Tag: DeVeon Smith

Michigan vs. Miami-OH Awards

Derrick Green

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Derrick Green. He saw plenty of action this past Saturday, but he looked pretty darn good. Green ended the game with 22 carries for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns. Granted, Michigan has played two patsies so far in the form of Appalachian State and Miami, but Green is on pace for 200 carries, 1,228 yards, and 12 touchdowns. That pace won’t hold up, but he showed nifty feet and improved vision from the past couple weeks. He also got stronger as the game went on and started to run through some tackles. I was okay with the distribution of carries in this game, but it seems like Green is separating himself from De’Veon Smith. On a side note, Smith’s body language suggested to me that he is none too happy about playing second fiddle to Green. I think that dynamic may be interesting to watch as their careers develop.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Amara Darboh. I only say this because I want Devin Funchess back on the field. Darboh is a complementary receiver, and while he led Michigan in receptions and yardage, he just looks raw in several ways – route running, running after the catch, etc. He will improve over time, just like Jehu Chesson did last year, but Darboh’s not ready to be a featured receiver.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Blake Countess at nickel corner. My current feeling on the cornerback situation is that Michigan needs guys on the outside who can play press coverage, like Jourdan Lewis, Jabrill Peppers, and perhaps Raymon Taylor. It’s tougher to play press man on slot receivers because of their alignment and such, so perhaps Countess would be better off inside.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Delonte Hollowell. Hollowell didn’t play a lot against Miami, but he played enough to get beaten for another touchdown on an out route. That’s the second week in a row, and teams are probably going to continue to test him out there. He’s best deployed as a special teamer, and he just doesn’t have the quickness to be effective at corner, in my opinion.

Play of the game . . . Jake Butt’s 29-yard touchdown catch. On a fake tunnel screen, Butt hit the corner and then turned upfield. Miami’s secondary bit on the pump fake, and Gardner’s pass was a wee bit too far. Butt was able to tip it to himself and jog into the endzone with no RedHawks in sight. That was the first time Michigan has shown the play so far, and they probably would have liked to have saved it for later in the year against a more formidable opponent, but Michigan was up just 17-10 at the time and it helped the Wolverines pull away.

MVP of the game . . . Derrick Green. There aren’t many choices here on a team that was missing several key players – safety Jarrod Wilson, wide receiver Devin Funchess, and cornerback Raymon Taylor – and couldn’t put away a MAC team on an 18-game losing streak. The Wolverines had some trouble getting open, protecting Gardner in the pocket, and getting Gardner on the edge, so Green’s running was a big key in helping Michigan pull away in the second half.

Michigan 52, Appalachian State 14

Devin Funchess had three of these touchdowns on the day (image via Fansided)

The Doug Nussmeier Effect: Quarterbacks. Yes, it was only newly minted FBS team Appalachian State, but starting quarterback Devin Gardner looked about as good as possible. He was 13/14 for 173 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions; he also ran 5 times for 9 yards. Best of all, he made good decisions and his only miss was a laser that fell harmlessly to the turf behind a crossing receiver. I think Nussmeier will use him more often as a runner as the game and situation dictate, but there’s no need to get him banged up in a blowout against ASU. Backup Shane Morris (3/5, 37 yards, 1 interception) looked a little shaky, especially on a comeback throw that never should have been released and got picked off by an undercutting corner. That’s now 0 touchdowns and 3 interceptions thrown in his career.

The Doug Nussmeier Effect: Running Game. Opponent caveats apply, but Michigan struggled early before quickly finding a rhythm. The combo blocks looked cleaner and the offensive line looked crisper than they did at almost any time last year. The running backs combined for 31 carries, 345 yards, and 3 touchdowns. The inside zone run seemed ineffective at times because Michigan couldn’t get a great push. That’s a Nussmeier favorite, so they will surely continue to work on that play. Interestingly, Michigan’s revamped power play seems to have improved, even though that was a supposed staple of Al Borges’s offense and not considered to be a Nussmeier specialty. Perhaps Appalachian State was surprised, or maybe Michigan just executed the power really well in game one.

The Doug Nussmeier Effect: Running Backs. I would have to go back and check to be sure, but it seemed like Michigan really struggled early when they tried to run inside zone. Derrick Green (15 carries, 170 yards, 1 touchdown) got the first series of snaps, and his vision has always been somewhat questionable; those carries did not go well. When he returned to the game, Nussmeier ran power with him. Green hit the hole hard and did well. Meanwhile, for whatever reason(s), De’Veon Smith (8 carries, 115 yards, 2 touchdowns) seemed to get a little better blocking on inside zone plays, and his vision paid off with some nice runs. Green is leaner and quicker than last year, and Smith is what we thought he was. When the offensive line opens holes, they are capable of making some things happen. Drake Johnson (3 carries, 28 yards), Justice Hayes (4 carries, 23 yards), and Wyatt Shallman (1 carry, 5 yards) got some run late in the game, but Green and Smith clearly seem to be the top two options.

