SB Nation - Mark Ortmann

Michigan offensive linemen clearly taking women's self defense course.

Joe Kutsunis — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:15:26 -0000

Since I was up in the press box, I am just a bit late to seeing this item. We all know Corey Liuget, he is our large and forceful defensive tackle that played one of his best games ever yesterday. He beat up on that Michigan offensive line in the second half, he mugged them, scared their children, and then attempted to assault them. Or at least that must be the case, given that Michigan O-lineman Mark Ortmann felt it necessary to take a shot at Liuget's family jewels while the the defensive standout was celebrating his fumble recovery. Clearly Ortmann thought that Liuget had stolen his purse rather the football, because the women's self defense instincts took over and Ortmann defended himself the only way he knew how.

Here is video from the incident, the nut punch takes place right before the camera change. If you listen closely you can almost hear Ortmann yell, "THATS MY PURSE, I DONT KNOW YOU!"

Here is perhaps a more accurate recreation of the event.

(All Glory and Hat tips be to the Wiz of Odds and Micheal David Smith)

Unit by Unit: Breaking Down Michigan Football's Offense After Its Win Over Indiana

Maize n Brew Dave — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:21:17 -0000

Hey! Lookit this, we're not running hopelessly behind, so it's time to get started with the Michigan Indiana Unit by Unit breakdown. We'll take a hard look at the players and the coaches for each particular unit on the team, and bring them in for a pat on the back or a wag of the finger. After we've looked at each position, we'll give you a final wrap on the team's play on Offense and Defense (Special Teams too!). If you're looking for more detail, game bullets are here, the wrap up is here, the boxscore is here, and the general AP recap is here. If you're looking to peruse the Michigan Official photos from the game, check out this. There are the links, so now let's take a good hard look at....

The Offense

David Guralnick via Detroit News.com

It's funny to think that when our offense puts up 36 points we're sitting here, at least initially, thinking it was a rough day. But the numbers bear this out. Michigan was outgained by Indiana 467 to 372. Forcier looked like he was pressured the whole day and the offense stagnated for large stretches of time. In hindsight however, I am nowhere near as concerned about the offense's performance after rewatching the game. The offensive line did a more than passable job. The receivers had three drops but were dependable and picked up crucial yardage when we needed it. The run game was nearly unstoppable, even when Tate or Denard took off. A handful of bad snaps killed some drives and two turnovers (one just a horrid horrid play by Forcier, the other a fluke hit on Robinson) did the rest. Despite those issues, Michigan had the lead in the fourth and still rallied to win even after the Defense gave up it's first truly big mistake of the season. You can have some gripes about personnel, play calling, execution; but they're all minor after a second glance. All in all, the offense performed pretty well when it didn't shoot itself in the foot with bad snaps. Take away the bad snaps and Michigan is easily over 400 yards for the game and they're still averaging over 35 points a game.

The Offensive Line

David Guralnick via Detroit News.com

My initial reaction to the game was that the O-Line had it's worst performance of the year. After review, I actually think they had a decent game. Quite a turn around, eh? How's that happen? The answer is in the blocking. Despite David Moosman's issues with snapping the ball in the second half, the line did an excellent job opening up running lanes for Carlos Brown, Brandon Minor, and Denard Robinson. A lot of the penetration I saw was on blitzes by the outside LB's that the Tight Ends probably should've picked up. The biggest issue the line faced all day was that there was a new center. There were numerous instances where two to three guys moved early. One play in the second both Ortmann and Schilling left early when Michigan was trying to pooch punt. These types of procedure penalties didn't happen with Molk in, and I'm guessing there's still a little communication problem on assignments and snap counts that Moosman will need to resolve as the Center going forward.

Regarding the illegal formation penalty, the first one was legit, IMO. The second is a 50/50 call, but could've been made. Michigan's formations were arcing badly as they tried to ward off Jamie Kirlew and Indiana's outside pass rushers. And don't sleep on Indiana's pass rush. There were two instances where Michigan tried to block Kirlew with Koger or Brown, one ended in disaster (Forcier INT) the other almost did (Forcier's last second pitch to Brown on the last drive).

(more after the jump......)

Indiana got pressure with it's blitz or when Michigan tried to get cute with one of the Conference's best pass rushers. Otherwise, the Line generally got a good push and opened up some mammoth holes. Had Minor been at 100%, some of those TFLs never would've happened. Better communication and better snaps will eliminate most of the issues the line had on Saturday. And if you look past the bad snaps and procedure penalties, the Line actually had a decent day. Michigan's linemen were consisently clearing space and getting to the second level on run plays and were standing their ground on passing downs. Perry Dorrestein was more than passable at left Tackle. Michigan spent most of the day running left behind Mark Ortmann and Steve Schilling, successfully. Mark Huyge had a great block second level block on Minor's TD run.

You can't give it more than a C grade because of the mistakes, but there are a lot of positives to take away.

The Running Backs

David Guralnick via Detroit News.com

Carlos Brown should never, ever, ever leave the field. Ever. He is by far Michigan's best and most effective back right now. He's showing us a cut back ability I never knew he had. He's running with authority, carrying tacklers for an extra five yards. He's breaking away from everyone. He's our best pass catcher out of the backfield. Never take him out. Ever. If I'm right, and I think I am, after Brown's second touchdown (in just the second series of the game) he didn't get another carry for the next NINE SERIES with his next carry coming a couple of plays into the tenth series after his second touchdown! That's insane. He's the hottest player on the team. You have to feed him the ball, and that's a big mistake by the coaching staff. Maybe they want to protect him, but in a close game getting away from him almost cost us. 146 yards on just 12 total touches. Seriously. Give him the ball. I'm begging you.

Whew. I needed to get that off my chest.

Outside of Brown, I thought Brandon Minor had a good game though it's clear he's still not 100%. Minor had some very good straight ahead runs, but I can count only one play where he was forced to make a cut (or the play called for it) where he was able to move laterally as quickly as we're used to. Straight ahead though, man, he was awesome. He plowed Indiana like a cornfield, picking up 51 yards on 12 carries. Honestly, if he was 100% I think he'd probably have been in the 70-80 yard range. The ankle's healing, he was great in pass protect, but I think he still needs another week to two weeks to be totally healthy and the Brandon Minor we all expect to see.

A special shout out to Kevin Grady who is becoming one of my favorite role players on the team. Kevin was huge in run blocking and showed great hands, shiftiness, and determination picking up two first downs on two catches. I think we're going to start to see more of him in this offense as a Tatenard safety valve. Also, give Grady massive props for his blocking on Tate's dive to the endzone touchdown. I really want to see Grady score a TD this year after all he's been through. One more note, Michael Shaw saw some limited action but largely watched this game, getting only two touches.

When the running backs got the ball, I thought they were great. I'll get into why they didn't get as many touches when I talk about the Quarterbacks. Overall, the Running Backs turned in an outstanding game in all aspects.

The Receivers

Couldn't be any other photo, courtesy David Guralnick via Detroit News.com

Martavious Odoms is the man. I wasn't sold on him going into the year, but now I'm a believer. He just keeps getting better and better. It's not just the great route running and TD catch, it's the little things. His blocking on Carlos Brown's TD run, was the reason Brown went in clean. On the two point conversion, he saw Tate sprint for the endzone and closed off the safety. Sure he had a drop of a poorly thrown ball, but the kid truly is something special. Like Odoms, Kelvin Grady had a busy day. He did have drop on a questionable screen pass by Forcier, but still managed three catches including a crucial 19 yard pickup on Michigan's final drive. Watching him, I get the feeling he's still getting his bearings on the field, but the fact that he's contributing in such a meaningful way so quickly is amazing to me.

The rest of the receiver corps had an okay, not great, day. It's hard to stand out when you throw the ball 24 times, 3-4 are throw aways, 3-4 are drops, 3-4 are bad passes, and the ball spread around to 8 different receivers. Greg Mathews deserves some praise for his run blocking and drawing a flag for PI that got (even though it shouldn't have) picked up. But overall, like Junior Hemingway, Michigan's bigger receivers were largely shut out of the boxscore (one catch between them). Regardless, Hemingway had a great game run blocking and helped clear the way for a lot of yards on the ground, including Brown's first TD and Forcier's 10 yard scramble on Michigan's second to last scoring drive. Roy Roundtree made and appearance and notched a 35 yard catch at the end of the first half, but nothing more.

The Tight Ends had a decent day. The highlight was Kevin Koger's outstanding 36 yard grab that set up Minor's TD run, which Koger also added a good block on. Martell Webb's day was a little rougher, in that the only ball thrown his way was dropped and he didn't see a lot of playing time.

Overall, the receivers were great in run support, good in passing game, and came through when it mattered.

The Quarterbacks

David Guralnick via Detroit News.com

Well, if you were expecting a game where Tate truly played like a freshman, this was it. Even so, he played like a senior leading two critical scoring drives in the fourth quarter. You take the bad with the good sometimes, and dammit, the good keeps prevailing. Prior to the fourth quarter, Tate was not having a good day. Early in the game he was gunning everything at 100 mph. His first throw was rifled to Tacopants, and his second throw to Brown required the back to make a much harder than necessary catch before sprinting to the endzone. Tate was victimized by some drops, but only one throw was material (Webb's drop). The drops by Odoms and Grady weren't good throws or good decisions. Tate chucked one ball over junior Heminway's head that should've been picked, then scrambled around like a fool before throwing a "I'm getting tackled THROW IT!" pick that he should've just eaten. He also picked up an intentional grounding penalty and could've been called for another that ended up just being a sack. In the run game, I think he's got the Notre Dame game stuck in his head. Six legit rushes (sacks and bad snaps excluded): three scrambles and three really bad decisions on the zone read. He misread the DE on some, didn't see the late blitzer on another. He needs to keep handing that off for the time being, especially when the runningbacks are picking up 5 a carry on the opposition.

Now all that criticism aside, damn, what a fourth quarter. Forcier was on target whereas earlier he hadn't been. He showed some great athleticism scrambling for some first downs, and his pass to Odoms and TD runs were things of beauty. The Kid isn't perfect, but he is really, really good. One thing that I especially liked is that he used his safety valve when the home run wasn't available. The biggest thing he's gotta work on is realizing he's not the most athletic guy on the field anymore, and getting rid of the ball rather than running around like a chicken with his head cut off. It'll come with time, but overall, even though the middle of the game was kinda meh, a good start and finish for Forcier.

