SB Nation - Will Johnson

2009 Michigan Football, Position by Position: Defensive Tackle and Defensive Tackle Recruiting

Maize n Brew Dave — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:12:37 -0000

Going into the 2009 season there are three positions on the Michigan Defense that are causing a great amount of concern among the Michigan faithful. Cornerback. Safety. Defensive Tackle. All three of these positions have highly touted players starting for the Wolverines. All three of these positions are also an injury away from becoming an aneurysm inducing mess. In an effort to assuage those fears (or stoke them like coals in a furnace) we'll be taking a look at Michigan Football's positions of need, the quality in place, the replacements on the way, and recruits that hopefully will carry the load for Michigan going forward.

Defensive Tackle

If you're looking for an iconic photograph that basically encapsulates how Michigan fan feels about Michigan Football, you really need to look no further than the aftermath of Alan Branch planting Anthony Morreli in 2006.

The end of Times, via www.thewolverineblog.com

It's all there. Strength. Power. Devastation. Arrogance. This photo sums up both the expectations and historical results of Michigan Football. So, as emblematic as the Corner position has become for Michigan over the past couple of decades, Defensive Tackle may be a more apt symbol. Will Carr, Rob Renes, Alan Branch, Gabe Watson, Terrance Taylor, and the lot. Just like Michigan's football seasons, they've run the gambit from overachievers, to underachievers, to just what you'd expect, good or bad. If you're looking for a positional representation of Michigan's Football fortunes, look no further than Defensive Tackle.

Along those lines, the last two years have been down ones at Defensive Tackle. The talent was certainly there in the forms of Terrance Taylor, Will Johnson and Mike Martin. Unfortunately the results (save Martin) haven't been. Taylor was projected to be a second round pick in 2007, came back to a revamped (totally screwy) defense and wound up dropping into the fourth round after a disappointing senior season. Will Johnson, despite being one of the strongest guys on the team, never lived up to his billing. As a result, teams ran all over Michigan. Now you can't pin the failure of the run defense on these two guys. But the reality is they were serviceable at best for most of the year, with the occasional flash of brilliance. Regarding Martin, it appears he's got star written all over him. But that's easy to say when you're coming off the bench fresh mid game rather than starting.

While game play at the Defensive Tackle position has been adequate, it's impossible to classify Michigan's recruiting at this position as anything better. When you think about the spectacular flame out of Marques Slocum; the underdevelopment Renaldo Sagesse and Jason Kates (transfer); and the fact that we've moved Vince Helmuth from fullback to DT, well, you start to wonder what the hell is going on.

Defensive Tackle has been such a frustrating recruiting slot that John Ferrara, a DT recruit, is now on the opposite side of the ball as an Offensive Guard! I mean how screwy do things have to be when you move a player to a position of need, and his former position becomes the most dire on the team? However you want to read it, with the graduations of Taylor and Johnson Michigan was down to one starter worthy player, a handful of guys whom we really have no idea whether they'll provide any serviceable time, a converted fullback, and an all-star freshman in the mold of Terrence Taylor. In a word: Yikes.

The DT position wasn't supposed to be this dire heading into 2009. Michigan had all but inked a pair of highly rated DTs to the 2009 class in Pearlie Graves and DeQuinta Jones to go along with uber-recruit Will Campbell. Unfortunately, as the weeks leading up to national signing day unfolded, Michigan lost both Jones and Graves to last minute defections. This left only Campbell to fill what was suddenly a cavernous DT void. This isn't to suggest either Jones or Graves would be contesting for starting time, but a couple of extra bodies in the middle would come in real handy this year, ready or not.

So where does that leave Michigan heading into 2009? Surprisingly adequate, but an injury away from a serious, serious problem. Greg Robinson's transition to the 3-4 Deathbacker defense takes some of the pressure off the middle of the line in terms of numbers. Michigan won't need to prance out both of its best DTs on any one play unless Robinson switches to a more traditional 4-3 just to mess with the other team. Based on Robinson's track record, I don't see that happening... too often. The Deathbacker means that Mike Martin will start the season as Michigan's 1st team DT. Martin had a solid year as a freshman in 2008 and on several occasions outplayed his senior teammates. You might recall Martin doing this against Wisconsin:

Skip to 8:00. Courtesy of Wolverine Historian, of course.

