FORMER PLAYERS
P George Caratan (UConn): Caratan punted 5 times for 197 yards (39.4 yards/attempt) in a 27-10 win over UMass.
C Zach Carpenter (Indiana): Carpenter is Indiana's starting left guard. He had previously started at center, but a hand injury forced him to change positions.
RB Zach Charbonnet (UCLA): Charbonnet did not play in a 50-36 win over Arizona State.
S Sammy Faustin (UMass): Faustin made 1 tackle in a 27-10 loss to UConn.
OG Chuck Filiaga (Minnesota): Filiaga is a sixth year senior who starts at right guard for the Gophers.
CB Darion Green-Warren (Nevada): Nevada (2-7) had a bye. Green-Warren has made 5 tackles and 1 pass breakup.
Hit the jump for more.
QB Ren Hefley (Northwest Mississippi Community College): Hefley completed 17/38 passes for 191 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception in a 38-35 win over Jones Community College.
K Cole Hussung (Louisville): The former walk-on kicker transferred to Louisville.
WR Giles Jackson (Washington): Jackson had 2 catches for 20 yards and 1 rush for -2 yards in a 24-21 win over Oregon State.
CB George Johnson III (UMass): Johnson made 3 catches for 38 yards in a 27-10 loss to UConn.
S Jaylen Kelly-Powell (Akron): Akron (1-8) had a bye. Kelly-Powell has not played in the last three games and has 18 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack, and 1 quarterback hurry this season.
DE Aaron Lewis (Rutgers): Lewis made 7 tackles in a 52-17 loss to Michigan.
WR Oliver Martin (Nebraska): Martin did not record any stats in a 20-13 loss to Minnesota
QB Dylan McCaffrey (Northern Colorado): McCaffrey completed 28/47 passes for 328 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions in a 35-28 loss to Portland State. He also ran 10 times for 50 yards.
QB Joe Milton (Tennessee): Milton did not play in a 27-13 loss to Georgia.
LB William Mohan (Tennessee): Mohan was dismissed from Tennessee's program for an off-the-field incident.
S Jordan Morant (Mississippi State): Morant made 1 tackle in a 39-33 win over Auburn.
DT Phillip Paea (Utah State): Paea did not play in a 27-10 win over New Mexico.
S Hunter Reynolds (Utah State): Reynolds made 10 tackles and a 55-yard fumble return for a touchdown in a 27-10 win over New Mexico.
C/OG Nolan Rumler (Kent State): Rumler is a backup center and offensive guard for the Golden Flashes.
RB O'Maury Samuels (New Mexico State): NMSU (3-5) had a bye. Samuels has 1 carry for 6 yards this season and has only played in two games.
CB Andre Seldon (New Mexico State): NMSU (3-5) had a bye. Seldon has 26 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, and 2 pass breakups this season.
CB Myles Sims (Georgia Tech): Sims made 5 tackles and 1 pass breakup in a 28-27 win over Virginia Tech.
LB Anthony Solomon (Arizona): Solomon did not play in a 45-20 loss to Utah.
OT Jack Stewart (UConn): Stewart is a backup offensive lineman for UConn.
RB Christian Turner (Wake Forest): Turner had 8 carries for 29 yards and 1 touchdown in a 30-21 loss to North Carolina State.
LB Ben VanSumeren (Michigan State): VanSumeren made 10 tackles in a 23-15 win over Illinois.
QB Dan Villari (Syracuse): Villari did not play in a 19-9 loss to Pitt.
LB Cornell Wheeler (Kansas): Wheeler did not play in a 37-16 win over Oklahoma State.
FORMER COMMITS
WR Markus Allen (Wisconsin): Allen has announced his entrance into the transfer portal.
RB Tim Baldwin, Jr. (UMass): Baldwin did not play in a 27-10 loss to UConn.
CB Te'Cory Couch (Miami): Couch made 6 tackles and 1 tackle for loss in a 45-3 loss to Florida State.
