Tag: Mike McCray

Florida State 33, Michigan 32

Mike McCray II scored his first career TD (image via NewsOK)

Jabrill Peppers is worth 1 point. I predicted a 24-20 win in my game preview (LINK), but that was before any of us knew that Peppers wouldn’t play in the game due to injury. It turns out Peppers hurt his hamstring on Thursday and didn’t have enough time to heal up before kickoff. I tweeted out just before kickoff that I thought Michigan would lose the game without Peppers. It was going to be a tight game, anyway, and Michigan needed Peppers to make a difference. His replacement at Viper was Josh Metellus (with some Noah Furbush at SAM). Metellus did return a blocked extra point for a 2-point conversion, but he did very little on defense and left some plays on the field that Peppers might have made. His replacement on punt returns was Jourdan Lewis, who did nothing with the short punts. His replacement on offense was . . . the same guys who haven’t been playmakers all year long.

Hit the jump for some more thoughts on last night’s loss.

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

Dalvin Cook (image via Miami Herald)

Previously: QB vs. QB, Michigan RB vs. FSU LB, Michigan WR vs. FSU secondary, Michigan OL vs. FSU DL

MICHIGAN

Starters: Michigan’s top three tacklers are the three starting linebackers, and they rarely come off the field. The most well known is redshirt sophomore Heisman finalist Jabrill Peppers (6’1″, 205 lbs.), the SAM linebacker – a hybrid S/LB – who ended the regular season with 71 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 1 interception, and 7 quarterback hurries. Peppers plays all over the place and will have his hands full with Florida State likely choosing to run right at him since he’s undersized for a linebacker. The leading tackler is 6’3″, 247 lb. senior middle linebacker Ben Gedeon. He made 98 stops (tied for #10 in the conference), 15 TFLs, and 4.5 sacks. Gedeon is much improved this season, a good athlete, a heavy hitter, and an effective blitzer. The WILL linebacker is 6’4″, 248 lb. redshirt junior Mike McCray II (71 tackles, 13 TFLs, 4.5 sacks, 6 PBUs), who plays a lot like Gedeon, though he’s more instinctive in defending the pass. The trio makes for Michigan’s best linebacker corps in . . . a long time.

Key backups: Michigan doesn’t substitute much, but the most likely true linebacker to play is 5’11”, 232 lb. freshman Devin Bush (11 tackles, 0.5 TFLs), a backup WILL. Redshirt sophomore Brandon Watson (5’11”, 203 lbs.) will also likely play some on defense, and he’s a backup for Peppers at SAM, though he’s used more like a slot corner.

Hit the jump for a look at Florida State’s running game (a.k.a. Dalvin Cook).

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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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Michigan 59, Maryland 3

Wilton Speight (image via Lexington Herald Leader)

Maryland just doesn’t have the horses. I actually liked what Maryland was doing offensively and defensively, but they just can’t match up physically. They have some speed offensively, but they’re not very good up front and they’re lacking talent on the defensive side of the ball. They knew they couldn’t push Michigan around at the line of scrimmage, so they consistently tried to get to the edge. That worked for a while, but once Michigan figured out that’s all they were going to do, the safeties and linebackers just started booking it for the edge. Lorenzo Harrison III is a pretty darn good running back to have for the future. If the Terps can keep some of that Maryland/D.C. home, then they have a chance to be dangerous in a year or two.

Hit the jump for more.

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Snapshots: Adrian Killins’s 87-yard TD run vs. Michigan

Adrian Killins (in blue, image via Ormond Beach Observer)

For Michigan fans, maybe the most disheartening play of the 51-14 win over Central Florida was freshman running back Adrian Killins breaking off an 87-yard touchdown run against a defense that’s deemed one of the best in the country. Here’s how it happened:

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