East West Shrine Game

Tag: Junior Hemingway


21Jan 2012
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East West Shrine Game

Tight end Kevin Koger will be playing in next Saturday’s East West Shrine Game

The East West Shrine Game will be played on January 21, 2012, at 4:00 p.m. and will be aired on the NFL Network.  Only seniors are invited to the game, and it’s typically a chance for under-the-radar prospects or kids who have “something left to prove” to show their talents on a national stage and in front of some pro coaches and scouts.

Participants who might be of interest to Michigan fans:

EAST
Robert Blanton – CB – Notre Dame
Danny Coale – WR – Virginia Tech
B.J. Cunningham – WR – Michigan State
Gary Gray – CB – Notre Dame
Joe Long – OT – Wayne State
Nick Sukay – LB – Penn State

WEST
Miles Burris – LB – San Diego State
Austin Cassidy – S – Nebraska
Chris Greenwood – CB – Albion
Junior Hemingway – WR – Michigan*
Aaron Henry – S – Wisconsin
Marcel Jones – OT – Nebraska
Kevin Koger – TE – Michigan
Al Netter – OT – Northwestern
Dan Persa – QB – Northwestern
Shaun Prater – CB – Iowa
Markus Zusevics – OG – Iowa

*Inactive due to hamstring injury

4Jan 2012
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Sugar Bowl: Michigan 23, Virginia Tech 20

Troy Woolfolk’s helmet is thrust in the air under a downpour of confetti
(image via BTN)

Wow, that was an exciting game.  And not in a good way . . . except for the fact that Michigan won.  That was Michigan’s ugliest win of the season and it took some lucky calls to go the Wolverines’ way.

The offense disappeared. Yikes. Denard Robinson had 13 carries for 13 yards.  Fitzgerald Toussaint had 13 carries for 30 yards.  Altogether, Michigan ran the ball 30 times for 56 yards, or 1.9 yards per attempt.  Robinson completed 9/21 passes for 117 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 pick.  It was a bad night.  As I was laying out the Virginia Tech position previews over the past couple weeks, people kept commenting on how I was overrating the Hokies.  They are pretty good.  Maybe Michigan fans will understand that now.

Michigan got lucky.  The guys in the winged helmets played hard-nosed football at times last night, but ultimately, they got very  lucky on numerous occasions.  Two Jayron Hosley interceptions were negated, one because the ball hit the ground and one because he yanked on Jeremy Gallon’s jersey and got called for pass interference; he almost had another pick when he jumped a Junior Hemingway hitch route.  Free safety Eddie Whitley let two interceptions go right through his hands, including Hemingway’s 45-yard touchdown catch.  On top of Robinson’s one interception, he almost threw four  more . . . and on only 21 attempts.  Aside from the near-interceptions, Hokies wide receiver Danny Coales caught what might have been the game-winning touchdown pass, only to have it overturned because the nose of the ball hit the ground; it was probably the right call, but it could have very easily remained a touchdown after the replay booth took a look at it.

We’re going to miss Junior Hemingway.  That guy doesn’t get the ball very often, but he makes huge plays. He only had 2 catches on the night, but they went for 63 total yards . . . and 2 touchdowns.  Nobody else even sniffed the endzone.  Roy Roundtree makes some big catches once in awhile, but he hasn’t been nearly the receiver that he was in 2010.  Michigan needs a youngster to step up next year, whether it will be a redshirt sophomore Jerald Robinson or a freshman Jehu Chesson.  Hemingway was the obvious pick for Sugar Bowl MVP, at least on Michigan’s side.

We missed are going to miss David Molk.  I started off the game being extremely frustrated.  Starting center David Molk, who happened to win the Rimington Trophy this season for being the nation’s best player at his position, sat out the beginning of the game after injuring his lower leg during pregame.  Backup Rocko Khoury combined with Robinson to have two bad snaps on Michigan’s first three plays.  Both snaps were catchable but slightly off target, and the second one was a bullet to boot.  I can’t put all the blame on either player, but when you have one starter for the entire season and even up to pregame of the bowl game, it’s somewhat understandable that there will be some snap issues when the backup has to start the bowl game.  Molk returned after the first offensive series and the snap issues disappeared, although he looked gimpy for the entire game.  Michigan’s lack of a running game may have been partly due to Molk’s injury, but I’ll have to watch the game again to see what the real issues were.

