Tag: Nebraska

Michigan vs. Nebraska Awards

Cameron Gordon (image via AP)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . a fifth receiver. Assuming the top four guys are Jeremy Gallon, Devin Funchess, Jehu Chesson, and Drew Dileo, I don’t care who the fifth guy would be. It could be Fitzgerald Toussaint, Dennis Norfleet, Da’Mario Jones, Jake Butt, virtually anyone. Hell, put Blake Countess out there at receiver a little bit and see what he can do. Michigan needs to spread the field laterally instead of packing everything in tight. With receivers packed in tight, that makes it a lot easier for defenses to blitz, stop the run, etc. If you spread the field wider, you can see the blitzes coming and you prevent so many guys from coming and confusing your offensive line. Go five-wide a few times, give the offensive linemen one-on-one matchups, and see if something develops. Even if one of the young interior linemen gets beaten, Gardner is a good runner and can create some things on his own. Right now teams are green dogging against Fitzgerald Toussaint, so even if he stays in, it’s an extra protector against an extra blitzer. That doesn’t give Michigan a statistical advantage.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Graham Glasgow at center. Glasgow was a better guard than center, and I’m not sure that’s saying much. Bad snaps can destroy an offense, and Glasgow has been a poor snapper ever since he was inserted against Minnesota. He has been good for at least one fumbled snap per week and numerous other snaps that look slow, throwing off the timing of the offense. In the last two weeks, Glasgow has botched three shotgun snaps, all of which have resulted in big yardage losses, including a -20 yard play against Michigan State and a -10 yard play against Nebraska. Jack Miller was a poor blocker, but his snaps were spot on and more consistent. I have to wonder if Glasgow’s poor snaps (sometimes they’re low, sometimes they’re high, sometimes they’re right in the chest) are affecting Gardner’s thought process prior to the snap.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Cameron Gordon. Gordon was tied for the team lead in tackles with 8, forced a fumble that was recovered by Chris Wormley, and sacked Tommy Armstrong for 13 yards. It seemed like Gordon lost snaps once Jake Ryan returned from his torn ACL, but with the hand injury to Keith Heitzman, SAM linebacker Brennen Beyer has been moved back to defensive end. Gordon is one of the best athletes on the defense at 6’3″ and 237 lbs., and he’s a guy who can cover, rush the passer, and chase plays to the sideline.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . freshman defensive backs. I still see freshmen out there every week, and it seems like they’re always getting Michigan beaten. On a 26-yard catch and run by Nebraska wideout Kenny Bell, Channing Stribling missed a tackle, Dymonte Thomas missed a tackle, and then redshirt junior Josh Furman got blocked and blocked and blocked. Junior Delonte Hollowell started the spring game and now can barely get on the field. The freshmen are overmatched right now. I’ve never been a huge fan of Hollowell, but he is feisty and physical and probably would have been better prepared to tackle Bell on that play.

Play of the game . . . Devin Funchess’s screen catch and run. There aren’t many options, but Funchess took a high pass over the middle, tipped it to himself with one hand, stepped through a tackle, and ran 23 yards up the sideline before getting pulled down. He also ran an end around for 5 yards. Both plays were fairly impressive plays for a guy who’s a “tight end.”

MVP of the game . . . Cam Gordon. There’s no great choice here, but Gordon made 8 tackles, had Michigan’s only sack, and had the only forced turnover (the other turnover was a muffed punt).

Nebraska 17, Michigan 13

“Devin Gardner Runs for His Life” would be a good subtitle for the 2013 season (image via Monroe News)

Goodbye, Darrell Funk. Okay, I’ve been wishy-washy on Funk’s place on the staff, but this game sealed his fate, in my opinion. For the second week in a row, Michigan allowed 7 sacks. For the second week in a row, Michigan had negative yards rushing (-21 this game after -48 last week). These are the types of performances that get guys fired in the middle of the season. I’m not necessarily suggesting that will happen, because Brady Hoke is a very loyal guy and Funk’s father just passed away. However, the final straw for me was in the fourth quarter when Nebraska lined up defensive end Randy Gregory at inside linebacker over right guard Erik Magnuson. Michigan slid the protection left, matching up right tackle Michael Schofield on Gregory. Schofield promptly made about a 3% effort to pick him up, allowing Gregory to have a 6-yard running start on an overmatched Fitzgerald Toussaint. Sack. When your fifth-year right tackle can’t handle a slide protection, that’s probably all you need to see. The current situation on the offensive line reminds me of when Jay Hopson was Michigan’s linebackers coach and we saw guys like Obi Ezeh and Jonas Mouton regress. I would be surprised if Funk returns in 2014, and if a move is made earlier, the Wolverines do have former Michigan left tackle Adam Stenavich on staff as a graduate assistant.

