2012 All-Big Ten teams announced

Tag: Will Hagerup


27Nov 2012
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2012 All-Big Ten teams announced

Taylor Lewan is First Team All-Big Ten

The All-Big Ten teams were announced on the Big Ten Network this evening, and there were some . . . interesting decisions.  Here are the Michigan players on the teams:

FIRST TEAM (Coaches):
Patrick Omameh, OG – 12 starts
Taylor Lewan, OT – 12 starts

SECOND TEAM (Coaches):
Craig Roh, DE – 36 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks
Jordan Kovacs, S – 65 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble

HONORABLE MENTION (Coaches):
J.T. Floyd, CB – 48 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 5 pass breakups
Jeremy Gallon, WR – 40 catches, 684 yards, 2 touchdowns; 11 carries, 67 yards; 12 punt returns, 66 yards
Brendan Gibbons, K – 14/16 field goals, long of 52; 44/44 extra points
Will Hagerup, P – 33 punts, 1486 yards, 45.0 yards/punt
Roy Roundtree, WR – 28 catches, 553 yards, 3 touchdowns
Jake Ryan, LB – 84 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 3 pass breakups, 4 forced fumbles

FIRST TEAM (Media):
Taylor Lewan, OT
Will Hagerup, P

SECOND TEAM (Media):
Jake Ryan, LB

HONORABLE MENTION (Media):
William Campbell, DT – 44 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack
J.T. Floyd, CB
Devin Funchess, TE – 14 catches, 230 yards, 5 touchdowns
Jeremy Gallon, WR
Brendan Gibbons, K
Jordan Kovacs, S
Patrick Omameh, OG
Denard Robinson, QB – 89/166 (53.6%), 1319 yards, 9 touchdowns, 9 interceptions; 154 carries, 1166 yards, 7 touchdowns
Craig Roh, DE
Roy Roundtree, WR

I’m not too upset with these picks, because nobody on Michigan’s team really had an outstanding season.  The only choice (or non-choice) that bugs me a bit is the lack of Jake Ryan on the coaches’ team; Ryan should have been selected ahead of Nebraska linebacker Will Compton for second team honors.  But then again, the selection of Patrick Omameh to the first team on the coaches’ team means you win some, you lose some.

Based on his last couple seasons, the absence of Denard Robinson from these lists is almost shocking.  He is one of the most exciting players in the entire country, but he missed too much time due to injury and threw the ball poorly in the first half of the year.  I can’t argue that he deserves to be any higher, but I have to admit his performance was a little bit of a letdown after being in the Heisman discussion at various points throughout the past three years.  I hoped for better, and yet, he is what he’s always been – an excellent runner and a poor passer.

10Jul 2012
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2012 Season Countdown: #51 Will Hagerup

Will Hagerup

Name: Will Hagerup
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 225 lbs.
High school: Milwauke (WI) Whitefish Bay
Position: Punter
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #45
Last year: I ranked Hagerup #14 and said he would be the starting punter.  He punted 29 times for 1,043 yards (36.0 yards per punt) and downed 5 inside the 20-yard line.

Hagerup was suspended for the first three games of last season because of off-the-field issues.  His off-the-field issues carried over into on-the-field issues, however, because he only averaged 36.0 yards a punt as a sophomore after averaging 43.6 as a freshman in 2010.  Minor fluctuations might be expected from a punter, but not a 7.6-yard drop.

Based on his first two seasons, all we can really count on is that Hagerup will get suspended.  He went from being the best underclassman punter in the league and the nation’s 28th-best punter (by average distance) in 2010 to somewhere around the 95th-best punter in the country as a sophomore, so I don’t know what to expect out of his leg for 2012.  However it turns out for him, he has a capable backup punter in sophomore Matt Wile (41.7 yards per punt last season), so if Hagerup can’t get the job done, hopefully the coaches will insert someone who can.

Prediction: Starting punter unless he sucks again

30Oct 2011
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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.

17Oct 2011
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Michigan at Michigan State Awards

Devin Gardner (#7) scrambles, but to no avail.
(image via MGoBlue.com)



Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Devin Gardner.  I’m not saying more as in he should be the starter, but I do like what Al Borges is doing with Gardner.  I don’t typically like two-quarterback platoons, but Gardner is a more skilled passer than Denard Robinson.  He made some gaffes on Saturday (getting sacked on fourth down, making an illegal forward pass, etc.), but he also threw some nice balls and made some plays with his legs.  People keep saying that Robinson is a threat to go all the way on every play, but if opponents put eight or nine decently talented guys in the box, Robinson won’t have any running room.  And until he proves that he can beat a team with his arm, Michigan needs to work in a passing threat.  Personally, I’m enjoying the plays when Gardner is at quarterback and Robinson lines up in the backfield or at wide receiver.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . the second tight end, whether it’s Steve Watson or Brandon Moore.  If the offensive line isn’t going to get a push and if Michigan can’t run it out of the I-formation, then I think the Wolverines need to get their best eleven on the field.  Junior Hemingway, Roy Roundtree, and Jeremy Gallon are all playmakers, and Kevin Koger is valuable in a lot of ways with his speed, athleticism, blocking, and leadership.  Those four players plus some combination of Denard Robinson, Devin Gardner, Fitzgerald Toussaint, Vincent Smith, and Michael Shaw need to be on the field the vast majority of the time.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Cam Gordon.  Gordon returned to action this week after a nagging back injury caused him to miss the first six games of the season.  In his stead Jake Ryan has made a name for himself as a playmaker at SAM linebacker, but Ryan does have his flaws; he’s prone to both making and allowing big plays.  Ryan has to get quicker at reading offensive plays, maintaining the edge, and using his hands to disengage from blockers.  Gordon might not be an immediate upgrade, but perhaps he can help.  It was clear against MSU that Ryan’s other backups aren’t legitimate options in big-time games.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Brandin Hawthorne and J.T. Floyd (tie).  On one Keshawn Martin touchdown, Hawthorne made a half-assed attempt to tackle him at the pylon and tried to shoulder Martin out of bounds rather than wrap him up.  A good, fundamental tackle would almost certainly have stopped Martin at the 1-yard line, although a touchdown almost certainly would have been delayed rather than prevented altogether.  On the other Martin touchdown, J.T. Floyd made a half-assed attempt to stick with him and jogged behind the play, even though he clearly had Martin in man coverage.  Those weren’t cases of being beaten physically – they were examples of players not playing hard and giving 100% effort.

MVP of the game . . . Will Hagerup.  Nobody had a great game offensively or defensively for Michigan, but Hagerup did a solid job of punting on a very windy day.  He only averaged 31.9 yards on seven punts, but four of those pinned the Spartans inside their 20-yard line, and three of them put the green and white bronze at or inside their own 10.  Despite being unable to get any kind of offensive flow or defensive momentum, the Wolverines hung with MSU in the first half largely due to the field position battle.

Play of the game . . . Denard Robinson’s touchdown run.  After dropping back to pass, Robinson was almost sacked.  But he yanked himself away, tucked the ball, and scrambled to the left, picking up a nice block by Kevin Koger before squeezing inside the pylon.