forcier To Improve?
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Offense
• Wild Recruiting Weekend Recap
• The Denard Conundrum

Unlike most of this season, Michigan did a very good job in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

Well, yeah, we lost this game, but there was actually a lot of good that came out of the 30-28 loss to Iowa. Here a some obsvervations from the game:

• Everybody else seems to have weighed in, so here’s my two cents on Rodriguez’s call to put Denard Robinson back in the game on the final drive: At the time, I couldn’t believe it, and on a final drive I don’t think a team should trot a player out there who causes heart attacks every time he throws downfield. It’s not just that Robinson isn’t very accurate yet; he’s never played in that situation, and he doesn’t have the arm to make up for poor decisions the way Forcier does. Yes, it turns out Forcier was concussed, and the point is moot now, but I just had a bad feeling from the moment Denard took the field. Again, just my opinion.
• The defense put in one hell of an effort, given the five (five!) Michigan turnovers on the day. The Wolverines held Iowa to just 5.1 yards per play, allowed just 34 rushing yards, scored a touchdown (albeit a gift from Ricky Stanzi, but still), AND managed a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter. If you told me they would play that well before the game, I’d have a hard time not picking Michigan to win.
• The offense, on the other hand, was somewhat of a disaster. Seven of the team’s 13 drives stalled after picking up ten yards or less, and the turnovers were so killer because almost all of them were completely unforced.
• Donovan Warren and Brandon Graham simply had monster games. I’ll never understand why Stanzi threw at Warren’s side of the field so much — he was just blanketing the Iowa receivers — but at least Stanzi had a choice to stay away from Warren. BG was blowing plays up, whether they were runs or passes, and basically lived in the Hawkeye backfield all night. These two guys are what is holding this defense together.
• Troy Woolfolk was a pleasant surprise at cornerback. He appeared to play quite well, and possesses the feel for the game that Boubacar Cissoko is lacking right now and the athleticism that J.T. Floyd just doesn’t have. Unfortunately, Mike Williams totally blew his assignment on a couple of Iowa’s touchdowns, and now we’ll have to see if the secondary gets realigned again or if the coaches will simply try to bang it into Williams’ head that he has to be the last man back at all times.
• The linebackers finally put together a complete game (at least until Brian puts out his UFR and anything I have to say here is completely mitigated). Stevie Brown clearly should have been a linebacker since day one — he made a huge play on the goal-line stand, has been a really solid tackler, and gets to plays very quickly. Ezeh and Mouton both raised their play from earlier this season — you simply don’t hold a team to 34 yards rushing if your linebackers aren’t having good games. Hopefully they can keep it up for the rest of the season.
• Huge day for the offensive line. They were opening up huge holes for the run game (which netted 195 yards on 4.3 yards per carry) and protected Forcier and Robinson very well when they dropped back (no sacks given up). Even though I think Iowa’s defense is a little overrated, that was still a big performance against a very tough defensive front. Also, nice to see Moosman snapping the ball much better — I don’t recall a single bad snap.
• It’s tough to really comment too much on the offense. Tate had a rough, rough game. He’s still a freshman, and we have to expect those kind of performances to happen every once in a while. He’s still one of the best true freshmen quarterbacks in recent memory. Denard got thrown into a really tough spot, had one great drive, and then threw a killer pick. He’ll learn from that as well. Minor’s fumble was the one turnover that shocked me — as a senior, you have to protect the ball in that situation, especially when the run was going nowhere to begin with.
• OK, I lied. Mathews’ turnover was also a stunner — he’s back there for one reason, and that’s to catch the ball. If you have to go to your knees to field a punt inside the ten, just let it go.
• Is any outside receiver going to step up on this team? Martavious Odoms and Kevin Koger continue to deliver week-in and week-out, and the outside guys continue to pull disappearing acts. This week, Stonum, Mathews, Hemingway (and Savoy, if you want to count him, since he saw a few snaps) combined for two catches and 16 yards. I realize Forcier often looks to his underneath guys first, but that’s still paltry production from a group of guys with too much talent and experience to be invisible like that.