Devin Funchess is wearing the #1 jersey. Funchess is the first Michigan player to wear the #1 jersey since Braylon Edwards in 2004. Brady Hoke said that Funchess asked to wear it, so perhaps that’s the difference, but it seems odd to me that he was given the jersey while previous standout Jeremy Gallon was not. Gallon had the same number of catches (49) and more yards (829 to 748) in his redshirt junior year than Funchess as a sophomore, and you could tell he was in for a big year because of his connection with Gardner. Gallon, of course, ended up setting receiver records last year. Regardless, Funchess looked very good on Saturday (7 catches, 95 yards, 3 touchdowns) and has the talent to fill the shoulder pads of the #1 jersey.

At least nobody can say Michigan sold out. Because they didn’t. The announced attendance was 106,811, which is the 252nd straight game of over 100,000 fans.

Freshman redshirts got burned. Reasonably this time! The only true freshmen to play in the game against Appalachian State were Freddy Canteen, Mason Cole, Bryan Mone, and Jabrill Peppers. This would be excellent news if it holds up, because that means Michigan can save some of its highly touted recruits all the way until they’re 22 or 23 years old. I do believe that a couple more freshmen might play this season, especially weakside end Lawrence Marshall.

How ’bout that tight pass coverage? It was pretty tight. Michigan didn’t make any picks, but they broke up three passes and came up to tackle well. Jourdan Lewis is as sticky as they come, and he’s just a backup. I thought new safety Jeremy Clark looked pretty good in Delano Hill’s absence.

How ’bout that defensive line? When it comes to the defensive line, I actually don’t think we learned much. If the quarterback held the ball for longer than the play was designed for, he was usually getting hit. Fortunately for the Mountaineers, that wasn’t often. Pretty much every defensive lineman bulled his way into the backfield based on sheer size and strength against an overmatched and small-ish offensive line. Appalachian State had some repeated success on their shotgun inside zone play, which also worked well for Indiana and some other teams last year. Michigan might have been able to stop it if there had been a point to do so. But really, if you’re whooping a team’s butt on the scoreboard and they want to run the ball to deplete the clock, there’s not a huge incentive to sell out for stopping that play.

JABRILL PEPPERS. Peppers made 1 nice tackle, dove to make a fair catch on a punt, and returned 1 punt for 6 yards. Then he left the game with a bum ankle. It did not look serious, and Brady Hoke agrees with the first clause of this sentence. He should be back for next week.

The offensive line can’t get any worse than last year. I agree. I really think last year’s offensive line would have still struggled to churn out yards on the ground like they did in this game. Appalachian State nose tackle Tyson Fernandez (6’2″, 330 lbs.) was a load in the middle, and defensive end Ronald Blair (6’4″, 275 lbs.) didn’t seem too shabby, either. Blair overpowered freshman left tackle Mason Cole on an inside move to sack Gardner, and defensive end Odawala Dada (6’0″, 235 lbs.) successfully juked guard Kyle Kalis on his way to a quarterback hurry. Otherwise, it was rare to see an offensive lineman beaten cleanly. There were some frustrating stalemates, and there will be plenty more – along with outright whoopings – to come this year. Michigan’s line never coagulated last year, but even if a little less talented, this group is going to be better.

2014 Season Countdown: #21 De’Veon Smith

De’Veon Smith

Name: De’Veon Smith
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 220 lbs.
High school: Warren (OH) Howland
Position: Running back
Class: Sophomore
Jersey number: #4
Last year: I ranked Smith #86 and said he would redshirt. He played in four games at running back and had 26 carries for 117 yards.

With an established starter (Fitzgerald Toussaint), some experienced backups (Thomas Rawls, Justice Hayes), and a guy who earned some coach praise (Drake Johnson) already on the roster, I assumed at least one of the freshman running backs would redshirt in 2013. Instead, every one of those guys played in the season opener. There was a long stretch where he went without touching the ball, but he looked somewhat improved by the time he saw daylight again. He broke a 16-yarder against Northwestern and a 38-yarder against Ohio State. Of course, everything is relative; Michigan was the worst in the country at allowing negative-yardage runs because of a porous offensive line, so even a 16-yard run was a jaw-dropping moment in 2013. It appeared that Smith’s bruising style fit the system and personnel best because he could actually run through tackle attempts occasionally, a skill with which the other running backs struggled.

Now the running back job is really up for grabs. Toussaint graduated, Rawls transferred to Central Michigan, Johnson is once against receiving praise from Coach Hoke after recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the 2013 season opener, Hayes started the bowl game, and sophomore Derrick Green has shed over 20 lbs. since his freshman year. Hoke has openly stated that Smith had an edge on Green coming out of the spring due to superior pass protection abilities, so that’s where I assume things stand right now. Smith seems like a high-effort player who carries out his fakes, blocks physically, and will throw his body around. What he lacks is breakaway speed, a category in which he’s behind the likes of Johnson, Green, and Hayes. With a young offensive line, Smith should probably be the choice to get the plurality of carries. Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier spread out the carries among multiple backs at Alabama, so I would still expect to see a couple other guys get large chunks of playing time.