Graham Glasgow at center equals a broken record. In each week since Glasgow was moved to center, Michigan has suffered from at least one bad snap. In this game there were two – one that sailed up and one that rolled back to Devin Gardner. Even the snaps from under center seem a hair slow. Glasgow is not physically or mentally capable of playing center at this point. He’s just not. Those of you who were complaining about Elliott Mealer and Jack Miller playing center, this is what you get. I think people take the snap for granted, but college players are capable of being bad at snapping . . . and it’s extremely detrimental.

Michigan’s defense is still pretty good . . . It was frustrating that Michigan lost to a team that was missing so much offensively, but the Wolverines were consistently in bad field position once again. Michigan’s inability to drive the ball on offense makes the opponent’s job a whole lot easier. Nebraska’s first scoring drive went 9 plays for 44 yards; the next went 8 plays for 56 yards. The drive at the end of the game went 14 plays for 75 yards, but that’s one long drive in the whole game. Overall, Nebraska averaged 3.0 yards/carry and star running back Ameer Abdullah was held to 3.9 yards/carry.

. . . but Nebraska was beaten up offensively. The scary/sad thing is that Nebraska was missing its starting quarterback and the two starting offensive guards, plus right tackle Jeremy Sirles got injured mid-game and wide receiver Kenny Bell wasn’t 100%. Michigan is mostly healthy on offense (aside from Amara Darboh, who was supposed to start at wide receiver, and backups like Russell Bellomy, Joe Burzynski, and Drake Johnson) but still can’t produce. An unhealthy Nebraska offense produced 17 points. A healthy Michigan offense produced 13. That leads me to this.

The offensive play calling was terrible. Nebraska blitzed the hell out of Michigan for the vast majority of the game, and Michigan ran . . . two screens. Two screens in 32 minutes of possession against a blitzing defense? One problem appears to be that Al Borges only has two screens in the play book – the throwback screen to the tailback and the middle screen to Devin Funchess. If you want to beat a blitzing defense, you have to screen, you have to hit hot routes, and you have to spread the field laterally. That sounds like a spread offense, doesn’t it? Instead, Michigan ran up the middle and tried to hit deep routes for most of the game. Brady Hoke and/or Al Borges has a basic philosophy of packing things in tight and overpowering the defense, but Michigan isn’t capable of that right now. Almost every shotgun/pistol formation for Michigan involves at least one tight end, tight stacks, tight bunches, etc. Go four- or five-wide and try to get rid of the ball quickly if they blitz; throw it deep if the opponent doesn’t blitz or can’t get a pass rush. We’ve established what Michigan can’t do; now let’s try something different.

Michigan did absolutely nothing with two turnovers. The commentators mentioned that nobody had turned the ball over, and they said that the first team to create a turnover might win the game. Hah. Cam Gordon forced a fumble from Quincy Enunwa, and Dennis Norfleet recovered a Jordan Westerkamp muff. Those were the only two turnovers in the game, and they resulted in a total of 3 points for Michigan; those 3 points came after Norfleet’s recovery, some terrible offense, and a Brendan Gibbons field goal that bounced off the right upright and through the goal posts.

Maybe we broke Devin Gardner. There are a lot of factors in Michigan’s failures over the past few weeks, but ever since Gardner started taking care of the ball, Michigan’s offense has taken a nose dive. After his two early picks against Penn State, Gardner has thrown 6 touchdowns and 1 interception. Aside from the offensive explosion against an Indiana team with no defense, Gardner has been sacked 14 times in two games and refuses to try to fit the ball into traffic most of the time. It’s almost as if he over-corrected and now refuses to take risks. Other than a bad throw to Jake Butt – on which it looked like Gardner expected Butt to come back to the ball instead of cutting in – Gardner didn’t take risks putting the ball in the air against Nebraska. There has to be a happy medium somewhere in between flinging 10 interceptions and getting sacked 14 times.