Yeah. The kid can play.

Backing him up, though not confirmed, will likely be freshman Will Campbell. Campbell was an all-world recruit in the 2009 class who enrolled at Michigan early, despite rumors and a head fake toward LSU. The book on the kid is he is a monster in that Alan Branch mold... when he wants to be. The fear is Campbell is a lot like Terrance Taylor in that he was known to have lapses mid game, and take a play or two at 50%. Even so, he's a dominant style DT that absolutely throttled anyone who challenged him at the recruit camps or on the high school field. The key to Campbell, at least from what I've read, is when he's challenged he's a beast. When he's bored, meh. Still, a bored Campbell would start for all but the top 5% of college football teams, so it's hard to nit pick too much. But if Michigan can motivate this kid, Michigan will arguably have the two best DT's in the conference by the season's end.

The next player on the depth chart depends on who you talk to, when you talk to them. It could either be large, Biggie-lookin' Canadian Renaldo Sagesse or new to the position Vince Helmuth. My money's on seeing a bit of Sagesse this season. He's a monster, size-wise, at 6'5" 300+. Unfortunately, three years in, the kid hasn't cracked the starting rotation. He's been good enough to see the field, but not good enough to log appreciable minutes. It's hard to blame the kid for not taking the leap forward we'd like when you consider he's had a new position coach every year he's been at Michigan. But players step up, and Michigan needs Sagesse to do just that because after him things are more than dicey. Vince Helmuth, while more than talented, isn't a DT. He's a fullback playing DT, strike that, learning to play DT. Maybe in a year or so Helmuth can contribute, but I'm not holding my breath that he's going to be a difference maker anytime soon.

DT Recruiting for the 2010 class is at best, questionable. Michigan continues to pursue this year's all world DT prospect Sharrif Floyd of Philly. Floyd's been fairly tight lipped about where he'll end up, but Michigan hasn't really garnered a lot of press in his recruitment. Without the instate pull that Michigan had on Campbell, I'm not high on Floyd's prospects of ending up a Wolverine. Though it'd certainly help. After him are a plethora of prospects who don't seem to be decided one way or another.

Richard Ash 4* Pahokee, FL

Ricky Heimuli 4* Salt Lake City, UT

Mike Thornton 3* Stone Mountain, GA

Johnathon Hankins NR Detroit, MI (no offer/claims OSU offer) (3* Scout)

Michigan's best bet a DT appears to be with Ricky Heimuli. Heimuli stands 6'4", 280, and appears to be one of the risers in the recruiting process. Michigan offered him in early May, but that offer simply piled on top of an impressive sheet that lists 20 other offers (including USC, LSU and Oklahoma). While Heimuli is from Salt Lake and the cold might not be as big a turn off as it is for other recruits, he recently camped at USC and his mom liked USC. On the plus side, a recent Scout article said Michigan's history with LDS athletes help it stand out. So we've got a shot. TIFWIW.

After Heimuli, things aren't so rosy. Despite Michigan's connections at Pahokee, Ash appears to be looking at the Florida instate schools. If he goes out of state I'd be shocked. The only other DT in this class that's still available and actually holds a Michigan offer is Georgia DT Mike Thornton who received his offer this week. Thornton seems to have rocketed up the recruiting charts over the last few months and holds a number of offers from top tier BCS programs, including Georgia and Alabama. It's a little early on in Michigan's recruitment to get a picture as to whether Thornton's a legit candidate to accept, but you have to expect that other schools who've been on his trail for a while are in a better position than Michigan at this time. Finally, there's the curious case of Johnathon Hankins, a Detroit kid with an unrequited love of Michigan who can't seem to buy an offer from the Wolverine. Hankins camped, but didn't receive an offer apparently due to conditioning issues. Unless Michigan changes its mind, Hankins will probably end up at OSU or MSU. I'd list the remaining DT prospects, but none of them are holding Michigan offers, so it's the above guys or nothing.

So that's where Michigan stands. A position that really needs at least two 2010 commits, but realistically will only see one guy accept an offer. With Martin a sophomore, Campbell a freshman, and Sagesse still with two full years to live up to his potential, Michigan's in a not-bad, but not-good position. Going forward, unless Michigan pulls in another DT or two, it could get ugly. If Michigan lands a commit for 2010, start breathing again but don't relax. Two commits, breath easier. None? Panic Cloverfield style.

