B-Ball Highlights: Michigan 93, Eastern Michigan 54

Video: Michigan Offense vs. Eastern Michigan - Every Snap

Video: Michigan vs. Eastern Michigan

Highlights: Michigan 31, Eastern Michigan 3

Michigan vs. Eastern Michigan Awards

This became a familiar sight: Denard Robinson leaves someone in his dust.

Let's see more of this guy on offense . . . Junior Hemingway.  Due to Denard Robinson's complete inability to hit open receivers, Michigan's big play receiver has 4 receptions in 3 games and was held without a catch in Saturday's victory.  There's no excuse for Michigan's failure to get the ball to Hemingway, not to mention Roy Roundtree (3 catches, 29 yards, 1 touchdown this season).  I know they don't mind blocking for Denard Robinson in the running game, but the reason the running game is struggling is because teams are loading the box,  barely covering the receivers, and still having moderate success stopping the run.

Let's see less of this guy on offense . . . Denard Robinson.  He has 42 carries in the past two games.  Yes, all 16 of those carries were necessary against Notre Dame, which came down to the wire.  But the 26 carries against Eastern Michigan?  Not so much.  Not only did Robinson take a beating, but he could have been working on passing instead, and the coaches could have maybe developed chemistry and timing for the running backs and receivers.  Instead, they honed the running skills of a guy who ran for 1,702 yards last season.

Let's see more of this guy on defense . . . William Campbell.  For two weeks in a row now, Campbell has played well at defensive tackle coming off the bench.  Will Heininger did a decent job against Eastern Michigan, but he doesn't seem to hold up against better talent.  As long as Campbell is putting in the work during the week, I think it's about time he gets the nod and starts at defensive tackle.

Let's see less of this guy on defense . . . Jake Ryan.  I know, I know, he's done pretty well.  But I had to pick someone, and sometimes he makes mistakes.  And if Ryan is this good, I'd really like to see what the starting SAM linebacker - Cam Gordon - can do if he's recovered from his back injury.  That would also give the coaches an opportunity to move Ryan around and play him more at weakside end.

Play of the game . . . Thomas Gordon's one-handed interception.  Not only was the catch itself a thing of beauty, but the failure of the double pass gives an indication that Michigan's players were wary of the diamond formation on the left sideline that led to such a play.  Tyler Benz didn't have a prayer of completing that pass, and the best he could have hoped for while the ball was in the air was a stone-handed defensive back who would let the ball drop the ground.  No such luck.

MVP of the Eastern Michigan game . . . Denard Robinson.  He didn't have a particularly great game (7-for-18 passing, 95 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception; 26 carries, 198 yards, 1 touchdown) and the horrible passing took some of the luster off of his nearly 200 yards rushing, but he still led the team to a 28-point victory and made some ridiculous moves in the open field.  Vincent Smith had a nice game, too, but he ran through gaping holes and didn't score any touchdowns.

Michigan 31, Eastern Michigan 3

Thomas Gordon makes a one-handed interception

A win is a win.  It's tough to complain about a 28-point victory.  I'll find a way, though.

Al Borges got Rich Rodriguez Syndrome.  Hopefully it's not an incurable disease, but there's no reason for Denard Robinson to be running the ball 26 times (for 198 yards and 1 touchdown) against Eastern Michigan in a 28-point blowout.  The guy who missed parts of ten games last season with various injuries - and who's reportedly suffering from a sore arm - needs a break once in awhile.  When the Wolverines started their second-to-last drive with approximately ten minutes left in the fourth quarter, I thought backup Devin Gardner should have entered the game.  It was 28-3.  But Michigan was close to its own end zone, and I understand not wanting to put in a young, raw backup in that spot on the field.  So what about when they crossed the 40?  When they crossed the 50?  Robinson was still running the ball up until the point that Brendan Gibbons kicked a short field goal.  The other running backs combined for 23 carries in the game.  We get it - Denard Robinson can run the ball, and that's okay if the game's outcome is in question, such as against Notre Dame.  But how about getting someone else in gear?

