Posts by: Thunder

Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Alan Branch

Alan Branch (image via CBS Local)

Alan Branch, who plays for the New England Patriots, had 5 tackles and 1 sack in a 16-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Those are pretty solid numbers for a nose tackle. The 6’6″, 350-pounder is best known to Michigan fans as the guy who flattened Penn State quarterback Anthony Morelli.

HONORABLE MENTION

• Patriots QB Tom Brady’s lame suspension ended this week, so he rejoined his team and will start next week
• Seattle Seahawks DE Frank Clark had 1 tackle and 1 pass breakup in 27-17 victory over the New York Jets
• Carolina Panthers WR Devin Funchess caught 2 passes for 56 yards in a 48-33 loss to the Atlanta Falcons
• New York Giants CB Leon Hall made 7 tackles in a 24-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings
• Jacksonville Jaguars OT Patrick Omameh made his first start of the year in a 30-27 win over the Indianapolis Colts

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Ex-Wolverine Updates: Week 5

Jay Hopson

Former WR/S Brian Cole II: Cole made 3 tackles, blocked a punt, and returned a fumble 50 yards for a touchdown in East Mississippi Community College’s 73-7 victory over Mississippi Delta Community College. Below is his five-game highlight film from this season:

Former CB commit Gareon Conley: Conley made 2 tackles in Ohio State’s 58-0 demolition of Rutgers.

Former defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin: Durkin improved to 4-0 as a head coach as Maryland beat Purdue, 50-7.

Former RB commit Damien Harris: Harris had 2 carries for 11 yards in Alabama’s 34-6 win over Kentucky. Harris is the starter but left the previous week’s game early with an ankle injury.

Hit the jump for more updates on former Wolverines.

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Emil Ekiyor, Wolverine

Indianapolis (IN) Cathedral OG Emil Ekiyor (image via Today’s U)

Indianapolis (IN) Cathedral offensive guard Emil Ekiyor, Jr., a 2018 prospect, committed to Michigan on Sunday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and USC, among others.

Ekiyor is 6’3″, 322 lbs. and claims a 5.44 forty.

RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 81 grade, #4 OG, #131 overall
Rivals: 4-star, #4 OG, #127 overall
Scout: 4-star, #3 OG, #124 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 92 grade, #5 OG, #131 overall

Hit the jump for more on Ekiyor.

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Michigan vs. Wisconsin Awards

Ryan Glasgow (#96, image via Oakland Press)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Jabrill Peppers. Peppers played some Wildcat quarterback and flipped the ball to Jehu Chesson on a reverse, but he didn’t register in the offensive stat book. Michigan struggled to score points and averaged a mediocre 4.0 yards/carry, taking a 7-7 lead into the fourth quarter before scoring the game-winning touchdown with fewer than eight minutes left. So far this year, Peppers has 2 carries for 24 yards. Maybe Michigan doesn’t need him much against Rutgers next week, but they will need his contributions down the road.

Hit the jump for more on the Wisconsin game.

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Michigan 14, Wisconsin 7

5-0 feels good. Michigan fans had to sweat it out on Saturday, even though Wisconsin couldn’t do much of anything on offense. But now that the Wolverines have faced adversity a couple times – being 7-7 in the second half with Wisconsin, being down 28-7 to Colorado – and come out on top, it feels good to know that Michigan won’t crumple in the fourth quarter. Fans were talking on here and elsewhere that Wisconsin was going to get handled pretty easily, but a) good defense keeps you in the game and b) Michigan’s not that great offensively. Regardless, a win over the #8 team in the country – and one who had beaten us up the last two times we played – leaves us looking pretty good to the pollsters.

Hit the jump for much more on the win.

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