Michigan did not stop Notre Dame on Saturday. Far from it. The Fighting Irish shredded the Michigan defense to ribbons for over 490 yards of total offense in Ann Arbor. Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen throttled the Wolverines young secondary for 336 yards, 3 TDs and no interceptions. He was not sacked once during the entire game. Meanwhile, Fighting Irish tailback Armando Allen rushed for a jaw-dropping 139 yards, 6.6 yards per carry and 1 TD.
But this was only half the story.
Prior to kickoff one of the fired up Notre Dame defensive players apparently told ESPN's Holly Rowe that "if they (Michigan) play a freshman quarterback, then that is just stupid!"
Well, unnamed Notre Dame defender, you see, Michigan doesn't really have a choice this fall. It's called "play a freshman quarterback (Tate Forcier or Denard Robinson) or be destroyed".
Despite such high risk of destruction on the gridiron, Michigan, a 3-9 football team only a year ago, has two freshmen playing at quarterback and plenty of youth on defense. Not Rich Rodriguez's first choice. Deal.
Indeed Jimmy Clausen had his way with the Wolverine secondary all afternoon, and the Fighting Irish were able to run the ball almost at will on the aggressive Michigan front line.
But what on earth could offset this assault by the Fighting Irish?
Enter freshman quarterback Tate Forcier. The youngster from Scripps Ranch, California, all 6 feet 190 lbs of him, threw for 240 yards, 2 TDs and 1 interception. Forcier also rushed for 70 yards and 1 touchdown. But the most impressive thing about young Forcier, aside from the stats, was that he was able to compartmentalize previous game errors and lead the team to victory by making big plays when they were needed most.
With Michigan down 31-34 with only 30 seconds to play in the game, Forcier scrambled on a roll out and connected to spectactularly-named senior wide receiver Laterryal Savoy for an 18 year connection to give the Wolverines a 1st and goal. Two plays later Forcier scrambled again, this time hitting Greg Mathews in the end zone for the game winner. Michigan 38, Notre Dame 34.
Forcier repeatedly states to the media that he never gets nervous. This claim appears to be supported by one other compelling statistic: 70%. In one of Michigan's biggest rivalry games of the year, in front of a record crowd and national television audience, Forcier connected on 70% of his passes against the Irish Saturday afternoon, compared to Clausen's 60% from the field.
That's sick. That's crazy. But it most definitely is not "stupid".
For Rich Rodriguez beating 18th-ranked Notre Dame on national television is without question the first major win of his young career at Michigan.
This was the first meeting of the two schools on the gridiron in the modern era. The last meeting between Michigan and Notre Dame saw Fritz Crisler take on Frank Leahy, when football helmets were made of cowhide and there were no facemasks: October 9, 1943. Notre Dame won that game 35-12.
The 1978 game in South Bend featured senior Michigan quarterback, and Heisman candidate, Rick Leach, as well as senior Notre Dame quarterback Joe Montana. The Wolverine offensive attack included star fullback Russell Davis, lightning-fast tailback Harlan Huckleby, as well as junior wingback Ralph Clayton. Michigan also had two fine tight ends in senior Gene Johnson and junior Doug Marsh. The Wolverine defense features defensive tackles Curt Greer and Mike Trgovac, linebackers Ron Simpkins, Tom Seabron, Jerry Meter and Andy Cannavino, and defensive secondary stars like Mike Harden and Mike Jolly.
Michigan finished 10-2 in 1978 including a loss to USC 10-17 in the Rose Bowl. Notre Dame finished 9-3 including an electrifying Cotton Bowl win over Bill Yeoman's Houston Cougars 35-34.
Michigan vs. No. 18 Notre Dame, September 12, 2009 – Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
When You Crave Irrational Exuberance On A Level That Only Brett Musberger Can Deliver: “We’re here LIVE in Ann Arbor, Michigan! (Except that I’m physically really in Columbus, Ohio with Kirk Herbstreit, preparing for the USC-Ohio State shootout!). Alright fans, Rich Rodriguez and the 1-0 2009 Michigan football team will being going head to head with Charlie Weis and the 18th ranked, 1-0 Notre Dame Fighting Irish! This is a major statement game for both teams for the following reasons:
1.) Wolverines head coach Rich Rodriguez is under the gun for a 4-9 record so far at Michigan. Recent allegations of violating NCAA rules regarding practice rules has generated a lot of negative publicity to Rodriguez and the Wolverine football program.
2.) Rich Rodriguez is 0-2 versus Notre Dame all-time, including a 24-34 loss to the Irish in 2001 while coaching West Virginia his first season, and last year’s 17-35 loss in South Bend during his first season at Michigan.
3.) Fighting Irish coach Charlies Weis is on the hot seat at Notre Dame for his rather unimpressive 30-21 record since 2005 and for no meaningful victories over quality opponents since that first year. Weis is 2-2 versus Michigan since 2005. On the road against Michigan his troops are 1-1.
4.) In the modern era (the series restarted in 1978) Notre Dame leads Michigan in this series 13-11-1.
5.) The home team in this game has enjoyed considerable advantage. Michigan is 7-5 at home and 4-8-1 on the road versus Notre Dame since 1978.
6.) Both schools are unbeaten heading into this game for the first time since 2006.”
Notre Dame is the more veteran ball club this fall with 9 starters back on offense and 6 starters on defense, including star junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen. Michigan is a much more youthful team from head to toe although the Wolverines do have 9 starters returning on offense and about 7 starters on defense.
Three Great Reasons to Wipe That Ridiculous Smile Off Your Face:
1. “Jimmah” Clausen, Golden Tate and Michael Floyd Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen has been dead-eye accurate the last two games against WAC defensive secondaries of Hawai’i and Nevada. Michigan’s secondary isn’t WACish from a talent perspective, but from an experience standpoint, yeah, Michigan can look quite a bit like a WAC defensive secondary come to think of it. Golden Tate and Michael Floyd are outstanding talents with track speed and good hands. Floyd had 3 touchdown snares last week (47 yards per catch!) and Tate has a 19.7 yards per catch average going so far. Also, the Fighting Irish have a solid TE in Kyle Rudolph and numerous other dangerous targets to soften Michigan at the edges, including Robby Paris, Deion Walker and tailback Armando Allen. Suffice it to say, Charlie Weis is going to attack Michigan’s weakest link: the Michigan safeties and banged up corners (Cissoko, J.T. Floyd). It’s going to take a Herculean effort of the Michigan defensive line and secondary to prevent what will very likely be at least 2 to 3 long touchdown bombs from Clausen.
2. The Fighting Irish Running Game This Notre Dame offensive line has been much maligned since Weis has been head coach in South Bend. They gave up 21 sacks last year, but this fall Notre Dame has 4 highly talented senior offensive lineman and 1 sophomore guard in the starting lineup. They’ll be rotating in some players at tackle apparently, but this could be the year Weis finally gets the running game going with tailbacks Armando Allen, Jonas Gray, Theo Riddick, and their big fullback Robert Hughes. This group may not get the attention it deserves. Although Notre Dame has struggled to run the ball well against Michigan (and everybody else?) since 2006, I simply do not trust this Fighting Irish team to suck at running the football for a 4th straight year against Michigan.
