Tag: Purdue

Michigan 44, Purdue 13

Denard Robinson had 235 rushing yards and 1 passing touchdown in the 44-13 win

Michigan’s defense is awesome or Purdue’s offense is terrible.  I couldn’t figure out which it was.  I’m leaning toward the latter, really, because Purdue found it necessary to try three different quarterbacks and a bunch of trick plays.  Don’t get me wrong – Michigan’s defense looked good.  But Purdue couldn’t do anything with consistency.  A couple trick plays turned out fairly well, and Robert Marve’s first few plays were productive.  But otherwise, they just don’t look like an offense that should scare any decent defensive teams.

I’m officially concerned about Fitzgerald Toussaint and the running game.  Toussaint (17 carries, 19 yards, 2 touchdowns) looks slower this year, quite frankly.  He also looks like he’s dancing too much instead of burrowing forward for a couple yards when he can.  Of course, it starts with the offensive line, and I haven’t been impressed this year with what the offensive line is doing.  None of the offensive linemen has taken a step forward this year, in my opinion.  Taylor Lewan has taken a step backward, and the other guys are just average.  Obviously, Denard Robinson (24 carries, 235 yards) was great, but the offensive line can’t open holes for the running backs.  Even Thomas Rawls, who had good numbers (4 carries, 33 yards, 1 touchdown), had to break tackles at the line of scrimmage to get anything done.

The broadcasters were terrible.  One of them called it a “flea flicker” when Robert Marve hit a wide receiver on a hitch, then tossed it backward to the running back coming out of the backfield.  That’s a “hook and lateral.”  I thought the dumb interpretation of that was “hook and ladder” but the BTN guys took it one notch stupider.  Also, there was no way that Denard Robinson was down at the 1-yard line on the play they reviewed.  Even if the officials determined that Robinson’s elbow hit the ground prior to the ball crossing the plane of the end zone, the ball should have been placed at about the 2-inch line.  I couldn’t believe that the refs didn’t change the spot of the ball (or award the touchdown), but the announcers didn’t point it out, either.

Raymon Taylor had an okay game.  Taylor hasn’t lit the world on fire and did get beaten on a slant for a touchdown, but I have to give credit where credit is due.  This was his second consecutive game with an interception, and he returned this one 63 yards for a touchdown.

Denard Robinson zone read anger.  Twice in this game, Robinson held onto the ball too long before pulling it out of the running back’s stomach.  The first time it worked okay for him because he gained a bunch of yards, even though his running back (Toussaint or Smith, I can’t remember) got smoked.  The second time it was disastrous because he got Smith crushed and, oh yeah, Robinson fumbled the ball in the process.  He gains a lot of yards because he’s a dynamic runner, but he’s never been adept at running those plays.

I’m really liking the linebacker crew.  I thought Jake Ryan (6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack), Kenny Demens (6 tackles), and Desmond Morgan (6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss) all played very well.  There’s not much experienced depth, but the guys backing them up are pretty good, too.  I like James Ross as a prospect, but I don’t think anyone can really justify the talk about Morgan getting passed.  Michigan should be able to field a pretty good inside linebacker crew next year from some combination of Morgan, Ross, and Joe Bolden, not to mention a few other good linebacker prospects.

I liked the game plan.  If Denard Robinson can throw the ball fewer than 20 times a game, that’s probably a good thing.  Between good defense and running the ball well, the game wasn’t on Denard’s throwing shoulder.  Offensive coordinator Al Borges said that he re-evaluated his play calls from the past couple seasons, and he seemed to conclude that throwing the ball with Denard is a bad idea.  Good for him.  Robinson still missed a wide open Fitzgerald Toussaint on a swing pass that would have gained a first down and had a couple other questionable throws, but a 50% completion percentage isn’t so terrible when you’re only throwing the ball 16 times.

Michigan vs. Purdue Awards

Mike Martin tore through Purdue’s offensive line all day Saturday

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Fitzgerald Toussaint.  Getting only two carries against Michigan State was a tad ridiculous, but Toussaint is clearly the best pure running back on the roster.  He can hit the homerun, he can run over people, and he can make people miss.  As long as he stays healthy, the job seems to be his.  The coaches keep saying that nobody has stood out from the rest of the pack, but maybe that’s because the whole group is pretty good.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . a backup lineman.  Things are starting to get a little hairy on the offensive line.  Both Ricky Barnum and Taylor Lewan are banged up, and with the bye week in the rearview mirror, they won’t get any significant amount of time to heal up before the end of the regular season.  Michael Schofield is the top backup at guard and tackle, but the thing about Schofield is that he can’t play both guard and  tackle at the same time.  Hopefully Lewan visits Miracle Max and gets a magical healing potion soon.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Blake Countess William Campbell.  I was going to make a case for Countess, but it turns out he’s going to be the starter against Iowa, at least if reality falls in line with the depth chart that was released on Monday.  So I’ll throw my hat in the ring for Campbell.  Campbell has done a nice job this year, and while he hasn’t been a consistent playmaker, guys like Will Heininger and Nathan Brink aren’t doing anything special, either.  My starting defensive line would be Ryan Van Bergen, Mike Martin, Campbell, and Craig Roh.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . J.T. Floyd.  I know some people think Floyd is playing at a high level, but I just don’t see it.  He’s a tentative tackler and doesn’t make enough plays for my tastes.  I will admit that Floyd has improved since last season, but that’s not saying much.  Countess and Courtney Avery have surpassed him, in my opinion.

