Michigan Assistant Coach Rumors (January 7)

Jim Harbaugh (left), Tyrone Wheatley (right), and some guy (middle)

Here are some updated rumors and speculation about the open coaching positions on Michigan's staff.

1. Jim Harbaugh, Head Coach/Quarterbacks: Signed, sealed, and delivered (LINK). Next.

2. Tim Drevno, Offensive Coordinator/Offensive line: Drevno, the USC offensive line coach and run game coordinator, is coming to Michigan (LINK). He might be doing the whole line by himself, although he will probably get some help from a graduate assistant.
Other possibility: Andy Moeller or Todd Washington (offensive line)

3. Running backs: Former Buffalo Bills running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley flew into town last night and went to dinner with Harbaugh at Red Robin. He was supposed to interview for the running backs job yesterday, but his late arrival postponed the interview to today. No contract is done yet, but it would be quite a surprise if Wheatley didn't get the job.
Other possibilities: Fred Jackson, Roy Manning

4. Wide receivers: Rumors appeared on New Year's Eve that John Morton was expected to join Michigan's staff, although there has been nothing confirmed yet. No, this isn't the former Detroit Lions wide receiver, but San Francisco 49ers wide receiver coach Morton is out of a job. Morton grew up in Michigan and played wide receiver at Western Michigan, so he's a midwest guy and would presumably have some connections in the area. San Francisco's wide receivers weren't spectacular, but he has worked with some pretty big names in Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree.
Other possibilities: Erik Campbell, Ronald Curry, Jeff Hecklinski

5. Tight ends: Vince Marrow decided to stay at Kentucky, and it's been reported that Michigan has offered a job to San Jose State University offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Jimmie Dougherty. Dougherty worked for Harbaugh at San Diego, and he also has experience coaching wide receivers and tight ends. Since it seems like Morton will be coaching the wideouts, Dougherty might find himself coaching tight ends. He may also get a "passing game coordinator" title, pairing with Drevno.
Other possibility: Kevin Koger

6. Defensive coordinator: Florida defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin is now Michigan defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin (LINK), and he has already started using his connections in the south to send out a couple offers (LINK).

7. Defensive line: Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison will be a holdover from the previous staff to this one. Mattison has family in the area, loves the University of Michigan, is a pretty good coach with NFL experience, and is a great recruiter. He also has connections to Harbaugh and defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin. It's unclear which role Mattison will have, whether it's working with the defensive line or linebackers.
Other possibilities: D.J. Durkin, Roy Manning

8. Linebackers: Michigan cornerbacks coach Roy Manning has been heavily rumored to be staying around on staff, and it was reported that he already interviewed for a job. Whether he gets that job or not remains to be seen, but it seems to make sense that he would work with the linebackers, a position he has previously coached. The cornerback thing didn't go so well last year, but he has been perhaps Michigan's best recruiter.
Other possibility: Peter Hansen, Greg Mattison

9. Defensive backs: San Francisco 49ers defensive backs coach Greg Jackson reportedly contacted Louisiana defensive end Jalen Bates, a guy with a Michigan offer who committed to Arizona State. Bates's cousin is former Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton. Unless this is like Vince Marrow contacting Chris Clark for no reason at all, it looks like Jackson will be coaching some/all of the defensive backs. Meanwhile, Michigan safeties coach Curt Mallory has been hired at Wyoming (LINK), so he's not going to return.
Other possibility: Roy Manning

10. Special teams: Sam Webb tweeted out that Michigan would probably be getting a guy dedicated to special teams only. That guy could very well be Florida special teams coordinator Coleman Hutzler (LINK), who worked with Durkin last year and coached outside linebackers at New Mexico for a couple seasons before that. Michigan may find themselves splitting the defense up oddly, with a couple guys combining on the DL and a couple more combining on the LB spots. Personally, I don't believe it's wise to have someone who's only devoted to special teams; if that happens, the special teams had better be awesome.
Other possibility: ???

11. Strength and conditioning: Stanford strength and conditioning coordinator Shannon Turley apparently agreed to come to Michigan and then rescinded. The next most likely option seems to be Kevin Tolbert, who had been Harbaugh's strength and conditioning coach with the 49ers and for a couple years at Stanford. Tolbert is a Navy grad and former football player, and he also spent eight years working under Mike Gittleson, Michigan's former S&C coach prior to Rich Rodriguez's hiring.
Other possibility: ???

Michigan Assistant Coaching Rumors (January 2)

D.J. Durkin could be the next domino to fall in Michigan's assistant coaching search.

Here are some updated rumors and speculation about the open coaching positions on Michigan's staff.

1. Jim Harbaugh, Head Coach/Quarterbacks: Signed, sealed, and delivered (LINK). Next.

2. Tim Drevno, Offensive Coordinator: Drevno, the USC offensive line coach and run game coordinator, is coming to Michigan (LINK).