Similar Posts:

• How Much Can We Expect Tate Forcier To Improve?
• Michigan’s Team of the Decade: Tight Ends & Fullbacks
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Defense
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Offense
• The Denard Conundrum

Well, we’re here, and here is just about exactly where we expected to be before season. 4-2, alternating between flashes of brilliance and moments of sheer ineptitude, with an offense that isn’t quite clicking and a defense that is making do with a walk-on at safety and a revolving door at cornerback. This is what we expected, and after last season meeting expectation is exactly what this program needs.

It is the route taken here, however, that has proved frustrating. One overtime period and one ill-advised toss into the Iowa secondary gone different, and we may be looking at a Michigan team that, however undeserving, is 6-0 heading into a guaranteed victory and then a showdown against Penn State. Instead, the overwhelming feeling is one of disappointment. Disappointment in Tate Forcier, who finally, finally, looked like a true freshman in over his head. Disappointment in Denard Robinson, who had Martavious Odoms open in the flat and instead chucked a bomb to … Iowa’s safety. Disappointment in Rich Rodriguez, who chose the “spark” of Robinson over the track record of Forcier. Disappointment in a team that handed Iowa five turnovers while constantly standing on the doorstep, unable to simply turn the knob and let themselves in.

However, we are here, and here, in general, is a good thing. 4-2, soon to be 5-2 after beating up a hapless FCS opponent, is a good thing, as was the victory over Notre Dame and the rise of Tate Forcier and the expansion of Rich Rodriguez’s offense and the overall competence of this team that was completely lacking in 2008. We knew, after last season, that the road back to powerhouse would be filled with twists and turns and bumps and bruises and as many cliches as one can possibly pack into the road metaphor. We felt the high early on, when the euphoria of the Notre Dame win left us drunk with new expectations. We’re now at one of the lows, and 7-5 looks more and more like the logical end-point of this regular season.

We are here. We just have to accept that we are.

Similar Posts:

• How Much Can We Expect Tate Forcier To Improve?
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Offense
• Wild Recruiting Weekend Recap
• The Denard Conundrum
• Wolverines on the Web is All Manny, All the Time

I’m still gathering my thoughts after Michigan’s heartbreaking loss to Iowa. However, several other Michigan bloggers have offered theirs:

Genuinely Sarcastic:

Not because of what happened on the field. There have been worse losses than this, and there will be worse losses than this in the future. So why does this stand out? Because just like Michigan State fans being unable to handle prosperity, Michigan fans cannot handle adversity. One coaching decision, of which the average fan has almost zero real knowledge about, and the Michigan internet burns like it’s 2008 all over again. I suppose in some way allowances should be made. Michigan has never been “bad” before. Essentially every fan, irregardless of age, is used to Michigan being a good team. So after 3-9, everyone’s a little fucked up in the head, and every misstep from here on out is cause for alarm and cliff jumping and general insanity on the internet. Nobody wants to hear about the youth that still dominates this team, or about the patchwork defense that is still shuffling people around, trying to find a combination that works. Everyone who watches the game from the comfort of their couch with a beer in their hand is an elite head coach who has a 1.000 winning percentage, and to see something transpire on the television in front of them that they don’t agree with is abominable and unacceptable.

Dr. Saturday:

The really big question from all quarters of the many-headed Michosphere is going to revolve around the decision to keep glorified single-winger Denard Robinson at quarterback to guide the Wolverines’ last-ditch drive with a little over a minute to go, which, yes, was fairly weird: Robinson had just led a nice touchdown drive to bring Michigan within two, and even completed a pass on that drive, after Tate Forcier was pulled in the wake of the worst game of his young career. But given that Forcier has already conjured up three dramatic fourth-quarter drives in his first five games, and Robinson is a noted nonentity in the passing game, you’d think the reins on the must-have drive in the dying seconds would be passed to the proven magic-maker in that situation, not the hot hand with no accuracy beyond 10 yards — and in hindsight, having witnessed Robinson’s wobbly duck of an interception to end the threat and the game, you’d be right.

