Tag: Dennis Norfleet

Michigan vs. Iowa Awards

Captains Denard Robinson and Jordan Kovacs (image via AnnArbor.com)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Dennis Norfleet.  Now that Fitzgerald Toussaint is done for the season, I would like to see the coaches find a role for Norfleet.  Toussaint had some big-play capabilities due to his strength and good speed, and Norfleet is the only other guy who can take it to the house on any given play.  Thomas Rawls has been unimpressive, Justice Hayes hasn’t done much, and Vincent Smith is a third down back.  I don’t want or expect Norfleet to be a starter, but I would like him to get 3-5 touches out of the backfield.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Thomas Rawls.  Rawls appears to be a guy who’s just not quite good enough at any one thing to be a major player.  He wasn’t quite coordinated enough to tiptoe the sideline for a touchdown, he’s not quite fast enough to get to the outside, he’s not quite big and powerful enough to run over linebackers in the hole, and he doesn’t have great vision.  I do think he’ll get better at sticking with the play and finding the hole, but not necessarily in one week.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Marvin Robinson.  Robinson hasn’t played a ton of defense this year, but he has been a capable tackler.  He’ll never light the world on fire in pass coverage, but he looks like a capable replacement for Jordan Kovacs next year.  I would have liked to have seen him a little more on Saturday, although the Ohio State game might not be the best time to trot out projects.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Josh Furman.  I really just don’t see a future for Furman at safety.  The kid has good speed and does an excellent job on special teams coverage, but he gets caught flat-footed whenever he’s not attacking downhill.  He might end up like a Darnell Hood or Anton Campbell, a guy who’s a special teams demon his entire career but rarely sees meaningful time on defense.

Play of the game . . . Denard Robinson’s option pitch to Fitzgerald Toussaint.  There were longer plays, plays that scored, and perhaps more athletic plays.  But I’m choosing this one because of the creativity behind it and its success.  Out of basically a wishbone formation, quarterback Devin Gardner took the snap from under center and handed it off to Denard Robinson going right; Robinson then pitched the ball to Fitzgerald Toussaint, who gained 14 yards before getting tackled.  It was an exciting play to watch because it seemed to open up all kinds of possible plays for Robinson out of the backfield.  Unfortunately, it ended with an ugly injury to Toussaint.

MVP of the game . . . Devin Gardner once again.  He finished the game 18/23 for 314 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception; he also ran 9 times for 37 yards and 3 touchdowns.  It was a Micah Hyde interception away from being a game with virtually no faults.  Of course, it helped that Iowa’s defense had no clue how to play football, so thanks, Iowa!

Midseason Statistical Leaders

Dennis Norfleet – Image via MLive.com

Assuming Michigan goes to the Big Ten Championship Game, the season is exactly halfway through.  Here’s a look at team 133’s statistical leaders so far.

Leading Rushers
Denard Robinson – 900 yards (7.4 yards per carry)
Fitzgerald Toussaint – 283 yards (3.5 yards per carry)
Thomas Rawls – 174 yards (7.0 yards per carry)

Leading Receivers
Jeremy Gallon – 309 yards, 16 catches
Devin Gardner – 251 yards, 15 catches
Drew Dileo – 216 yards, 10 catches

Leading Tacklers
Jake Ryan – 52
Desmond Morgan – 44
Thomas Gordon – 40

Leading Scorers
Brendan Gibbons – 55 points
Denard Robinson – 36 points
Toussaint and Gardner – 24 points 

Leading Sackers
Jake Ryan – 3.5
Craig Roh – 2.0

Leading Interceptors
Thomas Gordon – 2
Raymon Taylor – 2

Leading Punt Returners
Dennis Norfleet – 53 (26.5 yards per return)
Jeremy Gallon – 44 (8.8 yards per return)

Leading Kick Returners
Dennis Norfleet – 494 (23.5 yards per return)
Jeremy Gallon – 12 (12 yards per return)

Michigan 45, Illinois 0

The team celebrates Jeremy Gallon’s 71-yard catch-and-run.

I think Nathan Scheelhaase got hurt.  Play-by-play man Bob Wischusen only said it about 35 times, so I’m not sure.  Also, Danny Kanell is really bad at talking.  Seriously, though, sometimes it’s not so much fun watching a team that’s missing its starting quarterback.  It’s still great to win 45-0, of course, and everyone needs a blowout win once in a while.  But as soon as I saw Scheelhaase hit the ground and look dazed, I assumed that any coach not named Mark Dantonio would yank him for the remainder of the contest.  Thankfully, Denard Robinson’s hand injury only kept him out for a short period, or else that game could have been a real stinker.

