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| Jake Butt's one-handed overtime touchdown (image via MGoBlog) |
Let's see less of this guy on offense . . . nobody. I was happy with the wide receiver rotation, the tight end rotation, and the running backs. Even Graham Glasgow had an error-free day snapping the ball.
Let's see more of this guy on defense . . . Jehu Chesson. Okay, okay, I'm not suggesting that he move to defense . . . but I have been very impressed with his physicality through ten games. Whether he's blocking or on special teams coverage, the guy hits people and is a solid tackler. Brady Hoke mentioned at the beginning of the year that Chesson almost moved to cornerback at one point last year, and I would not mind having his clone in the defensive backfield.
Let's see less of this guy on defense . . . Keith Heitzman. I was in support of Heitzman early in the year, but the more I've seen of all these guys, the rotation right now seems to be pretty good. With Jake Ryan back at SAM linebacker and Cam Gordon a very athletic backup there, Beyer looks to be a more natural fit at defensive end with Chris Wormley playing rotation snaps. Even when Heitzman's broken hand is fully healed, I think he's a third-stringer - but if he's your third string defensive end, you're in pretty good shape.
Play of the game . . . Brendan Gibbons's game-tying 44-yard field goal to send the game to overtime. You know the story already, but here it is again: Jeremy Gallon was tackled with about 11 seconds remaining after a 16-yard reception. He promptly got up, got the ball to the official to place on the right hashmark, and the field goal unit ran onto the field. While the blockers got set, wide receiver Drew Dileo came sprinting in from the opposite side of the field after running his own route, tapped the ground, and took the snap from Jareth Glanda with barely 1 second left on the clock. Gibbons hurried through his steps to knock the ball through the uprights. Honorable mention goes to Jake Butt's one-handed touchdown grab from Devin Gardner in the first overtime.
MVP of the game . . . James Ross III. I came really close to picking Gardner (24/43, 226 yards, 1 touchdown; 17 carries for 19 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 two-point conversion), but Gardner had an off day throwing the ball. He was undoubtedly a tough competitor after getting beaten up the previous two weeks and working through five sacks in this game alone, but Ross was a big reason Michigan was able to hold down Northwestern's potent, multi-pronged rushing attack. Ross ended the game with 13 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 sack; his tackles were the most by a Wolverine in any game this season, and he now leads the team with 75 tackles
Agreed on Heitzman; if the other guys continue to develop as expected, it's hard to see him starting much over the next couple of years. Still, as a low 3-star guy he has (IMO) already exceeded expectations even if he never starts again.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. He's a good role player to have and might even develop towards and reliable RVB type eventually, but as fans we have to hope some of the more talented kids emerge ahead of him.
DeletePeople have been knocking on Gardner and rightfully so in some regards (Interceptions, Holding the ball) but my question is, isnt he what we wanted? or at least a step in the right direction. Before I get jumped all over, look at his stat line 2411 yds 60% completion percentage, 25 total TD's, Averaging 241 pass yards per game and 5yds a carry when he pulls it down (sacks included). Yeah he still has 11 INTs but some of them arent really his fault. Some were popped into the air by receivers. He's in his 2ndish year as a starter, and still got one more year in the system which he will have taller albeit younger wide receivers and a line that is a year older in the middle along with an improving Derrick Green. Yeah our record isnt as good as we wanted but with what we have I think things could be much much worse. I feel like we're headed the right way, we just have to get to the light at the end of the tunnel.
ReplyDeleteGardner is a godsend. This is a 3-win team without him. He's really good and with a strong OL, he's probably in the Heisman conversation, IMO.
DeleteYou can see the toll the hits have taken on him.
People have been knocking on Gardner and rightfully so in some regards (Interceptions, Holding the ball) but my question is, isnt he what we wanted? or at least a step in the right direction. Before I get jumped all over, look at his stat line 2411 yds 60% completion percentage, 25 total TD's, Averaging 241 pass yards per game and 5yds a carry when he pulls it down (sacks included). Yeah he still has 11 INTs but some of them arent really his fault. Some were popped into the air by receivers. He's in his 2ndish year as a starter, and still got one more year in the system which he will have taller albeit younger wide receivers and a line that is a year older in the middle along with an improving Derrick Green. Yeah our record isnt as good as we wanted but with what we have I think things could be much much worse. I feel like we're headed the right way, we just have to get to the light at the end of the tunnel.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I laugh whenever people complain that Ross has been disappointing. They just don't know anything and expect every star linebacker to be used like DeMarcus Ware and get a billion sacks.