Denard Robinson has Steve Blass Disease.  For a second week in a row, Robinson's inaccuracy was on display.  He finished the game 7-for-18 (39%) for 95 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception after completing 46% of his passes against Notre Dame.  That's a two-game total of 43% passing and 4 interceptions.  This is not Al Borges's fault.  It's not Brady Hoke's fault.  There are wide open receivers that Robinson is flat-out missing.  Kudos to Rich Rodriguez for figuring out that hitches, bubble screens, and inside slants are the only passes Robinson can complete with any regularity.

The Big Ten Network's announcers don't get paid, do they?  I turned the volume down at various points, but those guys were clueless.  Thomas Rawls had a carry in the second quarter (no, he didn't), we have a starting defensive lineman named "Will Henninner" (no, we don't), and Eastern Michigan "abandoned the run game" (they threw a total of 6 passes).  Seeing Jon Jansen on the sideline was cool and all, but if the guys in the broadcast booth are going to be dumb, they could at least apologize to viewers by way of Melanie Collins or Ashley Russell (if they still work for the BTN).

Vincent Smith had a good game.  I don't know if it's just luck or if the offensive linemen block a little harder when #2 gets the call, but Smith had lots of wide open running lanes.  Despite getting only nine carries, the 5'6" running back had 118 yards.  Those yards came on runs of 38, 27, 5, 14, 5, 6, 0, 11, and 12.  Fitzgerald Toussaint had a solid day with 11 carries for 46 yards and 1 touchdown, but he and Michael Shaw keep running into traffic whereas Smith had gaping holes several times.  I noticed in the spring that Smith seems to have his quickness back now that he's nearly two years removed from tearing his ACL, but it still concerns me that he can't break tackles.

Craig Roh, welcome back!  In the first two games of the season, Roh did his best impression of Keyser Soze.  Zero tackles, zero sacks, zero pass breakups, nothing.  This week he broke out with 5 tackles and 1 sack.  Last week Greg Mattison said that Roh played very well in the Notre Dame game, so it wasn't too much of a surprise when Roh started once again over Jibreel Black.  Hopefully Roh continues to improve.

Bye bye, redshirts.  Several true freshmen have played so far this year, including a couple guys who played for the first time this week - Thomas Rawls and Raymon Taylor.  Other freshmen to see time this year include Desmond Morgan, Matt Wile, Blake Countess, Brennen Beyer, and Gregg Brown.  No freshmen have really stood out, although Frank Clark had a nice play and Taylor . . . got a 15-yard penalty for a late hit.  Otherwise, we haven't really seen any game changers from this freshman class, and I don't suspect we'll see any this year.

What happened to the jet sweeps?  Eastern Michigan was having oodles of success with the jet sweep in the first half, and then they just stopped.  I'm not sure if Michigan started scheming against it and taking it away, but it seemed to be in the best interest of EMU head coach Ron English to keep them coming.

This is Michigan's best safety combination since 2007.  Jordan Kovacs (8 tackles) and Thomas Gordon (6 tackles, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery) are playing better than any safety combo since Brandent Englemon and Jamar Adams.  Kovacs seems to have gained some speed since we first saw him in 2009, and Gordon is a solid tackler with decent ball skills.  Neither one will win many foot races, but so far they've helped to limit big plays.  Hopefully that continues into the Big Ten season.

Brendan Gibbons kicked the ball through the uprights.  That might have been the play of the day, if not for Thomas Gordon's one-handed pick on a double pass.

Preview: Michigan vs. Eastern Michigan

There aren't any attractive women at EMU, so here's
a random girl wearing green.  Her name is Nicole Rivera.

Rush Offense vs. EMU Rush Defense
Aside from Denard Robinson, who's the best running quarterback in history, Michigan has a few capable running backs in the forms of Michael Shaw, Vincent Smith, and Fitzgerald Toussaint.  Toussaint is the nominal starter and missed last week's Notre Dame game with a shoulder injury, so he may have a chance to add to his gaudy statistics (11 carries, 80 yards, 2 touchdowns) again this week.  Neither Shaw or Smith did particularly well running the ball against Notre Dame, but Carlos Brown housed a 90-yarder against the Screaming Eagles a couple years ago, so this game sets up well for a speedster like Shaw.  Meanwhile, EMU has been allowing 1.6 yards a carry so far this season, but that has been to the likes of Alabama State and Howard.  Expect that number to jump significantly.
Advantage: Michigan


