Big House Blurbs

Did Brady Hoke and Ryan Van Bergen throw previous staff under the bus?

Michigan coaches and players rarely reference the former coaching staff, either in a positive or negative way. It just doesn't happen. But a few shots may have been thrown at Rich Rodriguez and his coaching staff at Monday's news conference.

Coach Hoke had this to say when asked about possibly giving left tackle Taylor Lewan some time of this week to recuperate from a leg injury:

"We don't have that luxury, you know, to be honest with you. We have limited numbers, so we'll try and be smart and maybe take a rep here, rep there. But our depth at our offensive line is probably as low as I've ever seen at a university."

That last line seems like a shot at Rodriguez and his shortcomings at recruiting offensive linemen. Michigan has just 10 scholarship linemen, and two are true freshmen (Bryant, Miller). From what I understand, coaches like to carry about 15 linemen. In Rodriguez's defense, he left Hoke with 12. Christian Pace (injury) and Tony Posada (quit) could have provided depth, although Posada was a first-year guy and was likely headed for a redshirt year.

Then there's this response from Hoke on a question about Denard Robinson inexplicably taking a knee Saturday when Purdue jumped offsides:

"I think it's some old training maybe. We'd like for him to throw it to the Z who was down the field."

To be fair, Hoke may have been referring to Denard's high school or Pop Warner coach and not Rodriguez, Calvin Magee or Rod Smith.

So maybe I'm reading too much into things. Fine. But you cannot tell me Ryan Van Bergen didn't throw the previous coaches under the bus on this response when asked how much better the cornerbacks are from 2010.

"I don't know if they're necessarily better overall players because we have some of the same guys back. J.T. has been consistently good. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we mix up our coverages a little bit more. I think we were a bit more predictable last year in comparison to this year, especially with some of our pressures and stuff. Coach Mallory has done a great job of coaching them on their techniques and stuff. I think they do a great job disguising. There's a lot of guys that last year you'd see standing in the same spots on all of our defenses. This year you can't tell if the corner's playing press man or if he's just squat and cover two or sometimes he'll bail out in cover three. The things that we do to mix it up for them keeps the offense guessing and it makes it seem like there much more effective because of what they're doing before the ball is even snapped."

Now, unfortunately, I can't tell you much about squat cover two or bailing out into cover three. What I can tell you, though, is the T-shirts Greg Robinson and Tony Gibson put on this morning are now covered in tire tracks.  

Michigan-Minnesota, the next day

Just finished watching a taping of the Big Ten Network's airing of Michigan's 58-0 curb stomping of Minnesota. Well, I watched three quarters. No offense to Richard Ash, Eric Gunderson, and Joey Burzynski, but I had seen enough.

A few thoughts:

-I don't know how this is possible, but Minnesota actually looked worse and more unprepared on TV than it did in person. Absolutely brutal. It doesn't get much better for the Gophers from here on out. They have a shot, albeit not a good shot, to win Saturday at Purdue. But here are Minnesota's final six games: Nebraska, Iowa, at Michigan State, Wisconsin, at Northwestern, and Illinois. The Gophers have 1-11 written all over them.

-On the flip side, Michigan looked very good. Obviously. Are the Wolverines the nation's 12th best team, as this week's Associated Press poll suggests? No. But as of now, they might just be the Big Ten's second best team behind Wisconsin. That's as much of an indictment on the crummy Big Ten as it is praise for Michigan. Penn State, Ohio State, Nebraska, Indiana, Purdue and Minnesota are all feeling down about the way their seasons have gone. That's six teams, half of the league.

-Jeremy Gallon and Drew Dileo have emerged as the best of the "runt" receivers brought in during the Rich Rod regime. Both of them seem to have developed some synergy with Denard Robinson, particularly Gallon who has made some decent gains on the bubble screen. Dileo took over for Gallon at punt returner in the second half, though I imagine that had more to do with Hoke wanting to get Dileo some work rather than him punishing Gallon for falling down catching a punt in the first half.

-Al Borges has done an excellent job of using Vincent Smith. Smith ran for a TD, passed for a TD to Dileo, and was on the receiving end of a TD. Smith, at just 5-6, does a good job of hiding behind the line of scrimmage on screen plays and then escaping out to the flat uncovered. With Smith and Fitz Toussaint, who posted his first 100-yard game, Michigan's backfield is in a good place. We might see more of Thomas Rawls (10 carries, 73 yards) as the season progresses.

-The formation consisting of Devin Gardner at quarterback, and Robinson, Smith and Toussaint behind him, introduces a plethora of options. It was hatched in the spring and put on moth balls until yesterday. Now that it has been revealed, I see no reason it shouldn't be used every week. 

-While I'm on the topic of Gardner, I think it's a misconception that, because of his size, he must be a great passer. Frankly, he has an awkward throwing motion and average accuracy. Gardner's greatest asset, like Robinson's, is his feet. The kid can run. For his sake, hopefully he continues to get more reps as a passer.

-Toussaint had a 37-yard TD run called back because of a holding call against Patrick Omameh. Easy call. Omameh tackled the guy.

-Brendan Gibbons must be feeling good about himself. After making just one field goal in five attempts as a freshman in 2010, he is now 4-for-5 after making all three of his attempts yesterday. Fans tend to be forgiving of a freshman cornerback or running back who makes a mistake but relentless when a freshman kicker screws up. Gibbons will be OK.

-Not a great day for sophomore punter Will Hagerup. His first punt traveled 47 yards but had minimal hang time, and his second punt went just 28 yards. Hagerup seems rattled on the second attempt, as the ball was snapped with less than five seconds left on the play clock.