Big House Blurbs

Spring game analysis

I cannot give you accurate statistics, I cannot give you an official attendance figure, and I'm not positive which team won. But I swear I attended today's spring game, and I have a few opinions on it.

The Good

-Defensively, you had to like what you saw. Guys were active, before and after the whistle, and they appeared to react to what was happening around them quicker than we've seen in recent years. There is a reasonably high level of detail that goes into what these guys were doing, and yet they didn't appear to be "thinking" too much. Specifically, I like that Mike Martin was moving all over the defensive line to create mismatches for himself. Martin is a playmaker and his playmaking ability is somewhat stymied when he's lined up inside. I like the movement. I also liked the play of Jake Ryan (quick off the end) and Carvin Johnson (seemed to always be in position to make a play).

-Michael Cox. I recognize that his handful of carries is a small sample size, but he made the most of them, taking one 68 yards for a score. Coach Hoke was not very complimentary when asked to assess his running backs as a whole, but he did say Cox had a very good day.

The Bad

-Quarterbacks. Denard had a poor day passing and had problems receiving the snap from under center. Still, in the framework of a "real" game in which he's permitted to run until he scores or is tackled, Denard is a real talent. I've seen it before and I'm not concerned. As for back-up Devin Gardner, frankly, he didn't show me much today. Like Denard, Devin's ability to make plays with his feet was largely neutralized today, so I'm keeping that in mind. As a passer, he was inaccurate --- throwing back to back interceptions --- though to his credit, he hooked up with Je'Ron Stokes (Stokes pushed off the defender!) for the game-winner in the corner of the end zone. Suffice it to say, both quarterbacks have a lot of work to do.

-Kickers. Explanation unnecessary.

Bowling Green aftermath

Obviously a very impressive performance by Michigan against an overmatched Bowling Green team. In my mind, last week's near loss shook up UM for the better. They took a step backward in that game but may have compensated for it this week by taking two steps forward. Great performance.

A few thoughts

-Tate Forcier is your second string quarterback. At least he should be. If Denard Robinson goes down next week at Indiana, or a week later against Michigan State, who do you want to see as his replacement? Gardner still looks uncomfortable to me, while Forcier is a proven commodity. It's a no brainer. 

-Bowling Green was terrible today. Flat terrible. It pains me to say that because of my ties to BGSU (graduated a few years ago and covered the Falcons for two years) but all I'm being is honest. They can play better than that, no matter who the quarterback is. Tackling was very poor.

-I want to see more of Fitz Toussaint. We've been hearing positive things about him for sometime now, and based upon a very small sample size, those assessments were accurate. Mike Shaw and Vincent Smith haven't done much to indicate they should receive all of the backfield reps, so I wouldn't be opposed to getting Toussaint some carries early in the game against Indiana.

-One small, tiny gripe. Instead of kicking a field goal late, Rich decided to keep his offense on the field. I would've tried the kick just to get Broekhuizen/Gibbons some more work. Coaches don't like to do that because it's viewed as running up the score, but Michigan is going to need one of those guys to win a game this year. 

-That's enough. Bed time. 

Massachusetts Madness

Let's get to the hypotheticals. 

At one point or another yesterday we were all wondering just what would the impact be if Massachusetts were to somehow win that game. Do the Wolverines recover? Or do they hit a tailspin and completely lose control? Does Rich Rodriguez keep his job at season's end? 

It makes no difference now, because UM won, moving to 3-0 entering a winnable game against Bowling Green. But surely the fallout to a loss to another I-AA opponent would have been severe.

Should Michigan fans be panicking? No. Not yet anyway. Yes, it was a very poor performance, but it doesn't change the fact UM is 2-0 in perceived toss-up games, and could be 5-0 in two weeks. 

Don't panic, but feel free to be concerned, because, umm, that defense is brutal. And those special teams? That's MAC-type stuff that we saw yesterday. Not cool at all. It appears UM's offense is very close to taking the step to being potent. They're getting ready to board the bus, and the defense and special teams are fumbling through their luggage searching for their ticket. Two out of three ain't bad. But 1/3 is.

You know what concerned me most yesterday? Other than that blocked punt, UMass didn't need good fortune to score. They simply, as Jordan Kovacs said, hit the Wolverines in the chin. There wasn't a great deal of sophistication in the plays UMass ran. No gadgetry, just a lot of bootlegs and off tackle runs down the field. Only when the game ended did UMass, which dominated the fourth quarter, stop scoring. 

And let's show some love to the Minutemen. Nice team, huh? They basically played mistake free and almost pulled off the win. They should be very encouraged about the possibilities that lie ahead.

Bad day, but it was only one day. Work needs to be done, and evidently more than we previously believed.