Play of the game . . . Toussaint’s 59-yard touchdown run.  He took a pitch going left, made seven Boilermakers miss, and then turned on the jets to leave everyone in the dust.  It was the type of run that Michigan fans haven’t seen from a running back in years.  Carlos Brown never made that many people miss, Brandon Minor would have lowered his shoulder and run over a couple dudes, and Mike Hart probably would have been caught from behind.  Hopefully there’s more where that came from in the weeks ahead.

MVP of the game . . . Toussaint.  Mike Martin (7 tackles, 2 sacks) is a close second, but Toussaint’s output (20 carries, 170 yards, 2 touchdowns) was the highest for a running back since Hart back in 2007.

Highlights: Michigan 36, Purdue 14

Video: Purdue Postgame Press Conference

Michigan 36, Purdue 14

Fitzgerald Toussaint had a career best game with 170 yards and 2 touchdowns

Fitzgerald Toussaint is hitting his stride.  Finally healthy after two years of long-term injury issues, Toussaint is showing what he can do.  He had 20 carries for 170 yards, including a spectacular 59-yard touchdown run (Michigan’s longest run of the year).  He’s averaging 6.1 yards per carry on the season.  Perhaps the best part of Toussaint’s game is the way he finishes runs.  Despite not being particularly big, he always seems to churn his legs for an extra couple yards after contact.  His yardage total was the best by a Michigan running back since Michael Hart had 215 against Eastern Michigan back in 2007.

Where have you gone, Michael Shaw?  In this, his senior season, Shaw is on pace for his fewest career carries.  His career low is 42 (in both 2008 and 2009), and despite being mostly injury free this season, he has only 22 carries through eight games.  Shaw has been a big play guy this year and is averaging 6.4 yards per carry, but for some reason, the coaches haven’t put their faith in him.  Even freshman Thomas Rawls (13 carries) is getting almost  as many carries as Shaw, and Rawls probably should have redshirted with so many guys ahead of him.

Mike Martin finally showed up.  Martin had 7 tackles and 2 sacks on the day, one of them for a safety (which probably should have been negated due to grabbing Purdue quarterback Caleb TerBush’s facemask).  He’s been a little bit of a disappointment so far this year with his lack of production, but maybe this is a sign of things to come for him.  Eight games into the season, Martin only has 28 tackles and 2.5 sacks, so 25% of his tackles and 80% of his sacks came in this one game.

Not a fan of the Denard/Devin combo this time.  At some point Devin Gardner needs to run the base offense, whether Denard Robinson is in the game or not.  It seems like Robinson is usually used as the decoy rather than the ballcarrier in the two-QB formations, but defenses are ready for it at this point.  They know that when Denard is in the game, something funky is going to happen.  So instead of committing fully to the distracting part of the play, everyone stays home, watches for the double pass, etc.  To catch a defense truly off balance, offensive coordinator Al Borges needs to line Robinson up at running back or wide receiver and actually run a base play out of that formation.  Hand the ball off to him in the I-formation, throw a slant or a hitch to him, etc.  The halfback pass from Vincent Smith might have worked if not for the fact that Robinson was in the game and the defense was being extra careful.

Maybe Matt Wile should still punt.  On 12 punts this season, Will Hagerup is averaging 34.8 yards per punt and has put four of them inside the 20.  On 14 punts this season, Matt Wile is averaging 41.1 yards per punt and has put four of them inside the 20.  Hagerup had a good season last year and looked like a potential All-Big Ten punter, but he’s been disappointing so far this year.  Michigan is averaging just over three punts per game, so the difference between the two is around 21 yards of field position per game.

Desmond Morgan looks good.  He seems to be steadily improving after looking lost early in the season.  Morgan earned the start over Brandin Hawthorne (whose tackling efforts in the MSU game were disappointing) and responded with 9 tackles to lead the team.  I thought it would take Morgan a little more time to adjust to playing linebacker in college, but here he is starting as a true freshman.  High school quarterbacks just seem to catch on a little quicker.

Courtney Avery’s game of firsts.  Speaking of high school quarterbacks, Avery got his first career interception when he caught a deflected pass, and Avery got his first sack (well, half of a sack, shared with Craig Roh) when he helped chase down a scrambling Robert Marve.  That interception gives Avery a share of the team lead in picks, since nobody else has made more than one.

I’ve had about enough of J.T. Floyd.  He seems to talk a fair amount of smack for not being very good, and he could very well be Michigan’s fourth best corner.  I would take Blake Countess, Courtney Avery, and a healthy Troy Woolfolk over Floyd.  Floyd’s poor tackling effort late in the game cost Michigan seven points when he stood and danced with O.J. Ross while Ross waited for some help from a Boilermaker blocker.  After the two danced for what seemed like an hour, Floyd got blocked and Ross slipped into the end zone for a touchdown.

I’ll take 7-1 at this point.  Michigan has already matched last year’s win total with four games to go.  It’s a pretty tough four-game stretch as far as the Big Ten goes, but all four games are winnable.  The two most dangerous remaining foes, Ohio State and Nebraska, have had their own issues.  Regardless, this team is on the right path and seems headed for some good November games.  I like the direction Michigan is headed.