Prediction: Starting running back; 150 carries, 700 yards, 8 touchdowns

Video: Derrick Green and DeVeon Smith interviews

Hit the jump for DeVeon Smith’s interview.

An Average Season Under Doug Nussmeier

Devin Gardner has gone from catching touchdown passes against Alabama to likely throwing them for Alabama’s offensive coordinator.

Every team is different, but I wanted to take a stab at what kind of production we can expect from new offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier while he’s here in Ann Arbor. I looked at his last five years, which he spent with Washington (2009-2011) and then Alabama (2012-2013). I then averaged those seasons together to come up with a rough estimate of what types of numbers the Wolverines will put up. The player listed with the projection is my early guess at the depth chart for this upcoming fall.

Quarterback (Jake Locker, Keith Price, AJ McCarron):
230/395, 2800 yards, 21 touchdowns, 11 interceptions
184/332, 2265 yards, 17 touchdowns, 9 interceptions
242/362, 3063 yards, 33 touchdowns, 11 interceptions
211/314, 2933 yards, 30 touchdowns, 3 interceptions
226/336, 3063 yards, 28 touchdowns, 7 interceptions
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2014 Devin Gardner projection: 219/348, 62.9%, 2825 yards, 26 touchdowns, 8 interceptions
2013 Devin Gardner stats: 208/345, 60.3%, 2960 yards, 21 touchdowns, 11 interceptions

Running Back #1 (Chris Polk, Eddie Lacy, T.J. Yeldon):
226 carries, 1113 yards, 5 touchdowns
260 carries, 1415 yards, 9 touchdowns
293 carries, 1488 yards, 12 touchdowns
204 carries, 1322 yards, 17 touchdowns
207 carries, 1235 yards, 14 touchdowns
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2014 Derrick Green projection: 238 carries, 1315 yards, 11 touchdowns
2013 Fitzgerald Toussaint stats: 185 carries, 648 yards, 13 touchdowns

Running Back #2 (Demitrius Bronson, Jesse Callier, T.J. Yeldon, Kenyan Drake):
19 carries, 89 yards, 0 touchdowns
77 carries, 433 yards, 0 touchdowns
47 carries, 260 yards, 1 touchdown
175 carries, 1108 yards, 12 touchdowns
92 carries, 694 yards, 8 touchdowns
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2014 De’Veon Smith projection: 82 carries, 517 yards, 4 touchdowns
2013 Derrick Green stats: 83 carries, 270 yards, 2 touchdowns

Wide Receiver #1 (Jermaine Kearse, Amari Cooper):
50 catches, 866 yards, 8 touchdowns
63 catches, 1005 yards, 12 touchdowns
47 catches, 699 yards, 7 touchdowns
58 catches, 999 yards, 11 touchdowns
45 catches, 736 yards, 4 touchdowns
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2014 Devin Funchess projection: 53 catches, 861 yards, 8 touchdowns
2013 Jeremy Gallon stats: 89 catches, 1373 yards, 9 touchdowns

Wide Receiver #2 (Devin Aguilar, D’Andre Goodwin, Kevin Norwood):
42 catches, 593 yards, 5 touchdowns
44 catches, 530 yards, 4 touchdowns
41 catches, 611 yards, 6 touchdowns
29 catches, 469 yards, 4 touchdowns
38 catches, 568 yards, 7 touchdowns
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2014 Jehu Chesson projection: 39 catches, 554 yards, 5 touchdowns
2013 Devin Funchess stats: 49 catches, 748 yards, 6 touchdowns

Wide Receiver #3 (James Johnson, Devin Aguilar, Kasen Williams, Kenny Bell, DeAndrew White):
39 catches, 422 yards, 3 touchdowns
28 catches, 352 yards, 2 touchdowns
36 catches, 427 yards, 6 touchdowns
17 catches, 431 yards, 3 touchdowns
32 catches, 534 yards, 4 touchdowns
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2014 Amara Darboh projection: 30 catches, 433 yards, 4 touchdowns
2013 Jehu Chesson stats: 15 catches, 221 yards, 1 touchdown

Tight End #1 (Kavario Middleton, Marlion Barnett, Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, Michael Williams, O.J. Howard):
26 catches, 257 yards, 3 touchdowns
4 catches, 31 yards, 0 touchdowns
41 catches, 538 yards, 6 touchdowns
24 catches, 183 yards, 4 touchdowns
14 catches, 269 yards, 2 touchdowns
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2014 Jake Butt projection: 22 catches, 256 yards, 3 touchdowns
2013 Jake Butt stats: 17 catches, 235 yards, 2 touchdowns

Tight End #2 (Chris Izbicki, Michael Hartvigson, Kelly Johnson, Brian Vogler):
3 catches, 7 yards, 1 touchdown
2 catches, 16 yards, 1 touchdown
8 catches, 30 yards, 1 touchdown
5 catches, 39 yards, 0 touchdowns
8 catches, 71 yards, 1 touchdown
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2014 A.J. Williams projection: 5 catches, 33 yards, 1 touchdown
2013 A.J. Williams stats: 1 catch, 2 yards, 1 touchdown