Tag: Blake Countess

2013 Season Predictions

Here are my 2012 predictions, in case you’re interested.

Leading Rusher
Michigan no longer has a quarterback who’s much of a threat to lead the team in rushing, although he’s a pretty good runner. Fitzgerald Toussaint is the best running back currently on the roster, but he struggles to stay healthy. I make this choice with very little confidence.
Prediction: Toussaint, 900 yards

Leading Receiver
The top receiver returns from last year, and that player has great chemistry with quarterback Devin Gardner. Jeremy Gallon had 829 receiving yards last season, despite having Denard Robinson as the primary passer for the first half of the season. Gallon should see an uptick in receptions and yardage this season, but without another proven threat, he might be bracketed a little more often.
Prediction: Gallon, 1100 yards

Leading Tackler
Strongside linebacker Jake Ryan led the team in tackles with 88 last year, but he’s out with a torn ACL until at least October. The choice comes down to middle linebacker Desmond Morgan or weakside linebacker James Ross III, and I think I’ll go with sophomore Ross, whose instincts are unmatched by anyone else on the team.
Prediction: Ross, 90 tackles

Leading Sacker
Ryan also led the team in sacks with 5.5 last season, but he probably won’t have time to get to the quarterback that much since he’ll miss half the season or so. There’s been a lot of buzz about weakside end Frank Clark’s improvement this offseason, and I think he’ll gather a few sacks in some early season games against the likes of Central Michigan and Akron.

Prediction: Clark, 8 sacks

Leading Interceptor
The safeties aren’t huge playmakers, and the best cornerback (Blake Countess) is coming off a torn ACL. Countess has good cover skills but has never been known as a true ball hawk. I think three players end up tied for this honor.
Prediction: Countess, Thomas Gordon, Raymon Taylor, 2 interceptions each

All-Big Ten First Team
Prediction: Jeremy Gallon, Taylor Lewan

Leading Scorer (non-QB, non-kicker)
I’m calling 10 touchdowns for Toussaint and Gallon rushing and receiving, respectively, but add a couple touchdowns through the air for Toussaint.
Prediction: Toussaint

Breakout Offensive Player
There are a few options for breakout players. I’m not going to count Devin Funchess, who already showed what he can do last season, even if he didn’t get targeted much toward the end of the year. This leaves some backup running backs and whoever shows up across from Gallon. I think I’ll go with Jehu Chesson, who should be targeted plenty.
Prediction: Chesson

Breakout Defensive Player
This is a really tough choice, because I foresee a few guys stepping up this year to make some plays: Frank Clark, James Ross, and Cam Gordon. I’m most confident in Ross, but I think the other two will take large steps forward as well.
Prediction: Ross

Most Disappointing Offensive Player
I think the interior of the offensive line is going to struggle, and that starts with redshirt sophomore Jack Miller. Miller will be a new starter and he’s not the biggest or strongest of guys, so there will be both mental and physical issues there.
Prediction: Miller

Most Disappointing Defensive Player
I think the issues at free safety will carry over from last season, when Jarrod Wilson really struggled as a backup. This year senior Courtney Avery is competing with sophomore Wilson for the job, but Avery’s out for a couple weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery. Wilson has good physical abilities, but gets himself out of position too much.
Prediction: Wilson

The Big Finish
August 31 vs. Central Michigan: WIN. The Chippewas are a mediocre MAC team.

September 7 vs. Notre Dame: WIN. Notre Dame got lucky a lot last season, and while their defensive front seven will still be good, the offense will sputter too much.

September 14 vs. Akron: WIN. Another mediocre MAC team.

September 21 at Connecticut: WIN. If for no other reason than the fact that I saw Paul Pasqualoni at a clinic this offseason and didn’t care for his attitude, I’m picking the Wolverines.

October 5 vs. Minnesota: WIN. Jerry Kill has a good history of improving teams, so I don’t think it will be a cake walk, but Michigan is more talented.

October 12 at Penn State: WIN. I have a feeling Penn State will drop off a little bit after the emotion of last season carrying them a little bit. It won’t be easy, but I think Michigan wins.