C Emil Ekiyor, Jr. (Alabama): Ekiyor is the starting right guard for Alabama.
RB Eric Gray (Oklahoma): Gray had 23 carries for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 38-35 loss to Baylor. He also caught 8 passes for 58 yards.
OLB Stephen Herron, Jr. (Stanford): Herron made 3 tackles and 1 quarterback hurry in a 52-14 loss to Washington State.
C Jalil Irvin (Auburn): Irvin is a backup center as a fifth year senior for the Tigers.
LB Branden Jennings (UCF): Jennings did not play in a 35-28 win over Memphis.
LB Chase Lasater (Eastern Kentucky): Lasater did not play in a 42-14 win over Central Arkansas.
RB Amauri Pesek-Hickson (Northern Iowa): Pesek-Hickson did not play in a 31-28 loss to South Dakota State.
S Otis Reese (Ole Miss): Ole Miss (8-1) had a bye. Reese has 53 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 3 pass breakups, and 1 quarterback hurry this season.
S Antwaine Richardson (Kent State): Richardson did not play in a 27-20 loss to Ball State.
TE Leonard Taylor (Cincinnati): Taylor made 2 catches for 14 yards in a 20-10 win over Navy.
DT Alex VanSumeren (Michigan State): VanSumeren did not play in MSU's 23-15 win over Illinois.
WR Xavier Worthy (Texas): Worthy made 4 catches for 42 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 34-27 win over Kansas State.
Redzone Post Corner💰 pic.twitter.com/8lk0aIjyz8
— Firstdown_X&Os (@FirstdownX__Os) November 6, 2022
FORMER COACHES
Don Brown (Head Coach, UMass): UMass fell to 1-8 after a 27-10 loss to UConn.
Jedd Fisch (Head Coach, Arizona): Arizona dropped to 3-6 after a 45-20 loss to Utah.
Brady Hoke (Head Coach, San Diego State): SDSU improved to 5-4 after a 14-10 win over UNLV.
Mo Linguist (Head Coach, Buffalo): Buffalo fell to 5-4 after a 45-24 loss to Ohio.
Scot Loeffler (Head Coach, Bowling Green State): BGSU improved to 5-4 with a 13-9 win over Western Michigan.
Jim McElwain (Head Coach, Central Michigan): Central Michigan improved to 3-6 with a 35-22 win over Northern Illinois.
Rich Rodriguez (Head Coach, Jacksonville State): Jacksonville State (7-2) had a bye.
"He had previously started at center, but a hand injury forced him to change positions [to left guard]."
ReplyDeleteWhat does a move from center to LG imply about which hand is injured? I'm wondering what the relative hand positions are for left guard vs. right guard, and which hand can be injured but the player still be effective at that position.
I guess it implies that his snapping hand is the one that's injured. It's not blocking that's the problem so much. It's the inability to grip the ball properly and get it back to the QB quickly and accurately.
DeleteI believe that Zach Charbonnet is one of the 10 best RBs in America. Not as good as Corum or Bijan Robinson but very good. He proved himself to be a high caliber back at two different power 5 programs, despite being fairly tall for the position. At Michigan he ended up behind Haskins and Corum in 2020 but he was still good enough to get snaps surrounded by 3 other NFL backs (including Evans). That says something. So does him getting the plurality of carries at UCLA last year with another NFL RB.
ReplyDeleteBUT - I'm not remotely surprised that UCLA didn't miss him when he missed time. They ran for only 400 yards without him. They just threw in a WR at RB, gave him all of one practice, and bam - 100 yard day. It seems even a top 10ish college RB and future NFL draft pick can be replaced pretty readily.
UCLAs RB depth is certainly more dire than Michigan's. But they were unphased by losing their stud.
I keep waiting for examples to disprove my perspective that it's a tough position to make a real impact at. Though Blake Corum is doing it (IMO), even he has a backup with a higher YPC. It seems that behind excellent OLs you can expect most any college-caliber RB to rush for 5 ypc or more.
