Tag: Dennis Norfleet

Michigan 28, Akron 24

Devin Gardner

A win is a win. A hundred years from now, nobody will remember this day. So there’s that. Otherwise, this was ugly. Good teams struggle sometimes. Is Michigan a good team? I think they’re pretty good. There’s still hope that this season will end magically, but let’s be honest – with a questionable interior line and wide receivers, an injury to the best defensive player, and no real stars on defense, perhaps Michigan fans should re-calibrate. That’s not say that things like this are okay, but poop happens.

The list of people who need to step up is long. I feel like this post could turn into a long list of complaining, but I’m going to try to make it brief:

• Devin Gardner. Gardner (16/30, 248 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 1 fumble lost; 10 carries, 103 yards, 1 touchdown) was forcing throws all day long. Even some of his early completions were hotly contested. He ran the ball well, but he seems overconfident in the abilities of himself and his receivers, as if every one of his throws should be completed just because their helmets have wings.
• Graham Glasgow, Jack Miller, Kyle Kalis, and Michael Schofield. Glasgow and Miller are getting physically overpowered by guys who aren’t 5-star Notre Dame recruits, and Glasgow is making some poor blocking reads in the run game. Glasgow and Kalis look lost out there against twist stunts, and even the redshirt senior Schofield had some whiffs.
• Joe Bolden. I used to be on the Joe Bolden bandwagon by suggesting he’s a starter-quality inside linebacker, but I’m not sure if that’s true. I don’t think it’s an indictment of his entire career, because it’s still early in his true sophomore year. However, I think it’s clear that James Ross III and Desmond Morgan are significantly ahead of Bolden, who struggles in pass coverage and is inconsistent stopping the run.
• Raymon Taylor. Taylor gets picked on quite a bit, and I don’t see him responding in terms of his coverage. He’s a feisty player and a decent tackler, but teams throw on him short and deep.
• Matt Wile. The punter should be Will Hagerup, of course, but Hagerup likes to get himself suspended. Instead, Wile is out there, and he’s been inconsistent. Yesterday included 21- and 22-yard shanks. On four punts, he averaged just 33 yards/attempt.
• Dennis Norfleet. Norfleet still overestimates his strength. Sometimes he cuts upfield into traffic when he could run laterally for another step or two and outrun the defender. Normally, I wouldn’t promote running laterally. However, Norfleet is a space player, and he’s put in space on special teams and by Al Borges’s play calls; he has room to run, but he thinks he’s still in high school where he could run through some tackles. Plus Norfleet still takes too many chances on punt returns.

Poll results: Who will lead Michigan in rushing for 2013?

It’s not the most timely thing, but I set up a bunch of polls during the summer and never “released” the results. It’s still early enough in the year to be relevant, though, so I’ll be kicking out some posts about predictions for the year. Today’s question: Who will lead Michigan in rushing?

Fitzgerald Toussaint: 52%
Fifth year senior Toussaint was the obvious choice, since he was a two-year starter coming into 2013. Unfortunately, a broken leg last fall put his status into question. He had 57 yards in the opener against Central Michigan.

Derrick Green: 40%
True freshman Green got more votes than I thought he would, but maybe it was warranted after a 58-yard debut against the Chippewas. After being listed near the bottom of the depth chart for week one (perhaps due to a sprained ankle he suffered at the beginning of August practices), he’s the #2 guy going into Notre Dame.

DeVeon Smith: 1%
Smith, another true freshman, had just 12 yards against the Chips. In my opinion, he does not have the speed to be a dynamic back, but injuries have felled Toussaint frequently, so there’s a chance; unfortunately, that chance probably would involve bad things happening to the guys ahead of him.

Drake Johnson: 1%
There’s no chance for redshirt freshman Johnson, who tore his ACL early in the season opener. He’ll finish the year with 2 carries for 9 yards.

Thomas Rawls: 1%
Rawls, a junior, had 4 carries for 12 yards in the opener. He looks quicker than he did last season, but he’s still pretty low on the depth chart after a couple uninspiring years.

Devin Gardner: 0%
Sacks will probably prevent fifth year senior Gardner from having a real shot at leading the team in rushing. He has the speed to turn broken plays into big runs (or passes), but his 52 yards against Central Michigan were largely a function of CMU’s inability to hem him in. More athletic teams probably won’t struggle quite as much, although Gardner will get his share of yardage.

Dennis Norfleet/Other: 0%
Sophomore Norfleet had 38 yards on a reverse last week, but as a slot receiver, he won’t get a ton of opportunities.

Justice Hayes: 0%
Redshirt sophomore Hayes has been near the bottom of the depth chart for his entire career, and that seems not to have changed. He was the last running back to get a carry against Central, and his lone rush netted him 7 yards.

