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| Denard Robinson's bruised knee ended his exciting day. |
Let's see more of this guy on offense . . . Fitzgerald Toussaint. Toussaint only carried the ball twice on Saturday. One carry was a 61-yard gallop. The other was a 5-yard touchdown. He was caught from behind on the 61-yarder, but that can probably be attributed to the knee brace that was holding his sprained left knee in place. I'm not going to hold that against him. And if the biggest knock on a guy is that he got run down after gaining 61 yards, then I'm not too worried. Unfortunately, he reportedly injured his shoulder, which is why he only got two carries. Hopefully he can get healthy and stay healthy so we can see him on the field more in the coming weeks.
Let's see more of this guy on defense . . . Kenny Demens. He played pretty well on Saturday (5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss), and I think he's a more viable backup than Mark Moundros. And if all other things are equal, it's better to get the younger guy reps. Demens is only a redshirt sophomore, whereas Moundros is a fifth year senior and will be gone after 2010. I know Moundros is a captain, but that shouldn't necessarily figure into playing time. (I also wish Moundros was still playing fullback, but that's a separate discussion.)
MVP of the Bowling Green game . . . Denard Robinson. Again. He had 5 carries for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns, on top of going 4/4 passing for 60 yards. He left with a bruise knee halfway through the first quarter, but he was on pace for approximately 800 total yards in the game. He surely would have been pulled for a backup before he reached that level, but he could have easily hit 300 yards rushing by halftime.
You might notice that I didn't give out any "Let's see less of this guy . . . " Awards. That's because all three units played fairly well on Saturday, and there weren't any glaring weaknesses. Plus I've already made clear my feelings on a few guys who get too much playing time, so there's no need to revisit those quite yet.
"if all other things are equal, it's better to get the younger guy reps"
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure we see enough of this mentality from the coaches (...well, except maybe at QB). Demens needs to see the field if for no other reason than he'll probably need to start in 2011 and 2012.
I'm hoping that the coaches will be a little more forward-thinking and strategic about roster management as the program settles into a comfort zone and the depth chart looks a little more robust.
Did you see both Shaw and Toussiant are out for Saturday? I guess we'll finally get to see how Cox performs.
ReplyDelete@ Michael S
ReplyDeleteYeah, I saw that. I really wish Michigan could have a starter who doesn't get injured 50% of the itme. I know that's asking a lot, but I'm a demanding person.