Jabrill Peppers (image via SB Nation)
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Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Jabrill Peppers. This is a bit disingenuous, because more of Peppers against Rutgers is a bit superfluous. He’s just such a dynamic player that busted plays turn into 63-yard runs, naked bootlegs turn into 7-yard touchdown runs, and penalty-doomed punt returns still look like highlights of the year. Again, Michigan might not need him against Illinois and their ilk, but 3 carries for 74 yards and 2 touchdowns is pretty impressive production for a defensive player. The one read option play where he gave to Ty Isaac probably should have been a keep by the QB, but otherwise, he was electric as a Wildcat signal caller. This is why I’ve said in the past that Peppers needs to play more offense. He can take ignite a team immediately.
Hit the jump for the rest of the awards.
Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Shane Morris. Morris is clearly the #3 guy, and while I actually like using him in certain packages, I don’t think he should be trading series in the second half of a blowout with John O’Korn. O’Korn needs the reps and the timing with the rest of the offense. He’ll be the one taking over the team if Speight really struggles or gets hurt. Morris is inaccurate and got a bit lucky that a wildly short pick-six slant he threw was overturned by instant replay. At the same time, he’s a hustler who tries to get in front of toss sweeps and made a valiant effort to chase down the interceptor, blowing up a blocker at the goal line in his attempt. I just don’t think he has a future as Michigan’s quarterback, so playing for 50% of the second half seemed pointless.
Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Josh Metellus. I’ve heard good things about Metellus coming out of practice, and he came out to lead the team in tackles with 6. He also got credit for a sack. That’s not bad for a freshman that nobody was fond of except ESPN. Granted, he was playing with the backups and against Rutgers late in a blowout, but he came up strong in run support and had a couple good hits. Saturday’s performance should earn him a few more reps going forward, even if only in certain game situations.
Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . the starters. This is a cop-out, but nobody deserves to get demoted. It was really nice watching the backups get a chance to play, including guys like walk-on Mike Wroblewski. The starters dominated Rutgers, who gave up. And then the backups came in to finish off the game. I hope we see some more of that this season so the overworked linebackers, safeties, and corners can get breathers. Michigan needs to build depth and experience at those positions for next season.
Play of the game . . . I have two:
- 1a) The most outstanding play of the game was the Jabrill Peppers punt return for a touchdown that was called back due to an unnecessary block in the back by Delano Hill. Peppers split a couple coverage guys, bounced off a tackle, spun, and ducked his way to a touchdown. It was spectacular. The best part was the Matrix-like move where Peppers spun and then, even though his back was turned to the defender, had the instinct to duck under a high attempt at a shoulder tackle.
- 1b) But if that can’t count because it technically didn’t go into the box score, then I’ll go with Peppers’s 63-yard run. The offense stagnated in the first quarter due to rain, poor blocking on the left side, and injures to left tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty and Ben Braden. Insert Peppers, who ran a zone read to the left. The trouble was that sophomore Karan Higdon ran right, which hung Peppers out to dry. Like a veteran QB, Peppers didn’t panic but tucked the ball and ran left, outrunning a confused Rutgers defense for a 63-yard gain, snaking his way past a couple tacklers on the way. He eventually got tracked down by safety Anthony Scioffi, but Michigan punched it in for a touchdown a few plays later.
MVP of the game . . . Jabrill Peppers. There’s no way around it. Not only was he a human highlight reel, but he also ignited Michigan’s offense. In fact, he was probably more valuable on offense than either defense or special teams, his more traditional roles. His offensive touches went like this:
- 63-yard run on a busted zone read option
- 7-yard TD run on a naked bootleg
- 4-yard TD run on a zone read counter
Toss in a somewhat demoralizing punt return TD (negated due to penalty), some sure hands fielding punts in the rain, 2 tackles, half a sack, and a hit on the QB, and it’s really no contest. I’m guessing it was also a good recruiting tool to have New Jersey high school legend Peppers show off in front of his home-state crowd.
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I’d like to add one more thing, a coaching staff that shows an attention to detail that is far beyond what we have seen in recent years.
Whether you agree going for two was necessary or not, when Moores ran that conversion in it came as a result of a coaching staff that saw the opportunity in Rutgers defensive formation, recognized it and turned it loose.
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Truth. Especially impressive that they get the team to consistently execute while throwing new plays at them each week.
I do think that sacrifices execution of the base offense, but it also hinders defenses preparing to stop the base offense.
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After Pepper’s in general, along with Gedeon’s hit in the backfield, my favorite play of the game was Asiasi on an Evan’s run. Assisi motions to the bottom of the screen and sets as a slot almost on the line of scrimmage. On his first step, he gets a shove, doubling with whoever was playing LT, releases and on his next two steps he gets his hands on Mike and puts him on skates right out of the play. to the extent that this is possible blocking a football play, he pretty much single handedly blew a hole open for a 50 ish yard run. You have to love this kid.