But for this year, Michigan's playing with two kids and one underachieving upperclassman. Only one player at DT has logged significant playing time. Even though Michigan's got talent at DT, an injury to either of the top two and it could be a rough year up the middle for Michigan.

Celebratory Brews, Wags of the Finger, and All Things Inbetween: Elavuating Michigan Football's Performance Against Wisconsin

Maize n Brew Dave — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:51:42 -0000

Sure, it's Wednesday, time to move on. But there are still things to discuss. Like what we can take away from the game and the things we need to work on. With that in mind I dish out a few Celebratory Brews and a couple of Wags of my finger!

Celebratory Brews:

The Defense: There aren't enough superlatives to do justice to the job they did on Saturday. Aside from a few missed tackles (more on that later), one of the best defensive performances the Big House has seen in quite some time. Taylor, Johnson and Max Martin get massive props for Standing up Wisconsin's massive line, and winning. Also, while Taylor and Johnson were great, I hope everyone is paying attention to just how good Mike Martin has been (as opposed to Max Martin, who's name I erroneously used before). And he's a freshman. But a freshman who shed a double block on the failed two point conversion to smash Evridge as he threw on the game's final, and most important play. If he continues to play like this we're going to be memorializing his name in song very shortly.

Halftime Adjustments: Until this year I'd only heard of them. When the coaching staff realized the horizontal game plan wasn't working, they changed it. I back sets. Some traditional power game. The deep ball. The offensive coaching staff should be commended for an excellent second half.

Jonas Mouton: Just an outstanding game by the young linebacker. Mouton was all over the field from my vantage point; in a good way. He seems like a hybrid DE/LB in the Shawn Crable mold, except without the constant penalties that make you want to break things. Mouton routinely shed his blockers to make a play, blitzed his way into Evridge's helmet, and took down backs in space when he was the only thing between them and 30 yards. That added up to 8 tackles, a sack, and a boatload of props. Monster game.

Brandon Graham: Defensive POW in the Big Ten. I still maintain my prediction that he's going to break someone in half by midseason. He saved the game sacking Evridge at the six. Leads the Big Ten in TFL.

Brandon Harrison: Quickly becoming my favorite player on the 2008 squad. I've never seen someone his size hit like that. Cus D'amato once said of Mike Tyson, "He hits with bad intentions." So does Harrison. Harrison laid a hit on PJ Hill halfway through the second quarter that made my teeth rattle, and it should be noted that Hill sat out the rest of that series. Harrison also lit up Wisconsin's receivers whenever they touched the ball. At five foot nothin' he plays like the biggest guy in the defensive backfield.

All your conciousness are belong to Brandon Harrison. via mikedesimone.com

Donovan Warren: Served notice that the left side of the field is his, and his alone. Throw there at your peril. Best corner in the Big Ten at this point in the season. Warren also showed he can play some run defense, as he took down a handful of stretches to his side and made a touchdown saving tackle on Clay when he busted contain in the second.

Minor/McGuffie/Grady/Brown: All of them chipped in something big. Minor busted the "holy crap we can win this" run. Grady gave us hope with the "this is our season" 4&1 conversion. Brown gave Threet his first passing first down and seemed to settle Threet with that effort. McGuffie capped the comeback with a ballsy, 3& goal cut to the endzone. Sure some longer runs would've been nice, but these guys provided consistent effort and great pass blocking all day. They also provided 14 points.

Steven Threet, Version 2.0: Not to be confused with the Version 1.0 that spent the majority of the first half flailing about the backfield like a trout on dry land. While V2.0 wasn't perfect, he was pretty damn good and showed himself to be an above average college level quarterback on Saturday. He showed some touch, threw a couple of outstanding deep passes, and made the proper decisions at crucial times in the comeback. Plus, that pass to Koger was beautiful. His intermediate, middle of the field passes still need work but the majority of what he showed us from the 30 minute mark onward was outstanding.