3. Threat of Michigan Injuries I stated for the Western Michigan game preview that this item will probably become a permanent addition for all of Michigan game previews in 2009, regardless of the opponent. I have yet to be proven wrong. Michigan will probably not have the services of starting wide receiver Junior Hemingway (ankle) this Saturday, and veteran tailback Brandon Minor is still not at 100%. It’s worth noting that Michigan’s secondary lost cornerback Boubacar Cissoko to injury in the latter half of the WMU game, though he is slated to play on Saturday. With Cissoko out of the game Michigan took it on the chin with a Hiller to Nunez touchdown bomb of 73 yards. Yikes! Any injury to the Michigan secondary versus Notre Dame spells almost certain death for the Wolverines’ chances of victory. That’s how bad things are on the Wolverine depth chart. And just to make sure that Michigan fans have a sufficient number of things to worry about for this Saturday’s game against Notre Dame, the Wolverine team walks a similarly precarious plank for the defensive line and linebacker positions as well. Any injuries there, start playing taps.
" I'm kind of a big deal. I embarrass the hell out of evil Leprechauns on national TV. Oh, and I like Scotch."
When Carcajous Attack! On Defense: OK, so Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Robinson knows what it takes to beat Notre Dame. It wasn’t pretty, but his overmatched Syracuse team shocked Weis and the Fighting Irish in South Bend in 2008 24-23 with a far less experienced team. Of course, there’s no way in hell Weis and his Fighting Irish will discount a 1-0 Michigan team to the same degree. Michigan played well on defense last week against a pretty decent offensive football team in Western Michigan, featuring a dangerous quarterback like Tim Hiller (albeit gimpy from ACL surgery), a big, veteran offensive line, and a 1,000 yard rusher in Brandon West. The big difference with Notre Dame is at wide receiver, where Michael Floyd and Golden Tate are big play machinery for Weis’s NFL style offense. In my estimation, Michigan’s safeties Michael Williams and Troy Woolfolk are going to have to play out of their minds on Saturday for Michigan to pull off a win because Weis is going to go for the jugular early in this game to get the lead and take the Michigan crowd out.
The one thing that might favor Michigan slightly on defense in this game is Greg Robinson’s flexible defensive sets and the 4 man front of Brandon Graham, Ryan Van Bergen, Craig Roh and Mike Martin. If these guys can get penetration and pressure Clausen consistently, then Michigan has a good chance to keep the game close. Notre Dame is very balanced on offense, however, with good possession receivers to soften the edges, a capable TE to confuse the Michigan middle, and good tailbacks that are dangerous on screens and draw plays. Jimmy Clausen is way more mobile than Hiller was, so this will be a test for the Wolverine linebackers and DL as well. Then there is the deep threat of Floyd and Tate. Both can pull Michigan’s heart out of its ribcage in a matter of seconds. The Wolverines are going to need one hell of a creative defensive game plan to stop this kind of balance that the Irish will bring to the football field this Saturday. Michigan’s defense is unlikely to play like USC did last year. But they just might play as good or better than Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Stanford and Navy did last year against the Fighting Irish. And with that disorganized level of play, this young Michigan team has a shot at keeping the score close enough to win the football game.
Denard Robinson says: "Phone booth? What?...No, baby, just dial 1-800-TOUCHDOWN!"
When Carcajous Attack! On Offense: I was surprised with Notre Dame’s 35-0 shellacking of Chris Ault’s Pistol Offense of Nevada last week in South Bend. Star quarterback Colin Kaepernick, a dual threat player, was just 52% from the field for 149 yards with 0 TDs, 2 INTs. He was also sacked twice. However, Nevada tailback Vai Taua did rush for 114 yards in this game with a 6.3 ypc average. I have few doubts that Michigan, given the robust 2009 theme of Gulo Gulo Semper Accursus, is going to do all they can to establish the running game early, eat game clock, and keep Clausen and Co. off the field as much as possible. If Michigan can’t run the football against this Notre Dame defense on Saturday, then this game will be a very long one for UM. Michigan quarterbacks played fairly well last week against an anemic WMU defensive front and horribly inexperienced secondary. Notre Dame’s defense is going to be much better than that. What’s more, given Notre Dame’s potential offensive firepower, the level of urgency is going to be very high for Rich Rodriguez’s offense to score touchdowns in this game not field goals and to get an early lead. This would allow the Wolverines defense to pin their ears back and maintain their aggressiveness. Jon Tenuta is the Notre Dame defensive coordinator and will no doubt have his linebackers unit blitzing on almost every down against Forcier and Robinson to try to shake the freshmen. Michigan’s offensive line must play significantly better than it did last week to establish the running game and protect against these blitzes. Michigan’s counter to Tenuta’s blitzing will likely be many more QB waggles, rollouts, screens and tight end dump passes over the middle to take advantage of the over pursuit. Michigan had success last week attacking the edges with bubble screens and hitches, and quarterback draws. I would expect this to continue again this week. Michigan will need to beware of cornerback Robert Blanton and safety Kyle McCarthy as both had picks from last week’s game versus Nevada. A couple of things Notre Dame needs to look out for this week will be the possible return of tailback Brandon Minor and the resurgence of the Michigan downfield passing game to TE Kevin Koger and WR Greg Mathews. Michigan is not explosively fast at the receiver positions, but Forcier is an accurate thrower on the run and in the pocket, while the Wolverine receiving targets are many, and talented enough to inflict plenty of damage. By the way, it should surprise no one (except hopefully Notre Stain) to see some newly concocted trick plays introduced in this game by Rich Rodriguez, Rod Smith and Calvin Magee.
The Last Time: Michigan last played Notre Dame was on September 13, 2008. In this game, Charlie Weis injured his knee severely by one of his own players careening into the sideline. But little else went wrong for Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish capitalized on an incredible avalanche of Wolverine errors (7 fumbles, 4 fumbles lost, 2 interceptions, and 7 penalties for -79 yards) resulting in a 17-35 Irish victory over Michigan. Interestingly, Michigan out gained the Fighting Irish in this contest with 388 yards to 260 yards by the Irish. Michigan also had 21 first downs compared to Notre Dame’s 14, and the Wolverines were slightly better on 3rd down conversions as well (33% for UM, 25% for ND).
Yes, as stated above, Rich Rodriguez has never beaten Notre Dame in his coaching career. Ever since West Virginia lost a shot to play in the Gator bowl in 2002 due to the Irish’s enigmatic conference affiliation (Independent/Big East), Rich Rod has about the same affinity for Notre Dame as Bo Schembechler ever did.
What to Expect: On paper Notre Dame should win this football game, I'm sorry to say. And they could very well do it in decisive fashion. The Fighting Irish have a veteran defense and a good defensive coordinator (Jon Tenuta), a veteran offensive line, 2 outstanding NFL-esque wide receivers in Floyd and Tate, a five-star, 3 year starter returnee at quarterback in Jimmy Clausen. The Fighting Irish also have a decent kicking game (Freshman PK Nick Tauch 5 for 5 on PATs, Senior punter Eric Maust 40.7 yard punting average).
