Tag: Khalid Hill

Orange Bowl Preview: Michigan Running Backs vs. Florida State Linebackers

Matthew Thomas

MICHIGAN RUNNING BACKS

Starters: Michigan’s starter is 5’11”, 228 lb. senior De’Veon Smith. Smith has twice as many carries as any other player on the team, totaling 165 carries for 810 yards (4.9 YPC) and 10 touchdowns. Smith is a powerful back who breaks tackles and runs hard, but he’s not much of a big-play threat. The high point of his season was a 23-carry, 158-yard, 2-touchdown effort against Indiana in mid-November. However, that was sandwiched by two games in which he averaged 2.3 and 2.9 YPC, against Iowa and Ohio State, respectively. Smith is also a solid pass blocker, though he doesn’t offer much in the way of receiving (13 catches, 59 yards). Redshirt junior fullback Khalid Hill (6’2″, 263 lbs.) leads the team in total touchdowns, including 10 rushing scores on goal-line attempts. He also has 14 catches for 105 yards and 2 TDs.

Key backups: Freshman Chris Evans (565 yards, 7.1 YPC, 3 TDs) got the most carries of the backups by a fairly slim margin. He’s a speedster with big-play ability. Redshirt junior Ty Isaac (417 yards, 5.6 YPC, 5 TDs) plays sporadically and offers a nice combination of size and skill at 6’3″, 228. Sophomore Karan Higdon‘s (422 yards, 6.2 YPC, 6 TDs) star was rising during the first two-thirds of the season, but over the final four games, he had 15 carries for 19 yards. I’ll list redshirt junior Henry Poggi here, even though he gets about 50% of the fullback snaps; he has 1 carry for 4 yards and 6 catches for 45 yards in mostly a blocking role.

Hit the jump for more on Florida State.

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Michigan 78, Rutgers 0

Jabrill Peppers (image via Michigan Daily)

The score. OMG the score. Michigan hasn’t scored that many points since they beat the University of Chicago 85-0 in 1939. It’s the largest margin of victory in the history of the Big Ten, a record that was previously held by Wisconsin’s 63-point victory over Indiana in 2010, an 83-20 contest. I predicted a 45-0 victory in the game preview, but then I amended that shortly into the game:

Rain is the great equalizer. I don’t think #Michigan is going to score 45 tonight

— TouchTheBanner (@TouchTheBanner) October 8, 2016

In fairness to myself . . . it stopped raining. While the rain was coming down early, Wilton Speight was inaccurate, the normally sure-handed De’Veon Smith fumbled, and two balls squirted through the hands of Amara Darboh.

Hit the jump for more.

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2016 Season Countdown: #21 Khalid Hill

Khalid Hill (image via Twitter)

Name: Khalid Hill
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 263 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) East English Village
Position: Fullback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #80
Last year: I ranked Hill #41 and said he would be a starting F-back by the end of the season (LINK). He started two games and made 4 catches for 71 yards.

Hill missed spring 2015 practices due to a torn ACL, so he was someone getting his first reps in the fall. As a backup tight end used off the line or in motion, he made 4 catches for 71 yards, almost doubling his yardage total on the same number of catches as he had in 2014. He proved to be a pretty solid blocker, and the coaches seemed to cook up some special plays for him on some delayed screens.

This spring Hill moved to fullback after seniors Joe Kerridge and Sione Houma graduated. He’s a bit of an odd fit at fullback because he’s never taken a handoff before, and he’s on the taller end of the spectrum for a fullback. But the Wolverines have limited options of players who fit the mold, so much so that the other top option returning from last year is 6’4″ former defensive lineman Henry Poggi. Little used walk-on Bobby Henderson returns as a fifth year senior, and he may be the best bet to carry the ball from fullback, but Hill is the most valuable of the bunch, in my opinion. He has soft hands to present a threat in the passing game, and I think he’s a solid blocker. He probably has the most well rounded game of any of the fullbacks. He won’t be Larry Centers and catch 100 passes from the fullback position, but I think he’ll probably hit double digits in receptions and score a touchdown or two.

Prediction: Part-time starting fullback; 11 catches, 110 yards, 2 touchdowns

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Ford Field Open Practice: Offense, Injuries, Walk-ons

Wilton Speight

Happy Easter Sunday, everybody! Along with a few thousand other fans, I made my way to Ford Field on Saturday. I sat in the stands, ate a hot dog, and watched Captain Khaki run practice. I chose not to live tweet it because, well, it was nice to sit back, relax, and watch a well run practice. Below are my thoughts on some roster news and the various positions:

ROSTER NEWS

• WR/CB Freddy Canteen is not on the roster and his status is unclear.
• WR Jehu Chesson was doing work on the sideline and on the bike, wearing a brace on his knee.
• RB Kingston Davis was in shorts without a helmet and running steps. Lots and lots of steps.
• OG David Dawson was wearing a sling on his left arm and did not participate.
• CB Reon Dawson and WR Jaron Dukes have left the football program and are exploring medical scholarships.
• DT Ryan Glasgow was in shorts and a helmet going through some non-contact drills, but then ran steps with Davis for a big chunk of practice.
• RB Karan Higdon was in street clothes. No injury was apparent.
• DE Shelton Johnson was not visible to me. I looked for him extensively and never saw him. Sam Webb tweeted that he was on the sideline in street clothes.

Hit the jump for a position-by-position breakdown of the offense.

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Ford Field Open Practice: Offense, Injuries, Walk-ons

Wilton Speight

Happy Easter Sunday, everybody! Along with a few thousand other fans, I made my way to Ford Field on Saturday. I sat in the stands, ate a hot dog, and watched Captain Khaki run practice. I chose not to live tweet it because, well, it was nice to sit back, relax, and watch a well run practice. Below are my thoughts on some roster news and the various positions:

ROSTER NEWS

• WR/CB Freddy Canteen is not on the roster and his status is unclear.
• WR Jehu Chesson was doing work on the sideline and on the bike, wearing a brace on his knee.
• RB Kingston Davis was in shorts without a helmet and running steps. Lots and lots of steps.
• OG David Dawson was wearing a sling on his left arm and did not participate.
• CB Reon Dawson and WR Jaron Dukes have left the football program and are exploring medical scholarships.
• DT Ryan Glasgow was in shorts and a helmet going through some non-contact drills, but then ran steps with Davis for a big chunk of practice.
• RB Karan Higdon was in street clothes. No injury was apparent.
• DE Shelton Johnson was not visible to me. I looked for him extensively and never saw him. Sam Webb tweeted that he was on the sideline in street clothes.

Hit the jump for a position-by-position breakdown of the offense.

read more