Pass Offense vs. EMU Pass Defense
Robinson struggled throwing the ball against Notre Dame last week, completing less than 50% of his passes.  But he still threw for 338 yards and 4 touchdowns, largely because receivers Junior Hemingway, Roy Roundtree, and Jeremy Gallon bailed him out on some jump balls.  Robinson isn't an accurate downfield thrower and - come to think of it - he's not very accurate anywhere on the field, but he does have receivers who can stretch the field and who will come down with the ball if he tosses it up to them enough.  The short passing game, however, should be effective against EMU because Michigan's short throws can turn into big plays against the inferior athletes in EMU's secondary.  The Screaming Eagles have 10 sacks and 1 interception on the season, but Michigan's offensive line is pretty solid in pass protection.
Advantage: Michigan


Rush Defense vs. EMU Rush Offense
Two Eastern Michigan running backs are averaging over 7 yards a carry, not to mention quarterback Alex Gillett.  The opponents surely have something to do with that, but Michigan is giving up 5.1 yards a carry, too.  The Wolverines haven't been adept at stopping the run in a few years, and I'm not expecting that to change on Saturday.  Defensive tackle William Campbell showed some signs of coming to life this past weekend, and hopefully that was due to his technique work and not a one-time thing brought on by the adrenaline of playing Notre Dame under the lights.  If Campbell can get some penetration from his 3-technique spot, that would go a long way toward getting some stops in the run game.  Eastern Michigan likely won't get big plays in the run game, but they should be able to move the ball, just like everyone else.
Advantage: Eastern Michigan


Pass Defense vs. EMU Pass Offense
Despite the 41-9 victory over Howard last weekend, quarterback Alex Gillett is still the only QB to attempt a pass for the Screaming Eagles.  So far on the season, he's 19-for-40 with 176 yards with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.  I think Michigan's going to try to get some pressure on Gillett with the front four and try not to use linebacker and safety blitzes quite as often as they have for the past couple weeks, so we'll see if the defensive ends can finally create some havoc.  Michigan has produced 2 sacks (both by safety Jordan Kovacs) and 3 interceptions thus far, and I would expect a few more sacks and one or two more interceptions by the end of Saturday.  Gillett is a talented athlete, but he's not very accurate or strong armed and he lacks big play ability from his wideouts.  Western Michigan and Notre Dame carved up Michigan's secondary to some extent over the past couple weeks, but this should be a less embarrassing day for the Wolverines.
Advantage: Michigan


Predictions

• Michigan's starting running back goes for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns
• Denard Robinson throws a silly pass that an Eastern Michigan defender drops
• Courtney Avery grabs his first career interception
• Michael Cox trucks all 11 defenders, Ron English, and the back judge on his way to a 200-yard touchdown run before disappearing into the ether and then joins the cast of Dancing with the Stars  in 2025
• Michigan 49, Eastern Michigan 14

Michigan 45, Eastern Michigan 17

Hyperspeed: Engaged.

Yesterday's final score represented what most Michigan fans expected. The score before and during halftime . . . not so much. Michigan jumped out to a whopping 3-0 lead before Eastern Michigan tied it at 3-3. They were tied again at 10-10 and went into halftime with Michigan leading, 24-17.

The star of the game was Carlos Brown, who ran only eight times in the first half but gained 163 yards in that span. Brown started the game in place of Brandon Minor, who's still feeling the effects of a sprained ankle. It wasn't apparent that Minor was injured, so as the game went along, I thought to myself, "Brandon Minor must be a horrible teammate and completely uncoachable, because he's the best back on the team and they won't play him." In a way, I'm glad he was injured because I like him and I'm hoping those thoughts aren't true.

Star quarterback Tate Forcier had a bit of a tough day. He started off hot but only completed one of his final six passes, finishing with 68 yards in the air. Eastern Michigan did a good job of hanging right with Michigan's receivers, who couldn't get open. That's a bit scary if you're a Michigan fan. The Wolverines should have far superior athleticism and talent on the perimeter, but that just didn't seem to be the case.