That’s what true athletes look like in the secondary.  Michigan lined up in Cover 0 and got torched.  Virginia lined up in Cover 0 and got sacks.  The Wolverines’ cornerbacks and safeties just aren’t fast enough and athletic enough to lock up with decent receivers on a regular basis.  It’s frustrating to watch, but J.T. Floyd, Blake Countess, Troy Woolfolk, Jordan Kovacs, Courtney Avery, and Thomas Gordon aren’t the same caliber of athletes that the Hokies put out there.  Countess is going to be good, I believe, but he’s hit a rough patch here at the end of the season.  Watching Hosley, Whitley, Antoine Exum, and Kyle Fuller fly around the field was a bit of a wake-up call and shows how far Michigan has to go.  Hosley alone had 4 pass breakups.

Everyone’s expectations for Frank Clark just doubled.  The freshman defensive end made a highlight-reel interception when he leaped to knock down a Logan Thomas pass and came down with the pick.  I mentioned in the preview that I thought he would play quite a bit with defensive tackle Will Heininger out, and that came to fruition.  He seemed like a man without a position when he came out of high school, but it looks like he’ll be a good one for the next few years.

Tackling was an issue.  Michigan’s tackling has been so good this year that I’m going to assume this game was a bit of a fluke, but Michigan missed numerous tackles.  And some of the guys who were whiffing are normally very good tacklers, like Jordan Kovacs and Kenny Demens.  It’s understandable to whiff on David Wilson or get run over by the 6’5″, 254 lb. Logan Thomas, but Michigan was missing tackles on Danny Coales, Josh Oglesby, etc.  It was a bad time to have a poor night of tackling, but luckily it didn’t hurt the Wolverines in the win column.

Red zone defense was huge.  For whatever reason, Michigan really buckles down in the red zone.  As the announcers mentioned last night, Michigan was #2 in the Big Ten and #4 in the country at stopping opponents in the red zone.  Virginia Tech had long drive after long drive and ended the game with 377 yards (Michigan had 184), 22 first downs (Michigan had 12), and 76 offensive snaps (Michigan had 52) . . . but it doesn’t matter so much when you have to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns.

Brendan Gibbons to the rescue.  I don’t think anyone – including me – expected Gibbons to be so reliable this year.  But in the Sugar Bowl he went 3/3 on field goals (from 24, 37, and 39 yards out), including the game-winning 37-yarder, and 2/2 on extra points.  And for the entire year, he went 13/17 on field goal attempts and 54/55 on extra points.  Bravo to him.

18Dec 2011
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Wide Receiver Preview: Michigan vs. Virginia Tech

Jarrett Boykin (#81)

MICHIGAN
Starters:
The leading receiver is fifth year senior Junior Hemingway, who has caught 32 passes for 636 yards (19.9 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns.  Redshirt junior Roy Roundtree started all 12 games but finished fourth on the team in receptions, with just 18 for 342 yards (19.2 yards per catch) and 2 scores. 
Backups: Redshirt sophomore Jeremy Gallon popped out of nowhere to grab 30 passes for 450 yards (15.0 yards per catch) and 3 touchdowns; many of his receptions came on tunnel screens, although he made a few big catches downfield.  Sophomore Drew Dileo made 9 receptions for 121 yards (13.2 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns; he’s a dependable receiver but rarely targeted.  Senior Martavious Odoms’ production dwindled once again to 7 receptions for 131 yards (18.7 yards per catch) and 3 touchdowns; he missed some time early in the year recovering from a broken wrist, but has still made some humongous catches for the Wolverines.  Fifth year senior Kelvin Grady and sophomore Jeremy Jackson have combined for 7 catches, 100 yards, and 0 touchdowns.

VIRGINIA TECH
Starters: Senior Jarrett Boykin caught 57 passes for 731 yards (12.8 yards per catch) and 5 touchdowns.  Boykin is 6’2″, 218 lbs. and is Virginia Tech’s career leader in receptions and receiving yards.  Fellow receiver and fifth year senior Danny Coale grabbed 52 receptions for 787 yards (15.2 yards per catch) and 3 scores.  Redshirt junior Marcus Davis started 7 games on the year and finished with 29 receptions for 499 yards (17.2 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns.
Backups: Junior D.J. Coles was the third leading receiver despite starting only 2 games; he caught 34 passes for 449 yards (13.2 yards per catch) and 3 touchdowns.  Senior Dyrell Roberts, redshirt junior Corey Fuller, and redshirt freshman Willie Byrn combined for 6 receptions, 79 yards, and 0 touchdowns.