3. Running backs: Buffalo Bills running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley followed head coach Doug Marrone from Syracuse to Buffalo, and now Marrone has opted out of his contract for 2015. That likely means Wheatley is at least temporarily out of a job. Marrone is expected to interview for other NFL head coaching jobs, so Wheatley could follow him if Marrone gets a head job elsewhere. Wheatley wants to move up the ladder, but I would not expect Drevno and Wheatley to split offensive coordinator duties. The hiring of Drevno seems to dim the hopes of getting Wheatley to coach running backs, but the rumors have been persistent here; also, it would improve Michigan's chances of landing 2015 tight end/defensive end Tyrone Wheatley, Jr.
Other possibilities: Reggie Davis, Fred Jackson, Roy Manning

4. Wide receivers: Rumors appeared on New Year's Eve that John Morton was expected to join Michigan's staff, although there has been nothing confirmed yet. No, this isn't the former Detroit Lions wide receiver, but San Francisco 49ers wide receiver coach Morton is out of a job. Morton grew up in Michigan and played wide receiver at Western Michigan, so he's a midwest guy and would presumably have some connections in the area. San Francisco's wide receivers weren't spectacular, but he has worked with some pretty big names in Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree.
Other possibility: Erik Campbell, Ronald Curry, Jeff Hecklinski

5. Tight ends: Kentucky tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow has been rumored to be a possibility. Harbaugh has reportedly already reached out to Marrow, whose help in recruiting at Kentucky has been pretty impressive. Marrow grew up in Ohio and played football at Toledo, so he's another midwest guy. Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops has said that he expects Marrow to return to the Wildcats next season. UPDATE: According to the moderators on The Wolverine, Marrow will be meeting soon with his current employers to see if they can match what Michigan is offering.
Other possibility: Reggie Davis, Kevin Koger

6. Offensive line: San Francisco 49ers offensive line coach Reggie Davis was with Harbaugh for each year in San Francisco. He has spent his entire playing (Washington, San Diego Chargers) and coaching (UNLV, Oregon State, San Francisco 49ers) career on the west coast. Maybe he's attached to the lifestyle, family, and friends out there. If he comes with Harbaugh, he'll be a much needed connection on the west coast.
Other possibility: Andy Moeller

7. Defensive coordinator: Florida defensive coordinator and interim head coach D.J. Durkin has been a popular name floating around for the past few weeks. He worked with Harbaugh at Stanford and has experience working with special teams, defensive ends, and linebackers, so he could help out in any of those areas. Brian at MGoBlog says this is a lock to happen as soon as Florida's bowl game is done tomorrow (LINK).
Other possibilities: Lance Anderson, Greg Mattison

8. Defensive line: Oklahoma defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery has been suggested as a possibility. Montgomery, of course, was at Michigan for the first couple years of Brady Hoke's tenure and then left for a bigger paycheck in Norman. Montgomery was only ever in charge of part of the defensive line at Michigan, so the only real reasons to move back would be another pay raise and/or control over the whole position group.
Other possibilities: D.J. Durkin, Roy Manning, Greg Mattison

9. Linebackers: Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison might be a holdover from the previous staff to this one. Mattison has family in the area, loves the University of Michigan, is a pretty good coach with NFL experience, and is a great recruiter. He also has connections to Harbaugh and potential defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin. Brian at MGoBlog says this is a lock, although Mattison can also coach defensive line (LINK).
Other possibility: Lance Anderson, Peter Hansen, Roy Manning

10. Defensive backs: San Francisco 49ers defensive backs coach Greg Jackson will be looking for a job. He is from Florida and played college football at LSU, so his potential connections in Florida and SEC country could help Michigan's recruiting efforts in difficult locations.
Other possibility: Curt Mallory, Roy Manning

11. Strength and conditioning: Stanford strength and conditioning coordinator Shannon Turley was hired by Harbaugh at San Diego, moved with him to Stanford, and has remained at Stanford while Harbaugh was with the 49ers. This might give him a chance to move up to a larger, more storied program.
Other possibility: Kevin Tolbert

Michigan Assistant Coach Rumors

Greg Roman could be Michigan's next offensive coordinator

We as fans are never happy. We just got our dream coach, and now we'll be concerned about who his assistants will be. When Jim Harbaugh was asked about filling his staff, he said, "Measure twice. Cut once." So he wants to be careful about who he brings on as assistant coaches. Here is a look at some potential coaches to fill out the ten offensive and defensive staff jobs:

1. Jim Harbaugh, Head Coach: Signed, sealed, and delivered. Next.

2. Offensive coordinator: San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman has been with Harbaugh since the Stanford days, and some reports - as well as common sense - suggest that he will follow Harbaugh to Michigan. Roman is from New Jersey and has spent most of his time in the NFL, except for two years in Palo Alto. Roman has mostly worked with the offensive line and tight ends throughout his career, so I would expect him to help out with one of those positions.
Other possibilities: Andy Moeller, Tyrone Wheatley

3. Running backs: Buffalo Bills running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley has not been promised a return in 2015, and being a Michigan legend, he might feel a desire to return to Ann Arbor to help resurrect the program. Harbaugh might also float the idea of being a co-offensive coordinator, which would make a little more sense from Wheatley's perspective. He has a desire to be a head coach someday, so one would expect him to be looking for some kind of promotion up the ladder.
Other possibilities: Reggie Davis, Fred Jackson, Roy Manning