SCM, Maize n Brew

I guarantee some Iowa fan will wax poetic about how their defense caused the benching of Tate Forcier… which is patently wrong.  Forcier’s unforced errors last night that lead to him getting the hook.  An unrushed throw into double coverage for the pick, a fumble in which he wasn’t touched, tripping over a yardline on 2nd and 4 to kill a drive, happy feet in the pocket with good protection, and throws into areas that just simply did not make sense were the story of Tate’s night.  What ultimately lead to the benching was the series where we came out after a kickoff, promptly got a delay of game (AFTER A KICKOFF… BREAKING THINGS HERE), and he just started chucking the ball for no real apparent reason: he wasn’t running the offense, and that earned him a spot on the bench.  Iowa’s D had nothing to do with the majority of these mistakes.

Greg, MVictors

Looking at the tape, I’m not sure exactly sure what Forcier was trying to do beyond demonstrating to Rodriguez who he thought should be taking the snaps.  It was clear that Robinson was going to stay in (several guys on defense were pumping up Denard, Sheridan was giving him a few words and the offense huddled with Tate just listening along from the outside).  He finally looked like a freshman on the field and with this, acted like one on the sideline.

Geoff, The Hoover Street Rag

I am convinced, if Michigan recovers the onside kick, they win that football game. If there’s anything out there that puts two more minutes on the clock for Denard Robinson, Michigan wins. The offensive line was capably handling the Iowa DL, as they (mostly) had been all game. And the defense was doing a solid job of it’s own. I mean, look at how Iowa scored.

Thunder, Touch the Banner

Assuming Rodriguez benched starter Tate Forcier because of Forcier’s performance (8/19 for 94 yards and an INT, 8 carries for 26 yards), it was an indefensible decision. Two of Michigan’s victories this season (Notre Dame and Indiana) are the direct result of Forcier’s late-game heroics. Last week’s near-victory against Michigan State came after Michigan was down 20-6 halfway through the fourth quarter and Forcier directed two touchdown drives. Meanwhile, backup Denard Robinson has had a couple electrifying TD runs while failing to pass the ball efficiently in spot duty this season. Prior to last night, Robinson was 4/11 for 57 yards, zero touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.

Markus, When Carcajous Attack!

Has it occurred to anyone that maybe Forcier was given the chance(s) already to play out the game “his way” tonight against Iowa? Denard Robinson can run and throw well too, not mention make electrifying plays in his own right. Or have we all somehow forgotten how he left defenders eating tire fragments as he scampered into the end zone against Western Michigan and again versus Eastern Michigan in a matter of seconds? Michigan rushed for 195 yards tonight against Iowa’s top 15 defense. Is it then so hard for Michigan fans to imagine Denard Robinson breaking out and scampering 83 yards for a touchdown on the final drive? What if he had just scampered out of bounds well in field goal range and with plenty of time left on the clock? What if he had connected to Odoms at or around the Iowa 31 with those 45 seconds yet to play?

There seems to be a refrain stating something to the effect that Denard “can’t do it” and only Tate “can do it”.

Jon Chait, The Wolverine

The question on everybody’s mind is the coaching decision to allow Denard Robinson to lead a drive with a minute and a half remaining and zero timeouts. It’s simply indefensible. Even letting Robinson quarterback the previous drive was a questionable choice. The Robinson-led offense, which mostly consists of quarterback runs without misdirection, has had limited success all year. It worked unusually well for one drive, vindicating Rodriguez.

Similar Posts:

• How Much Can We Expect Tate Forcier To Improve?
• Putting Michigan’s Recruiting Class in Context
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Offense
• Wild Recruiting Weekend Recap
• The Denard Conundrum

The Wolverines could use a resurgence from Junior Hemingway.