October 19 vs. Indiana: WIN. Indiana isn’t very good at the football, but the offense will be entertaining.

November 2 at Michigan State: WIN. The Spartans will have a good defense, but they’ll struggle this year on offense. Michigan is more balanced.

November 9 vs. Nebraska: LOSS. After the emotion of beating MSU and facing a pretty good team in the Cornhuskers, Michigan loses a squeaker.

November 16 at Northwestern: WIN. Michigan is getting more athletic on defense, and Jake Ryan should be back by this point to help out defensively. It might be a shootout again, but I pick the Wolverines.

November 23 at Iowa: WIN. Iowa will probably be bad.

November 30 vs. Ohio State: LOSS. Michigan just won’t have the running game to keep Ohio State honest because of the mediocre interior line.

Final record: 10-2

2013 Season Countdown: #9 Blake Countess

Blake Countess

Name: Blake Countess
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 182 lbs.
High school: Olney (MD) Good Counsel
Position: Cornerback

Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #18
Last year: I ranked Countess #9 and said he would be the starting field corner with 55 tackles and 2 interceptions. He tore his ACL in the first quarter of the season opener and missed the rest of the year.

I was pretty hyped about Countess coming into the 2012 season, and I thought he would be one of the Big Ten’s best corners. But on punt coverage in the season opener against Alabama, he came limping off the field, and things didn’t look good. A torn ACL kept him out for the year, and he was replaced by Raymon Taylor (who coincidentally had very similar numbers – 45 tackles, 2 picks – to what I predicted for Countess). He was running by the spring, but the coaching staff held him out of all game-like activities to prevent re-injury.

Countess is full go now and has been practicing with the team this August. Observers say that he looks like the old Blake Countess, and the old Blake Countess was a 4-star recruit who picked off Devin Gardner in the 2012 spring game. Talent-wise, he might deserve to be higher on the list, but Michigan returns Taylor and Courtney Avery; additionally, junior Delonte Hollowell has received some practice buzz, and there are some other talented young guys. Countess is the best of the bunch right now, but corner is a position where young guys can contribute (as Countess did in 2011). If he stays healthy, I think the baseline for Countess will be honorable mention all-conference. There are a few other good corners to compete with for those all-conference honors (Purdue’s Ricardo Allen, Michigan State’s Darqueze Dennard, etc.), but Countess should give it a run.

Prediction: Starting cornerback; 55 tackles, 2 interceptions

Video: Countdown to Kickoff 2013 – Day 24: Blake Countess

Countdown to Kickoff 2013: Day 24 – Blake Countess by mgovideo

Spring Practice Preview: Defense

Jake Ryan led the team in tackles as a redshirt sophomore

DEFENSIVE END
The strongside end is perhaps the biggest question mark on the team this spring, at least from a fan’s perspective.  Craig Roh graduated, and there are backups, potential position-switchers, and redshirt freshmen all vying for the vacated spot.  Will it be last year’s primary backup, redshirt freshman Keith Heitzman (7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss)?  Will it be senior Jibreel Black (20 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks), who played 3-tech defensive tackle last year?  Will it be a junior position-switcher from weakside end, Brennen Beyer (19 tackles) or Frank Clark (25 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 2 sacks)?  Will it be one of the redshirt freshmen, Chris Wormley or Tom Strobel?  Heitzman seems like a good fit if Ryan Van Bergen and Roh are the prototypes, but we have yet to see Wormley or Strobel on the field.  The weakside end spot seems a little easier to sort out.  Clark is too much of a playmaker – and not disciplined enough – to be a candidate for SDE, making him likely to stick at weakside end.  Sophomore Mario Ojemudia should be bigger by now, and he made a few nice plays last season.

