Tag: Grant Perry

Michigan 36, Cincinnati 14

Ty Isaac (image via USA Today)

The elephant in the room . . . could probably throw a football just as well as Wilton Speight. I kid, I kid, but those expecting a significantly better game against the lowly Cincinnati Bearcats should have been disappointed. Speight was 17/29 for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns, but there were a lot of bad misses, usually in the form of overthrows. Perhaps worse than the overthrows were the two fumbles, one when Speight mishandled a handoff to Ty Isaac and another when there was a botched jet sweep handoff to Kekoa Crawford. The handoff to Isaac was 100% on Speight, and the timing/mechanics of the Crawford handoff seemed to be off, though Crawford might deserve some blame there, too. Either way, the quarterback play wasn’t stellar. He did hit a long TD to Crawford and then hit Grant Perry over the middle for a 33-yard touchdown catch-and-run, but his footwork and mechanics on short and intermediate throws are all out of whack. How much can that be improved when the guy is an old redshirt junior in his third year in the system?

Hit the jump for more on Saturday’s win.

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Michigan vs. Florida Awards

Chase Winovich and Noah Furbush (image via GBMWolverine)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Ty Isaac. Isaac averaged 10.4 yards per carry on 11 carries, giving him 114 yards on the day. He had 50% as many carries as starter Chris Evans, who averaged just 3.5 yards/carry, and Karan Higdon averaged 4.0 yards/carry on 7 chances. Isaac had the hot hand on Saturday, and some observers have said he’s in better shape now than he ever has been. I’m done expecting Isaac to be a breakout star, but I sure wouldn’t mind a few more performances like this.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Grant Perry. This has less to do with his performance on the field than his behavior on and off the field. The guy faced felony charges in the off-season, and on his first time touching the ball during the year, he spun the ball and earned his team a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Did he learn his lesson? Nope. He spun the ball again later in the game. I’m not saying the off-the-field and on-the-field things are related, but maybe he needs some more tough love to help the messages sink in.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . David Long. It’s too early to call Long injury-prone, but he was injured and redshirted in 2016. Then he missed some time this spring with a nagging injury. And he exited this game early with a leg injury. He seems like a guy who’s in need of a steady diet of steak and whole milk.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Brandon Watson. Directly related to the Long situation, I don’t think Watson is a starting-caliber cornerback and he could be taken advantage of by teams who game plan for him and have the right athletes. He’s a stop-gap guy, and I think it’s concerning if he’s a long-term starter. It helps greatly that Michigan has a very good pass rush, which mitigates some issues on the back end.

Play of the game . . . Chase Winovich’s strip sack for a Noah Furbush touchdown. There are a few options for this honor, such as a couple Ty Isaac runs, a Brandon Watson pass breakup, a Josh Metellus tackle in the open field, a Wilton Speight deep ball to Nick Eubanks, etc. But the Winovich sack of Florida QB Malik Zaire sealed the game for the Wolverines, and Furbush did a great job of corralling the ball before it could trickle out of the back of the end zone.

MVP of the game . . . Ty Isaac and Devin Bush, Jr. I can’t really choose between the two. The offense struggled to move the ball through the air, and Isaac averaged a first down every time he touched the ball. He also made a couple clutch plays to keep drives alive. On the other side of the ball, Bush made 7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. He was all over the field and did a great job in his first game as a starting middle linebacker. He almost got booted from the game on the first defensive play when he was investigated for targeting, but luckily he stayed in the game to help Michigan win.

2017 Season Countdown: #42 Grant Perry

Grant Perry (image via Deadspin)

Name: Grant Perry
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 196 lbs.
High school: Bloomfield Hills (MI) Brother Rice
Position: Wide receiver
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #9
Last year: I ranked Perry #32 and said he would be the starting slot receiver with 20 catches for 190 yards and 2 TDs. He made 13 catches for 183 yards and 1 TD.
TTB Rating: 71

Perry took a tiny step forward as a sophomore in 2016. A fairly reliable slot option and a decent blocker, he made 13 catches (down from 14 in 2015) but raised his total yards from 128 to 183 and his yards per catch from 9.1 to 14.1. He had a 54-yard catch-and-run against Colorado, and 49 yards with a career-high 4 catches against Ohio State. That’s not a great year, but it’s solid for a slot guy who plays on a team with a bunch of tight end options.

But Perry didn’t make headlines for his receiving abilities. No, his headlines were earned in East Lansing, where he allegedly tried to cut in line, got in a scuffle, and tried to run from the police. An officer was injured, and felony charges were filed. Altogether, it wasn’t an extremely harmful incident – except to Perry’s reputation.

It was unclear this off-season whether Perry would even be on the team in the fall. He reached a plea deal and avoided a permanent felony conviction, so he is now expected to return. But in the meantime, Donovan Peoples-Jones took a shot at snaring Perry’s #9 jersey and a couple other players tried to stake their claim for the slot receiver job. Perry, Eddie McDoom, Nate Johnson, Oliver Martin, and others will try to play in the slot, but Perry is the most proven receiver. He will probably face some sort of suspension for a week or two before hitting the field, but beyond that, he could be Michigan’s #2 receiver. The Wolverines are relying on freshmen and other unproven guys, and he might end up being Wilton Speight’s most trusted target.

Prediction: Starting slot receiver after suspension; 20 catches, 225 yards, 2 TDs

Michigan vs. Maryland Awards

Tyree Kinnel

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Grant Perry. Perry is Michigan’s fourth-leading receiver by yards, though he has just 6 receptions on the year. However, he has been a reliable target at slot receiver for both Jake Rudock and Wilton Speight over the past year and a half, and he’s a decent blocker. Unfortunately, he found himself in some trouble over the bye week a few weeks ago, and he appears to be working himself out of the doghouse. Michigan didn’t need him on Saturday, but it would be nice to have all options available down the stretch.

Hit the jump for more on Saturday’s win over Maryland.

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What exactly is targeting?

Joe Julius is the answer to the question: What would Jared Lorenzen be like if he grew up in London?

Targeting is a penalty that has gained more and more attention in recent years, as leagues try to prevent head injuries in order to preserve players’ health and the game itself. But a lot of people still have no idea what targeting is. It came up in Michigan’s game against Penn State on Saturday, when PSU linebacker Brandon Smith was booted for targeting wide receiver Grant Perry. It came up again later in the game when some Michigan fans thought kick returner Jourdan Lewis was targeted by PSU kicker Joe “Big Toe” Julius.

Hit the jump for a discussion of the rule and some examples.

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