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| Former Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier |
Tate Forcier has decided to become a Miami Hurricane. On top of pulling in former Michigan commits Dallas Crawford, Matt Goudis, and Antonio Kinard, coach Al Golden now has a former starting QB.
The ACC seems like a better fit for Forcier.
For more updates on former players and former commits, check out the Ex-Wolverine Encyclopedia.
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| See you later, Tate. Or not. |
During Wednesday’s press conference to introduce new head coach Brady Hoke, athletic director David Brandon was asked about the status of Tate Forcier, Michigan’s starting quarterback in 2009 and backup in 2010. Brandon responded that Forcier is “no longer with the program.”
Some reports indicate that Forcier is no longer at Michigan due to flunking out during the fall semester. Mike Forcier, Tate’s father, stated that his son did not flunk out of school. Regardless, he was ineligible for the Gator Bowl against Mississippi State. Forcier is supposedly enrolled at a community college in the hopes of re-applying to the University of Michigan. If Forcier were to be reinstated to U of M for the fall semester, he would not lose a year of eligibility, as far as I know; he would be a true junior for the 2011 season.
Forcier is a 4-star recruit from San Diego who enrolled early in January 2009 to take the position vacated by Steve Threet (transferred to Arizona State) and Nick Sheridan (relegated to the bench). He immediately seized the starting position and held onto it for his entire season freshman. The team went 5-7 and Forcier finished 165-for-281 (58.7%) for 2050 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
Some reported immaturity and the meteoric rise of classmate Denard Robinson sent Forcier to the sideline for the majority of 2010. He originally responded poorly to the benching, entertaining thoughts of a transfer when true freshman Devin Gardner overtook the sophomore Forcier for second place on the depth chart during the 2010 opener against Connecticut. However, Forcier’s third-place spot on the depth chart turned out to be maturity based rather than performance-based, and he eventually overtook Gardner. Forcier saw spot duty in several games, but really showed out when Robinson was injured against Illinois. Forcier finished out the second half of the 67-65, triple-overtime victory. He ended the season 54-for-84 (64.3%) for 597 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.
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| Lake Nona, FL quarterback Kevin Sousa |
Quarterback Kevin Sousa, who had been committed to Michigan since June 2010, has decommitted in favor of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Sousa is 6’2″, 213 lbs., and the #22 dual-threat quarterback to Rivals. Here’s the commitment post I wrote for him a few months ago.
Sousa started to hint that he might be re-opening his recruitment last month when he showed a bit of disappointment that the Michigan coaches were continuing to recruit other quarterbacks, namely Marquise Williams (who was committed to North Carolina and now is a Virginia Tech commit). While Sousa didn’t seem to mind the highly touted quarterbacks already on Michigan’s roster, he was clearly agitated that Michigan didn’t seem to be fully devoted to him as their future quarterback.
So while Michigan’s coaches didn’t seem convinced that Sousa was their guy, they also seem to have struck out on all or most of the quarterbacks ahead of him on their wish list (and mine). The two remaining uncommitted quarterback prospects on Michigan’s board are Cardale Jones (Cleveland, OH) and Tanner McEvoy (Oradell, NJ). Jones hails from Glennville High School, a program helmed by Ohio State-loving Ted Ginn, Sr. He’s a bit of a poor fit for Michigan’s system, and I can’t see him succeeding in an offense predicated on the zone read option. Meanwhile, McEvoy spent his high school career as a receiver before switching to quarterback prior to his senior season. He did enjoy some success this past fall (26 passing touchdowns, 11 rushing touchdowns at last count), but one can only assume that he would be a bit of a project as a quarterback.
In my opinion, Michigan needs to bring in a quarterback prospect in the 2011 class. Some fans think the Wolverines can get away with avoiding the quarterback position for 2011 and going after some players in 2012. I think that would be a mistake. It’s entirely possible that the coaching situation at Michigan could cause one or more transfers. If Rich Rodriguez remains at Michigan, the chance exists that Tate Forcier might want to go elsewhere; he’s good enough to start at many places in the country. If Jim Harbaugh is hired, I’m not sure how Denard Robinson fits. Meanwhile, it’s unclear how Tate Forcier would feel about playing for Harbaugh. Forcier would seem a better fit for Harbaugh’s system, but Tate’s older brother Jason (also a Michigan Wolverine back in 2005-2006) threw a total of 13 passes under Harbaugh after transferring to Stanford. Even if each of the quarterbacks remains, that gives Michigan only three on the roster (the aforementioned Forcier and Robinson, plus freshman Devin Gardner). One or more transfers would obviously leave Michigan perilously thin at the position.
The decommitment of Sousa leaves Michigan with 13 commitments in the Class of 2011, and Michigan should have 22 to give. Approximately nine slots remain open.
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| Obi Ezeh led the team with eight tackles on Saturday. |
Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . good Vincent Smith. It’s been about 11.5 months since Smith’s ACL tear, and it looks like he’s finally getting healthy. Perhaps it’s partially due to the fact that it was Purdue’s defense, but Smith looked quicker and faster than he has all season. I still don’t like the fact that he was put on the field about nine months after tearing that ACL, but he finally seems to be rounding into form. Hopefully he maintains his level of play.
Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . bad quarterbacks. Denard Robinson seems to have regressed in recent weeks, both throwing and running the ball. I think it’s fair to say at this point that the number of carries Denard has averaged so far this season are catching up to Robinson and Coach Rodriguez. Robinson was 13-for-21 for 176 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 bad interceptions. The big plays are going to be there because of the quality of Michigan’s receivers and the threat of Denard running the ball, but Robinson needs to become a more consistent passer – and soon – if he wants to beat Wisconsin and Ohio State. Tate Forcier wasn’t any better, hitting only 1/4 passes and averaging only .8 yards per carry.
Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Obi Ezeh seemed to make a nice transition from middle linebacker to outside linebacker. Since prior to 2008, I’ve thought that Ezeh was more of an OLB than a MLB. In that season I really wanted John Thompson to play MLB and have Ezeh moved outside. That obviously didn’t happen, and Ezeh spent his entire career at MLB until recently. He ended the game with 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 sack. Ezeh’s biggest problem at middle linebacker was that he read plays too slowly, but the reads at OLB are slightly simpler and one misstep won’t necessarily get him out of position. With Craig Roh now playing defensive end (which is also a good move), Ezeh is a good option at OLB.
Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Mark Moundros. He was voted defensive captain for a reason . . . and I think the biggest reason was that he was clearly willing to change positions (and sides of the ball!) as a senior just to try to help the team and get on the field. However, I don’t think he’s fast enough, instinctive enough, or experienced enough to make an impact on defense. Hopefully the guy he replaced (Jonas Mouton) returns soon from his chest injury. If Mouton is still unavailable next week, I’d prefer to see J.B. Fitzgerald start at weakside linebacker, Demens in the middle, and Ezeh at OLB.
MVP of the Purdue game . . . Vincent Smith. This was a tough choice, because nobody really took over the game this week. There were several guys who had one or two big plays (Craig Roh, Cameron Gordon, Roy Roundtree, James Rogers), but Smith had a solid day and finished with just under 100 yards, including a stellar 19-yard run. Good for him.
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| This must be how the remainder of Penn State’s two-deep feels. |
This is a big Saturday for me. Not only does Michigan get a chance to avenge two consecutive losses to Penn State and earn a bowl berth, but I live in some fairly heavy Penn State country and these people talk a lot of smack. I have some friendly bets with some of my players – the loser(s) have to run a mile after practice on Monday.
Rush Offense vs. Penn State Rush Defense
In comparison with a similar offense to Michigan’s, the Nittany Lions gave up 282 yards on only 54 carries against the Illinois Fighting Illini two weeks ago, and that defense has further been depleted by injury. Interestingly, Michigan has the #7 rushing offense in the country and averages . . . 282 yards a game. Despite that outburst, Penn State sits at a middling #52 against the run. As one might expect, Penn State’s bad opponents (Kent State, Youngstown State, Minnesota) have run the ball poorly, and the solid opponents (Alabama, Illinois) have gashed them. I have not been impressed with Michigan’s running backs this season, but with PSU’s injury issues on defense, I expect Denard Robinson and the Running Back du Jour to have a great day.
Advantage: Michigan
Pass Offense vs. Penn State Pass Defense
Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson has suffered a lull in his passing efficiency over the past couple weeks, turning in subpar passing games against both Michigan State and Iowa. Iowa has the somewhat unique quality of being able to stick to their game plan and do a pretty good job of stopping whatever offense the opponent runs. Whereas Michigan flops between several defenses, Iowa just played their base personnel and Cover 2 defense and they were able to stifle the previously explosive Michigan passing game. Prior to the season, I suspected that Tate Forcier would become more valuable when the Big Ten season arrived; true to form, Forcier stepped in once Robinson got hurt in the third quarter and rallied the Wolverines to 21 points. However, opponents are completing 63% of their passes against the Nittany Lions, and leading interceptor Nick Sukay will miss the game with an injury. And not that defensive linemen have much of an impact on Denard Robinson, but the injuries to Penn State’s defensive ends will make it difficult for Penn State to add to the total of only 4 sacks allowed by the Wolverines this season.
Advantage: Michigan
Rush Defense vs. Penn State Rush Offense
I don’t know what to think here. Running back Evan Royster has torched Michigan over the past couple seasons, rushing for something like 500 yards on 2 carries. On the one hand, Penn State’s offensive line is made up of wet Klee-nex, Stefen Wisniewski, and a balloon animal. On the other hand, replace “Stefen Wisniewski” with “Mike Martin’s sprained ankle” and that’s a pretty good description of Michigan’s defense, too. Considering that Michigan hasn’t been able to stop the run at all this year, I have to assume that Penn State will gash the Wolverines once again. It will be the #86 rush offense against the #54 rush defense, but keep in mind that teams feel like they can beat Michigan through the air whenever they want; just ask Indiana and Notre Dame whether the running game was important for running neck-and-neck with Michigan.
Advantage: Penn State
Pass Defense vs. Penn State Pass Offense
Penn State is the #71 pass offense and the #93 pass efficiency offense. So . . . they’re crappy. Recent reports indicate that freshman starter Robert Bolden will miss Saturday’s game with concussion symptoms. I got a chance to see former Michigan commit Kevin Newsome back in the spring of 2009 when he enrolled early at Penn State, and he looked like me playing quarterback, except only if I drank a fifth of whiskey first. That means that redshirt sophomore, former walk-on Matt McGloin will likely get the start on Saturday. McGloin’s career stats are 6 completions on 15 attempts, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. And now that we’re aware of the mediocrity that is Penn State’s pass offense, you should expect at least 350 yards passing and a few touchdowns. Okay, maybe not. I’m feeling gutsy, so . . .
Advantage: Michigan
Final Predictions