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| Running back/slot receiver Justice Hayes |
My maiden voyage at Maize ‘n’ Brew has been posted. It’s a breakdown of how Michigan should use its remaining 7 scholarships for the 2011 recruiting class.
Take a gander over there if you’re interested.
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| Kick returner Martavious Odoms stiff-arms a Bulldog defender |
Well, that was disappointing.
Martavious Odoms is a beast. Odoms came back from a broken foot that he suffered halfway through the season, and he played an excellent game. His only reception was an impressive 27-yard catch on which he twisted in the air to reel in the ball. But he was also very effective on kickoff returns, taking back 7 kicks for 161 yards (23.0 yards per return). You have to appreciate how hard this kid plays on every single play.
Chris Relf is not a beast, but Michigan made him look like one. This is nothing new – Michigan makes opposing quarterbacks look awesome. But never has that been more apparent than on New Year’s Day. If you extrapolate Relf’s performance on Saturday over 13 games, he would have ended the year with 234 completions on 299 attempts (78%) for 3653 yards, 39 passing touchdowns, and 13 interceptions (and Relf’s lone interception was a Hail Mary at the end of the first half). Prior to the Gator Bowl, Relf was 111/197 (56%) for 1508 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions. That’s right. Michigan literally made Relf about two or three times better than he was during the rest of the season.
James Rogers is fast. Even coming out of high school, Rogers’ #1 strength was his speed. Although the Bulldogs scored on the very next play, kudos to Rogers for chasing down running back Ladarius Perkins on his 81-yard reception. Perkins looked like he was gone on the play, but as soon as I saw Rogers turn on the jets, I knew it wouldn’t be a touchdown.
Here’s my weekly rant against Vincent Smith. Argh argh argh argh! Guess who got the most carries aside from Denard Robinson? Vincent Smith. Guess who has the second-lowest rushing average on the team? Yep, Vincent Smith (4.42 yards per carry). Fitzgerald Toussaint (10.88), Michael Cox (9.3), and Michael Shaw (5.36) are all significantly higher. Freshman short yardage back Stephen Hopkins (4.08) is the only back with a lower average. And I find it funny that one of Rich Rodriguez’s reasons for playing Smith was “He’s not a fumbler.” Well, now Smith has fumbled about 5 times this year, which is far more than any other running back. So how about just putting the best player out there, someone who might have a chance at being consistent and/or making a big play? It’s ridiculous that the starting running back is so ineffective when there are other options that just don’t get a chance to see the field.
Denard Robinson is still erratic. . . Look, it’s painful to criticize Robinson. He doesn’t get much help, he gets beaten up, he’s got a great attitude, he plays hard, and oh by the way, he has a great deal of talent. But he shouldn’t be throwing the ball 41 times in a game. I realize that the game situation called for a lot of throws; when you’re down by 38 points, running doesn’t do much. But this game just didn’t play out well for him. If backup quarterback Tate Forcier wasn’t an idiot and remained eligible for the bowl game, then the second half would have been a situation in which Forcier would have been inserted. Forcier is more effective when the playcalling is limited to pass, pass, pass. So part of this can be blamed on #5, but Denard Robinson was the one who overthrew Junior Hemingway a couple times. Denard was also the one who consistently made “inaccurate completions” where his receivers had to dive, jump, or twist around to catch the ball. You’re not going to get a lot of yards after the catch when the receivers don’t have forward momentum.
. . . and so is Roy Roundtree. I was all about Roy Roundtree early in the season, but he’s totally fallen apart over the past few games. He dropped a couple passes against Wisconsin, five against Ohio State, and another couple against Mississippi State. One of the drops against Mississippi State was a very nice deep throw from Robinson that might have gone for a touchdown, except for the fact that Roy Roundtree spent the previous TV timeout eating some KFC.
Field goal schmield goal. It’s not like losing 52-17 is much different than 52-14, but I was furious when Rich Rodriguez sent out Brendan Gibbons to kick a field goal in the first half. It’s 4th-and-4, and you’re going to send out a kid who’s 1-for-4 on field goals on a team that’s 4-for-13 overall? When your defense sucks and so do your kickers, you go for it in that situation. Those kickers shouldn’t have seen the field except for extra points.
Rich Rodriguez is gone. This was probably the case prior to the game, but the 38-point loss pretty much seals the deal. My expectation is that athletic director David Brandon will let Jim Harbaugh coach Stanford against Virginia Tech tomorrow night in the Orange Bowl. Then later in the week, Harbaugh will be hired to replace Rodriguez. Rodriguez and his staff had a chance to make a case for themselves in this game, and they laid a very stinky egg.