However, the story for Michigan was that the Wolverine running backs were much faster and more athletic than Eastern Michigan's linebackers and safeties. Michigan finished the game with 39 carries for 380 yards, a 9.7 yard average. In other words, Michigan could have run the ball every play and practically never faced a second down. Brown finished with 187 yards while Denard Robinson had 60, Michael Shaw had 53, Mike Cox had 31, and Minor had 21. Michigan finished the weekend ranked #3 in rushing offense.

Defensively, Michigan still has plenty of work to do. Defensive end Brandon Graham and nose tackle Mike Martin can both command double teams, but Michigan's inside linebackers continue to be unable to fill the running lanes sufficiently. In fairness to the linebacking corps, starting WILL Jonas Mouton missed the game after being suspended for a punch he threw in the Notre Dame game. His backup, former walk-on Kevin Leach, led the team with 10 tackles, but neither he nor starting MIKE Obi Ezeh recorded a tackle for loss. Leach hustles and did a pretty good job of being in the right place, but he's simply not the athlete Mouton is. Eastern Michigan was consistently able to run the ball in the first half, running 28 times for 128 yards. Defensive coordinator Greg Robinson and his coaches were able to make some halftime adjustments and limit EMU to 51 yards on 20 attempts in the second half, but really, there's no excuse for the way the Eagles were able to run the ball in the first half, especially when you consider how little success they had in the passing game.

On the subject of defense, Michigan cornerback Boubacar Cissoko was the victim of one of the most egregious pass interference penalties you'll ever see. Former Michigan cornerback Johnny Sears, who now plays for EMU, was inserted into the game as a wide receiver in the first half. Eastern Michigan quarterback Andy Schmitt tossed a fade route to Sears against Cissoko, who was basically running the route for Sears and had position downfield. As Cissoko was sprinting downfield in front of Sears and reached for the ball, Sears climbed up his back and tackled the sophomore corner. Somehow the referee blamed the collision on Cissoko, who should have just as much of a right to the football as the receiver. It was atrocious and I'm sure the official will be getting a reprimand this week, whether it's public or private.

Offensive game ball goes to . . . Carlos Brown (1). Brown carried the ball 13 times for 187 yards (14.4 yard average) and 2 TDs. One was a 90-yarder in the second quarter. Brown's lack of tackle-breaking ability is still frustrating. For evidence, see his 30 yard run in the first quarter where he's taken down by the wave of Darth Vader's hand. But his speed is scary.

Defensive game ball goes to . . . Craig Roh (1). Roh made 7 tackles, including 1 tackle for loss, and had the first interception of his career on a pass tipped by Ezeh. He also combined for a sack with defensive end Will Heininger, giving Roh 1.5 career sacks.

Let's see less of this guy on offense . . . Denard Robinson (2). I'm going to take flak for this because Robinson ran the ball well (3 carries, 60 yards, 2 TDs). But he can't throw the ball. He's not ready to be an FBS quarterback right now, and that probably won't change this year. He threw the ball four times and completed none to his teammates, but two were caught by Eastern Michigan defensive backs. One INT was an underthrown ball to Martavious Odoms, who was double-covered. The other was an underthrown and woefully inaccurate post route to Roy Roundtree. Robinson's quarterback rating is currently . . . wait, what? . . . seriously? . . . uhhh . . . -6.10. Yes, that's a negative sign.

Let's see less of this guy on defense . . . eh, I'm not going to pick anyone this week. The inside linebackers didn't play great, but the options there are limited. Leach was in there because Mouton punched someone and he led the team in tackles, so that's pretty good for a walk-on. Ezeh was just okay, but J.B. Fitzgerald and Kenny Demens aren't any better.

Highlights: Michigan vs. Eastern Michigan

The Case Against Denard

Need I say more?

People on message boards are clamoring to see Denard Robinson. With Mid-American Conference patsy Eastern Michigan University coming up this Saturday, some fans are dying to see the fleet-footed Floridian start or take the majority of snaps against the Eagles.

No.