4. Wide receivers: No, this isn't the former Detroit Lions wide receiver, but San Francisco 49ers wide receiver coach John Morton is out of a job. Morton grew up in Michigan and played wide receiver at Western Michigan, so he's a midwest guy and would presumably have some connections in the area. San Francisco's wide receivers weren't spectacular, but he has worked with some pretty big names in Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree.
Other possibility: Ronald Curry

5. Tight ends: Kentucky tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow has been rumored to be a possibility. Harbaugh has reportedly already reached out to Marrow, whose help in recruiting at Kentucky has been pretty impressive. Marrow grew up in Ohio and played football at Toledo, so he's another midwest guy.
Other possibility: Reggie Davis

6. Offensive line: San Francisco 49ers offensive line coach Reggie Davis was with Harbaugh for each year in San Francisco. He has spent his entire playing (Washington, San Diego Chargers) and coaching (UNLV, Oregon State, San Francisco 49ers) career on the west coast. Maybe he's attached to the lifestyle, family, and friends out there. If he comes with Harbaugh, he'll be a much needed connection on the west coast.
Other possibilities: Tim Drevno, Andy Moeller

7. Defensive coordinator: Florida defensive coordinator and interim head coach D.J. Durkin has been a popular name floating around for the past few weeks. He worked with Harbaugh at Stanford and has experience working with special teams, defensive ends, and linebackers, so he could help out in any of those areas.
Other possibility: Greg Mattison

8. Defensive line: Oklahoma defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery has been suggested as a possibility. Montgomery, of course, was at Michigan for the first couple years of Brady Hoke's tenure and then left for a bigger paycheck in Norman. Montgomery was only ever in charge of part of the defensive line at Michigan, so the only real reasons to move back would be another pay raise and/or control over the whole position group.
Other possibilities: D.J. Durkin, Roy Manning, Greg Mattison

9. Linebackers: Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison might be a holdover from the previous staff to this one. Mattison has family in the area, loves the University of Michigan, is a pretty good coach with NFL experience, and is a great recruiter. He also has connections to Harbaugh and potential defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin.
Other possibility: Roy Manning

10. Defensive backs: San Francisco 49ers defensive backs coach Greg Jackson will be looking for a job. He is from Florida and played college football at LSU, so his potential connections in Florida and SEC country could help Michigan's recruiting efforts in difficult locations.
Other possibility: Roy Manning

OVERALL
It would be unlikely that so many 49ers guys would follow Harbaugh to a college to which they have no connections, and other guys coming to Ann Arbor from the NFL (Wheatley, Moeller) would also be a bit of a stretch. Will all of those guys end up standing on the sidelines of Michigan Stadium? Probably not. But I would expect at least a couple of them, particularly Roman. Otherwise, some likely possibilities seem to include Vince Marrow and D.J. Durkin.

Otherwise, Michigan has a couple ace recruiters in its pocket with Mattison and Manning if they so choose to keep them. Manning is supposedly still in Ann Arbor and hoping to catch on with the new staff. I didn't list him as option #1 at any positions above, but that's partly because he has coached running backs, linebackers, and cornerbacks, and he played a hybrid defensive end position. Harbaugh could put him in a variety of spots, although Michigan's cornerbacks performed questionably this past season under his tutelage. I would not want Manning to be in charge of all the defensive back positions by himself, but maybe a year of honing his skills with the cornerbacks could help him improve in year two of coaching the position.

Poll results: Which coach(es) should be retained beyond 2014?

Roy Manning (image via Maizeandbluenews.com)

Leading up to last week's game against Ohio State, I asked a question about which coach(es) should be retained after the season. Voters were allowed to pick multiple answers. Here are the results:

Roy Manning (cornerbacks): 51%

Greg Mattison (defensive coordinator/linebackers): 49%

Doug Nussmeier (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks): 18%

Mark Smith (defensive line): 18%

Fred Jackson (running backs): 7%

Dan Ferrigno (tight ends): 5%

Curt Mallory (safeties): 4%

Jeff Hecklinski (wide receivers/recruiting coordinator): 3%

Darrell Funk (offensive line): 2%

Brady Hoke (head coach): 0% (1 vote)

No coaches should be retained: 18%

Hoke has been canned, and defensive coordinator Greg Mattison reportedly cleared out his desk upon learning the news. So the 49% of people who wanted him back will be disappointed, and the one lonely soul who wanted Hoke to return is drinking a beer by himself. The other staff members could possibly be interviewed and retained, but it's unusual to keep on more than one or two guys from a previous regime.

Ohio State 42, Michigan 28

Devin Gardner wishes good luck to J.T. Barrett after the Ohio State quarterback suffered a season-ending injury
(image via BR)

That was better than I expected. For the second year in a row, Michigan came into The Game with fans and analysts having low expectations. And for the second year in a row, Michigan made a game of it. I expected the Wolverines to keep it close in the first half, only to have the wheels come off late. The wheels certainly came off, but Michigan led the game for roughly half of the second quarter and they were tied until just over a minute remaining in the third quarter. Offensively, Devin Gardner turned it up a notch, Drake Johnson solidified himself as the best back available, and Doug Nussmeier unleashed some creative play calling that we had not seen for most of the year.