It’s that time of the week again, the time for “Five Things…”. First, a look back at last week’s keys:

1. Contain Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton — Kirlew forced the Denard Robinson fumble, and Middleton came away with two sacks (for seven yards lost), but I actually thought Michigan did a fairly good job keeping these two quiet for most of the day. However, results are results, and the line did allow Indiana’s two big-play defenders to come through with big plays.
2. Gel on the offensive line — To quote myself: “Losing the center is tough, however, since he is the man tasked with making the calls up front, as well as shouldering the responsibility of making sure the ball gets safely to the quarterback. Moosman and Forcier will hopefully have built a solid rapport in practice this week, as Michigan has already dealt with a few fumbled snaps this season.” Oops. The coaching staff is working on Moosman’s snap technique, and hopefully he’ll be much more comfortable getting the ball safely to each quarterback against MSU.
3. Re-establish a deep threat — Michigan’s outside receivers combined for a grand total of two catches and nine yards (one catch each by LaTerryal Savoy and Junior Hemingway). Against a solid opponent, that’s just not going to get the job done.
4. Shore up the run defense — On 32 of Indiana’s carries, Michigan gave up only 112 yards for a solid 3.5 yards per carry allowed. However, Indiana had 33 carries, and Darius Willis tacked on 85 yards and a touchdown in a critical fourth-quarter situation. Ryan Van Bergen has admitted fault for making the wrong check on that play, but a lot of things have to go wrong to allow a run of that length (namely, an Indiana tailback out-running the entire secondary). Hopefully, that play was a one-time-only mistake, and Michigan will do a better job of containing what has been a sub-par Spartan rushing attack.
5. Keep Brandon Minor healthy — Minor was limited to 12 carries and looked generally healthy, especially when tasked with converting a late 3rd and one on Michigan’s last drive (when he trucked a safety to convert the first down). Carlos Brown was the MVP of the first half, scoring two long touchdowns and tallying over 140 all-purpose yards on the game. Minor is a go for Michigan State and practiced yesterday. Check.

Well, that looks like 1/5 to me, which isn’t exactly surprising considering we barely eked out a victory over Indiana. Let’s move on to the key’s for Saturday’s game:

1. Continue the success of the return game — This game shapes up to be a shootout, so field position will be incredibly valuable. Darryl Stonum had a huge game on kick returns against Indiana — his 218 kick return yards were the highest total by any Big Ten player this season — and came very close on several returns to taking one all the way. If Stonum allows Michigan to start at the 35 or better after every MSU score, I like Michigan’s chances of out-gunning the Spartans.
2. Limit the freshmen mistakes — One of Tate Forcier’s desperate sack-avoiding tosses finally found its way into the arms of a defender, and Denard Robinson practically handed the ball off to Indiana on a seemingly innocent run. It’s tough to stress just how important ball security is in this game: it’s completely cliche, but one turnover can completely change the outlook of this game.
3. Get to the quarterback — Again, duh, this is part of winning football. However, Michigan could only muster one sack against Indiana, and has just four sacks in four games (good for 100th in the country). Anybody who watched the MSU/Notre Dame game knows that getting a little pressure on Kirk Cousins can lead to some spectacular errors on his part — get to Cousins (and Nichol) and Michigan could receive a few gifts from Sparty on Saturday.
4. Seriously, re-establish the deep threat — I’m just going to keep making this one of the keys until it finally happens: Michigan needs a consistent, viable deep threat. Rich Rodriguez’s offense is predicated on spreading the field horizontally and vertically, but since Junior Hemingway’s week one “breakout” against Western Michigan, Michigan’s only pass play over 40 yards was the 61-yard screen-turned-touchdown to Carlos Brown last week. That’s going to have to change at some point if Michigan wants to keep winning, and that point may very well be Saturday.
5. Stay tough in the red zone — If you want to point to one reason that Michigan managed to beat Indiana despite allowing 467 yards of total offense, it is this: The Hoosiers made it into the red zone five times, and five times they were forced to settle for field goals. Michigan State tops the conference in total offense and is fourth in scoring offense — they’re going to get their yards against Michigan. However, if the Wolverines can hold the Spartans to field goals while punching the ball into the end zone when given the chance on offense, well, my basic math skills tell me we’re going to win.

I have a really hard time seeing this game play out in any way other than a tightly-contested shootout, and when it comes down to it, I trust Forcier to make the plays to win the game that Kirk Cousins just hasn’t made yet. Now, let’s all say a prayer that he’s close to 100% come Saturday… Michigan 38, Michigan State 34

Similar Posts:

• How Much Can We Expect Tate Forcier To Improve?
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Defense
• An Early Stab at the 2010 Depth Chart: Offense
• Wild Recruiting Weekend Recap
• The Denard Conundrum