Tate Forcier is a true freshman. He won the starting job outright. Practice observers said during fall camp that Denard Robinson was catching up to Forcier, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Forcier has thrown the ball 53 times for five TDs. He's also run for a little over 100 yards. Meanwhile, Robinson has completed 2/4 passes for 18 yards. He's just not ready.

If you don't believe me, review the WMU game. Yes, Denard took his first snap 43 yards for a touchdown, but it was on a broken play on which he fumbled the snap first. That's great athleticism, but that doesn't mean he's ready to win games for you. A good punt returner might have done what Denard did on that play. I wouldn't trust a good punt returner to take snaps for an entire game in an FBS game.

Meanwhile, each of Robinson's passes was thrown 90 mph. One completion was on a very nice catch by Kelvin Grady; the other was just a solid throw. His two incompletions were darts, one of which probably should have been intercepted by whoever was covering Greg Mathews. The only detail that saved him from throwing his first interception was the fact that Michigan was playing a MAC team.

I don't know that I've seen much of a difference between Denard Robinson 2009 and Justin Feagin 2008. The coaches didn't trust Feagin to throw the ball against decent competition, and considering that Denard didn't throw the ball against Notre Dame, that makes me think Rich Rodriguez has approximately the same confidence in Denard's throwing and decision-making. If Feagin had played against a team like WMU last year, who knows? Maybe we would have seen him throw a couple passes.

Tate Forcier needs to start the game against EMU. He's only two games into his college career, and he's thrown a total of 53 passes. He led Michigan in a great comeback win against Notre Dame, but there are still some things he could improve, particularly his reads on the zone read option. Removing Forcier from the EMU game would stunt his growth, if only for a week. He needs to get ready for the Big Ten season. You can bet that EMU will throw some different looks at him, and it's better for Forcier to get used to reading different alignments and coverages against a less talented team than seeing a certain blitz for the first time against, I don't know, Iowa or Penn State.

The reason Michigan fans want Denard to play is simple: Denard is very, very fast. Michigan fans never ask to see the backup unless the starter sucks. The starter has been awesome, so what gives? I don't see OSU fans clamoring for Joe Bauserman or Notre Dame fans begging for Dayne Crist. When the New Orleans Saints played a cupcake Detroit Lions team this past weekend, I didn't hear any Saints fans asking to see Mark Brunell so Drew Brees wouldn't get hurt. Denard hasn't shown that he can do anything with his arm, but Michigan fans want to see him take a shotgun snap and teleport himself into the end zone. That's all well and good, and I'd like to see teleportation myself. But no matter who you are, if the opposing team knows all you can do is run from the QB position, they're going to put eight or nine guys in the box.

Forcier should start the game and take the majority of the snaps. Denard should play intermittently and if Michigan gets a big lead, Rodriguez should let Denard loose and see how much of the offense he can run productively. This quarterback situation should be treated like any other. Michigan shouldn't weaken its starting quarterback just to strengthen its backup. That makes no sense.

Vince Helmuth, ex-Wolverine

Michigan defensive tackle (and former fullback) Vince Helmuth has decided to transfer. Helmuth would have been a junior this year and converted to the defensive line during the 2008 season. He bulked up a little too much for spring practice and Rich Rodriguez called him out during one of his spring practice press conferences.

Despite Helmuth's additional bulk, he was buried on the defensive tackle depth chart this year. With only one regular DT on the field on most snaps, Helmuth was behind Mike Martin, Renaldo Sagesse, and freshman Will Campbell, all of whom are in the same class or younger. This does hurt the depth chart somewhat, as there are only three scholarship defensive tackles remaining on the roster, but at most he probably would have given Martin an occasional breather and helped out on special teams. (For what it's worth, he was my #57 most important player on this year's roster.)

The pain from this transfer is felt threefold:

1) It hurts depth at DT and necessitates landing at least one tackle in the 2010 recruiting class.
2) Helmuth's transfer - along with all the others - has Michigan falling dangerously close to scary APR levels.
3) Helmuth was a local kid (from Saline High School), meaning many Michigan fans were a smidgen more interested in his success.

Early rumors suggest that Helmuth might join his brother at Eastern Michigan (which is now coached by former Michigan defensive coordinator Ron English).

Picture via MVictors.