Drake Johnson is #1*. Of the runners available at the end of the season, I don't think there's any doubt that Johnson is the best option going forward. I hope De'Veon Smith got enough chances for fans and coaches to realize that he just doesn't have the speed to get the job done, and he's not the bulldozer that so many people thought he would be. Justice Hayes is a decent complementary or third down back, but Johnson (15 carries, 74 yards, 2 touchdowns) is quicker than the others and displayed some power on Saturday that might hint that he's learning how to run the ball in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, Johnson crumpled up on the ground when he scored his second touchdown, and it looked likely to be a torn ACL; Johnson also tore his ACL in the 2013 season opener, so it would be sad to see him have to go through the same rehab again. He ends the year with 60 carries for 361 yards (6.0 yards/carry) and 4 touchdowns. Out of those totals, 57 carries, 333 of those yards, and all 4 touchdowns came in the final five games against Big Ten opponents. He didn't have the chance to rack up huge amounts of yardage against Appalachian State and Miami, although he did have the advantage of running behind an offensive line that improved throughout the year.

I'm going to miss Devin Gardner. Gardner turned out not to be the best quarterback. He showed signs of improvement in the second half of 2013, and then he regressed this year. You can blame it on Brady Hoke, Doug Nussmeier, Al Borges, the receivers, the offensive line, playing wide receiver in 2012, Gardner himself, etc. There are any number of directions you can point. There are two big things about Gardner that I will miss. Much like Denard Robinson, I will miss Gardner's attitude and leadership. He was not the most vocal guy, but the kid took a beating behind Michigan's offensive line and never pointed fingers or complained about the guys in front of him. He also showed some sportsmanship when Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett broke his ankle, with Gardner coming out on the field to wish him well before he was carted off. The second big thing I'll miss about Gardner is his athleticism. The guy was one of the best athletes to play quarterback at Michigan, perhaps second-best behind his predecessor, Robinson. Gardner could run through tackles, juke defenders, outrun defenders, throw the ball deep, put touch on his passes, and make the game of football a beautiful thing to watch at times. I kept waiting for this guy to break out, but for all the reasons mentioned above, I'll always be left to wonder what could have been.

Clock management failure #1. At the end of the first half, Michigan's drive stalled with over two minutes remaining. The punt team was summoned. Rather than allowing the play/game clock to wind down under two minutes, Michigan snapped the ball with about 20 seconds on the play clock and 2:20 left on the game clock. Ohio State got the ball and calmly waltzed down the field to score with :07 seconds remaining. If you're Brady Hoke, what can you possible be thinking at that point? We know by now that Hoke's plan was not to get a stop, get the ball back, and run a hurry-up drive to score. Hoke isn't that aggressive. If Michigan did get the ball back, they would have run the ball until halftime. The only possible explanation is that Hoke wasn't paying attention or thinking that far forward, which is a pretty damning trait.

Clock management failure #2. Even with three minutes left and down three touchdowns in the final game of the year, Michigan still couldn't run a halfway decent hurry-up. They were huddling at times, they didn't know how to line up, etc. while the clock was ticking down. They had no urgency whatsoever. Gardner did lead a successful drive that culminated in a 3-yard touchdown pass to Freddy Canteen, but it left just 1:15 on the clock to get an onside kick, score, get another onside kick, and score again. I am usually a person who thinks that the game isn't over until the clock says 0:00, but Hoke managed to suck that out of me this year. Just like we know Hoke can't use his timeouts or manage the end of a half properly, we also know that running an offense with any kind of tempo is out of the question. More so than a lack of player development, these issues with game management (the clock, the timeouts, having the right personnel on the field, etc.) are the ones most damning if he wanted to make a case to keep his job going forward.

The lack of personnel development. As I mentioned above, the lack of anyone stepping up throughout the year is almost amazing. You can point to a few individuals who got better from 2013 to 2014 (Jourdan Lewis, Derrick Green, Joe Bolden) or who improved throughout the season (Jake Ryan, Drake Johnson), but the only unit to improve was the offensive line. No other position group seemed to take steps forward, except perhaps the running backs, whose performance is tied to the OL.

Holy cow, there has been a lack of takeaways. Michigan ends the 2014 season with 5 interceptions, their lowest total in at least 20 years. I looked at stats from 1995 onward, and I only stopped because I can't find a reliable source of information any earlier than that. Michigan got picks from Lewis (2), defensive tackle Willie Henry, defensive tackle Matt Godin, and linebacker Jake Ryan. The Wolverines are tied for 120th in interceptions and might end up lower after a couple teams play in bowl games. Michigan is #123 in turnover margin with -1.33 per game. In fact, it's almost amazing that Michigan is #10 in total defense and #28 in scoring defense with the inability to create turnovers and an offense that can't sustain drives. The lack of takeaways is obviously a negative for defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, but it says something that his scheming and Michigan's solid tackling have helped to prevent a total team breakdown.

I'm sad the season is done. This was one of those years where you see a bunch of talent on the field and expect big things, but big things don't happen. Michigan had a record-setting quarterback, a wide receiver who looked like a potential first rounder, a very good tight end, a 5-star running back, a solid kicker, a former All-Big Ten punter, and loads of talent on the defensive side of the ball. All that gets boiled down to a 5-7 season and a career for some of these seniors that ends with a thud.