Denard Robinson hasn’t thrown an interception in the last two games.  It’s funny how that works.  Michigan has made a commitment to running the ball the last couple games, rather than trying to have Robinson throw for the win.  I know Robinson has had longer runs and more important runs, but his 49-yard touchdown in this game might have been his single greatest individual effort.  He made a couple separate jump cuts before bursting out to the left and outrunning the defense.

What’s up with Jerald Robinson?  Almost every outgoing wide receiver for the past couple seasons has pointed to Jerald Robinson as the next year’s breakout star, and he continues to look completely harmless.  He did have an 8-yard reception in this game, but he also had another drop.  As a redshirt sophomore, that gives him 4 receptions for 47 yards in his career.

The defense was excellent.  Injury to Scheelhaase aside, Michigan held the Illini to just 134 total yards – 105 rushing, 29 passing.  The Wolverines also grabbed an interception, recovered a fumble, recorded 9 tackles for loss, and notched 3 sacks.  Jake Ryan was the most disruptive force with 11 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.  Middle linebacker Kenny Demens has played significantly better since the first couple games, and yesterday he had 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 interception.  A huge chunk of Illinois’ yards seemed to come when backup quarterback Reilly O’Toole first entered the game and hit Michigan with several screens and draws.

Every running back had a good game . . . except Fitzgerald Toussaint.  Even Toussaint had a touchdown, but he only averaged 3.4 yards/carry and lost a significant chunk of playing time to Thomas Rawls.  I’m not sure what’s up with Toussaint, but Rawls had 9 carries for 90 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown.  Even Justice Hayes had 10 carries for 66 yards, although most of his carries came after Illinois had thrown in the towel.  Hayes has decent speed, but he’s not a very physical runner . . . and he fumbled the ball without even getting touched.  Luckily, it bounced right back up into his hands.

Michigan’s backup quarterback situation is shaky.  Russell Bellomy struggled somewhat.  He let a snap squirt right through his hands, and he completed just 1/3 passes.  I’m not a huge fan of what I’ve seen out of Devin Gardner as a quarterback, and I do think Bellomy has potential down the road . . . but boy, does he look shaky right now.  He wasn’t helped out by his receivers, though, who had their hands on both incompletions; but Bellomy looks afraid to push the ball down the field, and he’s not very crisp running the plays.  I’m going to try to enjoy Denard Robinson while I can, because the quarterback play might be really iffy for a couple seasons.

Dennis Norfleet is too fast.  He blew past everyone except the punter . . . and when the punter stepped up to make the tackle, Norfleet didn’t even give himself time to shake; he just tried to run right through the punter, which doesn’t work when you’re only 165 lbs.  Regardless, he had yet another moment where Michigan fans just think “It’s only a matter of time.”  He did muff a kickoff return (which he still managed to pick up and gain 12 yards), but that 42-yard punt return was fun to watch.

The defensive line continues to improve.  It was obvious that they would improve, but they’re better than I thought they would be at this point in the season.  Quinton Washington had 5 tackles and 1 tackle for loss.  Craig Roh had 3 tackles and half a sack.  Jibreel Black had 3 tackles, but he showed impressive speed in chasing down Scheelhaase before driving him to the ground on the play that caused the quarterback’s concussion.

Jeremy Gallon screen fun.  Gallon took the throwback screen (which Michigan runs once or twice every game), made a couple people miss, got some nice downfield blocking – especially from walk-on tight end Mike Kwiatkowski – and raced 71 yards for a touchdown.  Gallon had just that one reception, but that was just one more piece of evidence why Michigan needs to get him the ball early and often.

This was a nice confidence booster before the Michigan State game.  The Spartans looked pretty bad in a loss to Iowa, and Michigan obviously looked very good.  At this point in the season, Michigan clearly looks like the better team.  Hopefully the momentum can carry over into next Saturday’s game, which has been announced as a 3:30 p.m. kickoff to be shown on the Big Ten Network.

