Tag: Jabrill Peppers

Michigan vs. Wisconsin Awards

Ryan Glasgow (#96, image via Oakland Press)

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Jabrill Peppers. Peppers played some Wildcat quarterback and flipped the ball to Jehu Chesson on a reverse, but he didn’t register in the offensive stat book. Michigan struggled to score points and averaged a mediocre 4.0 yards/carry, taking a 7-7 lead into the fourth quarter before scoring the game-winning touchdown with fewer than eight minutes left. So far this year, Peppers has 2 carries for 24 yards. Maybe Michigan doesn’t need him much against Rutgers next week, but they will need his contributions down the road.

Hit the jump for more on the Wisconsin game.

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Michigan 14, Wisconsin 7

5-0 feels good. Michigan fans had to sweat it out on Saturday, even though Wisconsin couldn’t do much of anything on offense. But now that the Wolverines have faced adversity a couple times – being 7-7 in the second half with Wisconsin, being down 28-7 to Colorado – and come out on top, it feels good to know that Michigan won’t crumple in the fourth quarter. Fans were talking on here and elsewhere that Wisconsin was going to get handled pretty easily, but a) good defense keeps you in the game and b) Michigan’s not that great offensively. Regardless, a win over the #8 team in the country – and one who had beaten us up the last two times we played – leaves us looking pretty good to the pollsters.

Hit the jump for much more on the win.

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Michigan vs. Penn State Awards

Karan Higdon (image via Newsday)

Due to time limitations, I wasn’t able to get this post done for Monday, so here it is two days later.

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Karan Higdon. I’ve never been that sold on Higdon before, but I’m intrigued. He had 9 carries for 81 yards (9.0 yards/carry) and 2 touchdowns in this one, including a 40-yard touchdown on a toss sweep. He looks bigger and stronger this year after sitting out the spring and summer with injuries and illness. I definitely think he earned himself some additional carries.

Hit the jump for more.

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Michigan 49, Penn State 10

It was nice to see Jourdan Lewis back in action (image via MLive)

I’m still not sold on Wilton Speight. His numbers weren’t bad (21/34, 189 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT), but he’s the epitome of a game manager right now. He’s 4-0 as a starter and doesn’t turn the ball over much, while his offense is scoring 50 points a game. He missed a lot of open throws, though. He airmailed a few passes and threw a couple others into the ground. Even a wide open deep throw to Jehu Chesson turned into a duck that Chesson had to slow down and fall to the ground just to reel in, and a wide open flat route by Khalid Hill required a shoe-top grab by Hill. I’m reminded of Denard Robinson in 2010 when he put up decent passing numbers (62.5% completions, 18 TDs, 11 INTs) but a lot of his throws prevented receivers from running after the catch. Some of these issues plagued Jake Rudock early in the 2015 season, so there’s a precedent for improvement. I think Michigan is somewhat lucky that Penn State’s offense and linebackers weren’t better, because if this game came down to being put on Speight’s shoulders, I don’t know if he could win it with his arm. He and the wide receivers just don’t seem to have great timing right now.

Hit the jump for more.

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Michigan vs. Colorado Awards

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Jabrill Peppers. Michigan struggled to run the ball yet again, but Peppers had 2 carries for 24 yards in this one. He also had 204 all-purpose yards, including a 54-yard punt return touchdown. Michigan shouldn’t wear out Peppers, but if he can be a difference-maker, he should be getting 5-10 touches on offense against the best opponents. I think it’s good to get him some early touches, and then if Michigan pulls away, they can stick with their regular offensive personnel.

Hit the jump for more awards from the Colorado game.

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