I'm sad this is how it went down for Brady Hoke. I was not a fan of Michigan's hiring of Brady Hoke in 2011. He hadn't proven enough at a high enough level, and it showed that he was in over his head. However, I did hope that he would have success at Michigan. Not only because I'm a fan of the Wolverines, but because Hoke seems like a good guy, I wanted him to win and win big. There aren't enough decent guys winning national championships out there. Instead, there are people like Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher. Now it appears that Hoke's head coaching career is over at Michigan. Wherever he ends up in the future, I hope he can find success.

I still have high hopes for next year. Regardless of who the coach is, Michigan has a lot coming back in 2015. Devin Gardner is the only senior on offense to start, and Devin Funchess might declare for the NFL Draft. Meanwhile, Michigan has lost its best two players on defense (Jake Ryan and Frank Clark, the latter of which was kicked off the team, anyway), cornerback Raymon Taylor, senior kicker Matt Wile, and senior punter Will Hagerup. There are capable replacements for most of those guys, with the kicking job as the biggest question mark. This was a young team that should improve going into 2015.

Brady Hoke announces new coaching responsibilities

The football program announced new coaching responsibilities yesterday, and most of the changes come on defense, where nobody has the same responsibility he had last year. The only change on offense is the hiring of Doug Nussmeier to replace Al Borges's duties.

Head coach: Brady Hoke
Offensive coordinator, Quarterbacks: Doug Nussmeier
Running backs: Fred Jackson
Wide receivers: Jeff Hecklinski
Tight ends, Special teams: Dan Ferrigno
Offensive line: Darrell Funk
Defensive coordinator, Linebackers: Greg Mattison
Defensive line: Mark Smith
Cornerbacks: Roy Manning
Safeties: Curt Mallory
Offensive grad assistant (tight ends): Kevin Koger
Offensive grad assistant (offensive line): Michael Switzer
Defensive grad assistant (defensive line): Ernie Lawson
Defensive grad assistant (linebackers): Jerry Milling

Kansas State 31, Michigan 14

Quarterback Shane Morris got his first career start and did a solid job.

Shane Morris looked halfway decent. Don't get me wrong - I've always had pretty high hopes for Morris. But I expected him to look a little more high-strung in this game. Offensive coordinator Al Borges did a smart thing by starting Morris off with a bunch of screen passes. Unfortunately, by the time Borges thought about pushing the ball down the field, it was because Michigan was down and Kansas State knew it. One point about screens is that you want to suck the defense up and eventually throw over the top, but Borges wasted the opportunity. Morris finished the game 24/38 for 196 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception, plus he had 4 carries for 43 yards. You could tell his timing just wasn't there with the receivers and the offense. Some of his throws were late, some screens were slightly off target, and some of his passes were thrown too hard to give his receivers much of a chance to catch them. All in all, he played well enough that Michigan might have been able to eke out a win if they had semblance of a running game.

No semblance of a running game. Oh, yeah. About that. Well, despite what I think is a mediocre group of interior defenders, Michigan couldn't get any push up front. The young offensive linemen weren't whiffing on blocks like they were early in the season, but the Kansas State defensive tackles were controlling the line of scrimmage and letting the linebackers and safeties clean up. Michigan's coaching staff seemed to realize their struggles up front, and despite having a fair amount of success with the fake bubble screen draw in the previous couple games, the play was basically abandoned for a couple straight-up inside zones and a bunch of reverses, sweeps, touch passes, etc.

Rich Rodriguez stopped by to coach the defense. I like defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, and since I'm not an idiot, I don't think Mattison should be fired. But I thought this was a pretty dismal effort for what is actually a solid defense. The players just didn't seem inspired to dominate, and the game plan was poor. The guy you must  stop on Kansas State's offense is Tyler Lockett, and he abused Raymon Taylor time and time again (plus Blake Countess at least once). When he was singled up early in the game, I saw the formation and said "Slant." And there it was. When he was singled up later on the same drive, I saw the formation with Raymon Taylor lined up inside and said "Slant and out." Sure enough, Lockett beat Taylor by faking the slant and then beating Taylor with an out route. Lockett needed to be bracketed, and the corners needed safety help over the top. Elsewhere, guys like Cam Gordon were losing contain on the passing quarterback, as if they didn't know he could run a little bit. When I was watching film leading up to the bowl game, I saw Kansas State as a mediocre power running team with one good receiver, and they were still able to impose their will on Michigan.

Tyler Lockett is good. After seeing Lockett's highlights from the other twelve games and then watching him in this one, I think Lockett (10 catches, 116 yards, 3 touchdowns; 2 kickoff returns for 74 yards) could play for any team in the country. It was frustrating to watch him beat a fairly good duo of corners in Taylor and Countess, but you have to tip your cap to a player like that. Lockett's going to get his yards, but you can't let the other players beat you. Unfortunately, running back John Hubert (15 carries, 80 yards, 1 touchdown), quarterback Jake Waters (21/27 for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air, plus 12 carries for 42 yards), and the defense beat Michigan, too.

Ryan Mueller is just a guy. I mentioned this before the game, but I was not impressed with what I saw from Mueller on film. The Big 12's Defensive Lineman of the Year had just 1 tackle against Michigan despite playing against the Wolverines' second-best offensive tackle and chasing a freshman quarterback.