While Forcier took a minor step sideways, Denard Robinson took a HUGE step forward on Saturday. The kid is just electric on the ground. I know he fumbled before the half, but the fumble was a helmet on football occurrence. There's not a lot you can do when that happens. Robinson's rushing numbers are distorted by two bad snaps and a couple of dropped snaps, but when he actually got the ball off the hike, he was dangerous and picked up some tough yards. Where he impressed me the most was in the passing game. His pass the Koger was absolutely beautiful and perfectly thrown. He had one bad pass to Grady that was behind Kelvin, but he's showing he can handle the full offense and make the team vertical in the air. Right now he's light years ahead of anyone under center last season and a solid number two quarterback. While he's clearly the number two guy, he played like 1A when called in on Saturday. Great game from Denard.

Unit by Unit: Breaking Down Michigan Football's Offense Following Its Win Over Western Michigan

Maize n Brew Dave — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:47:35 -0000

A new weekly post game feature here at Maize n Brew will be what we like to Unit by Unit. We'll take a hard look at the players and the coaches for each particular unit on the team, and bring them in for a pat on the back or a wag of the finger. After we've looked at each position, we'll give you a final wrap on the team's play on Offense and Defense (Special Teams too!). If you're looking for more detail, game bullets are here, the wrap up is here, the boxscore is here, and the general AP recap is here. There are the links, so now let's get to the nitty gritty.

The Offensive Line

The Offensive Play in a Photo, Tate untouched. Awesome Photo via John T. Greilick

The Offensive Line always goes first, good or bad, because they're going to determine how this season pans out. Frankly, the line was excellent. In particular I thought Mark Ortmann played outstanding football. Say what you will about it being "just Western Michigan," but Michigan lost at home to 3-9 Toledo last year and the line got pushed around by a bad Toledo defense. This year it was an entirely different story. I thought the ends actually outplayed the middle of the line. David Molk had a good, but not great game and missed a few blocks. On the other hand, David Moosman and Steve Schilling played fairly well. On the right side, Mark Huyge was excellent. IIRC, he simply dominated the Western DEs on Saturday, much like Ortmann. They didn't give up a sack. Michigan averaged 4.8 yards a carry. The boys on the line deserve a game ball a piece.

Overall, Michigan was outstanding up front. They controlled the line of scrimmage, buying time for Tate Forcier, Denard Robinson, and Nick Sheridan to throw without pressure and lanes for the quarterbacks and running backs to run through. Protection outside the pocket was excellent too, as the lineman set up their blocks very well. Carlos Brown averaged 5.4 yards a carry for 54 yards and Michael Shaw racked up 37 yards for a 4.9 a carry average. Not bad for a run offense that couldn't get past two yards a carry for its first four games. What was also impressive was the fact that Michigan was able to play it's second string in the second half. Elliot Mealer, Perrry Dorrestein, Rocko Khoury, Patrick Omameh, and Justin Ferrara all saw playing time. That's going to pay dividends down the line should anyone get injured.

(More awesomeness after the jump....)

The Running Backs

Awesome Photo via John T. Greilick

Judging the Running Backs on a day like Saturday is a little difficult. While they played a crucial role in balancing the offense, there was nothing spectacular to hang your hat on. Carlos Brown was good on the ground. 5.4 a carry is nothing to sneeze at. Brown also deserves a little praise for his pass catching out of the backfield, which I thought was a great addition to his overall game. He does deserve a little fisking, however, for meekly putting the ball on the turf at the start of the second half. That was not a play where the ball should've come out. But Carlos gets some serious props for his pass blocking. Watching him flip a DE was one of the highlights of my day.

I would've liked to have seen a little more of Michael Shaw. Shaw did get seven carries and looked fairly good, but I don't think he or Brown really ever got in a rhythm. I'd say it may have been better to go a little more two back on Saturday, but I think Rodriguez started hiding cards after he saw the game was in the bag. It was nice to see Kevin Grady and Vincent Smith get some carries. Grady, hopefully, will be a good backup this season and I'm really pulling for him personally. Smith had some happy feet, but he's a freshman in his first game, in mop up time. 6 carries and 23 yards isn't too bad. Overall a good, workman like day for Michigan's ball carriers.

The Receivers

Junior Hemingway, Kevin Koger, Kelvin Grady, Marativous Odoms, and Greg Mathews were absolutely outstanding. Route running. Improvisation. Blocking. Everything. Hemingway just stole the show. It's been more than a year since a receiver caught more than one touchdown pass in a game (Adrian Arrington - Citrus Bowl). I think it's fair to say the Hemingway came close to matching Arrington's performance on New Year's day 2008. Reeling in five catches for 103 yards and two TDs, Hemingway was solid in every aspect of the game. He ran the short routes. Caught in traffic. Worked with his quarterback. And he just flew past the WMU secondary for his second score. Hemingway gave us a glimpse of his talent on Saturday, so all we can hope is that he stays healthy and keeps reminding us of another #21.

Awesome Photo via John T. Greilick

From New Math to Old School. That's how we're rolling. And that's how the new 86 rolls. Kevin Koger also flashed a large amount of his considerable talent on Saturday notching a TD, three catches and a highlight reel one hander he'll be talking about for the next month. If there was one pass that Forcier threw to Tacopants, it was Koger's one-handed catch. Making his cross, Koger leaped and stretched out his right hand for a catch he had no business making. Yet, he did, cradled it into his body as he hit the turf, and popped out of his barrel roll like nothing special had happened. Anyone still have questions about how Rodriguez uses his tight ends?

Then there were the slot receivers. Though Odoms got the start, Grady got his number called the most. In his first football game in three years, Kelvin pulled in two catches for 13 yards and took an end around for 11. While the numbers aren't crazy, he looked natural out there. Frankly, I was in shock that he was able to haul in Denard Robinson’s first throw, which appeared to be going close to the speed of sound. Grady’s got great hands, and combined with what appeared to be some tremendous wheels, it was like the passage of time meant nothing. Kelvin's really going to help us this year. Odoms didn't see a lot of balls thrown his way, but made his presence felt in other ways. On Denard Robinson's TD scamper, the tiny slot receiver was slated to take an end around, but once he realized the play was broken immediately found someone to block. Watch Odoms come from nowhere and block the closest man to Robinson after the first guy misses. I may not have been sold on Odoms before Saturday, but that play sold me. He never took his foot off the gas when the play went haywire and made the crucial block to spring his quarterback (@ 0:37 below). Maratavious, when you're old enough and the NCAA allows it, the first beverage is on me

Also making appearances were Greg Mathews and LaTerral Savoy. Mathews was fairly quiet, notching only two catches, but was extremely effective after the catch. If Hemingway can become the deep threat, I think Mathews is going to have an outstanding season as our possession receiver. Savoy tallied a catch early, but was a not so innocent bystander to Nick Sheridan's interception.

Overall, this was the best regular season game out of Michigan's receiving corps since the 2006 Ohio State game.

The Quarterback(s)

Tate Forcier is your starter from here out. No question about this. While Robinson’s run was amazing, it was off of a broken play. He just improvised that whole thing with the aid of some great blocking. Tate looks light years more polished and in control. His pass to Hemingway for the opening score was something you don’t see out of freshmen. Frankly it’s something you don’t see out of a lot of seniors. When he rolled left, he clearly knew where the LOS was, got the corner to bite on the scramble, and lofted a damn near perfect pass the Hemingway who read his quarterback like a book. That was as good as it gets.

You really couldn’t ask for a better start to a college career. Forcier went 13-20 for 177 yards, 3 TDs and no picks. Notsobad, eh? Tate’s arm was excellent in all aspects of the passing game. The deep ball to Hemingway was Henne-esque. But what what most impressive was his ability to throw on the run, with accuracy and steam. Michigan moved Forcier out of the pocket numerous times, and 95% of those instances resulted in positive throws. If there’s room for improvement, I will say that there were a few moments where his ball protection was less than ideal and he danced around too much. He’s not going to have the same type of time against Notre Dame, and he’s certainly not going to be able to evade the Irish the way he did the Broncos. Just ask Colin Kaepernick. Forcier gunned a few passes in the second half and got a little outside of the offense, but I’m willing to be forgiving because most of that happened when Michigan was up 31 points. All things considered, that game was as good as I’ve ever seen out of a freshman, especially when you considered the youth around him.

Denard Robinson’s feet were just as good as advertised. His arm was as "live" as advertised. However, he’s not the level of passer that we were hoping to see. Robinson attempted only four passes on the day compared to 11 rushing attempts. The reason for this is obvious. He’s a much better runner at this stage than he is a passer. While Denard showed a live arm and can throw decently on the run, he doesn’t look as comfortable pulling the ball back to look downfield. You could tell he’s still a scramble first player who takes off when his first or second read isn’t there. Frankly, with only a month under his belt, I’d be surprised if he’s getting past his second read. The long and short of it is that Robinson doesn't know the system or himself well enough to hang in there and let the play develop. But that will come and it really doesn’t matter right now, does it? The kid is blazingly fast. He’s going to be an excellent change of pace in the Notre Dame game, but he’s no where near being a starting quarterback based on what we saw from his arm and reads. The keys for him moving forward will be playing a bit more under control, and rolling him out of the pocket to allow him to use his legs and allow him to throw or tuck it under without large men in his face. All in all, a great and electric start for Robinson.

Nick Sheridan looked like a new person and the same guy all at once. Sheridan is noticeably bigger and stronger. He moves better than last year. He’s definitely got a great grasp of the system. But he’s still not a D1 quarterback. Sure a penalty wiped out a near TD, but a veteran doesn’t force a throw into tight coverage. Especially a throw that far inside. Nick’s a nice insurance policy to have, but he and Robinson appear to be about equal in the passing game (Nick more experienced/Denard much better arm) so I’ve gotta go with Robinson’s legs. As I said in my QB preview, if Sheridan’s on the field for any extended period of time, we’re in trouble.

The Offense Overall

Sure you can nitpick and find things to complain about, but the bottom line is at no point last year did our offense look this good. Penn State? Nope. One trick pony. Purdue? Not so much. Bad tackling let that happen. No. This was a complete offense on the field. If you can't be excited about this then I've got nothing for you.

On a micro level, the Offense performed much, much better with Forcier under center than either Robinson or Sheridan. He's just a better passer right now and frankly he's got pretty good wheels. I don't think he'll have nearly as much time against Notre Dame's defense as he did against Western, but his ability to scramble will force the Linebackers to play a little further off the LOS.

Macro, the play of Michigan's wideouts was incredibly encouraging. If Junior Hemingway can stay healthy, Michigan has a legitimate No. 1 receiver. The emergence of Kelvin Grady as a threat will also start to take some of the pressure off of Mathews and Odoms, both of whom had good games.

It was clear that Michigan had a game plan for Western and they executed it to a tee. I'm looking forward to seeing more of that as the Wolverines take on an excellent Notre Dame squad.