In a similar way, Hill was just very good all night at finding guys in space to hit.
I might be mistaken on this one because of all the slow motion replays, reinforcing the notion, but I thought that the more sophisticated blocking schemes were starting to be trotted out in this game. I thought there was more pulling and misdirection going on among the large bodies than we have seen so far this season.
Rutgers sucks at tackling and then quit trying. I can’t say i blame them much on the last thing. The first thing is on Ash.
I thought the announcers were lame, I laughed out loud at the part about Harbaugh “quietly” building a competitive program.
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I really like the white uniforms. watching Pepper’s zig zagging all over the place made me think of this guy.
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fe%2Fec%2FGordon_Bell_vs._Michigan_State_(1975).png&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FGordon_Bell_(American_football)&docid=BN68x-lrYNIwoM&tbnid=hNFVwAq90GIKzM%3A&w=1174&h=790&client=safari&bih=604&biw=1098&ved=0ahUKEwihgJaFwtDPAhWi0YMKHTTWDlEQMwgcKAAwAA&iact=mrc&uact=8
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That didn’t work well at all.
This guy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Bell_(American_football)
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Then ….
I think a problem that people have with Speight is a function of his throwing motion, which doesn’t always inspire great confidence. Whether he is or not, it frequently looks like he’s aiming it down the field. I think sometimes that he is, but that it looks far worse than it really is. In any event, he frequently looks a little odd releasing the football.
I think another issue has to do with people thinking this is gonna be Ruddock 2.0. It ain’t. What is forgotten in the conversation about Speight is that he does not have a gaggle of BIG starts at another program prior to ever really showing up on our radar. Harbaugh is to my way of thinking a well advanced QB guru, but he does not possess a magic wand. I refer everyone to three year old conversations on this site about sophomore defensive linemen and how usually they get better as they mature.
i thought Speight displayed a unique physical talent on the ball Chesson laid out for in the end zone. The pocket gets iffy from the sides, he doesn’t step up, but rather takes off running forward and in so doing threatens the line of scrimmage. I haven’t had time to hunt down the play, but I will. My opinion is that he delivered that ball off of his front foot. Regardless of his feet, that’s a tough throw. He missed on a nearly identical ball, i think earlier, it might have been later. I’m more impressed if the hit came after the miss ….. demonstrates that he knows he can do it.
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Speight has good touch but lacks consistency. Saying his accuracy is bad misses the point IMO. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes he’s off. Part of that is in his length and arm-motion.
If this is an issue or not will be shown in how he reacts when the heat is on. So far, he seems to get better as games go along, I think. The big pass to Darboh is hopefully a hint that he handles late-game pressure well.
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“I hope we see some more of that this season so the overworked linebackers, safeties, and corners can get breathers. Michigan needs to build depth and experience at those positions for next season.”
AMEN!!!
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– A competent Metellus would be a massive win because I think the only reason he was offerend was to lock down Devin Bush
– Morris is a Russell Bellomy with a strong arm, whether he is simply a horrible passer or is super unlucky, I get a feeling of impending doom every time he looks to throw. It’s a real shame because he loved Michigan and has a cannon arm, but being a competent QB in not in the cards
– If Newsome can return fully healthy next year, and Bredeson makes progress, there shouldn’t be much drop off, if any, in OL play. The second OL unit looks decent right now, and the best 2 linemen from that group should make a very solid line with Cole, Newsome and Bredeson.
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I think it rarely works out that people “only” get offered to get an elite recruit. It may shift the balance towards an offer for a marginal guy, but usually said recruit is a pretty decent player. All reports have been pretty good on Gil too. Dwumfour looks solid for a freshman and was a PSU recruit — not just for Gary. Adrian Witty was reported to be offered just to get Denard, but he turned into a very good college player albeit at Cincinnati.
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I think you’re underestimating how good Kalis and Magnuson are right now. Newsome and Kugler/Ulizio/Runyan/Dawson aren’t going to replace that even if Bredeson replaces Braden adequately.
Especially since Newsome isn’t getting any reps for a long while and won’t be much better than he was in September.
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I think that Cole and Newsome will be better next year than they are this year, Bredeson should get close to Braden’s level, while whoever replaces Kalis and Magnuson will be a downgrade. Overall though, it will be a line that will be coached for 3 years by Drevno and that will show up in their performance. It may take them a bit of time to gell, but I am not expecting much dropoff.