The Offensive Line: While this group wasn't terrific during the opening half, they were more than serviceable. The fact Michigan couldn't run the ball had more to do with 9 man fronts more than anything else. Even on the rare occasion someone got to Threet in the backfield, it was usually on a broken play or that infamous late hit. Face it, they controlled the line of scrimage the second half of the game. Threet may have been hit from time to time, but the line didn't give up a sack. Not bad for a bunch guys the media called no-names, back-ups and underachievers at the beginning of the year. Steve Schilling, at least from where I was sitting, looked pretty impressive.

Wags of the Finger:

First Half Offensive Play Calling: When your wife is describing the the play calling as Weis-esque, you know something is wrong. She alos mockingly asked when we hired Bob Davie to run our offense. That may have cut to the bone, but, damn son, I married a good woman. While I will grant you Threet V1.0 was terrible, even that shouldn't have handcuffed the Michigan offense to the extent we saw. Wisconsin was stacking the line, over pursuing, and locking in on the totally obvious screens we were running. A little misdirection, mabye even a single deep ball in the first half would've helped to keep the defense honest. It wasn't pretty.

Throwing to the Shortest Guy on the Field in the Middle of the Zone: I may be in the minority on this, but the continued attempts to get Martavious Odoms the ball on these little run to the hole in the zone pass plays are driving me crazy. Yes, Threet was inaccurate on a majority of those throws, but if there's a linebacker anywhere between Threet and Odoms that's a tough throw. It's also going to be a throw where an extra 6 inches in height and arm span come in handy. If the backer's in there, there's got to be height on the throw, and its got to be a hard throw because otherwise the safety will knock it away or intercept it. We tried it at least four times and got one completion. Two bad passes, one drop, and one completion. Those numbers scream "Don't Ever Use Me Again," at least until Threet proves he can make the throw and Odoms proves he can catch it.

Martavious Odoms: I'll be honest, this is a stretch, but Odoms looked a little lost. He failed to turn around for the ball twice on passes to him. He dropped a ball or two that should've been caught, and looked a little tentative. He's here because of the misunderstandings on the pass plays. We're lucky those didn't get intercepted and run back.

Morgan Trent: Maybe I'm being too harsh, but Trent had a rough day. The fumble on the kick off was just maddening. On the second quarter Clay near-touchdown run, Trent blew the tackle that allowed Clay to scamper an extra 20 yards before Warren pushed him out of bounds. On the game's last touchdown, he got beat, stumbling on his own two feet, on a single move to the middle of the field. Sure Brown had the inside of that play, but Trent's stumble allowed the free release before Brown could get there. In his defense, one of the bright spots was an absolutely wicked hit he put on Jefferson. Even so, I'm sure this is a day #14 would like to have back.

Steven Threet Version 1.0: Horrid. Bad decision making. Bad option release. Bad arm mechanics. Bad throws. I think he'd agree with me on this.

Officiating: These guys were terrible. Failure to review plays that warranted it (Mathews fumble). They missed, at a minimum two blantant Pass interference calls in one series, a dozen obvious holds, and blew at least on call on replay (the completion on UW's final drive).

Hi, I'm Bobo, and I'll be the lead Big Ten Official for your game!

Special Teams: Two more fumbles and an anemic return game. WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?WHY?

All Things Inbetween:

The Linebackers: Great game from Ezi and Thompson. Under normal circumstances they'd be at the top of the Celebratory Brews list, but I ran out of space. One thing that deserves special note is Thompson's individual effort to string out a stretch play while being blocked by a fullback and tackle, and still make the stop during UW's second possession of the Second half. He was the only thing between UW and a big gain, and he made things happen. Quietly, these guys played great.

The Booing: Meh. Everyone's chimed in on this. Brian hates it. Varsity Blue's annoyed. M Victors didn't like. Maize and Blue Nation had an anurysm over it. On the other hand, Michigan Sports Center and I have owned up to being among those who voiced their displeasure. To each their own. In hindsight I wish I'd kept my emotions a little better in check and not done it, but I don't blame people who did. That was the worst played half of football Michigan's ever played in the Big House, and to paraphrase Chris Rock, "I'm not saying you should've done it, but I understand."