All In: Michigan Football Thumps Western Michigan 31-7

Maize n Brew Dave — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:04:16 -0000

by TONY DING - AP

3 months ago: Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez receives a hug from running back Brandon Minor, right, after an NCAA college football game with Western Michigan, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan won 31-7. (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

View full size photo »

When you don't know what to expect out of a team, the story lines are easy. You just ask a bunch of rhetorical questions. When there are more questions than answers that's all you can do. Three days later I've got more answers than I know what to do with. There are so many people deserving of praise. Who do you write about first? Forcier? Hemingway? Rodriguez? Robinson? Denard? The whole bleeping defense? When a team manufactures a win, there isn't a "hero" per se. It's a group of heroes that need to be recognized, because they all contributed. These kids shook off or simply ignored every outside distraction and steamrolled Western Michigan on Saturday 31-7. It wasn't just a game where a better team walked onto the field and won because they were supposed to. If there's such a thing as a statement game on day one, this was it. They were all in.

Whether you've been looking ahead to this game for a month or a week, Western Michigan was a scary opener. Seven returning starters including an NFL-rated Quarterback in Tim Hiller, a senior 1000 yard rusher in Brandon West, and four returning starting Offensive Linemen. It was a 28 PPG offense matching up against a Wolverine defense that gave up 33.5 a game last season (in conference). On the other side of the ball, while you weren't scared of Western's defense, you were scared of Michigan's offense. It was explosive last year. Explosive in the wrong sense. All of 2008 Michigan players seemed be clutching the grenade a little too long or playing hop-scotch in a minefield. Now, with a true freshman under center, irrespective of his spring and fall practices, it was enough to make even the diehards queasy. Mix that in with your starting tailback being out, a slew of untested receivers, and the season from hell in 2008... well... you've got yourself a recipe for a long afternoon.

And this wasn't just a season opener. No way. This was a must win for this coach and this program. After a 3-9 season, all the nonsense from the Free Press, and the national media skewing what the Free Press' report actually claimed to report, Michigan needed this win. Rich Rodriguez needed, nay, deserved this win, just as he has deserved so much better from some of the people who have been assigned to cover him. More importantly, the players knew how important this game was. After months of practice and devotion to the program, their commitment was being called illegal. Their coach and their program were being called into question. They knew the only way to silence the critics was to perform. To go all in.

Oh baby... did they ever.

Michigan was the Michigan we want to remember. They were absolutely dominant on Saturday. The offense clicked. The defense was nasty. Open receivers were hit in stride. The Defensive Line controlled the line of scrimmage and took away yards on third downs. It was a opener that we can look back on fondly with a smile, rather than grimacing and shaking our heads.

Michigan fans finally saw what Bill Martin hired Rich Rodriguez to do. They finally saw what his teams are capable of. Most importantly, they saw just how hard Rodriguez players are willing to play for their coach. Make no mistake, had Michigan lost this game or had it been uncomfortably close, the media would've immediately began harping on how the locker room was divided and how Rodriguez was close to losing his team.

During the pre-game on ESPN we were left with speculation that the locker room was divided. Desmond openly pondered what was going on. Corso and Herbstreit commented that it sounded like trouble. Then, oddly, Craig James came on the air to say none of that speculation was correct. This team was united... and pissed off that people were speculating about this sort of thing. The Game Day crew immediately downplayed James' comments and started talking about the divide between underclassmen and upperclassmen, and how the young guys just want to play and the seniors were more of a barometer.

You're right fellas. They are. All those seniors played with intensity, heart, and determination. The seniors on the offensive line played their best games. Mark Ortmann, save a false start, played as well as he ever has. Greg Mathews was excellent on the return game. Stevie Brown and Obi Ezeh were outstanding, totally eclipsing their performances from last year in a single game. Brandon Graham bull rushed and terrorized Tim Hiller the entire game, even if the stat sheet only says one tackle. Brandon Minor didn't play, but could have, and he was one of the first people to hug Rodriguez after the game was over. Want proof? It's the photo at the top. Those are your seniors, ESPN. Ask them how they feel about Coach Rodriguez. Their play speaks for them. But just in case you actually want to ask a question before speculating, they're available for comment. But then again, I don't think you'll like what they have to say. It doesn't fit your story.

Frankly, our story is better. It's one of redemption, one game at a time. A story about 115 kids who believe in a coach who really does care about them. It talks about two freshmen quarterbacks taking a stadium of 110,000 plus by storm. One with his guile and arm. Another with his feet. There's a subplot about Junior Hemingway coming back from injury to dominate the passing game. Chapters about a defense left for dead in 2008 that, for a game anyway, was as dominant as we've seen since 2006. Let's talk about that story, rather than the one that's supported by a house of cards.

What you saw on Saturday was a group of young men who wanted to prove something. After a week of telling anyone within earshot that they were committed to Michigan Football and Coach Rodriguez, they were tired of no one listening to them. So they decided to let their play do the talking. Guided by two freshman under center and a grizzled old defensive coordinator who everyone thought left his chops in Austin, Michigan made a resounding statement on Saturday.

We're all in.

2009 Michigan Football Season Preview, Part IV: The Receivers

Maize n Brew Dave — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:39:47 -0000

Part I: The Offensive Line, can be found here. Part II: The Running Backs, can be found here. Part III: The Quarterback Position, can be found here.

One day till the 2009 Michigan Football season kicks off. If you're not bursting from the seams with excitement you should probably see a doctor. Or a mortician. It's almost kickoff time, baby. We'll get to the Western Michigan preview in good time. But for right now, we need to figure out what we've got on our side of the football. Now if you can't wait until the season starts to know how it's going to turn out, we got you covered there as well. Here are Beauford's, MnB Dave's, and SCM's 2009 Michigan Football season predictions. There's your quick fix if you need a baseline.

But this is the time of year when we break it all down. Position by position. So we're splitting things up in to a couple of separate posts to give you all the information you can handle on what to expect out of Michigan this season. The Depth Chart is out, so we'll break it down. Since we know what to expect out of the Offensive Line, Running Backs (mostly, now that Brandon Minor is out with a plethora of injuries), and Quarterback (Tate Forcier will start), we're left with one group to discuss.

2009 Michigan Football Season Preview, Part IV: The Receivers

via www.michigandaily.com

If you're looking to talk about Michigan's receivers last year, it's going to be hard to find a lot of things to discuss. A year after fielding arguably the best set of receivers on the field Michigan has ever had, the Wolverine's fielded arguably their worst group ever. There was almost no production from the receivers last year. Bad quarterback play, new system, loads of injuries, loads of freshmen, and the drops, oh god, the drops. This was not a good unit by any standard and it got worse when the inadequacy at quarterback became so apparent that if you found a safety deep it was because he'd fallen asleep on the previous play. How Michigan amassed 11 touchdowns through the air is a complete mystery to me. There was the Utah touchdown bomb to Hemingway. Threet's over the middle lob to Koger against Wisconsin. Mathew's circus catch against Illinois, and Minor's "god that was cool but that was in no way a real touchdown grab." There are your highlights.

Negativity aside, it's not like this isn't a talented group. It's an insanely talented group. And it was yooooooung last year. Really young. Time to strike of the meme of the off-season: "It's year two, they're older, more experienced. They're gonna RAWK!" Well, they've certainly got the opportunity this year with a new QB who can throw on the run and a line that'll give said new QB some time to throw. If all goes well, this team should double it's production from last year.

The Line-up

The unquestioned leader, guru, and best receiver at Michigan is Senior Greg Mathews. Mathews isn't a burner. Mathews isn't that tall (but compared to Odoms he's a giant). But he's got hands, hands, hands, brains, and outstanding body control. No one on this offense knows the system better than Mathews does. When I interviewed his roommate, Stevie Brown, he told me that everyone on the offense young and old was calling him on assignments, routes and blocks. Mathews is everything you want in a receiver, with the unfortunate exception of speed. Greg's awesome, he's just not fast. There have been numerous comparisons to Jason Avant. I wish I said I could agree, but I don't. Avant was out of this world talented as a receiver, who could make the circus catch look easy. Just because Mathews isn't that fast doesn't make them apt analogies. I'm still waiting for that big game out of Mathews. The reason he hasn't had it is through no fault of his own, but until I see him change a game the way Avant did, I'm still pegging him as best suited to be a number two-three type guy who is being counted on to be a number one receiver. I think Mathews should hit fifty-five catches this season, doubling his yardage, while reaching four or five touchdowns.

On the opposite side of the formation will be Junior Hemingway. You remember him as the "OMG! Did he Desmond that catch!1?!1!!" receiver against Utah who promptly injured everything in his body and caught a case of Mono that I hope came from a really hot girl because it cost him the 2008 season. Hey. That's the risk in college. If she's hot, you can say "Yeah, but you would've" to anyone giving you crap. If fugly? Dude. If that's the case, the penalty suits the crime. Anyway... Hemingway's shown flashes of being the sickeningly awesome deep threat that Michigan so desperately needs. He's a decent route runner, but seems to excel getting off the line and into a race with an airborne football. Personally, I'm really excited about this kid. He's got that extra gear the way Manningham did. Use a stop watch? meh. Let him run in pads? Hellz yeah. That said, it's really hard to project how he's going to perform after missing so much time and having seen so little of him. Honestly, if he chips in 400 yards and pulls in five touchdowns, I'd be pretty happy. But he's certainly got the potential to do a lot more.

More on the receiving corps after the jump...

Moving inside we get to ~~midget~~ slot receiver and tight end. Michigan's leading receiver last year was slot receiver, Martavious Odoms, with 49 catches and 443 yards. Unfortunately, Odoms didn't find the endzone until the Purdue game - and that was on a punt return. Odoms performance elicited strong reactions from just about everyone who watched him. He is obviously an extremely talented football player. He just has problems holding onto the ball. A lot of problems holding onto the ball. As a receiver, I was never particularly taken with the offense's use of Odoms as a primary receiver. He's just too small. Linebackers and safeties engulfed him when he caught the football in the middle of the field. But when he had the ball glued to his hands, he was a lot of fun to watch. Odoms' strengths appear to be those specifically suited to a slot guy. He's good in the short passing game. He's too fast for a Linebacker in one-on-one coverage. He can flare out for a screen. But he wasn't particularly good gauging the ball in the air on the deep throw. I'm willing to attribute a lot of that to a total lack of chemistry with either Steven Threet or Nick Sheridan. There are a pile of talented slot receivers behind him, so Odoms should have a great year. He'll have to in order to keep his job.