The running back situation. Redshirt sophomore Justice Hayes earned the nod at running back and turned in a nondescript performance. He caught 3 passes for 22 yards and had 1 carry for -1 yard, the latter of which seemed to be him just tripping and falling to the turf of his own volition. I believe Michigan's game plan involved trying to get the edge against a team that the coaching staff felt was too stout up the middle for the interior offensive line to handle. Unfortunately, Michigan has mainly recruited inside runners during Hoke's tenure (Derrick Green, De'Veon Smith, Thomas Rawls). Without a good tailback option, Borges tried to hit Gallon on jet sweeps and reverses, Devin Funchess on a double reverse, etc. When your pocket passer of a quarterback leads the team in rushing, and your running backs combine for 8 carries and 13 yards, that's a terrible recipe for success. It didn't matter whether it was Hayes, Green, Smith, Rawls, or Toussaint running behind that line, though - there was just nowhere to go.

No hurry-up offense. Michigan didn't really go to a hurry-up offense until their final drive, which was extremely frustrating. Would it have made a difference in the final outcome? Probably not. But it seemed like Borges and head coach Brady Hoke had basically decided to give up and try to develop the kids for next year. Maybe they just didn't feel their freshman quarterback could handle running a two-minute drill for such an extended period, but at least give it a shot. Even if you chuck the ball deep and it gets intercepted, at least you tried. The only play where Michigan truly attempted to go over the top was on a pass to Jeremy Gallon where he got interfered with after it seemed like Morris and the receivers thought they had a free play when a Kansas State player jumped (he didn't cross the line of scrimmage). When your quarterback is known for his cannon arm, you would think at least three attempts downfield would be warranted.

Head(s) should roll. Hoke and athletic director David Brandon need to make some tough decisions this offseason, and at least one staff change needs to take place. Hoke is a loyal guy, but I think Brandon will insist because he's a business-oriented guy and needs to make donors happy. Running backs coach Fred Jackson isn't the problem, but he might retire whether he's asked to or not. Offensive line coach Darrell Funk would seem to be the easiest guy to axe, because his position group was the worst on the team. Offensive coordinator Al Borges does things like score 41 points against Ohio State and call plays that result in record-setting performances (Gallon's game against Indiana, Gallon's season receiving record, Gardner's statistics against Ohio State and Indiana, etc.), so he's a tougher choice. I also think a guy like wide receivers coach Jeff Hecklinski might be miffed if he gets passed up for a new offensive coordinator. Rumors are that secondary coach Curt Mallory has been looking for a head coaching job at a smaller school, too. There could be a lot of staff upheaval in the coming months.

Congratulations to Jeremy Gallon. Gallon surpassed former Michigan receiver Braylon Edwards for two records in this game. Gallon caught a pass in 39 consecutive games (Edwards was at 38), and he also set the single-season receiving yardage record with 1,373 yards (Edwards had 1,330 in 2004). He had 9 catches for 89 yards in this game, 1 carry for -5 yards, and a pass to Justice Hayes for a two-point conversion, hearkening back to his high school days as a single-wing quarterback at Apopka High School.

Michigan 27, Northwestern 19 (3 overtimes)

Freshman running back Derrick Green saw his first significant Big Ten action and responded with 19 carries for 79 yards

Fire Brady Hoke? Okay, I would probably never call for a head coach's firing based on one play, but I have rarely been angrier at a single in-game decision than Hoke's call to go for it on 4th-and-2 down 9-6 with a little under six minutes remaining in the game. You have an offense that can't run the ball consistently or protect the quarterback, a chip-shot field goal begging to be taken, and you . . . run a quarterback bootleg? Don't get me wrong - that might be the best run play to call in that situation, keeping the ball in the hands of your most dynamic runner. But take the 3 points. Theoretically, a field goal in that situation ties the game at 9-9 and turns the last-second field goal into the game-winner. It all worked out in the end, but that's still the wrong decision by Hoke at that point.

Brendan Gibbons must have hated Rich Rodriguez. Ever since Brady Hoke arrived in 2011, Gibbons has been about as good as anyone could realistically ask a kicker to be, aside from the four overtime game against Penn State earlier this season. Gibbons was 4/4 on field goals in this game and 1/1 on extra points, but the most impressive kick was a 44-yard field goal from the right hash with no time on the clock to send the game into overtime.

The offensive line is fixed! The Wolverines are back to having a dominating offensive line after allowing just 5 sacks and allowing the team to rush for 139 yards on 44 carries, a 3.2-yard average. That's a marked improvement from the average of 7 sacks and -34.5 rushing yards per game for the previous two weeks. On a serious note, folks, I still think I saw Taylor Lewan and Michael Schofield both whiff on pass blocks that turned into sacks, which seems to support the idea that Michigan's offensive linemen are regressing or at least remaining stagnant. The positive rushing yards were a step in the right direction, but Northwestern has a small-ish defensive front that creates plays using quickness and blitzing frequently. Perhaps a game like this will give the offensive line a tiny bit of confidence in their abilities as a unit, but people said the same thing following the Indiana game.

