Tag: game preview

Preview: Michigan vs. Colorado

RUSH OFFENSE vs. COLORADO RUSH DEFENSE

Michigan is #45 in the country in rushing offense with 212.5 yards/game. They’re #36 in yards per carry (5.31) despite not having a running threat at quarterback. Freshman RB Chris Evans has received the most carries through two games, but starter De’Veon Smith missed a good chunk of game one after a rib injury. Those two seem to be the top two runners at this point, with Ty Isaac also getting a fair amount of looks with the top group. I think Michigan has been telegraphing their toss sweeps so far, though hopefully that’s due to fairly weak opponents. Over the past few years, the left side of the line has seemed to be strongest, but this year it appears to be center Mason Cole, right guard Kyle Kalis, and right tackle Erik Magnuson doing the heavy lifting. Starting left guard Ben Braden did not look very good last week when he returned from injury. Colorado is #29 in rush defense (95.5 yards/game) and is #74 in yards allowed per carry (3.98). That’s not a great ranking, especially when considering that the Buffaloes have only faced Colorado State and an FBS team so far. They run a 3-4 defense with a big nose tackle (Josh Lupou is 6’3″, 325 lbs.), and there’s a lot of experience all the way across the defense. The linebackers are undersized, and weakside inside linebacker Kenneth Olugbode (6’1″, 220 lbs.) is second on the team with 9 tackles. Both the outside linebackers are 230 lbs., and the game is mostly about speed. I’m not impressed with Lupou at NT and think Mason Cole can wear him down. If Michigan wants to run the ball, they need to run right at this 3-4 defense with De’Veon Smith and get them tired.
Advantage: Michigan

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Preview: Michigan vs. Central Florida

RUSH OFFENSE vs. UCF RUSH DEFENSE

After one week, Michigan is #14 in the country with 306 rushing yards/game. The biggest chunk of that yardage came from freshman third-stringer Chris Evans, who had 112 yards on just 8 carries. Primary backup Ty Isaac had 9 carries for 52 yards. The starter hasn’t been mentioned yet, because De’Veon Smith had a ho-hum day (6 carries, 27 yards) before leaving with a rib injury. Those three players represent speed (Evans), power (Smith), and a nice mix of the two (Isaac). Fifth year senior Drake Johnson did not play, and sophomore Karan Higdon provides depth. Up front, Michigan has a mix of experience and talent. Fifth year senior left guard Ben Braden missed the Hawaii game but should come back this week, but even if he doesn’t, redshirt junior Pat Kugler filled in fairly well for him last week. Jim Harbaugh said fifth year senior right tackle Erik Magnuson graded out the best. Elsewhere, Michigan has mammoth sophomore left tackle Grant Newsome, junior Mason Cole at center, and fifth year senior Kyle Kalis at right guard. Central Florida is #32 in rushing yards allowed (85.0) and #38 in rushing average against (2.66), though those numbers came against FCS team South Dakota State. UCF employs a 3-4 defense. The top seven tacklers last week were linebackers, and the next three were defensive backs. You have to go all the way down to 11th before finding a defensive lineman. Leading tackler Mark Rucker, a fifth year senior inside linebacker, is 5’9″, 217 lbs. Freshman starting defensive end Trysten Hill (6’1″, 295 lbs.), nose tackle Jamiyus Pittman (6’0″, 295 lbs.), and defensive end Tony Guerad (6’3″, 275 lbs.) make up the starting line. One guy to watch is redshirt junior outside linebacker Shaquern Griffin (6’1″, 213 lbs.). The biggest linebacker is 230 lbs. and the biggest lineman in the rotation is 295, so it’s not a very big front seven. Michigan should be able to run the ball with some regularity.
Advantage: Michigan

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Mini-preview: Michigan vs. Hawaii

Apologies for the shortened preview, but finishing the 2016 Season Countdown, the 2016 season predictions, etc. consumed my time this week.

TIME: 12:00 p.m. EST
TV: ESPN

LAST TIME THEY PLAYED:

Michigan beat Hawaii by a score of 48-17 in 1998, the year after the Wolverines won the national championship. Anthony Thomas ran for 183 yards and 4 touchdowns, and Tom Brady went 9/10 with 2 touchdown passes to Tai Streets.