At Tight End, star of the Wisconsin game, sophomore Kevin Koger will start. At 6'4" 250, Koger another prototypical tight end in a system that's not so tight end friendly. Howeva, Koger has wheels. Really good ones for a big man. As a result Rodriguez is going to find a way to get him the ball more often. As an added bonus, his being above 6 feet tall should help Tate/Denard see him when they get in trouble. Koger only caught 6 passes last year, so it's tough to gauge him as well. But when you consider he was a four star recruit with a good offer sheet, you can expect good things from him, especially when you consider he seems to be putting the work to be a better player. Maybe 20 catches this year a 2 or 3 TDs.

The Back-ups

On the outside, Michigan has sophomore Darryl Stonum and freshman Je'Ron Stokes waiting to be unleashed. Of the two, Stonum is the more polished guy simply because he's got a year on the freshman. Stonum's another guy with that extra gear in pads that makes football nerds all tingly. Both Stevie Brown and Mark Ortmann praised the work Stonum put in over the winter and spring, and indicated that Stonum was starting to come into his own. Unfortunately, Stonum reported had a bout of the dropsies and hasn't quite done enough to hit the field as a starter yet. Like Stonum, Stokes is another high four star receiver who is in need of some polishing. At this point I don't have a lot to go on with Stokes other than his recruiting hype. That said, I have to imagine we'll see more of him as a freshman than we're going to see of LaTerryal Savoy or James Rogers.

Savoy and Rogers are upperclassmen who simply haven't panned out. Savoy pulled in a sprig practice touchdown, but that probably sums up his career as a Wolverine. Practice game hero. Savoy does have some game experience and has hauled in a few catches, but he's not a viable receiver in this offense, or at least he's never shown himself to be one. Savoy will see some time by virtue of being a senior with more experience in the system, but if he's in the game late, either he's turned into an incredible receiver over night, or we're screwed. For Rogers, replace "Savoy" with "Rogers" in the preceding four sentences.

At slot, Michigan's cup runneth over with small, darty, fast dudes. The first option on that list is currently former Michigan Basketball Point Guard, Kelvin Grady. At 5'10", Grady is easily the tallest of the slot receivers and frankly probably one of the best. Grady killed his football recruting hype by publicly declaring he wanted to play basketball exclusively before his junior year. The football services therein turned off. It's a shame too. Grady had some "dear holy god" type runs for East Grand Rapids as a junior and senior. He generated plenty of practice buzz by making some sick catches and showing everyone that three years away from football, all while playing D1 basketball, has positive effects on the body. Think about it. Three years without getting the crap knocked out of you but still running, cutting, getting banged around some, and drilling your body into peak physical shape without a 317 lbs dude diving at your spine and/or knees. So Grady walks onto the field healthy, with excellent peripheral vision, and faster than he would've been as a freshman. Not bad. I don't think Grady will over take Odoms for the starting slot, but the fact we can discuss it tells you just how talented a football player Grady is after a month of practice. Grady's probably the best story I've heard of, football wise, in a long time. So naturally, I'm really pulling for him to succeed. Why else would I devote more space to him than a couple of the starters?

Immediately after Grady, if not before, is Roy Roundtree. A slot receiver who is curiously between six feet and six-three, and just learning how to see. Apparently, Roundtree's eyesight was horrid and he was somehow making catches without being able to really see the ball clearly. How the hell does that happen? Now he's got contacts and is, according to Stevie Brown, was of the fastest, quickest players on the team. At 6'3" with speed and quickness I've gotta imagine he'll eventually get split out wide, but he's listed at slot so that's where we'll keep him. Behind Roundtree is Terrance Robinson. Robinson was a mid-high recruit whose size limited his recruitment. There's been little buzz about him at camp. He's there, he's had a year in the system, but until he starts catching the ball consistently enough to find his way onto the playing field, I really don't know what to tell you about him.

Finally, at the Tight End position, Martell Webb will back up Kevin Koger. Webb had a good freshman season but didn't see much time last year. Like Koger, Webb was a highly rated recruit who may have had a little too much culture shock from Barwis/Rodriguez arrival. As a result, he saw Koger take the starting job from him. This year, Webb had a fairly good camp and should be able to step in immediately without any drop off in production at the TE position.

The Take Away

Though it might not sound like it from the snarky comments above, I do like this group. I'm just not in love with it. There isn't the presence of a bona-fide No.1 receiver right now. Our lead pass catcher is a slot guy I can fit in my pocket and our best deep threat is a sneeze away from injuring himself again. But there is a lot of speed on the outside. Michigan does have a guaranteed catch in Mathews. And there's actually going to be a quarterback who can throw the ball to them this year.

A lot of the negatives I saw last year can probably be attributed to the horrid play under center, but there is plenty of room for improvement here. Most critically, holding onto the ball. Drops were an issue last year just as much as fumbles were. I think a year of practice will help that, but i also think a year of playing will ease a lot of other maladies as well. No more stopping just short of the first down marker on a pattern. No more juking around and losing six yards instead of falling forward and gaining two. Youth and inexperience are usually cured by the passage time.

Well, it's a year later, so we'll find out shortly. I figure this group should be good for 14-16 touchdowns and just under 2,000 yards receiving. That's a pretty optimistic view. If they crack 1,700 yards and 12-14 touchdowns, I'd still be fairly happy.

The 2009 Michigan Football Preview, Part One: The Offensive Line

Maize n Brew Dave — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:45:16 -0000

It's go time people. There are just four days until kickoff. Frankly, those days can't end quick enough. After three weeks of practice. Months of tedium. Oh, and a two-day stretch of mind blowing incompetence from the Free Press editorial staff. Football is just about here. That means it's time to get a better handle on how the Michigan Football team looks heading into the 2009 season. In Spring practice we thought we had all the answers. After a week of Fall Practice, all those answers went out the window. So what we're left with is a pile o' questions about who is going to start where and whether talented player A will overtake talented played B for position X.

That's what we're here for. Over the next few days leading up to kick off, Maize n Brew will be providing you with some answers to your questions about the team, the season, and what to expect. We'll try to keep it grounded, but we're not guaranteeing anything. We are fans (compete and total homers), after all. If you can't wait for the season to get here and want answers on how it'll play out, we've already previewed the season in depth. Wins and losses too! Take a look, here are Beauford's, MnB Dave's, and SCM's season predictions. There's your quick fix if you need a baseline.

But this is going to be a little more indepth. That's why I'm splitting things up in to a couple of separate posts. The unit we know the most about at this point is the offense, so lets start there. The Depth Chart is out, so we'll break it down.

2009 Michigan Football Season Preview: The Offensive Line

The linemen do the dirty work, so they get top billing. They also get top billing because this unit, more than any other, will determine the fate of Michigan's season. Don't believe me? Ask yourself how much better Michigan's season would've turned out had Threet/Sheridan not been running for their lives and had time to throw? What about the run game? You saw the improvement as the line improved. For this offense to work, the linemen are the linchpin of the system. They have to be mobile, quick, and able to get to the second level of blockers; something they were rarely able to do last year.

This year Michigan returns 4 starters and 7 players with starting experience. From Left to Right, the line is as follows: Mark Ortmann (LT), Steve Schilling (LG), David Molk (C), David Moosman (RG), Mark Huyge (RT). Your primary backups will be Perry Dorrestein (LT), Ricky Barnum (LG), Rocko Khoury (C), John Ferrara (RG), and Patrick Omameh (RT).

The Starters

via www.mgoblue.com

Of the starting lineup, only Huyge hasn't seen game action. To an extent my concerns about his abilities were assuaged by his performance in the spring game, praise he garnered when the Big Ten Network did their Michigan practice show, and the fact he would've started last year if not for a knee injury. Everyone else has extensive starting experience, and frankly, the inside of Michigan's line may be one of the strongest three man sets in the Big Ten. Both Molk and Schilling were blue chip recruits, with Molk being rated the #1 Center in his class and Schilling a 5 star tackle. Moosman wasn't as heralded, but he progressed wonderfully last season and at 6-5, 295, with quick feet, I'm to the point where I'm expecting big things from him as well. The interior line's experience combined with their talent should mean very big things for the interior running game. Looking at the schedule, only Penn State returns a pair of outstanding Defensive Tackles. There are some units with one good DT returning, but no one else in the conference has a dominant interior defensive line. What that means is look for Rich Rodriguez to use that straight up the gut advantage in the run game a lot more than last season.

(more of the preview after the jump...)

While I'm confident in the Guards and Center (David Molk is a badass), I'm still a little concerned on the edges. Sure I think Huyge and Ortmann will be more than serviceable at Right and Left Tackle. But I don't think they're going to be dominant. Reports out of camp were that Brandon Graham was tearing through the tackles on a semi regular basis. Your reaction is probably "so what, it's Brandon Graham," but I think there's a little more to it. The Big Ten is absolutely loaded with excellent Defensive Ends this year. Top to bottom you could probably rank the ten best DE's in any order and make a legitimate argument for it. Want proof? Even Indiana has a pair of DE's that would start tomorrow at Penn State. Trevor Anderson is back at MSU. Thaddeus Gibson at OSU. Ryan Kerrigan at Purdue. And the list goes on. Wanna know what's weird, the tackles dodge a bullet because Correy Wootton and Northwestern aren't on the schedule. Ever thought you'd say that? Ortmann is a good Tackle, but he can get caught up in his own feet from time to time. Huyge moves well, but we only have limited video to go on. Honestly we're throwing darts with a partial blindfold on here because our info is so limited. Ortmann played last year with a series of injuries including a shoulder injury of some kind that meant he could barely move on of his arms. Huyge's ankle injury caused him to miss the entire season. When you combine uncertainty at the position with the depth of talent at the End position in the Big Ten this year, even optimistic fans have to admit the Tackles may be better than they were last year but could still have a rough year despite it.

The Back Ups

This is the biggest difference between this year and last. Depth. If someone goes down, we've got two guys behind him that are ready to go. Last year you were holding your breath because no one had played. If an unknown starter went down, you plugged in another young, unknown to get mauled. Notsomcuh this year. The line took its lumps last year, but in the process Michigan was still able to redshirt a number of talented players. A year later, they're much larger, much stronger, and have a full year of practice under their belt in Rodriguez' system. With Ortmann and Moosman departing after this season, they're ability to step in from time to time will critical not just to Michigan's success this year, but in 2010 as well.

via blog.mlive.com

At this point you're probably aware of who Perry Dorrestein and John Ferrera are. But just in case here's a quick catch up. Dorrestein was a middling recruit on the offensive line who actually walked on to the team sans scholarship. Ferrara was a low mid Defensive Tackle recruit who was moved to offensive line last year when the Coaches went "Holy hell, there's no one on the Offensive Line!" They are your primary backups at Left Tackle and Right Guard. Now before you go jumping out a window, keep this in mind, Ferrara started five games at Left Guard last year before Schilling moved inside. For a guy that played guard for all of fifteen minutes before the season started, he was actually pretty good. His experience and size (6'4" 280) make him a more than capable backup and fill in starter if need be. Dorrestein I'm not as high on, but the fact remains he started in four games at Tackle last year and acquitted himself well. He's not going to be a starter unless injuries require it, but he's a capable backup.