There may or may not be a running back controversy. Fifth year senior starter Fitzgerald Toussaint dressed but did not play in the game, allowing freshmen Derrick Green (19 carries, 79 yards) and De'Veon Smith (8 carries, 41 yards) to take all of the running back carries. Green in particular looked solid because he hit the hole hard, unlike earlier in the season when he looked tentative and preoccupied with not fumbling. He also finished runs nicely once he got in the open field by lowering his shoulder and punishing tacklers. If Michigan could open holes consistently and get him on second- and third-level defenders more often, those hits would start to take a toll and turn into some even bigger runs. In addition to his 23- and 22-yard rumbles, Smith tossed in a nifty 16-yard run up the gut. I still believe Toussaint is the more explosive back because of his ability to make people miss and accelerate, but he's not strong enough to run through tackles of first-level defenders . . . and the offensive line isn't good enough to keep those first-level defenders from getting their mitts on him.

Al Borges's creativity goes in spurts. I've noticed in offensive coordinator Al Borges's three years at Michigan that he tends to get ideas that last two or three weeks, and then he eventually abandons them. This was one of those weeks that he got creative, so we'll see how long it lasts. Hopefully, he can beat Iowa with these types of plays and then come up with some new wrinkles for Ohio State. This game featured numerous bubble screen pump fake draws to Derrick Green, which seemed to open up some running lanes. As soon as I saw Devin Funchess line up in the slot to the left in overtime, I thought to myself, "Okay, it's about time to actually run the bubble," and Devin Gardner promptly whistled it out to Funchess . . . who gained about 4 yards before fumbling (and luckily recovered his own fumble). Michigan doesn't throw it often or well enough to make the draw a staple of the offense every week, but they can still pull it out once or twice a game and hope to have some success. Additionally, Borges decided to strategically rotate his running backs, using Green and Smith in the I-formation while sending in redshirt sophomore Justice Hayes and fullbacks to help out in shotgun formations. I thought that mitigated the pass rush a little bit, even though Gardner still went down 5 times; he had more time to throw than in past games, but the wet and windy weather combined with a good coverage team caused him to hold onto the ball a little too long.

Michigan's defense is coming along nicely. They allow too many short passes, but I think defensive coordinator Greg Mattison is finally settling in with which players on his team can do what. There seems to be more situational subbing and guys moving around as the year goes on, which makes it difficult for the offense to get a bead on what the defense is doing. Nose tackle Quinton Washington had his best game of the year, and I thought Joe Bolden had a quietly solid game, too. Michigan also moved around guys like Jibreel Black and Taco Charlton; blitzed the inside linebackers quite a bit; and sent corners and safeties at times, something he has rarely seemed to do. There's no Mike Martin up the middle, and Jake Ryan isn't quite back to his former self, but it's a good unit across the board.

Wet weather woes. Overall, it was probably a good thing that the field and ball were wet, because Northwestern dropped a bunch of potential interceptions. But the same issue plagued a couple Michigan receivers who are normally sure-handed in Drew Dileo and Jeremy Gallon. Meanwhile, Gardner short-armed and airmailed some throws on the way to a 24/43 day for 226 yards and 1 touchdown. It was a pretty ugly football game to watch because of a lack of big plays, but the good guys won so I'm temporarily satisfied.

How good is Northwestern? The Wildcats are 4-6 after having won their first four games of the year. That six-game losing streak has to be frustrating. Quarterback/running back/slot receiver Kain Colter has obviously been their star, but they're one or two players away from being a serious contender in the Big Ten. They obviously miss running back/returner Venric Mark. If he were healthy or if quarterback Kain Colter could hand off the ball to running back Kain Colter or throw the ball to slot receiver Kain Colter, Michigan probably would have lost this game and Northwestern would be 7-3 or 8-2. I feel like this has often been the story with Northwestern throughout the years - they have one good player surrounded with a bunch of so-so players, which just isn't enough to get them over the hump. Last year with Colter and Mark healthy, they looked like a team on the verge of a breakout. Unfortunately for them, their recruiting hasn't allowed them to have two studs at the same time. But they're doing a good job with their 2014 recruiting class (I really like RB Justin Jackson and WR Dareian Watkins), got a good quarterback in 2013 with Matt Alviti, and seem to have things going in the right direction. Northwestern is not going away anytime soon.

Video: Al Borges, Greg Mattison press conference

Al Borges Press Conference 8-7-2013 by mgovideo


Greg Mattison Press Conference 8-7-2013 by mgovideo

Video: Greg Mattison spring press conference

Video: Greg Mattison talks spring ball

South Carolina 33, Michigan 28

Denard Robinson had a solid final game as a Wolverine (image via AnnArbor.com)

Thanks to the seniors.  For the most part, this group of seniors is made up of stellar kids.  I really like Denard Robinson, Jordan Kovacs, Craig Roh, Vincent Smith, Patrick Omameh, Roy Roundtree, etc.  That group of kids entered school around the time that I started this blog and really started concentrating on evaluating players and such, so it's odd to see them graduating.  They accomplished some great things, and I'm looking forward to watching some of them on the next level.