Block M in the Student Section: Wooooooo!

via mvictors.com

Kevin Koger: Welcome to the show kid. From the looks of things Koger will be Michigan's starting tight end for the foreseeable future. Mike Massey tries, God bless him, but unfortunately isn't as good as the effort he puts forth. Carson Butler, much to my reget, can't stay out of anyone's doghouse and was benched for the game, despite suiting up. Blocking wise Butler is probably the best tightend on the team and he certainly adds an offensive deminision you love, but if Koger can get open like he did Saturday Butler's playing time may go out the window until he proves he can stay out of trouble and in the good graces of his coach.

Greg Mathews: Good and bad day for #13. Bad fumble on his punt return. Great and crucial catches throughout the second half.

Stevie Brown and Charles Stewart: Good game boys. Keep it up.

A Comeback for the Ages: Michigan Football Rallies from 19 Down to Top Wisconsin 27-25

Maize n Brew Dave — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:19:41 -0000

via mikedesimone.com

Maturity is something that, by definition, comes with age. It's something you get as you go through life's little challenges and emerge from them with a little scar to remind you of the things you're really not supposed to do. Maturity takes time. I mean it's not like you can learn what to do and what not to do in an afternoon. You grow into things. You take your knocks. You eventually emerge from it stronger, and sometimes victorious. But it doesn't happen in an afternoon, does it?

Saturday afternoon started the same way the last three have. Fumbles. Mistakes. Fumbles. Mental errors. Fumbles. Poor play calling. Fumbles. So, as Michigan left the field at the end of the first quarter, the Michigan faithful, men and women, rose to their feet and voiced their displeasure. Could you blame them? Five turnovers. One first down. Negative seven yards passing. And the fifth turnover was an end of the half interception that nearly found its way back into Michigan's endzone. And as the chorus of boos rained down on the field, much to my surprise, I found myself riding this wave of frustration and anger and let loose a good hearty "Boo!"

It was a first for me. I'd seen worse beatings inflicted on Michigan during an opening half, last year's Oregon game for instance. 2002's Iowa/Brad Banks' delivered butt-whuppin'. This year's Yackety Sax in South Bend. But as I glanced back through my treo at my thoughts on the first half, I'd used more expletives than a longshoreman's convention and used the word "criminal" in describing the play calling more than once. I wasn't mad at the kids on the field. I was mad at the situation they'd been put in. And, well, honestly, I was a little mad at the kids who kept fumbling. Human nature being what it is, right? How could we spend two weeks "getting better" and do the same damn thing we'd done against Notre Dame? Why was our offense so damn inept?

Seriously? The offense was a disaster. Wisconsin stacked the line, keying on any movement by McGuffie or anyone else in the backfield. It was as if the two coaches were in a staring match and Michigan kept blinking, determined to not blink first and run the ball until it found success. Student body left. Student body right. Those were Michigan's two plays for the first half. That and the 15 yard scamper by Stephen Threet that resulted in him both getting plastered by Wisconsin's safety and losing the ball. Michigan's passing game was strictly horizontal, even more so after Threet sailed every down field pass into geostationary orbit. The running game was predictable. The line was getting beat. Nothing was going right. It was as if DeBord never left. And what the hell was with the constant fumbling?

via mikedesimone.com

Buried in the specactular, steaming turd the offense left on the field was a diamond of a performance by the defense. Despite spending the entire first half on the field the defense held Wisconsin to just 19 points. 19 points when three Wisconsin drives started inside the Michigan 40, and their own touchdown drive of the first started at the Wisconsin 40 yard line. For the first time this season Stevie Brown and Charles Stewart weren't just serviceable, they were actually pretty good. Even more important, Jonas Mouton was a force at Linebacker. Making plays in the backfield, pressuring the quarterback, tackling and wrapping up. And the line, oooh boy, the line, was just awesome. Both Jamison and Graham were in Evridge's face the entire day and the Taylor/Martin/Johnson rotation was simply dominant against a line that they were giving up an average of 30 pounds to. More on this later.

But defense wins championships and offense wins games, and without any signs of life from the offense when Michigan went into the locker room everyone in my section looked as though they'd just seen Seven Bells not only euthanized but thrown on the barbeque.