The rest of the backups you should be excited about too. Patrick Omameh is apparently going to be an absolute beast at right tackle. The very definition of a sleeper, Omameh was a lightly regarded prospect who everyone said had the "potential" and "body" to be something special. Just no one wanted to expend a scholarship in the Big Ten for the kid to develop. Michigan did. Now they get to reap the benefits as Omameh made a massive push to overtake Huyge for the RT slot. Not bad for a redshirt frosh. Ricky Barnum was one of the snake oil pitches that worked two years ago, as Rodriguez slithered Barnum out from under Urban Meyer. Barnum was the 5th rated center in his class and seems to have emerged as one of Michigan's soon to be stars on the OLine. He's another kid who made a push for playing time but ran into having Schilling ahead of him. Then there's Traverse City's own, Rocko Khoury. The big redshirt freshman likely won't see a lot of time at center with David Molk in front of him, but you should be glad to have him back there. The 6'6" 280 pound kid has a nice little mean streak and had enough of an off season of Mark Ortmann to throw some praise his way at Big Ten Media Days. One other guy to watch for in the back-up category is true freshman Quinton Washington. Washington shocked a lot of the older members of the team with his natural strength. Steve Schilling noticed it immediately when the freshman was standing up defenders on the first day of pads even though he'd only been in camp Barwis for a couple of weeks. I can't wait to see what happens to Washington after a year in the gym.

Injuries?

One guy I haven't mentioned is Tim McAvoy. Unfortunately, McAvoy suffered a knee injury in practice and Rodriguez indicated he be out for a couple of weeks. It's really too bad. McAvoy had a legitimate shot at playing time this year, but it's likely his senior season will mostly be spent in the trainers room and on the bench. At this point though, everyone else seems mostly healthy.

2009 Outlook

With the exception of tailback, the Offensive Line is easily the deepest, most experienced position Michigan has this year. The starting five are talented and mobile. The backups are experienced or brimming with talent and strength. As an added bonus, Michigan's ability to ~~tort~~ trot three quarterbacks onto the field who can run or roll out of the pocket should greatly increase the line's effectiveness because it will prevent teams from pinning their ears back and bumrushing the quarterback like they did last year.

The strength on the line will clearly be it's interior. I suspect you'll see multiple plays this fall where the center or one of the guards is used to maul a linebacker or two. When you've got the strength and speed of the interior line, you can do those sorts of things. The edges won't be quite at the level of the intereior, but it should still be measurably better than last year. Ortmann and Huyge have without a doubt learned a substantial amount going face to face with Graham all summer long. I think Ortman should have a decent year, but he's not going to remind anyone of Jake Long. He'll be a good tackle, to expect anything more at this point is unfair and unwarranted. On the other side of the line I am very excited to see Huyge in game action. I can't really tell you why. Rumors, hype, TV, and spring film all make me think he's actually going to be pretty good. It's a total hunch, so take it FWIW.

One of the biggest differences you'll see this year the that you'll see all five linemen on the same page. For the majority of the 2008 season the Michigan Offensive Line was a mess in terms of execution. Players were blocking the wrong guy, they were running aimlessly after they released to the second level, they were telegraphing the snap counts. You're not going to see that this season. These guys actually know where they're supposed to go, who they're supposed to block, and how the plays work. The result will be our running backs and quarterbacks having room to run and not having to escape their first tackler five yards behind the LoS. In the passing game, we'll have to see. I think the group will execute much better than they did last year. But until we see Tate, or Denard or Nick throw the ball, I don't know how it'll turn out. What I do know is that they'll have a lot more time than last year.

Overall, this should be one of the most improved units in the conference, let alone the team. Play on playas.

Things I saw at Practice Yesterday

Beauford — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:04:06 -0000

The Satellite

Thanks to a friend in the espionage business (I won't say which one, but it begins with CIA) I was able to get ahold of one of those satellites yesterday and took in Michigan's practice. They practiced indoors you say? You haven't seen the newest satellites. While the birds eye view was a little frustrating at times (tough to see pad level, you know) I did manage to take away several impressions. First, Michigan is going to be really, really good this year. Think, like, 10 wins. Here's what I saw:

Offense:

First, I thought that Denard Robinson's throwing mechanics were really rough, and his completion percentage was way down. However, it's tough when you're throwing bombs, then running down the field and catching them yourself (boom uniscorn'd). While this only worked 52% of the time, I think you'll see it implemented as a gadget play down the road.

This next one I wouldn't believe had I not seen it with my own eyes via billions of dollars of technology. Forcier, having learned from Marv Marinovich seems to have actually developed a sort of QB Force. His passes don't actually float through the air. Rather, they are teleported straight to the receiver's hands. I'm surprised nobody has picked up on this from watching film, and it explains his super-high completion percentage. The only drops were from receivers who were surprised that a ball materialized in their hands.

The only problem that I could see is the fact that the linemen have both grown to such immense proportions that battles against the 1st teamers go on for hours. I saw Brandon Graham - now standing 7'2" and weighing 425 lbs. of pure muscle - and Mark Ortmann (7'1" 395 lbs. Muscle. Ripped) stand each other up for a good half hour; neither giving an inch. The increased growth, bulk, and speed - likely due to another year of Club Barwis - will certainly help on Saturdays against teams that don't feature a wolf-owning bear-wrestling MMA dynamo as S&C coach, but provides little in the way of practice viability. The scout-teamers, being MICHIGAN MEN, all stood up to the girth, but I expect other team's linemen to simply curl into a ball and wet themselves. This should open a lot of holes for Minor.

Defense:

On our way to the practice field

I've already mentioned the pure size gain on the defensive line, and Brandon Graham is no exception. What is important to realize is that the huge growth has not impacted speed - if anything this team seems to be faster. During springs at the end of practice, I timed Graham at a 4.0 flat 40 speed.

The safeties and corners all seem to be more of the hard-hitting variety. In fact, they had to bring in several replacement dummies because usually when Stevie Brown or Donovan Warren - two veterans - hit them the pads simply disintegrated into their atomic parts.

Obi Ezeh, it appears, has learned a bit of the QB FORCE from Forcier. Now, this is just my speculation, but having a first name of "Obi" seems to make him more apt to learn the force ways. He was simply teleporting, for lack of a better word, across the field and was definitely the team's #1 tackler in practice. Often, he would simply teleport into the backfield at the snap of the ball and meet Brandon Minor at the handoff point. The resulting impact would cause coaches and lesser MICHIGAN MEN diving for cover as the shockwave ripped through the new practice facility.

Special Teams:

I'd love to be able to comment, but it appears that our espionage activities were spotted: Zoltan punted a ball that knocked out our camera. In space.

Many thanks to the CIA for their continued support of this blog. Also, I now owe them 1.2 billion dollars for the camera and satalite usage. Donations accepted; please email me using the information on the sidebar.

PS THIS REALLY HAPPENED

Things We Know: 10 Points Before Michigan Football's First Day of Practice

Maize n Brew Dave — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:24:23 -0000

With Football Practice starting up, there are going to be all kinds of questions about Michigan in the papers and on the 'net. Both the Free Press and the Detroit News are running "Questions AAbound" pieces on the 2009 edition of Michigan football before the first fall practice whistle is blown. The questions are obvious. So much so that we may very well forget that there are also a lot of critical positions and facts that are easily ignored amongst the angst of the pending season.

So, to kick off Fall Pratice on the right foot, here are:

10 Things We Already Know About the 2009 Michigan Football Team

via www.mikedesimone.com

1. The Offensive Line is Deep - Last year Michigan had one returning starter with any starting experience. This year the Wolverines return seven players with starting experience on the offensive line. It's no longer unproven sophomores, juniors and freshmen. Guys that'd never seen the field and weren't supposed to in 2008. No, now the line is veteran, experienced, and (frankly) huge. David Molk (12 straight starts at center) anchors this years line with third year starter Steve Schilling and David Moosman (19 career starts) on either side of him. On the edges, Mark Ortmann and Mark Huyge line up at left and right tackle, respectively. After them are Tim MacAvoy (ten career starts at Guard), Perry Dorrestein (four career starts at Tackle), and a horde of talented players that will challenge even the established starters for their jobs. Look for Patrick Omameh to challenge for a guard or tackle slot, same with Rocky Khoury. Other than tailback, this is the deepest position on the team.

2. Brandon Minor is the No. 1. Option at Tailback - At this time last year, Brandon Minor had a wrist injury to his right hand that non one knew about. It was so bad he was having trouble writing his name, let alone grasping a football with it. Even so, Minor was Michigan's most dangerous offensive weapon in 2008. Accoutning for 11 touchdowns and the bulk of Michigan's late season offense, Minor is one of college football's highest rated returning starters according to Football Outsiders POE ratings. He got there on one arm. This year, Minor is completely healthy heading into spring camp and the unquestioned leader in the Michigan backfield. With the health of Carlos Brown, Michael Shaw, and stable of freshman head turners and burners behind him, Minor will finally have the support necessary to have a break out year. Most importantly, he's got the support of his coach and teammates. It's going to be a big year for Brandon.

3. Michigan is loaded at Wide Receiver - Good lord. Look at the slot: Odoms, Robinson, Roundtree, Jones, Gallon. Look at the wings: Matthews, Stonum, Hemingway, Stokes. Throw in Kevin Kroger and, damn son, you've got some hands to throw to.

4. There will be two quarterbacks in camp who actually fit Rodriguez' system - A lot has been made of Tate Forcier's arrival on campus and his stellar performance in the Spring Game. But Tate's not alone under center. The forgotten man in the quarterback equation remains Denard Robinson. Sure Tate's early arrival gave him a leg up, but Denard's got a little sumpin sumpin that Tate doesn't have. Speed. Robinson in a Saturn V to Tate's F-22. Both bring the ability to change a game with their feet and their vision. Both are "spread" quarterbacks. Tate is the better passer. Robinson the better runner. But they are both better fits for Rodriguez system from the first whistle of 2009 fall practice than either Threet or Sheridan were at the final whistle of the Ohio State game.