So what does Charlie Weis and Fighting Irish fans have to worry about?
Well, first, this game is being played in Michigan Stadium. Since 1978, the visiting team historically doesn’t fare well in this series. Second, the Wolverine defense showed considerable improvement (aggressiveness and relentlessness) versus an experienced MAC offense last weekend and the talented pro-style QB Tim Hiller. Third, the Wolverines have something special going on at quarterback this fall with big play machines of their own in Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson. Fourth, there is the x-factor for Michigan’s offense this week, which could involve return of star tailback Brandon Minor. Tenuta’s blitzing defense still gave up 150 yards rushing and 150 yards passing last week and 5.5 yards per play against a decent WAC team. It also surrendered 100 yards rushing to the Wolfpack’s best rusher, tailback Vai Taua. Michigan is going to move the ball on the Irish this Saturday one way or the other, which could mean trouble.
If Michigan’s defense can somehow harass and pressure Clausen and prevent enough big plays from the evil wonder twin wideouts Michael Floyd and Golden Tate, then I like Michigan’s chances of keeping this game close and down to the wire.
Of course, if they do, then it’ll be down to which sides has the fewest penalties and turnovers and the best special teams play (field goals) to determine the final result.
Yeah, I said it. That means field goals!
Arrgggghhh! Run away?
We all remember with horror names like Chuck Male, Harry Oliver, John Carney, Reggie Ho. Well, this year the shoe is on Notre Dame freshman place kicker Nick Tausch who was perfect last week on PATs, but has yet to try a field goal for Notre Dame.
Michigan has senior place kicker Jason Olesnavage, who was 4 for 4 on PATs and was perfect on a long 44 yard field goal versus Western Michigan.
New Stadium Construction I live in southern California so attending Michigan football games is a real treat for me. The last Wolverine football game I attended in Ann Arbor was the 2006 Ball State game, which Michigan won in typical indecisive, Mike Debordian fashion. The game day experience back then was really cool, as it always is in Ann Arbor, but man, I didn’t have a very warm and fuzzy feeling after that football game, despite Michigan’s high national ranking at the time. Michigan then went on to beat Indiana decisively on ESPN the following week, but lost a barn-burner at Ohio State. Of course, then Michigan was royally embarrassed by a vastly superior Pete Carroll-Ken Norton Jr.-coached USC team in the 2007 Rose Bowl.
The Western Michigan game last weekend just seemed very different. The Victors Walk, the support for Rich Rod and football team both off campus and at the stadium, and the new towering dark navy blue box structures on both sides of the field…it was different and impressive to me. I really like what they’re doing with Michigan Stadium. Once complete, this is going to be a great and massive venue for college football games. The one thing I kept thinking about was, how cool would it be if Michigan started playing night games here.
I know. I know. I’ll stop. But still…
It was also kind of neat to see a few construction guys in hard hats taking in the game as well. So, was it louder? I thought it was louder. My father is 71 years old and slightly deaf in both years. He attended the game with me. After the game he complained about a headache from the crowd noise and said his ears were still ringing on Monday. The bleachers weren’t shaking or anything like they do in Husky Stadium (Washington), but I was in Section 22 Row 45 well away from the Michigan student section and the band (By the way, I could not hear the band very well at all where I was sitting, which really sucked). The crowd noise was sufficiently loud most of the game, but what I did notice was that on big plays there seemed to be a clap or a louder “eruption” of sound from the crowd than what I remembered. Regular Michigan game visitors probably don’t notice this (and you should rightly all have your hearing checked by a physician tomorrow), but for infrequent visitors to Michigan Stadium like me (and probably for UM opponents as well) it was surprisingly loud.
Michigan Stadium, Now with Rrrrawk! There have been numerous statements in the blogosphere this week about the piped-in music during the Western Michigan game. I guess this was a Michigan Stadium first. So what do I think? I’m in the camp that likes to impersonate an irate Bo Schembechler when a 38 Belly Option play in practice goes horribly wrong:
“Goddammit! Can’t you engineering propeller heads hookup some decent audio hardware to the Michigan Marching Band and blast the stadium visitors into oblivion with crystal clear music!!!?"
By God, I want to hear that band playing The Victors right all the way down in F*bleep*ing Akron!”
"And *bleep!* Neill Diamond!!!"
The answer is apparently no. The University of MichiganMarching Band is arguably the best marching band in the country and can play just about any music that Generation X, Y and Baby-boomers and even older want to hear. Piped in music at Michigan Stadium? Look, Guns and Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” is fantastic when the Detroit Redwings first take the ice, or just prior to an Anaheim Ducks hockey game face off. But seriously, it has no freaking business in Michigan Stadium. Bo Schembechler would be rightfully enraged by this, so I thus rest my case....And....I’ve probably just given away the fact that, as stated frequently in the Lethal Weapon films: “I’m getting way too old for this shit”.
Quarterbacks I hate to say I told you so. But I freaking did tell you so. As long as he stays healthy, I’m telling you folks in Ann Arbor right now that you are going to be very pleased with Tate Forcier’s exploits over the next 4 years. He is simply not your average mobile high school quarterback that just happened to run a spread option offense. The kid can take over football games by making big, WTF plays. And the other thing is he gets better when the pressure is turned up in football games.Opponents are not going to be comfortable until the clock really hits 00:00.
The only thing Rich Rodriguez and Rod Smith need to guard against is whether Mr. Forcier falls into the belief trap that: “If it’s gonna be, it’s gotta be me”. He can’t do it all himself. Forcier has a crap load of talent all around him this year and well into the future. Finally, we’re all going to get to know those other players pretty well this year because the ball will end up hitting their hands courtesy of Mr. Forcier and Mr. Robinson.
I was very pleased with the quarterback play and confidence overall, even with all of the mistakes, with the sole exception of SheridINT’s interception, which would have given Michigan a 38-7 win in all probability. Denard Robinson is going to keep Tate honest week after week and serve as a nice option for the Wolverines offensive packages going forward. Oh, and he just happens to be a jack-in-the-box-like Impact Player. It’s like you’re 1 year old again, and you hear this funny music playing, knowing perfectly well that something fabulously shocking is about to happen. How interesting is it that exactly 30 years ago a freshman player from Florida became a star player for the Michigan Wolverines (Anthony Carter, 1979)? Denard Robinson’s future at Michigan is going to be a very bright one.
But I’ll say it again: There are going to be a number of mistakes from these quarterbacks this year. Prepare yourselves mentally for that eventual certainty.You may tear your hair out, chug a bottle of Pepto (I’ve seen it a hundred times out here from UCLA fans), or just run outside and scream a cloud of expletives that will cause it to suddenly rain. Most UM fans are newly accustomed to such rituals after the 2008 season debacle. Yet these freshmen quarterbacks are going to work out OK over the long run. Competition is going to increase next year, and that’s probably all we need to know for now to finally get some rest.