It helped that UCLA's opponent -- Arizona State -- is 103rd nationally in rushing defense.
DeleteASU's D ability is relevant for sure. But - USC ran 30 for 137, Utah 45 for 205, Washington 33 for 134. None of those teams came close to what UCLA did 42 for 402.
DeleteI mean, that's a little misleading. Kazmeir Allen was a high school running back and played RB at UCLA his first couple seasons. He scored 62 rushing touchdowns as a senior in high school and set the national record with 72 total touchdowns that year. It wasn't even the first 100-yard rushing performance of his college career.
DeleteInteresting. I didn't know that but it doesn't really change the point. The fact is a former 3-star recruit who is listed as 5-9 and less than 180 pounds and playing at WR is able to fill in at the drop of the hat for a top 10 national RB without a noticeable impact on production.
DeleteThe Michigan equivalent of this would be a poor man's AJ Henning filling in for a lesser version of Blake Corum. Or perhaps a less talented Giles Jackson filling in at RB for Hassan Haskins.
The takeaway might be that it's more of an inconvenience than a problem worth worrying about. Not something to justify modifying recruiting approach to address.
Going back to an old debates with new info.
ReplyDeleteDylan McCaffrey, despite his first career 300 yard passing game (in Year 6 of his college career), continues to struggle for UNC (not that UNC). The Bears are 2-7 after McCaffrey threw two 4Q INTs in a loss against Portland State. The announced crowd was 2,771. He's come a long way from the Big House, but not in a good way.
McCaffrey has 16 TDs / 16 INTs in 549 attempts and 60% completion percentage for his career with 5.9 YPA.
By comparison, Joe Milton has 11 TDs / 6 INTs in 236 attempts and 57% completion percentage with 8.2 YPA.
Career passer rating is 136 for Milton and 114 for McCarthy. Seems like Harbaugh made the right call in 2020...well, among those 2 anyway.
That Milton is proving to be a better and more accurate passer is not surprising to me. What is, is that McCaffrey has not ended up being much of a runner. McCaffrey, brother of you know who, has only 454 career yards and 6 TDs while Milton (who was always supposed to be a "pro-style QB" pocket guy according to his recruiting profile) has 329 and 5 TDs.
Perhaps Michigan should have tried to play McCaffrey at WR or TE. He's surely a good athlete but never had much of an arm and even with an extra year never proved much of a passer.
Am I trolling JE? No. I think everything above is a fact or evidence/outcome based observation.* Plus, JE isn't arguing with me this year. So not trolling, just saying.
Delete*OK the comment about moving to McCaffrey to WR or TE is kind of trolling but - is it wrong?
McCaffrey showed promise, but it also showed am impetuous side. When he broke his collar bone at Michigan, he was trying to show off by lowering his shoulder to pop a defender, rather than stepping out of bounds, as he should have done. That impetuousness shows itself today with his numbers at Northern Colorado: 8 TDs, 9 INTs. That's not a very good ratio.
DeletePerhaps. I'm curious how impetuous (good word) his transfer from Michigan was. I think he got passed by Milton but it's never been made entirely clear if it was that, or COVID, or something else that caused him to leave his teammates behind and sit the 2020 season out while continuing to attend classes at Michigan.
DeleteFor me he's up there with Shane Morris as biggest QB disappointments.
McCaffrey hasn't been good, but I also think he's in a terrible situation at Northern Colorado. From what I've gathered, his dad is in over his head as the head coach of an FCS program and the whole team is pretty miserably bad. Jacob Sirmon is another former 4-star, top-100 quarterback on the roster, and he came in and...has a lower completion percentage than McCaffrey.
DeleteMcCaffrey: 61% completions, 6.5 YPA
Sirmon: 55% completions, 6.4 YPA
If you're a program with top-100 talent at QB times two, and neither one can do anything on offense...it probably has a lot to do with the team around the QB, too.