5. Everyone is actually healthy - When was the last time Michigan could say that? Answer? 1997.

(more after the jump....)

via www.mikedesimone.com

6. 3-4, 4-3, Nickle, whatever... Brandon Graham is going to get to the quarterback - You don't rack up 20 TFL on one of the nation's worst defenses without being a special player. Graham racked up these numbers despite opposing tackles having oddles of help from Tight Ends and Running Backs. This season Graham may actually benefit from the switch to the 3-4, because opposing defenses won't just be able to scheme solely against him. They'll have to account for the hybird/deathbacker in Stevie Brown, as well as Unicron, Jr. (Mike Martin, consumer of worlds). Add in another year of Barwis' system and a better position coach in Greg Robinson, and Graham is poised for a monster year. Odds are 3:1 he breaks someone in half by midseason.

7. The Secondary will be stronger - Addition by substraction. Last year's secondard was an absolute mess despite two veterans at safety in Brown and Harrison. It was by far the worst secondary Michigan's seen in half a century. Morgan Trent, despite being a nice kid, wasn't a great or even a good cornerback. Brown and Harrison, even with their strengths, were lousy safeties. Donovan Warren was gimpy the entire year with a bad ankle. This season, Michigan plugs in Mike Williams and Vlad Emilien at safety (both natural safeties), and a healthy Donovan Warren and 5* sophomore corner Boubacar Cissoko. Two five star corners with starting experience. Two four star safeties who know what they're doing. Sure there are going to be mistakes, but based on everything I've heard and read, no where near as much as 2008.

8. Three of Michigan's four top tacklers from 2008 return, and they're all linebackers - For the first time in a long, long time, Linebacker seems to be a position of strength for Michigan. Obi Ezeh, Jonas Mouton and Stevie Brown were 1, 2, and 4 last year in tackles. All three will man the middle of the field for the Wolverine defense. Their speed and experience will pay dividends for Michigan this year.

9. A lot more of the playbook will be used this year - As much as we'd like to blame the limited playbook Michigan used last year on Threet/Sheridan's shortcomings, the reality is the entire offense was learning it's first real offensive system last year. Even if Threet or Sheridan had the play book down pat, those plays coould only be used if the entire offense could execute those plays as well. The result was an offense limited by 11 players, rather than just one. This year, with 10 starters back, the Michigan offense is light years ahead of where it was at this point in 2008. I think it's a fair assumption to state that Michigan offense, minus the quarterbacks, can successfully and routinely execute 60% of Rodriguez' play book. Additionally, rodriguez and staff don't have to waste time this fall teaching the basics to the nuts and bolts personnel, they can actually focus on execution and addition. As Forcier and Robinson start to grasp the offense, you're going to see a whole other side to the system's capabilities.

10. A lot of weird news is going to surface over the next two weeks - Well. It's already started. Whether it's an alleged team meeting that never happened or the WTF news of Feagin's dismissal, you're going to get some surprising things in the paper. You're also going to get a lot of rumor mongering on the boards because everyone is back in school. You'll see Facebook posts of players hanging out. Hear about parties gone bad. Injuries that never happened. Player fights that may or may not have occurred. It's just what happens. So when this stuff pops up on your RSS or in your inbox, take a deep breath and wait a day for confirmation or debunkment before going insane.

Know thy Opponent 2009: Michigan Wolverines

BoilerTMill — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:03:17 -0000

I will go on record before even starting this preview that we will lose the Michigan game. It does not matter how good we are or how bad Michigan is. We have proven over the last 40 years that we simply cannot play good football at Michigan Stadium. We have had great quarterbacks like Drew Brees, Mark Phipps, Kyle Orton, and Mark Herrmann go winless there. Some of our best teams in school history, such as our 9-4 team in 2003 that was very close to being 12-1, have gotten blown out there. Even when we have a miracle and a Jim Colletto coached team holds the Wolverines to five points in 1995 we couldn't get one damn touchdown to win the game.

Since Bob Griese and company went in and won at the Big House 22-21 on October 15, 1966, Purdue is 0-17 in Ann Arbor. The closest games were a 5-0 loss in 1995 and a 9-6 loss in 1972. In six of those losses we haven't even managed to score a single point. All but the 1995 and 1972 game were at least two touchdown defeats. We don't just lose there, we get blown out.

Theoretically, this should be the year we're at least competitive. Then again, in theory, communism works. Michigan won't be "Michigan" this season or, in my opinion, as long as Rich Rodriguez is their head coach. There is absolutely no excuse that with the talent Michigan recruits without even trying they should ever have a 3-9 season. Still, that doesn't mean we're going to win there this year. The Michigan game at Michigan officially reached the "until I see it happen" stage as far as predicting a win goes. After we rolled over and died against a team that couldn't stop a 1-AA team two years ago I no longer have any hope for ever seeing a win up there.

This is your typical Purdue-Michigan score in Ann Arbor, though we usually don't get 21 points. Thanks, Joey Elliott, for the meaningless touchdowns in the last two minutes.

2008 Record: 3-9, (2-6 Big Ten)

Bowl Result: none

Blog Representation: MGoBlog, MVictors, Varsity Blue, Michigan Sports Center, iBlog for Cookies, Maize'n'Brew, Maize & Blue Nation

Series with Purdue: Michigan leads 41-13-0

Last Purdue win: 11/1/2008 at Purdue 48-42

Last Michigan win: 10/13/2007 at Michigan 48-21

Last Season for the Wolverines:

Rich Rodriguez is very lucky I am not Michigan's athletic director, because I would have fired him after last year's 3-9 debacle. Michigan was very lucky to win the three games it did win. Michigan probably played its best in a 25-23 loss to undefeated Utah in the season opener. In that game, a missed 2-point conversion in the final minutes cost the Wolverines the tie. It got worse from there. Home losses to Illinois, Toledo, Michigan State, and Northwestern meant just a 2-5 home record. On the road, the Wolverines managed just a 29-6 win at Minnesota to go unbeaten in the Metrodome. It was bad, but it was made even worse by the fact that this is a team filled with more raw talent than 110 other teams every year. Like Notre Dame in 2007, there was absolutely no excuse to be that bad.

This year's schedule does not guarantee a return to a bowl, either. Western Michigan is a very good MAC team that could win the season opener. They are certainly better than Toledo was last year. Though we will be cheering for the Wolverines, a victory in game 2 over Notre Dame is far from a guarantee. It is never a good sign when Indiana thinks they can beat Michigan. Road trips to Michigan State, Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin in conference play are not easy, while Penn State and Ohio State come to Ann Arbor as conference favorites. Michigan should be better in year #2 of RichRod simply because of more experience, but making a bowl game could be a stretch.

Michigan offense:

Michigan did not have consistent quarterback play last season, but that was blamed on Steven Threet and nick Sheridan not being the right guys for the system. Threet is gone and Sheridan has been relegated to backup for true freshman Tate Forcier. With Forcier, the Wolverines may now have an edge in the cocky quarterback who hasn't accomplished anything of note department over 2-year defending champ Jimmy Clausen. At least Clausen didn't open a website to flaunt his recruiting and high school championships.

Seriously though, Forcier is expected to be the savior of Michigan football. He is a great passer while on the run and he has the ability to make something out of nothing with his legs. While his high school numbers were good, he doesn't have an overwhelming amount of size at 6'1" 187. He will be an exciting player to watch, but I am encouraged that we see many of quarterbacks of his style (Jeremiah Moseli, Chandler Harnish, , mike Kafka, Terrelle Pryor, and Juice Williams) before we see Forcier. He will be the least experienced of that group, so if our defense handles those before him well we should be able to handle Forcier.

One player that does scare me is running back Brandon Minor. Simply put, Minor owns us. He had just 553 yards rushing and nine scores last season, but against Purdue he went for 155 yards and three scores. If not for an injury after three carries in the 2007 game he would have even more yards. As it was in that game, we allowed Mike Hart to run for 102 yards and two scores in a half, followed by third string Carlos Brown's 66 yards and two scores. Both Brown and Minor are back as the top two running backs. We have proven that we cannot stop any Michigan running backs based on our last three games with them, so I have little hope we will start now.

With as bad as Michigan's quarterbacks were last year, the receivers were non-factors in most games. Martavious Odoms had the biggest impact as a receiver in last year's game, and that came on a 73-yar punt return for a score in the first quarter. It was his only touchdown last season, though he did lead Michigan in receiving with 49 catches for 443 yards. Greg Mathews (35-409-2) ranked second on the team, and tied Minor for first in touchdown receptions. Michigan only generated 11 passing touchdowns last season, but two of them came against Purdue. Junior Hemingway should emerge as a solid third receiver after missing most of the year with an ankle injury. Roy Roundtree, the four-star recruit that spurned Purdue for Michigan before last season, redshirted and is still busy getting splinters out of his rear end. He is not on the two deeps at receiver.

The offensive line wasn't great, but wasn't awful last year despite losing three starters. While it was a weakness last year, it should be a strength as this season all five projected starters have starting experience. Right guard David Moosman and center David Molk are the anchors as they started every game at their respective positions last year. Mark Ortmann also has plenty of experience at left tackle, leaving Stephen Schilling and Mark Huyge to start at left guard and right tackle, respectively. Their biggest problem last season was learning a new blocking scheme as the offense drastically changed. They took some blame, but they are not the reason Michigan quarterbacks threw 12 interceptions and completed less than 50% of their passes.

Michigan defense:

It is hard to argue what was worse in 2008. The Michigan offense averaged barely 20 points per game and scored more than 20% of its season total against Purdue alone. The defense gave up 29 per game and got burned by a third string quarterback making his first career start. That game was a microcosm of Michigan's season. Just as the offense finally figured some things out the defense turned in an even worse performance. It doesn't matter how much better the offense gets this year unless there is marked improvement on the defense.

A rare positive moment for Purdue against Michigan.

The defensive line could be a huge liability this season. Only Brandon Graham (46 tackles, 10 sacks) is a proven performer up front. Michigan will probably play quite a bit of 3-4, meaning Mike Martin at nose tackle and Ryan Van Bergen at the other end position will have to play well as starters. True freshman William Campbell at 6'5" 330 pounds will likely see time in the rotation at tackle as well. This was supposed to be the best part of the defense last year, but it was a disaster with all its experience. Now they will have to improve without much proven experience.