My Favorite Thing DEFENSE! How about Greg Robinson? It’s early days, and Notre Dame comes to town this Saturday, but we saw a number of familiar but different things versus Western Michigan on Saturday with the Michigan defense:
1.) Guys knowing where they were at and what they were doing 2.) Wrapping arms and driving through tackles with their feet (this was the bestest thing everest on Saturday!) 3.) Hot pursuit up until the whistle. (Whoa. Are we sure Bill McCartney isn’t the Michigan DC this year?) 4.) Appropriate, though not perfect, pursuit angles. (Yeah, that was sort of a problem last year.) 5.) General relentlessness and meanness along the Michigan front 4 (Van Bergen, Martin, Graham and Roh*). Not perfect, mind you, but wow, a lot of upside shown here for a group that lost Taylor, Jamison and Johnson to graduation last fall. 6.) More aggressive jamming and tighter coverage from the Michigan corners. (Dear Mr. Jesus, please do not let there ever be a 2008 Purdon’t Game redux until the end of the world. Thank you. Amen.) 7.) Just one big play on blown secondary coverage in the game. Not eight or ten.
*For the record, the word “roh” is German for “raw” or “uncooked”. It also means “rough”. I, for one, deeply appreciate the new mean streak and furrowed brows of this very young Michigan defensive line. We will respect the new appetite for horrendously undercooked quarterbacks by Mr. Martin, Mr. Graham, Mr. Van Bergen and Mr. Roh. That name, Mr. Roh, suits you, sir.
Evolution is right, but brutal So yeah, Greg Robinson perhaps has no business acting as head coach anywhere in the country. But so far the man appears to have evolved in Darwinian fashion through slow, gradual change over many years of coaching in the PAC 10, NFL, Big 12 and Big East football to make a fairly decent coordinator of defensive coaching staffs. A defensive coordinator sets the objectives and ensures the strategies support that defensive objective in every game. He allows the individual defensive coaches to recommend and implement the agreed individual tactics that support each of the strategies that will ultimately result in the final objective being met: defensive domination and victory. GERG learned from one of the best defensive coordinators ever (in my opinion) while at UCLA: Bob Field. Sure, UCLA had a prolific, West Coast style offenses throughout the 1980s under Terry Donahue. But you simply don’t go unbeaten in major bowl games with shitty defenses either. I think Robinson changed some things right away when he saw what he had to work with at Michigan, and he will be a much more flexible operator than prior Michigan defensive coordinators depending on Michigan’s opponents. This is a very important change for Michigan football in my opinion. It’s still early days, but at least we are witnessing what other football programs have enjoyed called "adjustments" and "relentlessness".
Position Report Card: Western Michigan Game
Quarterbacks: B+ OK so I’m harsh here, but I’m kind of still pissed about Sheridan’s interception, otherwise quite good. Michigan has a good quarterback again. Actually, the Wolverines have two. And Wolverine fans welcome the return of a downfield passing game again for the first time since January 2008. Yippy Skippy!
Running Backs: B Minor was out with injury and that sucked, but Carlos Brown and Michael Shaw did a capable job in his absence. Would have like to see bigger runs in this game versus Western Michigan’s inexperienced defense, but that’s partly dependent upon Tate making some better reads in the future and offensive line executing a ton better in the future. If this group goes down in productivity, it may not be their fault, but it will be very disappointing. I do worry about Minor's fragile nature. Offensive Line: C Way too many penalties and not exactly the dominating performance one would have expected versus an overmatched and way inexperienced Broncos defensive line. It was the first game, but the run blocking simply has to get better. I was disappointed to see no big runs by the Michigan running backs opened legimately by the OL. The pass blocking wasn’t too bad, but my theory is that Michigan’s more mobile quarterbacks this year (Forcier and Robinson) are going to make the OL look a lot better than 2008 in this regard. I'll talk about this in the Notre Dame preview, but Michigan is not going to beat Notre Dame this weekend without marked improvement with the offensive line play against considerably better talent in the Irish front line.
Wide Receivers: B+ Aside from Junior Hemingway’s welcome back party (5 catches, 103 yards and 2 TDs), this group did pretty well, ratcheting up Michigan’s yards per catch to 13.1! Zoyks! Western Michigan’s secondary was as advertised (not good at all), but Michigan’s pitch and catch attack in this game was a significant step change from 2008. This group can and should get better and more consistent. I bet they’re all smiling about their new quarterbacks. I was not particularly impressed with the downfield blocking of Michigan receivers in this game, and this has to improve significantly to beat Notre Dame next week, and just about any other more talented secondary in the Big Ten.
Tight Ends: B+ I posted earlier that Koger and Webb were going to be factors in 2009 that defenses must prepare for. They showed pretty good blocking in the WMU game as well. I like this group and expect some very good things as this year progresses. Koger is the real deal. This is the part where we feel warm and fuzzy inside because Kevin Koger is only a sophomore and Martell Webb is only a redshirt freshman (CORRECTION: Martell Webb is a junior! Thanks Tar).
Defensive Line: A- I was really worried about this group over the off-season and still will because of Michigan’s frightening lack of depth here, but I did not expect this front four to play this well against a veteran Broncos offensive line. I seriously believed that Bill Cubit would logically deduce that his best chance to win last Saturday would be to run behind their experienced, behemoth offensive line with that 1,000 yard rusher Brandon West and then balance it out with Hiller’s long ball chucks. Only he did not. West had only 46 yards in this game and 3.2 yards per carry. If this group can somehow stay healthy, this could easily become a better than 7 win season for Michigan. Mike Martin, Brandon Graham are very good. Van Bergen and Roh are still “raw”, but in a good way. Barring injury this group should progress and get better each week. Kudos to Bruce Tall, Mike Barwis and Greg Robinson for making this group angry and relentless.
Linebackers: C+ I’ve come to the conclusion that Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton are going to do OK this year. Nothing great or spectacular, but they’ll be functional. The thing I liked to see was the pursuit and speed of these two linebackers in the game Saturday. Both are more athletic than last year. The thing I didn’t like was some of the incorrect reads and general hesitancy on some plays to take on blockers and fill gaps. I hope this will improve more under the new DC. Stevie Brown did well in his OLB role in this game. Again kudos to GERG for moving Brown to a position where he can actually dish out some damage instead of the reverse. Secondary: B- Tim Hiller normally throws for 300+ yards and lights up the scoreboard for 3 TDs or more against MAC opponents. Michigan held him to 259 yards passing including one major blown coverage up play for 73 yards, sacked him twice and intercepted him twice. He never got in the groove. Most importantly, Michigan corners played much closer coverage and did well jamming WMU receivers like Nunez, Ponder and Arnheim at the line. WMU never got any kind of rhythm going. Cissoko and Warren are going to do well for Michigan this year, but we all observed the kind of ruin that almost certainly awaits the Wolverines the moment even one player gets injured in this group.I really don’t mean to knock on J.T. Floyd. He’s young and will only get better in the future. But the second Cissoko went out of the game with a nerve pain injury, Floyd ceased the disruptive press coverage and gave his man way to much room to maneuver. I didn’t like the penalties on Warren, but in general I thought these guys covered, tackled and pursued fairly well for a first game. And let’s face it, these young Michigan secondary defenders are going to be burnt toast at least 2 times next week versus Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate and Michael Floyd, maybe more. Tony Gibson and GERG will need to sharpen their pencils this week and put together one hell of a game plan. Maybe I’m batshit crazy, but I’m thinking Michigan needs some better speed and coverage capability at the safety spot.Unfortunately, it probably won’t be very long before we get a preview of what Vlad “The Impaler” Emilien and 5 star DB Justin Turner have to display. About the Monkey Rodriguez and the team faced a tough week with the practice allegations coming out on Monday. He did a great job keeping the team focused and executing the game plan against the Broncos. Notre Dame is going to be a tough opponent, but even though both teams won decisively Saturday, the pressure is clearly much higher on Charlie Weis than Rich Rodriguez.