PREDICTIONS

• Wilton Speight starts at QB
• De’Veon Smith scores the first touchdown and gains 80 yards on the ground
• Eddie McDoom scores his first career touchdown
• Dymonte Thomas makes his first career interception
• Michigan 42, Hawaii 7

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Citrus Bowl Preview: Special Teams, Intangibles, and Predictions

Antonio Callaway

I previously previewed:

• Michigan’s Offense vs. Florida’s Defense
• Michigan’s Defense vs. Florida’s Offense
• Florida’s roster makeup

SPECIAL TEAMS
Michigan kicker offer Kenny Allen has the Wolverines at #40 in touchback percentage (47%). He is generally pretty good at his job. He is also pretty good at placekicking, where he is #34 nationally on field goals (16/20, 80%) and tied for #1 on extra points (41/41, 100%). He might need to revisit his punting skills, though, because starting punter Blake O’Neill is rumored to be out with a knee injury. O’Neill was #63 in punting average, but he was excellent at pinning opponents deep. Allen has punted just once in his career, a 51-yarder in 2013. Considering Florida’s defense, he should get several opportunities to prove his ability to do a third job. Michigan is #3 in kickoff return average at 28.4 yards/return. Jabrill Peppers is a capable returner, but he will probably miss the game due to injury. And anyway, the majority of kickoff returns have been handled by Jourdan Lewis (25.2 yards/return), while the lone return TD was by Jehu Chesson (46 yards/return on 3 attempts). Whether it’s Lewis, Chesson, or someone the coaching staff deems even better, the Wolverines are pretty solid. (Aside: Did you know that 63 teams – or about half of FBS teams – do not have a kickoff return of 60+ yards?) Meanwhile, Peppers is the only player to have handled even a single punt this season and averaged 11.4 yards/return, which was #21 nationally. I imagine that we might see Lewis back there, although Amara Darboh has experience at just being a sure-handed punt returner with little big-play ability.

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Citrus Bowl Preview: Michigan Offense vs. Florida Defense

Jonathan Bullard (#90)

If you got an Amazon gift card for Christmas and are looking to spend it, please considering helping out the blog by following this link (LINK).

Yesterday, I posted the preview on Michigan’s Defense vs. Florida’s Offense.

Michigan Quarterbacks/Tight Ends/Wide Receivers vs. Florida Defensive Backs
Michigan fifth year senior QB Jake Rudock (6’3″, 208) had a rocky start, but his finish to the regular season was outstanding until he injured his shoulder against Ohio State in the finale. In the final month, Rudock completed over 67% of his passes for 1,296 yards on 9.2 yards/attempt with 11 TDs and just 2 INTs. He settled in to become comfortable with the offense, and he started reading the whole field rather than the half of the field that he was limited to during his struggles. That emergence was coupled with redshirt junior WR Jehu Chesson’s (6’3″, 207), who had 25 catches for 423 yards (16.9 yards/catch) and 6 TDs during that stretch. Classmate WR Amara Darboh (6’2″, 216) led the team in receptions, though his yards per catch were lower than Chesson’s or starting TE Jake Butt’s (6’6″, 249). Butt was the conference’s best tight end with 48 receptions, 620 yards, and 3 TDs. The only other TE or WR with double-digit receptions was senior TE A.J. Williams (6’6″, 285), who had 12 catches for 129 yards. We should also see a fair amount of freshman slot receiver Grant Perry (6’0″, 185) and TE Khalid Hill (6’2″, 270), who have 12 catches for 124 yards between them. If Rudock goes down, the backup is a very unproven redshirt freshman Wilton Speight (6’6″, 235), who threw the game-winning TD against Minnesota but otherwise is 9/25 for 73 yards and 1 INT. Rudock is expected to be healthy-ish for the bowl game, but if he re-injures that shoulder, Michigan could very well be done for if they don’t already have a lead.

Florida has one of the best secondaries in the country, led by an excellent cornerback duo of junior Vernon Hargreaves III (5’11”, 199) and sophomore Jalen Tabor (6’0″, 191); each of them has 4 interceptions, and Tabor is #13 in the country with 14 pass breakups. Florida spends a lot of time in a nickel, three-safety look. Senior safety/slot corner Brian Poole (5’10”, 211) has broken up 10 passes of his own, junior safety Keanu Neal (6’1″, 216) is third on the team with 84 tackles, and junior safety Marcus Maye (6’0″, 207) is fourth with 73. All of those guys can come up and tackle, and they act as extra linebackers. However, they are not the most athletic, ballhawking group of safeties, and the middle of the field can be taken advantage of in the passing game. Florida finished #10 in passing yards allowed (175 per game) and #11 in passer rating defense. This is still a tough matchup for a largely unimposing group of wideouts.

Advantage: Florida

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