Linebacker Obi Ezeh had a good year, leading Michigan with 98 tackles. It was a good freshman season for him on the outside, but more will be expected from him. Jonas Mouton started every game except the Utah game and was second on the team with 76 tackles. There is a question of when he will be ready after missing spring practice with shoulder surgery. Brandon Herron and Steve Brown will provide speed at the other two linebacker positions, with Brown being a hybrid safety/linebacker

Safety is the one position on defense where Michigan appears to be totally set. Troy Woolfolk, Steve Brown, and Michael Williams will all start the season, but much is expected from incoming freshman Vladimir Emilien. Emilien is expected to make a huge impact, and could be starting by the time the Purdue game rolls around. At cornerback, Michigan has plenty of good tacklers, but there isn't a true shutdown corner. Donovan Warren had 52 tackles and an interception last year. He will be joined on the other side by Boubacar Cissoko. Cissiko is a bit undersized at 5'9", but we lack a big receiver to take advantage of that.

Michigan Special Teams:

I love the guys over at Maize N' Brew. Not only was I able to meet Dave after last season's Purdue game, they have developed a cult following around Michigan's punter. Zoltan Mesko, whom I would call Destroyer of Worlds with a name like that, has been dubbed the Space Emperor by the staff at Maize N' Brew. It may be because he had so much practice due to Michigan's awful offense, but Mesko may be the nation's best punter at 43 yards per boot. He pinned opponents inside the 20 24 times last year and opponents only averaged 7.9 yards per return.

Odoms will likely handle punt return duties, but his best day by far was against us. He and Cissoko will likely handle kick return duties as Michigan averaged 21.4 yards per return there.

Michigan must find a new placekicker this season after the departure of K.C. Lopata. Bryan Wright, who was a kickoff specialist last season, and freshman Brendan Gibbons will battle for that job.

Intangibles:

On paper I have a hard time seeing how Michigan is going to be much better than last year. The only guaranteed wins are Eastern Michigan and Delaware State. Still, this game is at Michigan. Their dominance of us is perplexing because there have been many different factors, but the result has always been the same. They blow us out nearly every time. If this game were at Purdue, where I have been personal witness to three of our all-time 13 wins against them (all since 1996), I would give us a major advantage. If they were winless and we were undefeated I would still pick Michigan by two touchdowns because of our baffling inability to play good football up there.

Game Outlook:

I expect this to unfold like every other Purdue Michigan game in Ann Arbor since 1966. The Wolverines will dominate in the running game. Brandon Minor will have a he day by running for close to 200 yards and a couple scores. No matter how well we are playing, we will have stupid turnovers and be unable to capitalize on the few mistakes that Michigan makes.

It doesn't have to be this way, either. This is absolutely a game we should, on paper, be able to win easily. Tate Forcier is at least a year away from running that offense with precision. The Michigan defense looks to be extremely vulnerable against the run. All we should have to do is run the ball, make a few pass completions, and stop them from running the ball. We should have a better chance at winning here than we do at Minnesota or Wisconsin, but because of our history in Ann Arbor I fully expect to get rolled.

Prediction:

If it doesn't happen this year, I doubt it will ever happen. We have got to break our long drought at Michigan Stadium. If Toledo and Appalachian State can do it, why can't we? It is because we are Purdue, and we leave all football playing ability at the Ann Arbor city limit. Michigan 24, Purdue 6

Big Ten Media Days, The Take Away on Michigan Football: Part V - Rich Rodriguez

Maize n Brew Dave — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:56:42 -0000

More photos » by David Banks - AP

4 months ago: University of Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez gives a TV interview at the Big Ten football media day in Chicago, Monday, July 27, 2009. (AP Photo/David Banks)

Browse more photos »

Previously: Big Ten Media Days, The Take Away on Michigan Football: Part I, Offensive Lineman Mark Ortmann, Part II, Safety Stevie Brown, Part III - Zoltan Mesko, Punter and Space Emperor, and Part IV - Coaches and the Media.

It's rare in sports to have a coach at any level who is as open with the media as Rich Rodriguez is. After 13 years of calculated silence from Carr's regime, the ongoing dialogue Rich Rodriguez has created going into his second year as the University of Michigan's head football coach is kind of startling for Wolverine fans. We're not used to this. While Rodriguez knows when to play it coy, he also seems to have an understanding of the way the media's perception affects a program externally.

In a way, his personality seems well suited for this role of spokesman. Rodriguez is not a spit and polish chatter like a Saban or a Pete Carroll. But he's not trying to be. Rodriguez is himself. A kid from West Virginia who carved out an incredibly successful life in football out of hard work, a couple of good breaks, brains and charm. He is what he appears to be. There isn't a switch on Rodriguez that goes "PUBLIC/PRIVATE". While I'm sure his language on the practice field is a little different than when talking to media, I don't get the impression the intensity or the drive is any different.

At media days he was a controlled ball of energy in a suit. Not a cartoon character like Lynch was, or like Zook and Brewster appear to be. But a very intense, collected man, who wants the season to start so that the questions being asked can be answered by play on the field. Having met Rodriguez a handful of times in an "unofficial" capacity at alumni events and the like, when the camera are off and the mics are put away, he's a very amiable guy. He's also a very generous person with his time and is very appreciative of the Michigan fan base's interest and knowledge of and in the program. It shows. There is no difference between the the way he talks with a 24 year-old alumni and the way he talks with Mark Synder.

Watching him, it's readily apparent the one thing Rodriguez wants to do is win, and win the right away. For all the talk of his foregoing tradition, changing things, and plowing through Schembechler hall like a bull in a china shop, Rodriguez is a guy steeped in football lore and possesses a thorough understanding of the value of ritual and tradition in football. But more importantly, he's versed in the values of hard work, accountability, and respect. All these things seem to build up and bundle underneath that suit coat and tie as you watch him. answer questions. There's a palpable excitement when you talk to him, but it's not forced. If anything it's intentionally subdued. He's pumped, dammit. And you will be too.

During the Big Ten Media Kickoff I had two opportunities to speak with Rodriguez. On the first day, I managed to get a question about the differences between Schafer and Robinson asked and answered while the cameras were rolling (second question in the clip). After walking off the podium, I met Rodriguez along with the swarm of reporters out in the hall to record his every word. It's an amazing sight really, thirty people all jamming microphones in the guy's face and hammering him with questions both interesting and sublimely idiotic. And he stands there. Answering questions until everyone present feels they've gotten their pound of flesh. Occasionally, he'll shake his head, dropping it perceptibly, as if to emphasize the fact he's not going to discuss why someone will not return to the team. But the other 97% of the time, he offers direct answers to the questions posed. You know he'd rather be at practice with the players or at home with his wife and kids, but he takes on the gauntlet with a smile.

You can ask yourself, why isn't he more focused or intense? Doesn't he feel the pressure on him? Rodriguez must've been asked that question half a dozen times in two days. And his answer is one I greatly respect. "These are tough times. A family of five, lost their job, no pension, house payment car payment, now that's pressure." He acknowledges what a blessed life he's lead, "I've got it pretty good. A wonderful wife, two healthy children." But he also acknowledges the expectations of his job. But the word "pressure" seems to be overused. Pressure in college football, he says, comes from wanting to be successful. But that kind of pressure is nothing compared to the pressure faced by everyday people, especially people in Michigan, who are losing jobs, pensions, healthcare, and even their homes. Personally, I think this kind of perspective is a welcome change from the stock answers you get from college coaches. And to a man, his players will answer similarly. For a coach to instill that kind of perspective in his charges, and for him to remind us that pressure in sports and pressure to make a mortgage payment are two vastly different things shows tremendous character.

On the second day I sat with Rodriguez for the better part of 45 minutes; recording notes and asking the occassional question. He's a big guy in person. Shoehorned into a sportcoat and tie, he sat straight up for the first half hour and gradually relaxed into a comfortable lounge as the questions wore on. Below is a summation of what I caught with Coach Rodriguez.

(More quotes and insight from Rodriguez on Specific Players, the Quarterback position, Defense and more after the jump...)

Specific Player Mentions

It was funny watching Rodriguez talk about some of the players on the team. At one point he remarked "It's hard to try to remember how many true freshmen played last year." I think we all forgot, or chose to ignore, just how young this team was last year. Even with all those returning players there are still going to be a lot of young guys carrying the load for Michigan this year. Rodriguez gave a little insight into some of the new guys and the veterans.

Will Campbell - Will apparently put on a pretty good show when he enrolled early. Naturally, the big defensive tackle had to get in shape after coming in a little heavy. Despite all his natural talent and excellent coaching, Rodriguez mentioned that high school to college is "still a leap." However, Rodriguez said "Will's a great guy. He's working his tail off." The early enrollment helped the freshman considerable and just watching him its obvious he's got "a lot of natural ability and a lot of natural strength." Because he enrolled early and got that extra practice time and weight room time, Rodriguez thinks Campbell has an "opportunity to help us this year" and see some playing time.

Vincent Smith - Another player that enrolled early. He's a great change up, a smaller guy that can make people miss. But, like all freshmen, he's still learning. One note Rodriguez mentioned that caught my ear was the Smith, isn't afraid to mix it up a little bit. Small or not, every now and then, it sounds like he'll truck a defender who's going at halfspeed.

Mike Martin - "Mike played at a high level [last year] and he's even stronger now." Rich did admit in speaking about the defensive line " we're not as deep as we'd like to be."

Terrence Robinson - Looks 100%. Robinson spent a good chunk of last year banged up, and looks like he's now in pretty good shape. That said, the coaching staff is being careful. "When he's healthy, he can play. Terrence can help us" this year.

Mike Shaw - "Best he's looked in his career." Rodriguez told us that Shaw has no pain from his hernia surgery. One thing Rodriguez mentioned was that no one really realized just how bad the injury was last year. It bothered him quite a bit. But now that he's healthy it looks like he'll be able to contribute this year even more.

Mark Ortmann - This one surprised me:

"Ortmann had a bad elbow [towards the end of last season], he could hardly play."

I hope I caught that right, but it did come as a bit of a "wow, I didn't know that" moment. I think a lot of the injury problems we simply didn't know about last season are coming to the surface now. Judging by the number of injuries we knew about, and how many we're just finding out about, this team was really banged up last season.

Brandon Graham - Takes everything to heart. Going to have a huge year for us.

Donovan Warren - Healthy.

Fitzgerald Touisant - recovering from hernia surgery. Should be 100% by fall practice.

Academics

Rodriguez talked briefly about the academic status of the team. He indicated that all the freshmen had qualified and were enrolled at this point. With regard to players already on the team, Rodriguez told us that a "couple of guys have some work to do. If they do what they're supposed to do things will be alright." There are a couple of weeks left, so Rodriguez anticipates from speaking with the kids with work to do, that everyone will get done what they're supposed to. Obviously, Rodriguez did not name names. But indicated there shouldn't be any surprises academically.

Rodriguez said that he and the coaching staff sits down with every player when academic issues come up and address that immediately. He stressed just how important the academic side of the program is:

What we try to do is to challenge our guys at compete academically. Make them feel that sense of accomplishment academically.