When the game concluded Saturday, Calvin Magee and Rod Smith made their way down the steps of Michigan Stadium around my section (22). A number of fans yelled out to them and said "Great game coach Magee!" and "Great job guys!".
I left that game impressed with the support for the coaching staff, despite the distractions from the press.
It was nice to see Michigan students step up with visual signs of support for the Wolverine football coach both on campus and at the game. The Michigan student section and crowd also chanted "Rich Rod-Ri-Guez!" several times during the Western Michigan game on Saturday.
Well, I'm leaving sunny 98 degree weather behind me tomorrow morning for more temperate Detroit to attend the Western Michigan game this Saturday. This is the only game I'm going to this year, so I'm pretty stoked. Happy to hear also that the weather should be very be nice in Ann Arbor this weekend. I'll be getting in quite late, so I may not post anything until well after the football game on Saturday night or Sunday.
I can't wait to see the wonder in my 7 year old son's eyes as to what 100,000 screaming Maize and Blue fans look and sound like. My dad took me to a Michigan football game when I was like 3 or 4 or something, but I don't really remember much of it. So I'm kind of happy that I'll be able to share this experience with Gabe at an age that he'll be able to remember.
Let's all be sure to show our strong support for this great head coach and fine Wolverine football team on Saturday afternoon!
Take care and have a safe weekend everyone! GO BLUE!
Michigan Quarterback Rick Leach as a freshman in 1975
A new era of Michigan quarterbacks begins on Saturday versus Western Michigan. Many fans and pundits deeply disparage the spread option offense and the quarterbacks that operate it because like the Wishbone, the Veer and the Option I offenses before it, the spread option is considered by some to be just not as good, not as prolific, and considerably more "boring" than the more refined and exciting pro-set, West Coast, NFL offenses that have featured the tall drop back quarterbacks like Elvis Grbac, Todd Collins and Tom Brady.
With the two freshman quarterbacks Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson, Michigan is going to finally be able to open up the entire Rich Rodriguez's playbook on Saturday. Both of these youngsters are going to make some big mistakes. No question. But I'm convinced that they are also going to give Michigan fans plenty to smile about this fall as well.
College football is certainly a game of great emotion. It's also very much a team sport. No one player can do it all themselves. Tate and Denard will not only have 10 other guys sharing and carrying the load on every play. They'll also have 105,000+ Wolverine fans cheering them on. Though California and Florida are hundreds of miles away, they'll both be playing at home. In their Big House.
Best of luck to Tate and Denard in their first game in the Maize and Blue this coming Saturday versus Western Michigan!
HAIL TO THE VICTORS! AND GO BLUE!
Tate Forcier, QB, Scripps Ranch High School, Scripps Ranch, CA:
Denard Robinson, Deerfield Beach High School, Deerfield Beach, FL:
watching the Wolverines playing the Broncos, but I'm going to be very interested to see how the Notre Dame-Nevada game plays out.
Notre Dame is a good team and their schedule is ridiculously easy compared to previous years. There's certainly a lot of pressure on Michigan this week, but there's pressure on Charlie Weis too.
And I'm telling you guys right now that this is probably going to be the finest Nevada football team to hit the field in Chris Ault's long career there. This hype is mainly due to the guy pictured above, dual-threat quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick threw for 2,850 yards last year, 22 TDs and 7 TDs. Then also decided to run around and drive opponents nuts with 1,170 yards rushing, 17 rushing touchdowns with a 7 yard per carry average!
Zoyks!!!
So yeah, Notre Dame might beat the Wolfpack on Saturday, but I'm going to be verrrry interested to see how the Irish defense of Tenuta deals with Kaepernick and his favorite running back Vai Taua out of Ault's Pistol Offense.
Michigan apparently just received the commitment of junior cornerback Greg Brown, who hails from the same Fremont Ross High School in Ohio. This is the same high school that produced Michigan's Heisman Trophy Winner, Charles Woodson. Woodson too played cornerback.
The defensive coordinator for the Western Michigan Broncos has a familiar name to most Wolverine fans. It's Steve Morrison, who played linebacker for the Michigan Wolverines between 1990 and 1994 under then Wolverine head coach Gary Moeller.
“You can, as coaches, try to prepare them and put them in situations, and that’s what we do. We try to get them in as many negative situations and see how they respond. But certainly it’s still going to be that first time they line up and the first time something goes bad—and it will. And how are they going to respond to that?”
The Broncos secondary this fall will feature mainly upperclassmen, including safeties Mario Armstrong (Jr.) and Jamail Berry (Jr.) and cornerbacks Josh Price (So.) and Andy Dorcely (Sr.). However, Mario Armstrong is only player with significant game experience and statistics, with 64 tackles and 1 interception recorded in 2008.
Sources from inside Michigan's practices this week indicate that the Broncos' secondary will very likely face Michigan freshman quarterback Tate Forcier on the first offensive series for the Wolverines on Saturday. The other two Wolverine quarterbacks, Denard Robinson and Nick Sheridan, are also expect to rotate in during the course of the contest.
Western Michigan's historical football team record over the last 20 years on opening day can be described in only one word: abysmal. In fact, despite a tremendous overall record in Kalamazoo, Bill Cubit is 0-4 so far in season openers since coming to Western Michigan in 2005.
The last time the Broncos won their season opener was in 2004 versus Tennessee-Martin 42-0. The last BCS (Division I) opponent that Western Michigan defeated on opening day was in 1997 versus Temple 34-14.
No, I'm not pissed off. I'm harmless. Come over here and pet me. Shred you to ribbons? Now where on earth would you get a crazy idea like that?
My theme for the 2009 Michigan football season is going to be:
Gulo Gulo Semper Accursus.
This is not "Wolverines Perpetually Pissed Off"
It's “Wolverines Always Running”.