Preview: Michigan vs. Nebraska

Rush Offense vs. Nebraska Rush Defense
What rush offense? Michigan had -48 yards against Michigan State last week, including just 8 carries for 20 yards from running back Fitzgerald Toussaint. Michigan is now #100 in the country with just 3.65 yards/carry as a team, and the beaten and battered Devin Gardner might have a hard time returning to 100% after his battle against the Spartans. Luckily, Nebraska is #86 in the country and giving up 182.6 yards/game, including 4.54 yards/carry (which is 84th). The Cornhuskers have good size up front, especially with redshirt freshman nose tackle Vincent Valentine (6’3″, 325 lbs.) and fifth year senior strongside end Jason Ankrah (6’4″, 265 lbs.). Redshirt sophomore defensive end Randy Gregory (6’6″, 255 lbs.) leads the team with 8.5 tackles for loss, and redshirt freshman backup DT Avery Moss (6’3″, 265 lbs.) has made 5.5 tackles for loss. Redshirt sophomore linebacker David Santos (6’0″, 225 lbs.) and redshirt junior strong safety Corey Cooper (6’1″, 215 lbs.) share the team lead in tackles with 55 each. Just because Gardner is banged up and might not be willing/able to break as many tackles as in the past, I’m going to give the edge to the Cornhuskers here.
Advantage: Nebraska

Pass Offense vs. Nebraska Pass Defense
The Wolverines didn’t do so hot passing the ball last week, but it was better than their running. Gardner is still completing 60% of his passes and the only pick he threw was very late in the game after he probably wished he was anywhere except Spartan Stadium. Michigan is #44 in passing yards/game and Gardner is the 20th-rated passer in the country. Wide receiver Jeremy Gallon is averaging 112.3 yards/game and 18 yards/catch, and tight end/wide receiver Devin Funchess has the 17th-highest yards per catch in the nation at 19.2. Unfortunately – and this is broken record time – Michigan has a weak interior offensive line and gives up sacks at a rate of 2.38 per game, good for 88th in the nation. Nebraska doesn’t have any great pass rushers, but a little bit comes from everywhere. A total of twelve players have at least one sack, with Gregory and Moss leading the way at 3.5 each. As a team, their 22 sacks rank tied for #27 in the country. Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers have notched 12 interceptions, 4 of which have been returned for touchdowns; remarkably, 3 of the picks and 2 of the touchdowns have come from defensive linemen. The top pass thief is fifth year senior cornerback Stanley Jean-Baptiste (6’3″, 220 lbs.), who has returned 4 interceptions for 134 yards and 1 touchdown. This is a viable pass rush and pass defense (#38 in yardage against, #40 in passer rating against), but if Michigan can keep Gardner clean, Gallon and Funchess should be able to make enough plays to move the chains.
Advantage: Michigan

Rush Defense vs. Nebraska Rush Offense
Michigan is allowing just 3.23 yards/carry for opposing offenses, which is 11th in the country. Despite going over 100 yards, Michigan State’s Jeremy Langford needed a late 40-yard run against a worn down, mentally exhausted Wolverines team to get there; otherwise, he was just barely over 3 yards a pop. Cornerback Raymon Taylor actually took over the lead in tackles by making 12 last week, putting him at 56 for the year, but inside linebackers Desmond Morgan and James Ross are right behind him with 55 and 54, respectively. Defensive end Frank Clark played had a career-best game last week when he made 9 tackles and now has 8.5 tackles for loss on the year. Despite lacking any real standouts in the front seven (save SAM linebacker Jake Ryan, who’s working his way back into shape after a torn ACL), Michigan has a solid group. Junior I-back Ameer Abdullah (5’9″, 190 lbs.) has been outstanding this year, going for 114+ yards in every game but one . . . and that one was a 98-yard effort against UCLA. He’s the #6 rusher in the country with 138.5 yards/game and averaging 7.1 yards/carry. Sophomore backup Imani Cross (6’1″, 225 lbs.) averages 5.1 yards/carry and has 9 touchdowns himself. Starting quarterback Taylor Martinez is expected to miss the game due to multiple nagging injuries, and fifth year senior backup Ron Kellogg III (6’1″, 220 lbs.) isn’t much of a threat with his legs. Nebraska has declared an open competition on the offensive line to get more production, but the guards and tackles average 6’6″ and 315 lbs., and all the projected starters are fourth- or fifth-year players. The Wolverines should be able to slow down Nebraska’s running game, but it’s still a formidable challenge. UPDATE: Both starting guards are out for Nebraska, so I’m going to take the slight edge I gave to the Cornhuskers and flip it.
Advantage: Nebraska Michigan