Others to watch: Redshirt freshman Matt Godin hasn’t created much buzz, but he’s a big body who has the size to play the SDE spot.  Freshman early enrollee Taco Charlton is tall, long, and pretty lean, but he’s also very raw.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE
One starter is almost certain, and that’s fifth year senior Quinton Washington (32 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack).  Other prognostications are murky.  The second-best defensive tackle might be sophomore Ondre Pipkins (7 tackles), but he was overweight last year and seems best suited for Washington’s nose tackle spot.  Black and redshirt freshman Willie Henry would both be capable of playing the 3-tech position, and Wormley could end up there, too, if he’s not playing strongside end.
Others to watch: Redshirt juniors Richard Ash and Ken Wilkins have been mired on the bench mostly and totally, respectively.  It’s tough to see either one garnering a ton of playing time this year, since both were surpassed by an out-of-shape Pipkins.  Heitzman and Godin could also see some reps at 3-tech.


LINEBACKER
The strongside linebacker position is locked down by redshirt junior Jake Ryan (88 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks), and his backup is pretty solid in the form of fifth year senior Cam Gordon (17 tackles, 3 tackles for loss).  The inside linebacker spots will be filled by two of three guys.  My guess is that junior Desmond Morgan (81 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss) will move from weakside linebacker to the middle, while sophomore James Ross (36 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss) steps in at WILL.  Sophomore Joe Bolden (30 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack) is the other viable candidate at MIKE, and he also has the skills to be a backup at SAM.
Others to watch:

 Fifth year senior Mike Jones has been a backup his entire career, and that probably won’t change. Redshirt sophomore Antonio Poole sat out last season with an upper body muscle injury.  Sophomore Royce Jenkins-Stone is behind a couple good ones at MIKE, and redshirt freshman Kaleb Ringer missed the season due to a knee injury.  When the spring roster is released, don’t be surprised if some defections from this group are made known.

CORNERBACK
The biggest question isn’t so much about the talent at the position, but about whether redshirt sophomore Blake Countess is healthy after tearing his ACL in the season opener against Alabama.  Countess was good as a freshman in 2011 – with an occasional lapse – and should reach that level again with modern medicinal practices, but it might be too early to go hard for spring practices.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see the coaches hold him out of contact drills.  The other outside spot appears to be junior Raymon Taylor’s (45 tackles, 2 interceptions) to lose, and the nickel corner position has belonged to senior Courtney Avery (19 tackles, 2 tackles for loss) for the past couple seasons.  All three are returning starters if you count Countess from prior to his injury.

Others to watch: Junior Delonte Hollowell and sophomore Terry Richardson both played sparingly in 2012; both are small-ish and seem destined for nickel corner, field corner, or maybe just special teams play. One of the freshman early enrollees, Ross Douglas, was recruited to play nickel corner, too, but all of these guys may bounce around and play multiple positions because of low numbers.

SAFETY
One of the starting safeties will be fifth year senior Thomas Gordon (81 tackles, 2 interceptions); the question is, Which one?  The departure of Jordan Kovacs leaves a void at strong safety, and Gordon’s tackling, size, and speed make him a better fit at that spot than free safety.  Meanwhile, the other safety to earn significant playing time last season was rising sophomore Jarrod Wilson (8 tackles), who had his share of troubles, as young safeties often do.  Wilson is a 6’2″ ball hawk and fits better at free safety.  It would seem to make sense that Gordon moves to SS and Wilson gets inserted at the FS spot.  Also in the mix are senior Marvin Robinson and true freshman early enrollee Dymonte Thomas, and I could see a scenario in which Gordon/Wilson are the free safeties and Robinson/Thomas are the strong safeties.
Others to watch: Redshirt junior Josh Furman (8 tackles) hasn’t shown much in spring practices past or in limited playing time.  Redshirt freshman Jeremy Clark has the size and speed to be a good one at free safety, and classmate Allen Gant is more of an in-the-box strong safety; both seem to be a little ways down the pecking order right now.

Alabama 41, Michigan 14

Alabama’s Dee Milliner returns an interception after a pass interference penalty clean play

That was somewhat expected.

Alabama is good.  They’re not the national champs for nothing.  Nobody in his right right mind thought Michigan would win this game (although 63% of this site’s voters picked Alabama to lose), but I did expect a little better showing than that.  The Wolverines aren’t as bad as that game made them look, but it certainly wasn’t the kind of showing Michigan wanted to put forth in the nationally televised opener.