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| Mississippi State cheerleaders |
I’m not going to fake it – the holidays have been so busy that I haven’t had time to watch video and develop any kind of strong feel about today’s game.
I’m just going to sit back, relax, and enjoy a New Year’s Day of excellent football games. I have a strong feeling that today will be Michigan’s final game playing for Rich Rodriguez, so I’m going to be rooting hard for him to go out on a winning note. We’ll also be saying goodbye to seniors Perry Dorrestein, Steve Schilling, Martell Webb, John Ferrara, Greg Banks, Renaldo Sagesse, Adam Patterson, Jonas Mouton, Obi Ezeh, Mark Moundros, and James Rogers.
Go Blue!
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| New Jersey safety Sheldon Royster |
Last night I attended the Chesapeake Bowl in Towson, Maryland (just outside Baltimore). The Chesapeake Bowl is a post-season all-star game between players from Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey (the North) and players from Virginia, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Maryland (the South). Not only was it a game studded with high school stars being recruited by Michigan and other Big Ten teams, but one of my high school program’s players was involved, too.
North Team players of interest were Damiere Byrd, Kyshoen Jarrett, Dondi Kirby, Sheldon Royster, Desimon Green, Bill Belton, Armstead Williams, Ben Kline, Deion Barnes, Paul Gaughan, and Jack Tabb.
South Team players of interest were Vincent Croce, Darius Jennings, Malcolm Crockett, Kevin McReynolds, and Darian Cooper.
I went to Towson on my way home after travelling to Michigan for a holiday visit, so I was slightly unprepared for watching the game. I would have jotted down some notes, but I didn’t have a note pad or a pen . . . and frankly, the cold and my lack of gloves would have prevented me from using a pen effectively, anyway. So I’m operating purely on mental notes.
THE GAME
The North team seemed like the more impressive roster, and they showed it by jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. The South offense moved backward consistently in the first quarter until backup QB Perces Goings came in and gave the offense a little spark. He was replaced after a series or two, but the offense had found a rhythm by then. The South cut the lead to 14-7 only to watch the North go back up by a score of 21-7.
After that, though, it was pretty much all the South. They scored 23 unanswered points to take a 30-21 lead. The North made one last push with a touchdown pass in the corner, which was caught by Michigan target Jack Tabb. But the onside kick went out of bounds with 1:43 remaining in the game, and the South ran out the clock.
THE PLAYERS
Deion Barnes, DE (North): He was on the roster, but I didn’t notice him on the field.
Bill Belton, WR (North): Did not play due to injury. It looked like he had a cast on his right hand.
Damiere Byrd, WR (North): He was on the roster, but I never saw him. Committed to South Carolina.
Darian Cooper, DT (South): Cooper started alongside Kevin McReynolds at defensive tackle, which makes a very imposing interior defensive line for a high school game. Cooper really didn’t seem that impressive, but it’s hard to take much from these all-star games, where teams only have a few practices to prepare and most of these kids haven’t played football since mid- to late November. I sat next to Cooper’s family, but I didn’t want to be a tool and start talking up Michigan or anything. From sitting next to his family, though, they seemed to be very congenial, friendly, intelligent people. They cheered enthusiastically throughout the game, but they weren’t obnoxious like a certain recruit’s family that sat behind me. If Cooper follows in his family’s footsteps, then I can only assume that he would be a high quality kid to add to the Wolverine program.
Vincent Croce, LB/DE (South): He started the game at middle linebacker and played some defensive end in passing situations. I’m sure Croce will end up on the defensive line in college, but he did a decent job as a linebacker. He has a bit of a strange body. His legs are kind of short and then he has a thick upper body. He also seemed to be very involved with his teammates and a bit of an emotional leader. Committed to Virginia.
Malcolm Crockett, RB (South): I was excited about seeing Crockett play, but he really didn’t do much at all. He started at running back for the South and played most of the game, but neither team really ran the ball very well. Both teams seemed committed to the pass, even though it was freezing and the receivers dropped a number of passes. However, one thing I noticed was that Crockett was constantly running on the sideline, pantomiming taking handoffs, doing footwork drills, etc. whenever the defense was on the field. He really seemed like he was involved in the game and trying to stay ready, which I think shows good character. Committed to Cincinnati.
Paul Gaughan, OT (North): I didn’t watch the line as much as I would have liked, but I believe he started and played most of the game. Committed to Boston College.