Michigan 59, Central Michigan 9

Cam Gordon almost had a touchdown on the ball he tipped up in the air (image via MGoBlog)

The offensive line is not terrible. The most scrutinized position group entering the new season, Michigan did fairly well up the middle. Busted assignments were few, the pass protection was solid, and they opened some holes. It was far from dominant on the interior and the opponent was a MAC team, but that MAC team had some decent size up the middle. The biggest question mark for me is still redshirt sophomore left guard Graham Glasgow. While he looked better pulling than he has in the past, he had two false starts and struggled to stay low, in my opinion. That will be the biggest position to watch going forward.

Running back by committee. Granted, it was almost a fifty-point blowout, but the reps at running back were spread out a lot. The depth chart to begin the week was thrown out the window by Saturday. In order, the running backs to get carries were Fitzgerald Toussaint, Drake Johnson, Derrick Green, De’Veon Smith, Thomas Rawls, and Justice Hayes. Toussaint (14 carries, 57 yards, 2 touchdowns) looked to have his 2011-level burst back, but he looked rusty with his footwork and didn’t seem to show the same lateral mobility; there were a couple times where he needed to pick up his feet through traffic or sidestep guys on the ground, and he just failed to do so. Johnson (2 carries, 9 yards) looked uninspiring to me before spraining a knee. Green (11 carries, 58 yards, 1 touchdown) also needs to pick up his feet in traffic, but he showed decent vision and burst. Smith (7 carries, 12 yards) broke some tackles but didn’t show the same speed as the guys ahead of him. Rawls (3 carries, 12 yards, 1 touchdown) looked quicker than last year, and Hayes (1 carry, 7 yards) is still a scatback type without elite burst or an ability to break tackles. It’s a well rounded group, but none of them looked outstanding.

Cameron Gordon looked very good. I thought Gordon was Michigan’s best defensive player on Saturday. He had 4 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and 1 pass breakup, which he deflected in the backfield and almost caught it in the endzone for a defensive touchdown. His added size in the offseason makes him a more imposing figure, and his athleticism for a linebacker is well above average. When Jake Ryan returns from injury, Michigan needs to find a way to get both Ryan and Gordon on the field at the same time.

The quarterback situation. Starting quarterback Devin Gardner looked shaky early with an interception deep in Michigan’s own red zone, and then another long interception that never should have been thrown. Altogether, he was 10/15 for 162 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 picks through the air, plus 7 carries for 52 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. I’m not concerned about those somewhat paltry passing numbers, because Michigan didn’t need to throw the ball to win, and I think Gardner was pressing a little bit to try to get some explosive plays. The deep interception was a well overthrown ball to Jeremy Gallon, who never got on top of the cornerback. We all know that Gallon is going to be Gardner’s main target, but especially in a game against teams like Central Michigan, you might as well check it down and let your superior athletes drive the ball down the field or make plays with the ball in their hands. True freshman Shane Morris entered the game in the fourth quarter, and he finished 4/6 for 59 yards and 1 interception. He also looked a little jumpy, which is fine for a kid his age, and the interception wasn’t a bad one. But the offense was toned down by the time he entered, and I would still be very worried if Gardner got hurt.

The defensive backfield is wacky. I don’t know why, but it seems to me that defensive back is the position that’s always in the most flux at Michigan. It was announced before the game that fifth year senior strong safety Thomas Gordon was suspended for the game for breaking team rules. Potential starting free safety Courtney Avery had arthroscopic knee surgery last week and will be out for a couple weeks. Redshirt sophomore Blake Countess returned after tearing his ACL in the 2012 season opener, but he looked a half step slow. In recent years, Josh Furman and J.T. Floyd have been suspended, Floyd and Troy Woolfolk both suffered terrible lower leg injuries, and there have been numerous transfers/quitters (Terrence Talbott, Greg Brown, Cullen Christian, Vladimir Emilien, Ray Vinopal, Tamani Carter, etc.). Down two returning starters and featuring a guy who missed virtually all of 2012, the starters in the backfield were Countess, junior Raymon Taylor, sophomore Jarrod Wilson, and redshirt junior Furman.

Freshman fun time. Redshirts have been burned for TE Jake Butt, DE Taco Charlton, LB Ben Gedeon, RB Derrick Green, S Delano Hill, CB Jourdan Lewis, QB Shane Morris, RB De’Veon Smith, CB Channing Stribling, S Dymonte Thomas, and WR Csont’e York. That leaves OG Kyle Bosch, OG David Dawson, FS Reon Dawson, CB Ross Douglas, WR Jaron Dukes, OT Chris Fox, TE Khalid Hill, DT Maurice Hurst, Jr., WR Da’Mario Jones, C Patrick Kugler, LB Mike McCray, DT Henry Poggi, OG Dan Samuelson, FB Wyatt Shallman, LS Scott Sypniewski, and OT Logan Tuley-Tillman as the kids on track to redshirt. Redshirt freshmen OG Blake Bars, OT Ben Braden, WR Jehu Chesson, S Jeremy Clark, QB Bryan Cleary, WR Bo Dever, DT Ryan Glasgow, DE Matt Godin, DT Willie Henry, TE Michael Jocz, RB Drake Johnson, OT Erik Magnuson, OG Ben Pliska,  DT Tom Strobel, and DE Chris Wormley also played for the first time. (Redshirt sophomore Chris Bryant hit the field for the first time after breaking his tibia last year.)