My justification for this theme is backed up by mountaineers of evidence and modern science. This is what inevitably happens on offense when Rich Rodriguez combines a more experienced offensive line, a mobile quarterback, and a deep stable of talented running backs, not to mention when wide receivers finally understand their place in the offense and sustain their blocks downfield. Michigan should witness some better throwing accuracy from the new quarterbacks, to be sure. As improved as the Michigan passing game should be this fall, you can take this to the bank:
Rodriguez is going to have the Wolverines running the football like no tomorrow in 2009.
Quarterbacks Failing to heed the lessons learned from the Steve Spurrier Experience, the Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in 2009 will sally forth with, count ‘em: A Vun! A Twoo! A Trree! - Trrree! different starting quarterbacks this fall, including two true freshman Tate Forcier (Scripps Ranch, CA) and Denard Robinson (Deerfield Beach, FL). The third option will be much-maligned junior quarterback Nick Sheridan, who started on and off at quarterback for the Wolverines during the 2008 football season. According to fall camp observers, Forcier is a quick runner and the most accurate passer, while Sheridan apparently has achieved coach-level understanding of Rodriguez’s spread option playbook, while Denard Robinson is what you get when you find a genie lamp at a Michigan concession stand on game day, rub it profusely, and then ask for the Greek god Mercury to reappear, strap on his winged helmet again, and score 80 yard touchdown runs on zone read keepers in 5 seconds flat while opposing defenders drop their jaws and shields in amazement just like frightened 4th century Greeks obviously would. Some of them hail from Sparta, you know.
It has been argued by me that with mobile quarterbacks like Forcier and Robinson, Michigan opponents can no longer skip chapters 2 through 58 of the Rich Rodriguez spread option playbook. Like the magical appearance of Rasheed Marshall in 2002, alas, Wolverine opponents must finally hit the library and read all of the nasty bits to prepare for every possibility that will be on display Saturday afternoons. Finally.
Both of these quarterbacks can run and throw equally well, so every play involves considerable risk that simply did not present itself last fall with quarterbacks Steven Threet and Nick Sheridan. Forcier has a fake 40 time of 4.6 and Robinson of 4.3. So yeah, go ahead. Ignore these freshman quarterbacks if you wish. It's your funeral.
I will concede the possibility, however remote, that Nick Sheridan dramatically improved his throwing skills over the winter, spring and summer workouts and that’s he’s bigger and stronger than 2008. Also, we must recognize that Sheridan is being tutored by a fine quarterbacks coach in Rod Smith, as well as Rich Rodriguez himself. Game experience and knowledge of the playbook places Sheridan at No. 3 on the depth chart. The other reason why Sheridan is No. 3 is that David Cone and a walk-on are No. 4 and No.5 respectively on the UM QB depth chart. Next year the addition of a two more top rated quarterbacks will likely increase the competitive pressure even more the position. This is good news for Michigan.
So how will things end up in 2009 for the Michigan offense with these quarterbacks? It’ll be a mixed bag of sunshine and tornados. I’ve been thinking a lot about Michigan’s 1981 season, when the Wolverines replaced a gimpy runner and pro-style thrower in John Wangler with a sophomore tailback, I mean quarterback, Steve Smith (who played only 3 games of garbage time in 1980). Except Steve Smith’s throwing accuracy sort of sucked by modern standards (46% in 1981, and 50% over his career), but the guy rushed for 679 net yards and 12 TDs and threw for about 1700 yards, 15 TDs and 11 INTs.
I’m thinking whoever is quarterback for Michigan will have slightly greater stats passing that Steve Smith did, but it’ll be close. I certainly expect a lot more rushing attempts and yardage by the Michigan quarterbacks this fall as this will keep defenses much more honest. Wolverine fans should also expect increased passing accuracy, a lot more passing attempts than in 2008 on all downs, improved 3rd down conversion rate (27% in 2008!), and a significantly higher number of interceptions, plus muchos sacks ridiculosos.
Defensive Coordinators will rip off their headsets in disgust most frequently because of: Tate Forcier’s scrambling ability and throwing accuracy
These QBs will remind us of:Zak Kustok and Troy Smith with two integrated Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines.
Michigan Offensive Position 2009 Preview: Running Backs Most college football pundits and opponent homers have been harping on about Michigan’s 3-9 record in 2008. One of the things that stand out as I review this year’s running back depth chart is how deep and talented it has become. The future looks very pretty bright indeed for Michigan in this area. Michigan’s running back situation might be the best in the entire Big Ten right now in terms of overall experience, talent and speed. Brandon Minor, Carlos Brown and Michael Shaw all return at tailback, while new arrival true freshman Vincent Smith has tore up the floor and won significant favor with the coaches. Redshirt freshman Mike Cox and true freshman Jeremy Gallon might also see reps this fall at tailback. Michigan will employ more Ace and I-formation sets in 2009, featuring one of two talented fullbacks in Mark Moundros and Kevin Grady. Keep an eye on Moundros, given Rodriguez’s love for walk-ons that play the fullback position.
The only mark against this group is durability. Minor and Brown are arguably the best players at running back on the team, but both have been prone to injury throughout their careers. Last year, the lack of a mobile quarterback allowed defenses to hone in on the Michigan backs and they paid the price. The addition of Forcier and Robinson at QB should give reasons for defenses to slow down their pursuits or pause outright, to which the Wolverine tailbacks should be quick enough to respond and exploit. I seriously doubt this, but if both Minor and Brown can stay healthy for 12 games, ho man, Michigan might have one of the better running attacks in the Big Ten and perhaps the nation.
Defensive Coordinators will rip off their headsets in disgust most frequently because of: A healthy Brandon Minor
That guy reminds me of: Michigan’s Billy Taylor combined with the weird high-knee, upright running style of USC’s Charles White
Wide Receivers Michigan’s wide receivers are coached by Tony Dews. While I consider coach Dews to be a fantastic recruiter, his work coaching Michigan’s cast of 4-start wide receivers so far has left me longing. I say this in full understanding of the crap quarterback situation last fall (49% accuracy and 5 yards per attempt). The spread option offense absolutely requires excellent downfield blocking skills and execution by the outside receivers and slots on every down. In year two, this better improve. It’s not difficult to project significantly better receiving numbers for 2009 with Forcier and Robinson under center this fall. My God, the best receiver on the Wolverine team last year, slot receiver Martavious Odoms, caught only 49 passes for only 443 yards and no touchdowns! Of course, the football sails to only one receiver on any given play, so the other 3 or 4 guys have to block better than they did last year. If they do, Michigan’s rushing stats, yards per attempt and points per game should improve dramatically.
Odoms’ speed and elusiveness after the catch make him extremely dangerous. Two other slot receivers Kelvin Grady and Terrance Robinson are unknown to UM opponents, but offer speed and talented depth for Michigan.
The best receivers on the roster right now and the true deep threats for Michigan are probably Greg Mathews and Junior Hemingway. Darryl Stonum, James Rogers, Roy Roundtree and true freshman Je’Ron Stokes round out the depth chart of receivers. The Michigan receiving targets were a silent group last fall. That should change in a big way in 2009.
Defensive Coordinators will rip off their headsets in disgust most frequently because of: Greg Mathews
The guy reminds me of: Adrian Avant, I mean, Jason Arrington. Alright, some combination of those two.
