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Recruiting Update: October 13, 2016

Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy OG Curtis Dunlap, Jr.

COMMITMENT

Indianapolis (IN) Cathedral offensive guard Emil Ekiyor, Jr. committed to Michigan (LINK).

DECOMMITMENT

Jacksonville (FL) Trinity fullback/linebacker Chase Lasater decommitted from Michigan (LINK).

ADDED TO THE BOARD: 2017

Nashville (TN) Lipscomb defensive tackle Rutger Reitmaier, an Oregon commit, was offered by Michigan. He’s a 6’3″, 270 lb. prospect with offers from Nebraska, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Tennessee, among others. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #24 defensive tackle, and #360 overall. The U.S. Army All-American has been committed to the Ducks since June, but at 2-4 and with questions about head coach Mark Helfrich’s job, other teams are going to be poking around Oregon’s commits.

Hit the jump for a couple new 2018 offers, a couple 2019 offers, a few guys who committed elsewhere, and some random bits.

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Ex-Wolverine Updates: Week 6

Alabama running back Damien Harris (image via Zimbio)

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Former DE commit Pharaoh Brown: Brown made 3 catches for 18 yards in Oregon’s 70-21 loss to Washington.

Former WR/S Brian Cole II: Cole made 6 tackles in East Mississippi Community College’s 63-49 win over Holmes Community College.

Brian Cole @EMCCathletics smh ?? @TheD_Zone @AllenTrieu pic.twitter.com/ESiaalSMsM

— Camp pride (@Camp__Pride) October 9, 2016

Former CB commit Gareon Conley: Conley made 2 pass breakups in Ohio State’s 38-17 win over Indiana.

Hit the jump for several more updates.

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Chase Lasater, Ex-Wolverine

Chase Lasater (#27)

Jacksonville (FL) Trinity fullback/linebacker Chase Lasater decommitted from Michigan on Monday night. He originally committed to the Wolverines in March (LINK).

Lasater, who is 6’2″ and 238 lbs., was brought into the fold as someone who could play fullback but wanted to play linebacker, similar to Sandy Hook (CT) Newtown commitment Ben Mason. He was lightly recruited but is a very physical player. Michigan has been recruiting Leesburg (GA) Lee fullback and LSU commit Tory Carter pretty hard, and Carter will be on campus in November for an official visit. There have been rumors floating around for a while that Lasater might not end up in the class: injuries have slowed him this fall, attending several different high schools may have hurt his chances of admission, and maybe Michigan just didn’t have room for him.

Regardless, Michigan goes forward with the possibility of flipping Carter, a 6’2″, 255-pounder. He’s a 247 Composite 3-star, the #4 fullback, and #1806 in the class. Here’s a look at the top-ranked fullbacks in the class:

Michigan now has 16 commitments in a class that could reach approximately 30.

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2016 Michigan at Rutgers Awards

Jabrill Peppers (image via SB Nation)

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Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Jabrill Peppers. This is a bit disingenuous, because more of Peppers against Rutgers is a bit superfluous. He’s just such a dynamic player that busted plays turn into 63-yard runs, naked bootlegs turn into 7-yard touchdown runs, and penalty-doomed punt returns still look like highlights of the year. Again, Michigan might not need him against Illinois and their ilk, but 3 carries for 74 yards and 2 touchdowns is pretty impressive production for a defensive player. The one read option play where he gave to Ty Isaac probably should have been a keep by the QB, but otherwise, he was electric as a Wildcat signal caller. This is why I’ve said in the past that Peppers needs to play more offense. He can take ignite a team immediately.

Hit the jump for the rest of the awards.

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Michigan 78, Rutgers 0

Jabrill Peppers (image via Michigan Daily)

The score. OMG the score. Michigan hasn’t scored that many points since they beat the University of Chicago 85-0 in 1939. It’s the largest margin of victory in the history of the Big Ten, a record that was previously held by Wisconsin’s 63-point victory over Indiana in 2010, an 83-20 contest. I predicted a 45-0 victory in the game preview, but then I amended that shortly into the game:

Rain is the great equalizer. I don’t think #Michigan is going to score 45 tonight

— TouchTheBanner (@TouchTheBanner) October 8, 2016

In fairness to myself . . . it stopped raining. While the rain was coming down early, Wilton Speight was inaccurate, the normally sure-handed De’Veon Smith fumbled, and two balls squirted through the hands of Amara Darboh.

Hit the jump for more.

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