Freshman fun time, part two. Of those true freshmen listed above, Dymonte Thomas blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown by fifth year senior Joe Reynolds. Butt looks bigger and improved since the spring, Gedeon looked college ready from the start, and Stribling already looked solid. Delano Hill also made a heads-up play by recovering a punt that sophomore Dennis Norfleet muffed, but Hill looks huge for a safety. I wouldn’t be surprised if he grows into a linebacker eventually.

Speaking of Norfleet . . . I mentioned this when he committed, and people bashed me for it. I still get occasional snide remarks about it over on MGoBlog. Here’s what I said on February 1, 2012:

I’m not a big fan of the way Norfleet finishes plays. He jogs into the endzone too often, which rubs me the wrong way and makes me question how disciplined he is.

Norfleet got the ball on a reverse and took it 38 yards before getting tackled from behind by a linebacker coming from the opposite side of the field. After his last cut to shake a defensive back, it sure looked to me like he eased off the throttle, thinking he was in the clear for a touchdown; then the linebacker dove at his ankle and Norfleet fell on his face. That  is why not finishing plays is a problem. If the opponent were anyone other than CMU or perhaps Akron, that really might come back to haunt the team. Additionally, Norfleet’s muffed punt was a terribly undisciplined decision. The short punt bounced on the ground multiple times and Norfleet was sprinting toward his own endzone to field it. Instead of allowing the Chippewas to down it, he tried to grab it on the run when his momentum would have likely taken him out of bounds at that very spot, anyway. Delano Hill’s awareness saved Michigan from having to defend a short field and, at the very least, a likely field goal attempt.

Overall. I had fun watching the game, but the offense seemed pretty vanilla outside of the reverse to Norfleet. I’m sure there are things being saved for Notre Dame – screens, read options, etc. Offensive coordinator Al Borges’s favorite running play for Denard Robinson was the inverted veer, and Gardner ran it just once (and poorly at that). I think the slightly more traditional backside zone read option would be more productive for Gardner, but it remains to be seen whether Borges will warm up to that spread concept. Defensively, Michigan looks fast and deep. I thought defensive coordinator Greg Mattison threw quite a few different fronts and blitzes at Central, at least until late when the subs were in. That might be tipping his hand, but I also think it’s somewhat necessary for those young and inexperienced guys to get used to different frontz, blitzes, coverages, etc. Plus it will given Brian Kelly and his staff plenty to try to prepare for next week.

2013 Season Countdown: #21 Dennis Norfleet

Dennis Norfleet

Name: Dennis Norfleet
Height: 5’7″
Weight: 169 lbs.
High school: Detroit (MI) King
Position: Running back/slot receiver/kick returner
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #23
Last year: I ranked Norfleet #57 and said he would be the starting returner by the end of the season. He returned 35 kickoffs for 827 yards (23.6 yards/return), 2 punts for 53 yards (26.5 yards/return), and had 2 carries for 13 yards (6.5 yards/carry).

Norfleet was indeed the starting kick returner by the end of the season, and I was pretty spot on with guessing he would average 23.0 yards per return. The trouble with my prediction was that he was also the starting kick returner at the beginning  of the year. He never became the full-time punt guy, but he did have a couple nice returns in blowouts against UMass and Illinois. Overall, Norfleet was the most exciting return man Michigan has put on the field in a few years, arguably going back to the days of Steve Breaston (although Darryl Stonum had one good year in there before the booze got to him). There were a couple times where he seemed this  close to breaking returns for touchdowns, but got dragged down or tripped up at the last second. For reasons that aren’t totally understood to me, Norfleet was only given two carries on the year, one of which he ripped for a 14-yard gain; that might be okay in a normal year, but Michigan lacked big plays at the running back position, especially once Toussaint broke his leg late in the year. For the bowl game, Norfleet was even moved to cornerback in case of emergency, but he only played on special teams.

This year it has been announced that Norfleet is a slot receiver, which is good and bad. It’s good in the sense that he provides some speed at a position that is mostly made up of possession guys. It’s bad in the sense that Michigan might still lack speed at running back. Oh well. Norfleet is most valuable as a return man, and those spots are likely his to lose. He should remain the kickoff returner, and last year’s starting punt returner, Jeremy Gallon, might be relieved of those duties now that he’ll be counted on as the top wide receiver. Norfleet is a big play waiting to happen, and I’m looking forward to seeing him in whatever capacity the coaches can get him on the field.