Michigan 31, Air Force 25

Denard Robinson rushed for 218 yards and threw for 208, accounting for 4 touchdowns (image via Sporting News)

The officials were terrible. Terrible. Air Force’s first touchdown should have been called back for illegal procedure.  Quarterback Connor Dietz tossed to A-back Cody Getz, who beat everyone to the edge.  In the meantime, the wing started moving forward  prior to the snap like he was in the CFL and chopped down safety Jordan Kovacs, who was responsible for the pitch.  Without that forward momentum, Kovacs – Michigan’s best open-field tackler – very well could have stopped Getz before the goal line.  Later in the game, Air Force converted on a key third down when both the quarterback and the running back – who were in a shotgun formation – started moving to their right before the ball was snapped . . . and a slot receiver was already in motion.  So three  guys were moving prior to the snap, and the play was allowed to stand.  Those were obvious, blatant non-calls and each one could have had a significant impact on the outcome of the game.

Devin Funchess is the new Junior Hemingway. The freshman tight end is listed at 6’5″, 229 lbs.  I expected him to look skinnier than he does, but he’s fairly solid looking and showed an ability to stretch the field a little bit.  He caught a 29-yard wheel route and a leaping 30-yard touchdown, totaling 4 receptions for 106 yards and that TD.  Jump balls aren’t going to work with most receivers on the roster, but this guy could be Denard Robinson’s savior.

These are not the droids you’re looking for.  Forget what you saw the defense do yesterday.  Yes, it was ugly.  Michigan allowed 290 yards rushing and 127 yards passing, but Michigan won’t see another triple option offense this year unless they meet Air Force or Georgia Tech in a bowl game.  The defensive line won’t see cut blocking like this, the outside linebackers and safeties won’t have to be as disciplined, etc.  I know yesterday was frustrating and too close for comfort, but it’s also mostly irrelevant to the rest of our opponents.

The cornerbacks are scaring me. Raymon Taylor was very, very weak in run support.  I’m not a huge fan of J.T. Floyd in run support, either, but Taylor looks to avoid contact with blockers whenever possible, and that’s a bit scary.  Now I’m going to go back to forgetting what the defense did.

The offensive line has taken a step backward.  The absence of David Molk is noticeable, and I still wonder whether it was a good idea to let Rocko Khoury walk instead of getting a fifth year.  Starting center Elliott Mealer’s snaps have been good, but he’s much slower than Molk.  Meanwhile, Michael Schofield looked much better at left guard last year than he does at right tackle.  The offseason was rife with talk about how Schofield looked so great at right tackle, but I’m just not seeing it.  Some people mentioned how Fitzgerald Toussaint looked rusty, but it wasn’t Toussaint – it was the offensive line allowing so much penetration.  He had nowhere to run at all.

Dennis Norfleet wants to eat.  When Norfleet jumped in front of Drew Dileo to steal a kickoff return, I sort of felt bad for Dileo.  Dileo’s body language indicated he wasn’t too happy about it, either.  Norfleet got hit after a short return, but then he bounced off and turned in a nice play.  He had 3 returns for 77 yards yesterday, an average of 25.7 per return.  The kid is going to be exciting to watch for the next few years.

BREAKOUT PLAYER JERALD ROBINSON! He had 1 reception for 10 yards.  Departing seniors have been calling for him to explode for the last two seasons, and now he has 1 career catch.

The linebackers will be awesome for years to come.  Jake Ryan had 11 tackles, including a nice tackle on the second-to-last play, and a leaping pass breakup on Air Force’s final pass attempt.  Overall, he had an excellent day.  Sophomore Desmond Morgan made some nice plays at times, freshman Joe Bolden made 10 tackles, and freshman James Ross made a couple nice plays.

Denard Robinson continues to destroy mediocre defenses.  It was a blast watching Denard Robinson yesterday as he demolished the Falcons’ defense, but it wasn’t unexpected.  This is what he does to so-so defenses (see Bowling Green, UConn, UMass, Indiana, Eastern Michigan, etc.) and occasionally to good defenses (see Ohio State circa 2011).  A guy who’s faster than Usain Bolt (not really) ought to run away from a bunch of Air Force Academy cadets, and Robinson looked fairly comfortable in the pocket.  If Michigan continues to struggle blocking for the running backs, Robinson is going to need to replicate this performance many, many times this year.

Hail to the Air Force Academy.  I’m sort of glad that Air Force put up a good fight.  My father and grandfather are veterans, another close family member graduated from the Academy, and I have a strong appreciation for those in the military.  They don’t deserve to be embarrassed anywhere, including on the football field.  They should be proud of the way they played on Saturday.

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.