ReplyDeleteChesson's one catch reflected your comments here. For a skinny dude, he really pushes through contact and fights for extra yards successfully.
Yeah. Ross has been really good, especially for a soph. This is why unrealistic preseason expectations are detrimental to a fanbase. People act like they're being great fans for being wildly over-optimistic, but it's probably detrimental, if anything.
DeleteWhat were people's thoughts on De'Veon Smith? Also, Gardner seems to have occasional bouts of indecision when running the ball. Not sure if he's worried about contact/injury, or remembering at the last minute to slide, or something else, but he seemed much more decisive earlier in the season. Overall, just a bit jumpy, even when sensing pressure. Can't blame him, i guess, with all the sacks he's endured the last few weeks.
ReplyDeleteI have always been pretty high on Smith. Watching his highlight tape, his balance is ridiculous. He can run through a barrage of defenders getting an arm on him. He has good size and looks very well built together. His speed is not crazy, but it's good enough to be a very successful college back. My TTB rating: 86
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd7kCeT60IM
When watching Green's highlight tapes, I thought he was a very big back with good speed for his size and a nice jump cut. He's a one cut kind of back. If you bother watching his tape, his team is pretty good at opening up holes for him, and his receivers are pretty able downfield blockers. He hits holes with a full head of steam, and has great vision, especially when getting to the secondary, but he's never going to be a burner. At his size I would like it if he were able to run through more high school sized DBs, but he always falls forward which is nice. My TTB rating: 85.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9Z6L6nJs4c
Here was my commitment profile for De'Veon Smith:
Deletehttp://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2012/03/deveon-smith-wolverine.html
I thought Smith looked the same as he did against Central Michigan, which was okay. He's solidly built without a lot of speed. He did have a 16-yard run, but it wasn't anything spectacular. I still thought Green looked like a better back.
There are hipsters obsessed with Smith over Green because of backup QB syndrome. Smith came in lower-rated, so of course people will hype him up. He's not very fast, but he does have impressive balance. Green is the more complete back with enough burst to get away from most linebackers.
DeleteThe ceiling could be Georgia's Gurley and Marshall, who are both productive big backs (present injuries aside). Neither Smith nor Green have that kind of breakaway speed, but anywhere near that production would be great.
@BB88
DeleteI've seen you apply this "hipster" observation several times now, and while I get what you're saying irt Smith, it's this kind of application that has made the word lose all meaning.
I don't know if we can say who the more complete back is, yet. But Green is ahead in both recruiting rankings and playing time, so it looks like he is the better player thusfar.
I don't think the word's losing meaning. Some people are becoming attached to Smith so that if one day Smith ends up being the more productive back, they can claim to have liked him "before it was cool." That's pretty much the definition of hipster mentality...aggrandizement of obscure and/or fairly meaningless predictions or ahead-of-the-curve behavior in a pretentious manner. I guess I should clarify that this is "pre-hipster" behavior.
Delete__ and/or __ or __ , plus a clarification and sub-classification....
Deletekind of proves my point
Only if you can't read. Meanings can be broad and require specification. It's one idea that's not hard to comprehend.
DeleteI'm with you here, Blast. Appreciated the usage and liked your definition.
Delete@BB88, if a word requires specification it is vague or unclear in the context applied. There was a time when hipster had a fairly precise meaning - but that time is past thanks to careless overuse. Now it's anyone that wants to be cool/different/unique...or something, no one is even sure. These days it can be applied to football message boards, apparently. Absolutely no one would have done that 5, 10, 20 years ago.
DeleteAgain, I get your original meaning, and appreciate what you're saying. Wasn't criticizing you so much as society... though you certainly deserve criticism yourself for 3rd rate/grade comments like "only if you can't read"
As to your original observation - a decent number of people looked at Green and thought he looked overrated. Some of those same people looked at Smith and thought he was underrated. Certainly some people fall in the category of "wanting to be different" but others actually thought Smith looked more impressive, I think. Not that I was one of them. I didn't like either. I like my running backs to be 5'4 and 200 lb.