Tight Ends Michigan is blessed with two fantastic tight ends in sophomore Kevin Koger and redshirt freshman Martell Webb. Tight ends have not been prominently featured in Rodriguez’s offenses in the past, but the coaching staff seminars with Kevin Wilson down at Oklahoma were very productive, and Rodriguez likes the ideas of employing TEs more effectively. We’ll see more Ace and full I formation sets that utlize these two players. I like this aspect because tight ends in general can be effective blocking instruments for the running attack on dives and option plays, as well as frustrating targets in the passing game. Most importantly, the tight ends add another passing option for the quarterback and just one more item that defenses must prepare for. This added TE weaponry in a spread offense will either create big mismatches in the secondary or massive openings for other receivers and backs.
Defensive Coordinators will rip off their headsets in disgust most frequently because of: Kevin Koger
The guy reminds me of: Doug Marsh
Offensive Tackle One of the things I like about Rich Rodriguez, and that I disliked about Lloyd Carr, was that Rich Rod dictates a policy of continuous improvement and competition at every position. This competition does not stop at fall practice. It continues on week after week at every single position from quarterback to special teams. No player can rest on his laurels. Incumbents, seniority and nepotism all slough off so that the most productive players displaying the least errors and the strongest drive see the football field first. What does this insanely competitive atmosphere yield for Michigan football? The answers lie with greater position depth, greater game preparedness, increased player confidence, greater team unity and an overall heightened sense of urgency. No where are these benefits more apparent than along the Michigan offensive line in 2009. A 2-star freshman named Mark Huyge actually beat out Perry Dorrestein, Patrick Omameh and Bryant Nowicki to be the starter at tackle. Fifth year senior Mark Ortmann has secured the other tackle spot. Dorrestein and Omameh will serve as the 2nd string backups at either tackle.
Huyge and Ortmann are both 6-6 and in the 290 lbs range. Not colossal in size, but big enough, quick enough, and good enough to do a satisfactory job. Run blocking should be their forte. The biggest question mark here may be their pass blocking, but it helps this group significantly to have two jitterbug escape artists like Forcier and Robinson at quarterback.
Defensive Coordinators will rip off their headsets in disgust most frequently because of: Do DC’s throw down their headsets in disgust about offensive tackles? They do? Well OK, then Mark Ortmann
The guy reminds me of: Jeff Backus
Offensive Guard If the Michigan Wolverines offense lives up to the motto Gulo Gulo Semper Accursus, it’ll be because this core of the Wolverine offensive line did a great job. In my view the guards and center of the Michigan offense line makes up this core and features the best players. Seniors David Moosman and Steve Schilling are poised to have break out seasons at the guard position for Michigan this fall. Both are essentially identical in height and weight at 6-5 and around 300 lbs. Both are very experienced veterans. Barring injury, this could be their finest season in a maize and blue uniform. Backing them up are John Ferrara, Elliot Mealer and Ricky Barnum. Tim McAvoy is the backup center, but he also played some guard last year and adds more depth if needed.
Defensive Coordinators will rip off their headsets in disgust most frequently because of: Do DC’s throw off their headsets about offensive guards? They don’t? What about David Moosman!
The guy reminds me of: An unshaven, axe-wielding Brendan Gleeson in Braveheart
Center It certainly helps Michigan this fall to have a Dave Rimington candidate snapping the football on every down. It is fitting that Dave Molk, too, wears No. 50. Molk, only a junior, is already very experienced and has become a vocal leader along a more senior offensive line. With veterans Schilling and Moosman at his sides, Michigan’s offensive line appears to be well-anchored and should be able to open good holes for the Wolverine running backs and quarterbacks, as well as provide sufficient pass protection. Fifth year senior McAvoy serves as a capable backup at center.
Defensive Coordinators will rip off their headsets in disgust most frequently because of: Do DC’s throw down their headsets about centers? They don’t?
The guy reminds me of: Steve Everitt Pre-Season Grade Predictions:
Quarterbacks: C+ Rod Smith and Rich Rodriguez are handing over the keys to true freshmen and a mistake-prone junior walk-on. This group is going to make plenty of mistakes this fall folks, so I hope you ordered those crates of Pepto Bismol to arrive on your doorstep prior to kickoff September 5th. At the same time, the skills sets are in place to drive this offense the way it was always intended: With reckless abandon.
Running Backs: B+ The only thing preventing this group from getting into A territory is injuries. This is because we're unable to imagine a full 12 games where Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown escape unscathed. I don't believe these two can stay healthy. It will impact production to some extent. Otherwise, the running backs are the strength and bread-and-butter of this football team.
Offensive Line: B+ This should be a solid season for Michigan along the front. Injuries could really put the clamps down on this group, and I suspect we will witness some in 2009. The good news is that the mobile quarterbacks should lighten the load a bit and perhaps allow greater advancement to the second level. Of all the offensive position groups, if healthy, this crew could be really good.
Receivers, Slots and Tight Ends: B Last year this group got about a D- in my book. The new quarterbacks will help, as well as increased competition and another year in the system. Hemingway and Mathews should make some exciting plays downfield this fall, while Odoms, Robinson and Grady will be dangerous dudes underneath and on the edge. Koger and Webb should become more prominent in the new Rodriguez packages this autumn.
Rosenberg and Snyder of Police Squad: "Move Along! Nothing to See Here! Please!"
As predicted, deductive reasoning falls on the heads of mainstream sports media reporters like a ton of bricks. They stop feeding at the trough of dumbass just long enough to look up and say: "Hey, that hurt!. Where did it come from?", plus some other not so difficult questions.
If Rich Rodriguez is an evil, megalo-maniacal coach who exploits his football players at every opportunity, lies like a son of a bitch on national television, and flagrantly breaks NCAA guidelines while cackling like a possessed woman from the Evil Dead series, then might it not be possible that Mr. Rodriguez, who is purportedly also a vampire, also performed similar satanic rites and baby killing down at West Virginia between 2001 and 2007?
What does Mr. Fragale, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications at WVU have to say?
"Based upon our looking back over the weekend, we don't feel we have any concerns," WVU's Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Michael Fragale said Monday. "We have checked it out and there has been nothing flagged and nothing out of the ordinary.
"There were no student-athlete complaints during the time (Rodriguez) was here."
Hmmm....and Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance at WVU, Mr. Patrick Hairston?
"I worked with the previous compliance people and the (current) staff and I went through all the records," said Hairston, who was hired Aug. 5. "Nothing has been identified as a problem from the time (Rodriguez) was here."
"I worked with the previous compliance people and the (current) staff and I went through all the records," said Hairston, who was hired Aug. 5. "Nothing has been identified as a problem from the time (Rodriguez) was here."
WVU, like virtually every other school, conducts rules education classes and there is always a section devoted to what is called "defining countable athletically related activities."
Coaches prepare and players sign a "weekly athletically related activities log" that is submitted to the compliance office.