I have to disagree with the "blame the team around him" excuse since the numbers aren't much different for these guys before they arrived at UNC.
DeleteMcCaffrey at UM: 52% 6.9 YPA
Sirmon at UW and CMU: 62% 6.3 YPA
That's over a combined 8 years at other schools where Sirmon and McCaffrey were mostly inconsequential backups. They both got passed over by younger and lower ranked players at Washington and Michigan respectively. Sirmon also failed to impress at Central Michigan where he started 4 games before losing his job.
So between these two "top 100" QBs you have 8 years at other schools that resulted in a grand total of 4 starts in MAC before they arrived at UNC. Combined with 3 years at UNC I think we have a sufficient sample (11 years worth) to say that these guys just are not very good QBs.
If you don't believe the above, McCaffrey wasn't any better than a walk-on type last year. Conner Martin his backup in 2021 matched his completion percentage and exceeded his YPA.
The recruiting rankings were wrong. UNC may be bad but it's not despite their QBs it's because of them (in part at least).
I will fully admit I bought into the McCaffrey hype but in hindsight we have to acknowledge that the "potential" he showed as a backup wasn't really backed by substance. It was a mirage of wishful thinking.
DeleteI know I certainly loved the idea of a dual threat QB who had an elite genes, could run like his brother, and pass with Harbaugh-endorsed accuracy and decision-making. But he never proved that in AA. The most impressive thing he did was a handful of highlight runs.
It makes me chuckle every time to see Caratan lead off this list. Definitely a guy I would have never known anything about if it wasn't for TTB.
ReplyDeleteApparently he is big fan of the block M and maize and blue.
https://www.mgcccbulldogs.com/sports/fball/2021-22/bios/caratan_george_xsv1
Jim McElwain was an awesome OC. Head coaching isn't going to well right now.
ReplyDeleteThe HC job is not suited for everyone. Just because someone does well at a coordinator role (OC or DC), it doesn't mean they'll translate well to the HC role. There are a lot of examples of that.
DeleteThe reasons why that is so are interesting. I'd be interested in hearing Thunder's input on this. Some things that come to my mind:
a) The HC role has a lot more going on;
b) The HC role requires less direct hands-on and more overall management;
c) The HC role requires the ability to hold the whole organization together.
Some people just get overwhelmed by the HC role. That's case "a" above.
Some people can't give up the hands-on, micro-managing role. I saw that a lot in my career where very good technical people went into management, and tried to manage the same way they approached computer systems. It doesn't work that way.
Some people, through either personality or shortcomings in management approach, lose control of the organization. It doesn't have to implode entirely to be less-than-functional.
I think Jim Harbaugh has developed into a pretty effective HC across those things I spelled out. I suspect he had some issues with "b" early on, but has learned to trust in his coaches.
My guess -- just a guess -- is that Mel Tucker is struggling with "a" and "c" right now.
I'm not so sure McElwain's an awesome OC. He had success at Alabama over a decade ago but who else in that position hasn't been successful? They turn it over every other year and keep winning. Lamborghini talent gets you Lamborghini results - can't really credit the driver for being speedy or mechanic for being skilled when you have superior tools.
Delete@ Anonymous 8:30 p.m.
DeleteI don't want to jump to any conclusions about McElwain from this season. Overall, he has a 67-46 record and is 23-19 at CMU. I haven't been paying much attention to CMU this year, so I don't know what has gone wrong. But I think he has earned the benefit of the doubt for a little bit. After all, his team was 9-4 last year. The team was 1-11 before he got there and he went 8-6, 3-3, and 9-4 in his first three seasons.
Thunder: I wasn't so much looking for your opinion on McElwain per se, but rather the general principle of the move from coordinator up to head coach, and what some of the particular challenges a coach faces when doing that. Just your thought, as you're a coach yourself and have better insights on this than we may have.
Delete