Prediction: Starting punt and kick returner; 25 yards per kick return, 11 yards per punt return; 5 receptions for 70 yards and 1 touchdown

Defensive Backs Preview: Michigan vs. South Carolina

Jordan Kovacs was the team’s MVP this season

MICHIGAN
Starters: Michigan will be missing its two starting cornerbacks from the beginning of the year; sophomore Blake Countess tore his ACL in the opener, and fifth year senior J.T. Floyd has been suspended for the Outback Bowl for breaking team rules.  Sophomore Raymon Taylor (5’10”, 182 lbs.), who replaced Countess for most of the year, will likely slide over to Floyd’s boundary corner position.  Taylor had his share of ups and downs on the season, but did a fair job overall and ended the regular season with 42 tackles, 2 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), 1 fumble recovery, and 1 pass breakup.  Junior Courtney Avery (5’11”, 173 lbs.), who normally starts at nickel corner, will probably step in at Taylor’s regular field corner spot.  Avery struggled there in some limited time early in the season, but he’ll have more reps this time around; playing a new position against Alabama is an extremely difficult task.  This year Avery has 16 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, .5 sacks, 1 fumble forced, and 1 fumble recovery.  Fifth year senior strong safety Jordan Kovacs (6’0″, 202 lbs.) has actually seen his statistics decline a little bit this year, but he was named the team’s MVP by his teammates; he has 65 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, and 1 forced fumble.  Redshirt junior Thomas Gordon (5’11”, 207 lbs.) is more of a strong safety masquerading, but he has shown a knack for creating turnovers in the past; he has 75 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, and 2 pass breakups.  This is not a great group individually, but along with Floyd, they had the #2 passing yardage defense in the country.
Backups: Freshman safety Jarrod Wilson (6’2″, 194 lbs.) has played more extensively than any other backup, but he hasn’t had a signature positive play.  The game is moving too fast for him, as it often does with young safeties.  He could play a little bit at the nickel corner and has made 7 tackles and 1 fumble recovery on the year.  Another candidate for slot corner is sophomore Delonte Hollowell (5’9″, 176 lbs.), who has 4 tackles and 1 fumble recovery but is more of a special teams player.  The most interesting candidate for playing time is freshman Dennis Norfleet (5’7″, 161 lbs.), who returns kicks and ran the ball occasionally; he has now moved to defense in an attempt to shore up the depleted cornerback position.  Junior safety Marvin Robinson (6’2″, 200 lbs.) is a run stuffer who has played sparingly on defense and made 7 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.  Redshirt sophomore Josh Furman (6’2″, 203 lbs.) plays a lot on special teams but is a liability on defense; he has 10 tackles.

SOUTH CAROLINA
Starters: Redshirt sophomore Victor Hampton (5’10”, 197 lbs.) starts at one cornerback spot; he has made 34 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception, and is tied for the team lead with 6 pass breakups.  The other starter is senior Akeem Auguste (5’9″, 188 lbs.), who was injured early in the season and returned to start the last couple games; he has 15 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, and 1 fumble recovery on the year. Senior D.J. Swearinger (6’0″, 210 lbs.) is the free safety and has 70 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 forced fumble, and 5 pass breakups.  Sophomore Brison Williams (6’0″, 205 lbs.) starts at strong safety and has made 48 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and 4 pass breakups this season.
Backups: Redshirt junior Jimmy Legree (6’0″, 189 lbs.), the other starting corner when Auguste was hurt, did a solid job.  Legree is a converted free safety and has 43 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 2 interceptions.  Redshirt freshman Ahmad Christian (5’10”, 189 lbs.) has 8 tackles and 2 pass breakups as the backup to Hampton.  Sophomore Kadetrix Marcus (6’1″, 185 lbs.) backs up the strong safety position and has made 5 tackles.

THE TAKEAWAY
The Wolverines have the #2 pass defense and #35 pass efficiency defense in the country, but quarterback play in the Big Ten has been woeful and they’ll be down a starting corner (or two, if you include Countess).  Meanwhile, the Gamecocks have the #16 pass defense and the #34 pass efficiency defense in a schedule that included Georgia’s Aaron Murray, Tennessee’s Tyler Bray, Arkansas’s Tyler Wilson, and Clemson’s Tajh Boyd, not to mention East Carolina and UAB teams that put up pretty decent numbers through the air.  The Wolverines have played a steady diet of teams that rank in the 70’s or lower in passing offense, and Alabama’s A.J. McCarron – whose team blew out Michigan – was the only decent passer on the docket.  I don’t think South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw will shred the secondary, but the edge in defensive back play goes to the Gamecocks.

Advantage: South Carolina