Al Borges deserves some blame, but not much.  Michigan wasn’t going to be able to run the ball in this game.  I predicted that Michigan would rush for fewer than 100 yards; the final tally was 69, despite having one of the most electrifying players in the country at quarterback.  Yes, Denard Robinson probably could have run the ball more, especially before he got dinged up.  Would it have made much of a difference?  Probably not.  Where Robinson really could  have made a difference was in the passing game.  He had lots of open receivers early in the game, but he’s just as erratic as ever in the passing game.  He kept throwing deep (inaccurately), and completed just 11/26 passes.  The offensive line did a decent job of pass blocking, but if Michigan has to rely on Robinson to win the game with his arm, they’re going to struggle.

I hope Fitzgerald Toussaint and Frank Clark enjoyed watching that on TV.  Toussaint erased any chance Michigan had of putting together a decent running game by drunk driving.  Vincent Smith is what he has been for several years, and that means he shouldn’t be a featured running back; he ended the game with 13 carries for 33 yards, and 22 of those yards came on one play late in the game.  Thomas Rawls rushed 6 times for 9 yards and looked very slow in the process.  Meanwhile, Clark probably would have struggled just like the rest of the defensive line, but he would have given Michigan another guy to rotate in there and get a bit of a pass rush.  SAM linebacker Jake Ryan had to play a little too much defensive line, and he got manhandled in the process.

Injuries were terrifying.  Blake Countess left the game after one series on defense because he got hurt on punt coverage.  Taylor Lewan left the game late with a knee injury. And Denard Robinson inexplicably tried to tackle Dee Milliner with his throwing shoulder, which caused him to leave the game looking like he would miss a chunk of time.  Including Toussaint, that meant that Michigan was missing its #1, #3, #4, and #9 most important players at various points, according to my preseason countdown.  Michigan should be able to weather the storm if these are short-term injuries, but maybe not if any of them last long.

Eddie Lacy who?  Everyone was talking about Alabama running back Eddie Lacy before the game, but he didn’t impress me at all.  He’s big, and that’s about it.  The most physically impressive running backs on the roster were true freshman T.J. Yeldon (11 carries, 111 yards, 1 touchdown) and junior Jalston Fowler (8 carries, 67 yards).  I don’t think Lacy will be holding onto that starting job for long.  Of course, all three made Michigan’s defense look silly when combined with the Crimson Tide offensive line.  All of Michigan’s defensive backs struggled to tackle, even stout safeties Thomas Gordon and Jordan Kovacs, who are normally sure tacklers.

Special teams yay.  Matt Wile boomed every kickoff deep into the endzone, allowing zero returns.  Will Hagerup averaged 51.3 yards per punt, including a 62-yarder.  Dennis Norfleet returned 8 kickoffs for 177 yards (22.1 yards per return) and looked like a potential star as a returner.

Burned redshirts. I’m not in a tizzy about any of these guys playing, but so far LB Joe Bolden, WR Amara Darboh, TE Devin Funchess, FB Sione Houma, LB Royce Jenkins-Stone, RB Dennis Norfleet, DE Mario Ojemudia, DT Ondre Pipkins, CB Terry Richardson, LB James Ross, TE A.J. Williams, and FS Jarrod Wilson have burned their redshirts.  That’s 12 members of the 25-man class of 2012.  At least a couple more will probably play before the end of the year.

Referees were bad, but it doesn’t matter.  Michigan didn’t lose the game because of the refs, but there were some obvious holds, hands to the face, personal foul-quality hits, etc. that weren’t called against Alabama.  I’m not sure how Dee Milliner didn’t get called for illegal contact/pass interference when he shoved Roy Roundtree out of bounds and then picked off Robinson.  Meanwhile, Taylor Lewan alone cost Michigan 30 yards in penalties with a personal foul, a holding call, and a false start.  He might as well be a redshirt freshman again.

Michigan is going to be fine.  As long as none of those injuries last long, the expectations remain the same.  Alabama didn’t expose anything that we didn’t already know to be true.  The defensive line is going to be a question mark against good offensive lines; Denard Robinson isn’t a consistent passer; the offensive line lacks depth.  If you’re surprised, you haven’t been paying attention.