Unbeknowst to those of us in the stands or at home, the defense not only controlled the first half, but the locker room as well. At halftime, apparently before the coaches reached the locker room, Terrance Taylor went off. Not-fit-for-print went off. He teed off on everyone, challenging them. In my head I imagine it went something like this:

Reggie Dunlop: Goddamn lard-ass Barkley Donaldson, I'm tellin' you he jumped us!
Steve Hanson: [nodding head] Mm huh.
Reggie Dunlop: Gloves off, stick down, no warning, he challenged the Chiefs!
Steve Hanson: Called us names!
Reggie Dunlop: Called us names! But Dave was there.
Steve Hanson: Dave's a killer!
Johnny Upton: Dave's a mess.
Reggie Dunlop: But Dave's out. Who's gonna take his place?
Ned Braden: Is the answer Jesus?
Reggie Dunlop: [looks at the Hanson brothers] Ok guys. Show us what you got.

via mikedesimone.com

Whatever he did, it worked. Michigan's offense was entirely different in the second half. Maybe it was effort. Maybe it was emotion. Maybe it was the fact Michigan had to throw the ball vertically. But things were different out of the locker room.

The most notable difference was Stephen Threet. After his first half performance I was fairly certain we'd see Nick Sheridan in the game. In hindsight there's no way in hell Sheridan would've been put in, but it's difficult to describe the level of despair that settled in following his first half performance. But there he was. And he looked pretty good.

His passes were where they were supposed to be. His deep balls were Henne-esque (and I mean that when I say it), and he managed the game within himself rather than trying to win it with every throw. A couple of quick sideline passes to Mathews and Brown and Threet had finally found his rhythm. And then, after a bulldozer performance by Kevin Grady on 4&1 picked up five, Threet lofted the perfect 20 yard pass to a streaking Kevin Koger over two linebackers right down the middle on his third read. It was an incredible thing to watch, really. Even from the other side of the field I could see his head turn from read to read, finally settling on Koger. It may be hyperbole to say you saw a quarterback grow up before your eyes, but that may be what we saw.

Then the defense stepped up again, forcing two punts in quick succession and giving the offense the opportunity to make something happen. They did. If there's one thing the Michigan coaching staff isn't calling enough of, it's the deep pass. Threet has an amazing ability to put the ball into a bucket 40 yards downfield. On the same series he launched to moon scrapers that found the hands of his receivers 30 plus yards away only to have one dropped on a circus catch and the other batted away by excellent coverage. Even though they fell incomplete, they left Wisconsin just enough time to do something stupid, like nail Threet two seconds after his throw and pick up a personal foul for roughing the passer. After that, it was Threet making things happen, even when things went wrong. A couple of drops and a third and long later, Threet scrambled for a first down on an obviously broken play. It was his show now.

The next two plays were all Threet. On a quick read he found Minor to his right on a short pass that went for 11. And then, obviously arguing with the play calling, Threet gave the sideline the bird (though it had to be a signal or something, but it sure looked like the ole' eff you), caught Wisconsin in an obvious blitz, checked off to a run, and Brandon Minor did the rest, sprinting 36 yards to paydirt right before my eyes.

via mikedesimone.com

Minor's run was beautiful to watch. Sitting in the corner of the endzone has tremendous advantages. For one, it gives you and excellent vantage point to observe the whole field, including the holds, gaps and lateral issues you can't really see on TV or at a direct or perpendicular view. Second, when Minor blew threw the gap in the line and broke right for the endzone, he was running right at us. Legs churning, eyes darting for the safety he knew he could beat, showing us why we got so excited about him as a freshman/sophomore, and why we expect so much from him today. When he crossed the goal line, highsteping away from a diving safety, all of a sudden it was real. Michigan could run this spread thing we'd heard so much about. Michigan could win this game. Some how, some way, despite the half from hell, Michigan was the better team and they were playing like they spotted Wisconsin 19 points just to make it fair.

A play later this suspicion was confirmed. For some reason offensive coordinators feel like it's a good idea to keep challenging Donovan Warren. I haven't figured out why. Even on a three step drop, when Warren is in tight coverage throwing at him is simply asking for trouble. Seemingly oblivious to this, on Wisconsin's first play after the Minor touchdown, Evridge took the snap at UW 20, took three steps back and fired a bullet to his left. It was a good pass. Really. It sure looked it. the only problem was Warren read the play and got the the ball and the reciever at the same time, deflecting the ball skyward and eventually into the happy hands of Johnny Thompson.