Desimon Green, WR/DE (North): Michigan recruited Green to play DE, but Green played nearly the entire game at WR for the North – and he played it well. At 6’5″ and 225 lbs., he caught several leaping passes, including a touchdown reception in the corner of the endzone, and ran fairly well after the catch. There was also a very interesting play where a pass over the middle bounced off Green’s hands, got intercepted by the trailing defensive back, got fumbled by the DB before he hit the ground, was picked up by Green, and was run for another 30 yards or so before Green got tackled inside the 10-yard line. Green was perhaps the most impressive player on the field. He played well at WR and got a couple snaps at DE.
Kyshoen Jarrett, CB (North): Let me put it this way – Jarrett reminded me a lot of Boubacar Cissoko a couple years ago, when Cissoko would wave his hands demonstrably after every play, even mediocre ones. An early 15-yard penalty for taunting curbed his enthusiasm a bit, but the refs probably missed at least one more 15-yard-worthy action of Jarrett. Jarrett did have the talent to back it up (2 interceptions and at least 1 pass breakup), but I’d like to see him talk a little less. Committed to Virginia Tech.
Darius Jennings, WR (South): Jennings was probably the best all-around player on the field. He ran the ball, caught the ball, and completed both passes he attempted, each of which came on end around plays; he would take the handoff from the quarterback and then drop back. Jennings hit the QB on one pass for a good gain and then threw a TD pass to a WR. He also scored on an end around early in the game, which set up those trick plays.
Dondi Kirby, S (North): He tore his ACL prior to his senior season and did not play, but seemed to be emotionally involved with his teammates and was a cheerleader on the sidelines. Committed to Illinois.
Ben Kline, LB (North): Had some big hits (and got blasted once) from his linebacker position. He was heavily involved in the defense and looked physically ready to contribute at the college level. Committed to Penn State.
Kevin McReynolds, DT (South): McReynolds is huge. He’s listed at 6’3.5″ and 300 lbs., but he was a very solid 300 pounds, unlike a lot of high schoolers you see. Not only big, he looked extremely powerful. And he played like it, too. He’s one of the reasons that the North couldn’t run the ball consistently, and he got a good push up the middle of the pocket, too.
Sheldon Royster, S (North): Royster started the game at safety and showed some good makeup speed in the passing game and on special teams. I’ve held out on judging Royster because I’ve seen very little film on him, but after seeing him in person, he’s definitely someone I’d like to see wearing the Maize and Blue. On a slightly funny play, Royster walked up to the line of scrimmage, seemingly to cover a slot receiver; then he blitzed off the edge and absolutely crushed the quarterback. Unfortunately, the rule for the Chesapeake Bowl (much like most all-star games) is that defenses may not blitz. But instead of handing out a 15-yard penalty for the first offense, the North team was given a warning.
Jack Tabb, TE (North): Tabb didn’t really stand out one way or the other. He was in on virtually every offensive snap, either at TE or lined up as a slot receiver. But even on pass plays, he was used mostly as a blocker. He did catch two passes; one was an emergency dump-off that he bobbled a bit before getting tackle for about a 1-yard loss; the other was a very nice leaping catch over a defensive back in the corner of the endzone that put the score at 27-30 with less than two minutes left. Tabb was an adequate blocker, but for whatever reason, he didn’t seem to be moving at 100% speed. I don’t know if he was affected by the cold or what, but he just seemed to be going 90% for much of the game. It’s not that he was being lazy – it just looked like he was stiff from the cold or something. He also dropped a pass.
Armstead Williams, LB (North): He was on the roster, but I didn’t notice him on the field.
OTHER KIDS OF INTEREST
Daquan Cooper, WR (North): Cooper returned kicks, got the ball on end arounds, etc. He was a slightly less effective version of the South’s Darius Jennings, but he was a very impressive athlete. You got the impression that he might turn any play into a big play. No relation to Darian, as far as I know (they play at different high schools in different states). Committed to Temple.
Patrick Skov, LB (North): Skov sliced through the offensive line for several tackles on the day. I heard his name repeatedly, and he was a very solid hitter. Committed to Stanford.
Matt Zanellato, WR (South): He’s a tall, skinny kid committed to Penn State. He’s very good at going up and getting the ball at its highest point, as evidenced by his one touchdown catch. He also has a little bit of speed to him, getting behind the defense on a deep pass (and a perfectly thrown ball) by quarterback Kevin Hogan.
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| Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez |
Last week I posted a poll with the question “Who will be Michigan’s head coach in 2011?” These are the results of that poll:
80% said Rich Rodriguez
16% said Jim Harbaugh
1% said Brady Hoke
1% said Other
I said a few weeks ago that I think Rodriguez will be fired. I’m not totally convinced that firing Rodriguez would be a good idea, but I’m sticking with that prediction. We’ll find out for sure in a week or two.