THE TAKEAWAY
Boykin and Coale offer a less explosive but more consistent pairing than do Hemingway and Roundtree.  Michigan’s early struggles in the passing game meant that the receivers didn’t get much of a chance to catch the ball, because it was either horribly thrown or Robinson was running the ball.  Hemingway, Roundtree, and even the 5’8″ Jeremy Gallon were thrown plenty of jump balls and came down with their fair share, leading to the former two’s averages of 19+ yards per catch.  All three have shown the ability to run after the catch, but they don’t get many chances to do so.  Meanwhile, Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas has been more consistent this season and has thrown the ball 389 times (compared to Denard Robinson’s 237 attempts).  That’s why Boykin and Coale have caught more passes (109 total) than Michigan’s entire wide receiver group (103).
Advantage: Virginia Tech

7Nov 2011
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Michigan vs. Iowa Awards

Freshman cornerback Blake Countess tackles touted receiver Marvin McNutt
(image via MGoBlue.com)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Michael Shaw.  If Fitzgerald Toussaint’s apparent shoulder injury keeps him out next week, I would like to see Shaw get some playing time in lieu of Toussaint.  Vincent Smith has established himself as a capable third down back and receiver out of the backfield (although he dropped a key pass against the Hawkeyes), but he has also established himself as being incapable of playing the role of a lead back.  Shaw is averaging 6.4 yards a carry and has the ability to break big plays.  Smith hasn’t had double-digit carries all season, and it should probably stay that way.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . tentative Denard.  The coaches need to rethink their coaching of Robinson and tell him to go all out.  The current iteration of Denard Robinson has him avoiding contact at all costs and searching for the sideline.  For a unit that can’t create big plays down the field in the passing game now that Big Ten play has started, Robinson needs to be the player he was last year – the one that almost always looked for a few extra yards here or there, and the one who could look like he was running out of bounds and then turn up the sideline for a huge play.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Thomas Gordon.  Gordon has had a hand in twice as many turnovers as anyone else on the team (1 interception, 3 fumble recoveries, 2 forced fumbles), but he found himself watching from the bench as Troy Woolfolk started at safety on Saturday.  Woolfolk isn’t 100% healthy and should have sat out against a cupcake or two earlier in the season to get ready for the Big Ten, but the coaches sent him out there every week, anyway, and now we’re seeing the repercussions.  Gordon needs to be on the field, and Woolfolk ought to be subbing in at corner, safety, or both.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Desmond Morgan.  I’m a big fan of Morgan and his potential, but the bottom line is that he’s a true freshman playing in the run-heavy Big Ten.  Iowa took advantage of him, and it seemed to be on purpose.  Whether the answer is Brandon Herron, Brandin Hawthorne, or Mike Jones, somebody with a little more experience ought to fill in.  What we’re seeing right now is exactly the reason I was hoping that Marell Evans would start at WILL, but unfortunately, Evans is in purgatory right now while the coaches try to sort out some issues with his transfer credits; Evans’ career might be done or he might be able to get a sixth year of eligibility.

Play of the game . . . Junior Hemingway’s jump-ball catch.  At one point in the fourth quarter (I think), Denard Robinson threw a laser to a well-covered Hemingway.  The receiver – who had dropped two easy passes earlier in the game – went over top of the Iowa defensive back to reel in the ill-advised pass.  It was a typical play for Hemingway, who has saved Robinson’s butt on several occasions in the past couple seasons.

MVP of the game . . . Blake Countess.  Perhaps I’m overstating the importance of Countess’ performance on Saturday, but he did an excellent job on a very good receiver in the form of Iowa’s Marvin McNutt.  Of course, it helps that nobody else had a standout game, but Countess is the team’s best corner, in my opinion.  McNutt could have had a huge day, but in large part due to Countess, McNutt either had the ball knocked away or was tackled immediately when Countess was on him.  The freshman cornerback stepped up to the challenge and continues to look like the next great corner in Ann Arbor.