This isn't lip service. I've heard from Bill Martin that a player missed a class once and word of that got back to Rodriguez. The next class the player was there, and so was Rodriguez, sitting in the back of the room making sure his player got the message that you do not screw around with your academic responsibilities. Rodriguez takes academics seriously and I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. As Rich points out, "They gotta do the work." But it looks like this coaching staff is creating an atmosphere that encourages and requires academic competition and success. As a Michigan graduate, I find that to be a great indicator of the program he's building.

The Quarterback Position

A number of questions focused on how the quarterback competition is shaking out. Rodriguez indicated that he expects to have Focier and Robinson competing against Nick Sheridan for the starting position. One thing that got lost in the shuffle was Rodriguez mentioning that Sheridan is a lot stronger and faster than he was last season, even with the broken foot. While I personally expect Forcier or Robinson to win the job outright, it's heartening to hear of Sheridan's continued improvement.

Rodriguez made clear that the diversity of the offense will depend on what the starting quarterback can handle. Because the quarterback is required not just to be able to know the plays, but make split second decisions based on the defense he's up against, whatever the processing ability of the QB is at that point will determine the extent of the offense. He said that If the quarterback can handle 75% of the offense efficiently, and we can execute that 75% of the offense, then that's what we'll run. However, the converse appears to be true. If the quarterbacks are operating at a 45% level, that's where the offense will run.

When asked if he sees a little Pat White in Robinson or Tate? Rodriguez smiled and laughed, "I hope!" But Rodriguez also cautioned everyone about that Pat White comparison, because White red-shirted. Here "we want Tate and Denard to battle Nick for the job." White got the opportunity to sit a year, develop and learn the offense. Instead, Michigan is going to have to throw Robinson and Forcier into the mix even though they'd prefer to red-shirt them.

However, Rodriguez did comment on the QB's individually. He said "Gonna be fun to watch these kids compete." On Tate, Rodriguez said "he's got a little something special." He told us that in watching Forcier play, he noticed that Tate played "faster" in the bigger games and in the bigger moments. He also said that the extra reps expedited the learning curve. However, because they did not run a lot of contact drills, in the fall they're going to have to let the QB's get hit a bit so that the coaching staff knows how they react. See what Forcier and Robinson can do. Rodriguez stressed ball security. They'll monitor Tate over the fall and see how he does, "see if he's got the fundamentals down."

On Robinson, Rodriguez said he hasn't "seen Denard yet with us." However, he does hear that Denard has immediately come in and worked hard in the weight room and is reportedly working hard to learn what he need to compete for the starting job. Rodriguez was quick to stress that they've seen Robinson from his film and think he can be a special player in this offense.

On depth, Rodriguez mentioned that they hope to have extra QB depth, hopefully will have answers to that by end of week. Jason Forcier was mentioned as one of those potential answers.

Why Run the Spread Last Year Instead of a Conventional Offense?

Rodriguez chuckled at this question a bit as well. He pointed out that with so many freshmen and first time starters, nearly everyone coming in had never been in any type of system. The obvious question became, what other system would we run? Rodriguez said that, no matter what, Michigan was eventually going to have to change to Rodriguez system. So, because no one had a system under their belt, the coaching staff felt they better off implementing their own system so that they didn't waste a year teaching one system, only to have to teach another system the next season.

Switching to the 3-4 Defense

Rodriguez said that Michigan will run a base 3-4 but also play some 4-3. The switch to the 3-4 is partially to counter the spread nature of the new offenses that the Big Ten is shifting to, but also on the recommendation of Greg Robinson, his new DC. When Robinson came in, Rodriguez told us that he did a thorough evaluation of the players, depth, and positions. Robinson then came to Rodriguez and said "This is what I have, strengths and weaknesses. Let's put in a package that fits them." As a result, Michigan is implementing the 3-4.

Hey Coach, What About Night Games?

There were a number of questions on this subject so Rodriguez talked about it for a while. One thing he mentioned is that ESPN would like Michigan to agree to do night games at Michigan Stadium and Rodriguez acknowledged that a portion of the fanbase would really like night games as well. However, he pointed out you can't just say woo, night games, and do it. There are a lot of considerations, and the biggest appears to be security. At night you've got to have lighting not just for the stadium, but for the parking lots, golf course, and other portions of the campus where people park and tailgate. What I took away from Rodriguez' comments on night games is that the University isn't going to agree to do them until there is a plan set in place to ensure that people can get home in one piece from the games and the "Security/Public Safety" aspect of lighting and coverage is taken care of.

Another interesting thing was Rodriguez resopnse to the question of whether he'd like to play night games. His reponse was:

"From a preparation stand point you'd like to play every game at noon or 1pm."

Rodriguez stated that he'd played a bunch of games at night in the past because his program needed exposure. Things are different now at Michigan and exposure isn't as big a deal. It's Michigan. However, he acknowedge that night game were part of the ongoing to discussion.

Another interesting tidbit, there is not an allowance for lights on the Stadium redesign. Rodriguez said Michigan can bring in lights as necessary and light the entire field without issue. Again, the takeaway is that Michigan would not need to install lights to host night games in the future. So all you night game fans can happily chew on that for a while.

On the "New Media"

There were a handful of questions about the coach's and coaching staff's use of Twitter and Facebook, which sort of surprised me. What surprised me even more was that those questions were coming from journalists and not from bloggers like me. Rodriguez admitted to being using with Facebook and Twitter, but admitted that he'd fallen off from his Twitter heyday. "I'm probably better [at Twitter] than Joe Pa, but not much." "I was on Twitter for two or three months, I don't know if they kicked me off or what."

With the new restrictions on Text Messages and Emails, Twitter and Facebook are good communication tools that Michigan is using as the medium develops. Rodriguez admitted he's not as "in" to Twitter as Facebook, but said that the staff has to keep up with these new communication methods. "As coaches you'd be learn how to do it or you're going to be behind," Rodriguez said.

One of the more interesting things he said, was comparing the development of this new media to the Jestons. Laughing and reminding us that all those space age things we saw in the Jetsons, well, they're starting to happen. Minus the flying cities and cars, of course.

That said it sounds like Facebook has been a useful communication platform and it's good to know the Coaching staff is keeping up with the trends.

Talking with the Media

I was impressed with Rodriguez on this subject. When asked, he said he tries to be pretty open with media. He admitted that at times last year he was a little too vocal, but that he's had media attention both ways in his career. Put simply he said he's not going to change his approach. If he's pissed off he won't talk as much, if he's happy, he'll be a little chattier. But he said he's always going to be open when talking with the press.

Voting in the Coaches Poll

Along the lines of openness with the media, Rodriguez was very candid about the Coaches Poll Balloting. He told us he has a staff member watch all the games, break everything down, and prepare information for Rodriguez to review every week. After that's prepared, Rodriguez sits down with the staffer and goes over all the details, the rankings, and asks questions. Generally the ballot is ready to go and Rodriguez makes his changes and signs off on it. He said this system has been in place for a number of years, and they've got it down to the point where they can get a lot of information exchanged quickly and efficiently for poll purposes.

One thing he made clear is that the last regular season poll is the most important. "We'll take quite a bit of time, sometimes talk to other coaches, watch film. It's important, particularly that last poll." Rodriguez said that if you're going to take part, you have to take the poll seriously and pay attention. However, he also indicated that he doesn't favor the open ballot because of "why'd you vote this one not that one" questions it generates. Rodriguez intimated he'd rather answer questions about his own team than about his ballot.

Players Taking Shots at the Program as They Leave

Rodriguez admitted it's tough to bite your tongue when people say things about the program in that manner. "Talk to our players, they like the guys that are on the team, they like the direction we're going in, they like the guys they play with." It's tough because he sees everyday that the players really do get along, and are committed to one another. I think this sums it up perfectly:

Michigan is not a place for guys who want to be average. It's a place for guys who want to be challenged athletically and academically.

Word.

On the Fans' Support

"Our fans are educated. They're upset at the games we didn't win, but so was I. They're isn't anything wrong with that," was Rodriguez' response to questioning about how Michigan fans reacted to last season's 3-9 campaign. Rodriguez told us that Michigan fans have almost universally been positive and supportive of the program and of him in particular. But they also expect results. His answer "I'd rather be at a place with high expectations," and the "Best way to ease everybody's concerns is to work, and get things right."

Reflecting on his career

Rich admitted that after the games, he enjoys looking back on some of games against coaches like Paterno and Bowden. But must of all, he says, he likes reflecting back on beating those types of coaches and not saying "wow, I just coached against so-and-so." What can you say? The guy's a competitor

Concerns going into the Season

Critical we keep guys like Graham, Martin, Van Bergen healthy.

Finding your Identity

Places a huge value on it. Identity is always something they're going to work on.

Improving the Game Day Experience

Rodriguez said he'd like to fix some little things to improve the game day experience. He seemed to indicate that there were things the program could do to "bring people into the game." He said there is more we can do to make the experience better for everybody. As for piped in MUSAK, I'll let Brian deal with that.

Uniforms

Rodriguez indicated the players like the stuff Adidas is supplying. He also indicate there shouldn't be any visible changes to the uniform. Any changes will likely be material based. But if they change anything is will be very subtle, and involve the little things.

College Players Head Hunting When Tackling

This is apparently something Rodriguez is fairly concerned with. He said "The head shouldn't be a part of any tackle or block." At the college level Rodriguez doesn't think head hunting is an epidemic or a large problem, but is something that the NCAA is looking got control before it becomes an issue. I he told us the NCAA was looking at implementing a head hunting rule similar to the NFL in an effort to nip the issue in the bud, before it becomes one.

On a personal level, Rodriguez said that If player of his looks like he's head hunting, they take that player aside, talk with them, and correct the issue.

The Take Away on Rodriguez

Like I said in the Intro, I've got a lot of faith in Coach Rodriguez and speaking with him at the press conference did nothing but strengthen that faith. Rodriguez is a coach that seems to have two feet firmly planted in reality. He knows this year is going to be both exciting and trying, and he's not attempting to dance around the fact that Michigan is still lacking depth at critical positions. By that same token, I think he's proud of the progress the kids have made under his and his coaches tutelage.

It's an exciting time to be a Michigan fan. And I think we've got the right coach to lead Michigan back to its righful place in the College Football world.

Also check out: Big Ten Media Days, The Take Away on Michigan Football: Part I, Offensive Lineman Mark Ortmann, Part II, Safety Stevie Brown, Part III - Zoltan Mesko, Punter and Space Emperor, and Part IV - Coaches and the Media.