Pass Defense vs. Nebraska Pass Offense
Clark has notched 5 sacks this year, and the Wolverines have 17 altogether, which is middle of the pack. Players struggle to produce much of a pass rush on their own, but defensive tackle Jibreel Black (1.5 sacks) can apply some pressure and Jake Ryan did a good job prior to his injury. Blake Countess has 4 interceptions, and Taylor picked off his 3rd last week. The team is tied with Nebraska and others for 17th in the nation in picks with 12 total. On the opposite side of the ball, Kellogg is 32/46 for 456 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception this year. The receiving corps has a host of decent possession receivers. Fifth year senior hoss Quincy Enunwa (6’2″, 225 lbs.) is a tough physical matchup and leads the team with 34 catches for 467 yards and 8 touchdowns. Redshirt junior Kenny Bell (6’1″, 185 lbs.) might have the best speed, but he has averaged just 11.8 yards/catch. The deep ball shouldn’t be too much of an issue for Michigan defensively, but Enunwa is the type of guy who could push around freshmen corners like Channing Stribling and Jourdan Lewis, both of whom have played extensively. If Michigan doesn’t give those kids help by putting Taylor, Countess, or bracket coverage on Enunwa, it could be a long and frustrating day. The tight ends have combined for just 14 receptions and 1 touchdown this year, so while Michigan has occasionally struggled to cover tight end crossing routes, it shouldn’t hurt Michigan too badly this week.
Advantage: Michigan

Roster Notes

• Players who held scholarship offers from Michigan include LB Jared Afalava, DE Jason Ankrah, DT Jay Guy, S Charles Jackson, DE Greg McMullen, DT Tobi Okuyemi, OT Paul Thurston, DT Vincent Valentine, and DT Kevin Williams.
• No Nebraska players are Michigan natives.

Predictions

• Fitzgerald Toussaint finds some running lanes for a decent day but gets tracked down by Nebraska’s quick linebackers before turning out some huge runs. I’ll say he goes for 95 yards and 2 touchdowns.
• Nebraska blitzes Devin Gardner a lot to try to keep him banged up, allowing Jeremy Gallon to get some quality one-on-one opportunities against some bigger, slower defensive backs.
• Michigan frustratingly allows Enunwa to beat up on some freshman corners.
• The Wolverines score a defensive or special teams touchdown.
• Michigan wins in convincing fashion, 38-24.

Last Time They Played . . . 

• In 2012, Michigan lost by a score of 23-9.
• Quarterback Denard Robinson got knocked out of the game in the middle of the second quarter, leaving redshirt freshman Russell Bellomy to look overmatched while completing 3/16 passes for 38 yards and 3 interceptions.
• Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah ran for 101 yards and 1 touchdown.
• It was mostly a field goal battle, as Brendan Gibbons and Nebraska’s Brett Maher both went 3/3.

2012 AP All-America Team

Taylor Lewan went from Under Armour All-American to AP All-American

The AP All-America Team was released last week, so this isn’t exactly a timely post, but I figured I would gather together the names of players that are pertinent to Michigan fans.

FIRST TEAM
Montee Ball – RB – Wisconsin
Ka’Deem Carey – RB – Arizona
Taylor Lewan – OT – Michigan
Chance Warmack – OG – Alabama
Barrett Jones – C – Alabama
Jadeveon Clowney – DE – South Carolina
Manti Te’o – LB – Notre Dame
C.J. Mosley – LB – Alabama
Dee Milliner – CB – Alabama

SECOND TEAM
D.J. Fluker – OT – Alabama
Spencer Long – OG – Nebraska
Tyler Eifert – TE – Notre Dame
Stephon Tuitt – DE – Notre Dame
Johnathan Hankins – DT – Ohio State
Kawann Short – DT – Purdue
Bradley Roby – CB – Ohio State

THIRD TEAM
A.J. McCarron – QB – Alabama
Braxston Cave – C – Notre Dame
John Simon – DE – Ohio State

Of the 75 total players listed on the first, second, and third teams, Michigan played (or will play) against 17 of them, or 23%.  This just reinforces how difficult Michigan’s schedule was, as the Wolverines lost a close game to the #1 team (4 players), lost in a blowout to the #2 team (6 players), lost a close game to a 12-0 team in Ohio State (3 players), and then lost by two scores to Nebraska (1 player).

I threw in Arizona RB Ka’Deem Carey simply because he plays for former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez and leads the country with 1,929 rushing yards (and will end the bowl season that way unless someone else busts out with a couple hundred yards in a bowl game, which is possible).

Video: Michigan vs. Nebraska 2012 – Every Snap

The title is misleading, because not every snap of offense is included.  Sorry I’m a liar.