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I think that’s a bit wishful thinking on Newsome, he worked his ass off this past summer to gain weight to get up to 318 lbs (he was around 300 last year as a true freshman). He isn’t going to be ready to play spring ball and it seems his injury is pretty serious. If he gets back by the time fall camp rolls around, he will have lost a lot of what he gained in the past, he will have to work really hard to get it back. I think it may benefit him to take a RS year next year, but if not, I think it might be until his senior season when you see him living up to his potential again. Cole on the other hand is a senior who started as a true freshman, he will be awesome next year!
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I don’t agree that Newsome will take a step back. He can still work on strength gains and mental elements of the game while he rehabs. There’s plenty to learn without playing. It will slow him down relative to having played, but I don’t think he’ll be a worse player. I expect him to be about the same, a little wiser and stronger.
I think it’s optimistic to expect Bredeson to play at Braden’s level (or at least where we think Braden will be when he is healthy and based on where he was last year – it seems like he’s still coming around). Not impossible, but optimistic.
Cole will be better, but I’m not sure how far off his ceiling he is right now. I can’t remember any issues with snaps and other than some trouble against Colorado, he seems to be consistently effective. He’s never going to be a mauler.
Beyond Newsome and Cole the other starting spots are unknown. Bredeson seems extremely likely to start at OG. I would call the left side of the line about equivalent to this year’s left side of the line in overall effectiveness.
That leaves the right side Magnuson and Kalis, who are playing at all-conference levels. Lots of candidates to replace them, but if we land any of these 5-star/high 4-star recruits that we are competing with Alabama to land, I could see them start over guys like Kugler, Dawson, and JBB.
Onwenu is clearly in the mix here too, and he could be an impact player at OG. But depending on how the recruiting class goes, he may also be called over to D.
Best guess at the moment:
LT: Newsome/JBB
LG: Bredeson/Kugler
OC: Cole/Runyan/Ruiz*
RG: Onwenu/Kugler/Spanellis
RT: Wilson*/Ulizio
I feel optimistic about OL recruiting with such a good season underway and believe we’ll also land an instant impact NT to backup Mone. That’ll allow Onwenu to focus on offense,with maybe some moonlighting in goalline D packages.
I did not forget about Dawson – who seems like a candidate to move on. I think Kugler will focus on OG so that Ruiz/Runyan can battle to be Cole’s replacement. If he stays at OC he well exhaust his eligibility being Cole’s backup.
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Good post. I’ve come around to the Peppers on offense argument. There’s a lot of value in Heisman campaign since so much of CFB is about perception and hype. Moreover, forcing other teams to spend energy on preparing for a zone-read package with Peppers is great when it’s nothing like the rest of the offense.
Ditto for the Shane Morris package, which has the ancillary benefit of keeping a 3rd string senior involved and invested. If the other team has to waste time on preparing for what happens when #7 enters the game – that’s time they won’t spend on defending jet sweeps, FB traps, and the base offense. Meanwhile Wilton Speight can focus on his plays without worrying about that stuff.
You only live once. You only have a defense loaded with NFL-bound seniors like this every 20 years or so.
The benefits of Peppers on O outweigh the risk of an injury.
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The only part I quibble with is Morris. I don’t think it matters who handed off to the RBs. I believe both QBs combined for all of 3 passes. That’s not real meaningful for 2 guys who have started games in the past.
Definitely agree with the starters coming out sooner against Illinois and (optimistically) MSU. As soon as the game is secure I’d like to see the backups rotate in. Harbaugh seems a bit conservative about this, but I’d at least like to see, say, the backup LBs come in first.
Important to not read too much into performance against a demoralized Rutgers squad, but Mettelus was encouraging. I feel a lot better about the Kinnel, Hudson, Mettelus safety group next season than I did in August.
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I was wondering this morning if your see less of this guy on offense guy would be Shane Morris. After the almost pick six, I commented to my son that that would be the last time we saw him, probably forever. Then, dang, he was back! I don’t detect any improvement in him since his freshman year. Arm like a cannon, but more like the first rockets … could go in any direction, terrifying, and as likely to injure friendly troops as the enemy!
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One more thing and then I quit, I swear it.
I think it’s outstanding that Thunder mentions Anthony Scioffi by name. That kid didn’t track Pepper’s down, he ran him down. After I got past, “Whoa!!!!!” and then “Holy S$#^, look at that kid haul.” I conclude that he has more heart than most of the rest of the Rutger’s program combined. He deserves his mention and then some.
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Yeah, that kid had wheels, and took a good angle. And to think, in a year while Peppers will be a Top 10 NFL draft pick (deservedly), Scioffi will be running a deli (which, honestly, is good for him — even good or decent college players don’t make the pros so you need to plan ahead, http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2015/09/qa_with_anthony_cioffi_the_rutgers_safety_plans_to.html)
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For the record I liked McKeon and Metellus. Not a surprise to me.
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