Recapping Michigan-Connecticut game

Thoughts from Michigan's impressive 30-10 win over Connecticut ...

• I'm not saying I expected Denard Robinson to rush the ball 29 times for almost 200 yards. I'm not saying I expected him to complete 19 of 22 passes. But I was fairly confident he was capable of doing both. Stories of his development have not been overblown. He's a keeper.
• AnnArbor.com columnist Michael Rothstein quoted Tate Forcier on the field after the game as saying, "All you need to know is I'm out." Later in the evening Forcier's father told the Associated Press that Tate was merely speaking out of frustration and would not be transferring. What a mess. Tate clearly has attitude and maturity issues, evidence by him sulking on the bench as his team put together a sweet opening day performance. My guess is he'll end his career somewhere other than at Michigan. Heck, he's the No. 3 quarterback right now. Why not take off? Stay tuned.
• Sorry to throw a wet blanket over the win, but I was very disappointed in Connecticut. That did not look like a very good team out there. Did Michigan play a part in that? Absolutely. But I'd like to think I can differentiate between looking average and being made to look average. Today, Connecticut looked average. And that's probably being complimentary. Poor team speed.
• I thought Michigan's defense looked fine, but the 10 points they allowed was misleading. A blocked kick and a UConn fumble inside UM's 10 softened the blow. It certainly didn't hurt that UM's offense hogged much of the clock in the first half. Sorry, but I'm unconvinced. It did however seem as though UM's team speed on defense has improved. A good start to be sure, but before I make any bold claims, I'd like to see them have similar success against Notre Dame.
• Due to those strong winds, it's unfair to to make any ironclad judgments on the kicking game. With the wind to his back, Brendan Gibbons buried a couple of kickoffs into the end zone. With the wind to his face, he missed a 43-yard FG. On his missed extra point, Rodriguez blamed a poor connection between the snapper and holder. 
• The offensive line will get a lot of credit for Denard's day, but he probably made them look good a few times. Vincent Smith (14 carries, 51 yards) and Michael Shaw (15 carries, 48 yards) both averaged fewer than four yards per carry. Not good. No Michael Cox or Stephen Hopkins today, by the way.
• David Molk collapsed in the third quarter, seemingly the result of a UConn defender running into the back of his leg on the previous play. Molk said nothing is wrong after the game. Take that for what it's worth, because he said the same thing last year after the Penn State game. Two days later he was ruled out for the year with a torn ACL.
• True freshman Carvin Johnson left the game with an undisclosed injury. After the game Rodriguez either didn't know the details of the injury or didn't want to share them with us. Coach is usually good about discussing injuries, so I'm sure we'll hear more Monday.

Making a case for Michigan's quarterbacks

Earlier this week I wrote that Michigan's depth chart suggested Denard Robinson will start Saturday against Connecticut. Is this a foregone conclusion? No. In fact, I haven't been wrong in 2010, so I'm probably due. But I really do believe No. 16 will take the first snap with the Wolverine offense tomorrow. Here's my case for and against all three quarterbacks.

Denard Robinson

For: Rich Rodriguez never said as much, but I will. Denard Robinson was the No. 1 quarterback coming out of the spring. While UM's other two quarterbacks were playing uneven in the spring game, Robinson looked very impressive operating the first team. And if you conclude the spring No. 1 on the depth chart, you're going to stay there to begin the fall. By all accounts, Robinson has been just fine in the preseason and should have retained his spot atop the chain.

Against: Lack of experience; Looked very raw last year as a passer; Somewhat of a risk to start in such an important game.

Tate Forcier

For: Started 12 games last year and played as well as you can expect from a true freshman. Seems to see things before they happen. Doesn't get rattled in tight games in the fourth quarter --- and it's reasonable to predict that Saturday's game will be tight in the fourth quarter.

Against: Due to disciplinary reasons, he did not have his wings for much of camp; Was called out publicly for being lazy by a respected senior member of the team; His perceived immaturity annoys Rodriguez; Has good athleticism, but not to the level of Robinson, and perhaps not the level desired by the coaching staff.

Devin Gardner

For: At 6-4, he has an NFL body. The same, perhaps, cannot be said for the other two. He's only one year year in school behind the other two and was the most highly touted prospect of the three. One school of thought is, if Gardner is considered the guy at this position moving forward, then he should be thrown into the fire immedately. Rodriguez came out this week and said, without being asked, that Gardner will not redshirt. My guess is that means Gardner is No. 1 or No. 2 on the depth chart.

Against: The list is long. Most importantly, he's just a pup and simply cannot have the same grasp of the offense that the other two have. Connecticut is a strong team, and it wouldn't be fair to Gardner to give him significant reps in a situation that might not allow him to succeed. That's what Massachusetts and Bowling Green are for.