All of a sudden, there was Thompson, surrounded by a sea of blue jerseys running right at the same spot Brandon Minor had recently christened as comeback corner. In front of him was the entire Michigan defensive line, looking for someone to block and/or inflict pain on. It was like the whole thing was in slow motion. As Thompson dodged the first defender, Taylor lined up an offensive lineman and drove him halfway to Philadelphia. Behind this wall of Thompson rumbled into the front right corner of the endzone, setting off jubilation in the stands.

Good lord, we're winning.

The next possession for Wisconsin ended nearly as quickly. Three short plays and a punt to the Michigan 23. Everyone was thinking the same thing. We're up a point 20-19. We're running the ball.

A year ago this would've meant Hart running into a line stacked with Badgers three times before punting the ball away. Maybe after the first half when Michigan showed no ability to disguise its runs or any ability to move the ball in an unconventional way, Wisconsin thought they'd figured things out. That's when Threet showed us he's more than capable of making the other team pay for underestimating him and his offense. On the first play following the punt, Rodriguez sent in Minor, seemingly signifying that Michigan was going to run the ball down Wisconsin's throat and chew up the clock. You could see the linebackers key on Minor as Threet went into his cadence and lock onto him as he darted to the right following the snap, taking a quick step toward and away from Threet behind a wall of blockers.

Only Minor didn't have the ball.

via mikedesimone.com

Reading the over aggressiveness of the defense, faking the hand off to Minor, Threet tucked the ball under his right arm and darted through the open gap vacated by the linebackers and weakside DE. This type of manuever you expect to gain 10 or 15 yards with a guy like Threet in the ball game. But just like with the passing game, Threet showed everyone he's got a lot more in his system than measureables. With a quick first step, Threet seemed to be at full speed by his second stride, he blasted through the linebacker contain before the LB even completed his dive at Threet's feet, and simply outran the Wisconsin safety for a 58 yard gain before he was finally hauled down by a cornerback. Describing the visual of a 6'6" quarterback, whose pre-season mobility was likened to office furniture, outrun Wisconsin's hyped linebackers and safeties is as difficult as it was remarkable. Threet may not be Pat White, but goddammit he is one competitive sonofabitch who is full of surprises.

Five plays later Sam McGuffie, who'd been kept in check all game, rumbled into the endzone behind increasingly impressive roadgrader Mark Moundros. All of a sudden it's 27-19 and everyone, coaches, players, fans, and more importantly, Wisconsin, knew Michigan was a legitimate football team. 27 unanswered points will do that to you.

Then it was time for the refs to try to screw Michigan out of a victory and for the Defense to say to Hell with it and win it anyway. Despite the referees awarding a first down on a juggled, trapped first down catch and finding Wisconsin on 6 yard line, Brandon Graham and his buddies stiffened and knocked the holy hell out of Evridge forcing a fumble that Taylor recovered.

To Wisconsin's credit, they forced a punt, then caught Michigan off guard on several plays, before beating Morgan Trent to pull within 2 points. On the two point conversion somehow Brandon Harrison got matched up on Travis Beckum, and Wisconsin seemingly tied the game with 14 seconds to go. But this time the officials got one right. Bekum lined up improperly, negating his game tying catch. The next play, negative five yards later, saw Michigan in a three man rush and Max Martin beat a double team to smash Evridge just as he released the ball, forcing it high and harmlessly into the stands.

Then, it was over.

A kneel down by Threet followed by a jumping chest bump with Mathews, and Michigan's greatest home comeback was complete.

Everyone in our section stayed. Shaking. Unbelieving but believing at the same time. No one could believe the turnaround. No one could believe that the team we saw during the first period was the same team we saw in the second. But we'd seen it with our own eyes. We'd seen the comeback. We'd seen a young team mature in 30 minutes and dominate the 9th or 8th ranked team in the country. Hell, we'd seen them post 27 points in 18 minutes.

From a todler to a full grown team in 30 minutes. That doesn't happen, does it? We'll know for sure next week when Illinois comes calling. But for a day, we saw a team grow up before our eyes and pull off the greatest comeback in Michigan Stadium history.

via mikedesimone.com

All photos courtesy the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Wolverine Photo, the Associated Press and Mike Desimone, who put all these together.