I think Canteen is a better WR prospect than Harris. It's not because I'm a hipster (online-sports-message-board-talkin-wanna-be-cool-guy variant), it's because I value WR skills (route running, hands, instincts) more than I value height and straightline speed.
For some reason I am also sold on Chesson, his effort and great physical presence makes me wish they'd go to him more. With Funchess, Darboh and Harris next year Chesson can step up for more targets while Darboh and Harris take their learning steps.
ReplyDeleteDe'Veon Smith could be the lightning-foil to Green's thunder-power running next year. They both looked good. A better line, bigger fullbacks (that kid from Utah?), could be a decent year on the ground next year. Anyway looks like we'll have the chance to be more successfully diverse in attack.
Thought the line was pretty decent, even with the 5 sacks, not all of which I'd put on the line. Even Kalis on that ill-advised 4th down run got his man well blocked on the outside, it was #44 who steamed into Devin unblocked.
Love Devin but for most of the game he was pretty off-target, and if NW had just intercepted him once out of the many chances they had...
De'Veon Smith isn't going to be the lightning to anyone except maybe Joe Kerridge.
DeleteI don't get the call for Green. Not only does Fitz have a better ypc on the year than Green, it's been better In every game this year save Nebraska and CMU, both by not much. Fitz won the starting job, reportedly without any real competition from Green or anyone else. Fitz is a better pass catcher and blocker (He's no Vincent Smith, but he's better than Green.) We have enough data to know who the better back is. So why would you bench the better player for 50% of the time if your goal is to beat Iowa?
ReplyDeleteI understand the run game was improved against Northwestern, but that's with improved blocking and playcalling. I suppose you can argue the "light went on" or somesuch nonsense, but the only reason I see to give Green more carries than he's already getting is to develop for next year.
Good point about Chesson. I think he's a near-lock to start at WR next year, and he had a promising first year. Should be a solid contributor for us. [Note: If they move Funchess to WR fulltime it could be an interesting battle with Darboh and all the other freshman, but if not, he'll be the there, for blocking if nothing else.]
Random point: watching highlights of Gardner scrambling against NWU last year, compared to this year - night and day. The guy just doesn't have the same explosion - understandable after all the hits he's taken this year. Amazed he's still upright. I'm thinking that with a month to heal he's going to look a lot better for the bowl game.
Part of running back by committee is to keep your best player fresh. If Green can be productive, you could argue that Fitz can be that much more explosive on the carries he gets. Furthermore, I don't know if I want a guy a week removed from a concussion getting 20+ carries.
DeleteYou're definitely right about Gardner. He runs like he's sore everywhere. He probably is.
If he's hurt, then OK, but I don't think being fresh is a big problem for Fitz. He rarely gets the chance to run more than 3 yards.
DeleteAs for Gardner - definitely hurting. Puts up a brave face, but saw him walk off field through the tunnel BEFORE the Nebraska game and he was slumping and moving very gingerly. Again, this is before that game, 12 sacks ago.
Good point about Gardner's speed. I remember marveling at how he effortlessly glided around the field versus ND, looking like Vince Young. On Saturday he looked like a statue QB on scrambles, even the big gainer in the 4th.
DeleteI feel for Gardner. He took so many hits this season and particularly the last three. I don't even know if I would be able to roll over after those sacks and tackles. Hopely the line will block better against Iowa and the hits go down, as we need him at his best against OSU to even have a chance.
ReplyDeleteGardner reminds me of Chris Perry from the 2003 MSU game, when he had 51 carries and looked like he couldn't even get up off the ground anymore. My body aches just looking at him, and I respect the fact that he goes out there despite having such terrible pass protection.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I'd like to see less of on offense is AJ Williams staying in to pass protect. He got beaten pretty bad a couple times and got Devin lit up. To make matters worse, they had him protecting on the left side - outside of Lewan, which meant that your all american LT was relegated to helper. I'm sorry, but at least let Lewan handle the other teams rush end. And Williams has gotten blown up enough this season in pass pro.
ReplyDeleteI wish I disagreed with this. For a blocking TE Williams isn't very good at blocking.
DeleteI'm hoping next year Funchess learns to block and we can roll out two two-way TEs, with him and Butt. That's the only way this scheme is going to work, IMO. That or, you know, stop playing two TEs