J.T. Floyd really hurt his team.  I never really cared about the suspension of Hagerup.  It was a dumb move on his part, but I really think that Matt Wile is just as talented, if not more so.  But Floyd, a fifth year senior, hurt the team in more ways than one.  I've said all along that Floyd was susceptible to the deep ball because of his lack of speed, so I don't know that he would have been able to curtail the deep throws that beat Raymon Taylor, Courtney Avery, and Jarrod Wilson.  What I do know is that the re-shuffling of the defensive backfield due to Floyd's absence hurt the defense numerous times.  Avery is a pretty good slot corner, but he struggles every time the team puts him on the outside.  With Floyd out, Avery moved to the outside, safety Thomas Gordon moved down to the slot, and freshman Jarrod Wilson came in to play safety.  Floyd's suspension not only hurt the team at his cornerback spot, but it diminished the quality of play at slot corner and safety, too.

Hooray for Al Borges.  I didn't agree with every play call or personnel decision by Borges, but he came out with a quality game plan and plenty of wrinkles.  Unfortunately, Michigan lacked the horses and the execution to get the job done.  There was a Statue of Liberty hand-off to Denard Robinson and a fake jet sweep screen to Devin Funchess; Borges moved Denard Robinson around to QB, RB, FB, and WR; and there were some funky special teams plays concocted by the coaching staff to get first downs.  Overall, the players just didn't execute.  South Carolina got steady pressure on Devin Gardner, Jadeveon Clowney made a couple key plays, and Gardner missed some open receivers.  You can blame some of that stuff on the coordinator, I guess, but a lot of it is on the players.

Holy hell attrition. Out of 24 starters to begin the season, Michigan was missing 5 for the Outback Bowl.  Cornerback Blake Countess, Floyd, middle linebacker Kenny Demens, running back Fitzgerald Toussaint, and Hagerup were all out for this game, along with a solid special teamer in Brandin Hawthorne and part-time fullback Stephen Hopkins.  Running back Thomas Rawls also missed the game, and quarterback Denard Robinson could muster only one measly pass attempt because of his elbow injury.  I know excuses are lame, but the Outback Bowl squad was really just a shell of what it was on September 1.  South Carolina was banged up some (their starting running back and right tackle), but their losses were fewer.  In a game decided with 11 seconds left, it's quite possible the outcome would have been different if a couple of those guys were still available.

Denard needed new cleats. Robinson has always tested the laws of gravity with the way he leans to cut back, but I didn't see anyone else having a problem with the footing yesterday.  I'm not sure why he struggled so much, but there were some plays available that he just didn't make because he slipped and fell.  I thought they had the issue fixed after a couple carries in the second half, but then he want back to looking like he was playing football on ice.

Penalties were a problem.  Michigan only had four penalties, but they netted South Carolina an additional 55 yards.  These weren't 5-yard offsides or illegal procedure calls.  Taylor Lewan took two big penalties, Joe Bolden made a silly late hit on Connor Shaw, and Ricky Barnum grabbed a defensive lineman's facemask and held on for the duration of the play.  Lewan was a penalty machine in 2010, got rid of those tendencies in 2011, and seems to have regressed now in 2012.  I like Lewan a lot and I know he's probably gone for the NFL, but I think he had a better season last year.

Running back is a gaping void.  There has been some recent buzz about Drake Johnson, who redshirted this season, but otherwise, the running back position is wide open for 2013.  Running backs Vincent Smith and Justice Hayes combined for just 8 carries and 6 yards; Rawls didn't play at all; Toussaint will be coming off a nasty broken leg..  Johnson is a bit of a wild card, but none of these guys look like starter material except a healthy Toussaint.  Wyatt Shallman isn't the answer, either, so I'm hoping DeVeon Smith is better than I expect or that Derrick Green commits in the next month.

Greg Mattison has had better days.  He was sort of hamstrung by a lack of personnel, but I wasn't a fan of Mattison's strategy late in the game.  He was sending blitzes because he realized that his defensive backs aren't very good, but Michigan appeared to be doing better when they rushed two or three guys and put eight or nine back in coverage.  It was a mistake to count on his young cornerbacks and athletically limited safeties to hold up when they've been burned again and again.  If it's me in that situation, I put four guys deep, rush three, and hope that South Carolina can only complete a short pass.  They were 0/2 on field goals up to that point, and that kicker's confidence had to be waning.  Make them complete something short, and then force them to chuck something into the end zone or try a pressure-packed field goal.

Overall, a slightly disappointing season.  The schedule was tough.  Michigan's four regular season losses came against teams that were 46-4 prior to yesterday; two of those teams are playing for the national championship, and another went 12-0 but was banned from the postseason.  But Michigan had very real chances to beat Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Ohio State, and couldn't pull out any of those close games.  The season ended with another close loss to a solid but flawed South Carolina team.  I predicted a 9-3 year, and I predicted the loss to South Carolina, so my projection would have been 9-4.  Not a huge difference from 8-5, but five losses is too many.  Next year should be better, though.

Video: Hoke, Borges, Mattison press conferences

Video: Borges, Mattison press conference - Iowa week

Video: Borges, Mattison press conference - Purdue week

Video: Borges, Mattison press conference - Notre Dame week

Video: Borges, Mattison press conference - UMass week

Video: Borges, Mattison, Toussaint at press conference

Video: Borges, Mattison Press Conferences - Alabama Week

Video: Borges, Mattison Press Conference