"It's closely monitored," Hairston said. "Any student-athlete that has issues with it are encouraged to come to us and from what I'm hearing about what was done in the past, there were no complaints from any student-athlete or any coach and nothing was brought to their attention about something that might have been a problem."
So yeah it turns out Rodriguez didn't break any NCAA practice rules while head coach at West Virginia between 2001-2007.
Well for Christ's sake don't tell those two professors over at the Detroit Free Press any of this, Mr. Michael Rosenberg and Mr. Mark Snyder, because this information royally fucks up their game about all of their interviews corroborating with each other.
They want us to stay latched on to the notion that Rich Rodriguez first unhatched his evil plot to destroy the free-time and personal lives of Michigan football players only when he first arrived at Schembechler Hall in December 2007 and not before.
OK.
"Nothing to see here Freep readers! Move along. We'll tell you when there's more information available to support our previous allegations. Move along please!"
Western Michigan has an outstanding quarterback in senior starter Tim Hiller. Hiller had a spectacular 2008 season throwing for 3,725 yards and a jaw-dropping 36 touchdowns (approximately 3 per game!). Hiller is also a very accurate thrower. He was on target 65% of the time. Virtually the entire Broncos offense line returns, which will only bolster Hiller’s throwing confidence this fall.
Last year, Hiller really spread the wealth with his 339 completions over 13 games (30 per game). He was blessed with a pretty strong corps of receivers as well, including Jamarko Simmons (1,276 yards, 7 TDs), Schneider Julien (712 yards, 6 TDs), Juan Nunez (701 yards and 7 TDs), TE Brandon Ledbetter (464 yards, 6 TDs) and TB Brandon West (280 yards, 3 TDs).
In 2009, only WR Nunez, TE Ledbetter and TB West return with measurable experience for the Broncos when they head into Michigan Stadium this Saturday to face the Wolverines. Hiller’s new key receiving targets will include:
Junior WR Robert Arnheim, (58 yards, 1 TD) Freshman WR Ansel Ponder Junior WR Chleb Ravenell (JC transfer from Georgia Military College, 345 yards, 7 TDs in 2007) Freshman WR Trey Smith (possible a TE) Sophomore WR Dervon Wallace (16 yards, 0 TD)
Clearly the experience level and timing for the WMU passing game may not be what it was last year. Having a great QB like Hiller should make up for some of these youth, inexperience and timing deficiencies. It makes sense for head coach Bill Cubit to try and leverage as much as possible Hiller’s more proven, experienced and productive options for the passing offense: wideout Juan Nunez, tailback Brandon West and big tight end Brandon Ledbetter, while easing the freshman and other receiver newbies into the attack plan.
An interesting question for Detroit Free Press columnists Michael Rosenberg and Mark Snyder would be whether they bothered to research a little deeper into Rich Rodriguez's past seven years as head coach at West Virginia (2001-2007) to discover whether there had existed a similar pattern of such wanton NCAA rule breakage in Morgantown.
This is a reasonable question to consider since Rodriguez brought virtually his entire coaching staff from WVU with him to Ann Arbor (sans defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel and special teams coach Bill Stewart). Furthermore, Rodriguez has been cited multiple times for referring to his "system", his "way of doing things", his "strength and conditioning staff" and what they have typically experienced in transition years.
Yet for some reason, we are led to believe that the investigative leads of wrong doing for Rosenberg and Snyder stopped at the city limits of Ann Arbor and/or rested solely with current and former Michigan players alone.
Why not make a few extra phone calls to former West Virginia players? Some of them may have had an "axe to grind" with Rodriguez too. Some may have absolutely loved the man. But who knows what juicy, malicious, NCAA rule-shattering took place down in Morgantown during Rodriguez first stint at a head coaching position? Afterall, he was taking over for a legend their too in former Michigan assistant and WVU head coach Don Nehlen.
Why stop at the Lloyd Carr transition alone?
Why not try some deductive reasoning on for size?
1. Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez blatantly violates NCAA practice rules.
2. Rich Rodriguez was a head coach at West Virginia for 7 years (2001-2007).
3. West Virginia blatantly violated NCAA practice rules.
Oh man! Is it really that easy?
If there's more smelly tidbits to be discovered here, Rosenberg and Snyder decide to leave such rocks in West Virginia completely unturned.
During his seven years at West Virginia, no such charges were publically leveled at Rodriguez or his strength staff, although few doubted that Rodriguez’s burning desire to succeed could open some doors that would be best left closed.
Then Hertzel mentions this from an unnamed former West Virginia football player under Rodriguez back in the early days (2001-2002?):
The WVU player, contacted Sunday, wrote in a message sent via Facebook:
“I can honestly tell you — it was ONLY in Coach Rod's first fall as WVU's head coach (Sept '01 - Nov '01) that I felt we were at the stadium far more than the NCAA allowed. Coach Rod made the team report to the football office on Sundays during the season only and attendance was checked.
“We had to change into our workout gear, stretch/warm-up, and the strength staff would conduct light lifting sessions and put the team through moderate conditioning on the football field. This, of course, was after 1-2 hours of treatment for injured players (if needed). When you add all of the hours, it made for a less than desirable Sunday. I can remember missing all of 1:00 NFL games which didn't end until 3:30-3:45.”
The player said other than that first year, there were no violations in this area.
“The rest of my days at WVU were business as usual — and acceptable to all of the players. Of course, Sunday sessions at the football office were no longer implemented, in part, because of the obvious displeasure among players the year before and we were winning on Saturdays.”
It seems to me that many current and former college football players simply do not understand the rules themselves. The former West Virginia player in this facebook entry is unfortunately making zero distinction between what is voluntary and involuntary in terms of his time practicing and working out for football. Also, player taping (ankles, feet, legs, etc.) and medical treatments are not countable periods of time that would lead to an NCAA infraction. Actually, the football coaches like Rodriguez and his entire football staff are supposed to be first line of defense in the enforcement of practice rules. Compared to Lloyd Carr and Don Nehlen, Rodriguez had an absolutely massive staff of personnel. He was not for want of resources. Secondarily, universities like WVU and UM also have their own independent compliance departments and officers who run periodic checks on football practices and workout sessions and review documentation of player participation, etc. to ensure full NCAA rule compliance and cite any inconsistencies for self-reporting of violations.
One thing is clear. Rosenberg and Snyder decided to omit WVU from consideration in their allegations against Rich Rodriguez and staff.
Where's The Fire? I live in Southern California. Sure, when you see flames and smoke on the hillsides 15 miles away, you're a little scared. You're not scared so much about those same flames 15 miles away hurting you. So WHAT are you worried about? I'll tell you. You're worried about the hot embers traveling via the renowned Santa Ana winds several miles in the dry air and possibly landing on your home roof or on some dry thicket near your house and starting a brand new uncontrollable fire.
If there's smoke in Ann Arbor, the Laurel mountains around Morgantown should be burnt to a crisp by now. Former Mountaineer players and staf under Rich Rodriguez should be foaming at the mouth to substantiate or refute both Rosenberg and Snyder. Then again, maybe not.
