Tag: Jeremy Gallon

Michigan vs. Indiana Awards

Devin Gardner passed for 503 yards and ran for 81, totaling 5 touchdowns.

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Erik Magnuson. Magnuson started at right guard on Saturday afternoon, and things went fairly well (248 team rushing yards, 7 touchdowns). His body still needs some work, but he’s suited just fine for guard if Michigan is going to run a lot of spread looks. The left guard spot still looks questionable, but I thought Magnuson looked solid for Michigan’s “new look” offense.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Jeremy Jackson. Slot receiver Drew Dileo appeared to have been injured and spent much of the game on the sideline with a headset (why does a slot receiver need a headset?), and Jackson stepped in with 2 catches for 23 yards. I have never been a fan of Jackson, largely because of his lack of speed. Here’s hoping that Dileo comes back for the next game, because he’s a superior target who can run a little bit after the catch.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Jourdan Lewis. Lewis played as a backup cornerback yesterday and ended the day with 5 solo tackles. He was beaten on a long pass, but the coverage was almost perfect. He also nearly had a pick on a late throw by Tre Roberson, tipping it into the hands of safety Thomas Gordon. Michigan might need not need him for a few weeks, but Lewis could be valuable against up-tempo teams like Northwestern.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Channing Stribling. Cornerback Stribling started the game because Michigan spent almost the entire day with at least five defensive backs, moving Blake Countess into the slot. It looked like Stribling blew a coverage on Indiana slot receiver Shane Wynn’s 5-yard touchdown catch, and Stribling also got out-muscled and out-techniqued by Kofi Hughes on a 67-yard touchdown. Instead of leaping with his fingers up to get the ball at its highest point, Stribling tried to cradle the ball into his chest – a high school-level technique issue – and allowed Hughes to come over the top for a catch. The coaches seem to like Stribling more than Lewis, perhaps because of the difference in size and strength; but Lewis seems to be more ready for the speed of the college game.

Play of the game . . . Jeremy Gallon’s first 70-yard catch. In an unbalanced set, quarterback Devin Gardner ran a play fake to the left. As he turned around, Indiana’s backside end came bearing down on him, forcing Gardner to sidearm the throwback to Gallon. Gallon caught it in stride, came inside his block, dodged a couple tacklers, and started racing downfield. Meanwhile, center Graham Glasgow was almost stride for stride with Gallon for about 40 yards before finally realizing that he’s supposed to be slow. Safety Greg Heban eventually chased down Gallon on the right sideline, but it was a pretty play up to that point.

MVP of the game . . . Devin Gardner and Jeremy Gallon. I can’t pick just one, so they share the trophy. Without Gallon, Gardner doesn’t have a record-setting day. And without Gardner, Gallon doesn’t have a record-setting day. Take away either one, and this likely would have gone down as a loss. Gardner had the second-best total yardage performance in Big Ten history (503 passing, 81 rushing), set a school record for passing yards, and totaled 5 touchdowns. Gallon had the best receiving yardage total in Big Ten history (369 yards) while catching 14 passes and scoring 2 touchdowns; he also had two 70-yard receptions in one game, similar to Roy Roundtree’s 246-yard performance against Illinois in 2010 in which he had two 75-yarders.

Michigan 63, Indiana 47

Tight end Devin Funchess was the embodiment of Michigan’s high-flying offense (image via MGoBlog)

Offense wins games. Defense is stupid. The total of 1,323 yards in this game was the most ever in a Michigan game. Michigan had a team record 751. Indiana only had 572, those slackers. Just imagine if Michigan were a hurry-up offense like Indiana instead of a team that huddles before every play.

Devin Gardner is the best Michigan quarterback ever! Gardner was 21/29 for 503 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also had 15 carries for 81 yards and 3 touchdowns. That total of 584 yards left him one yard short of the Big Ten record for total yardage, which is 585 and was set by Dave Wilson of Illinois back in 1980. Two of Gardner’s completions went for 70 yards (to Jeremy Gallon both times), and if not for a couple failures to throw away the ball, Gardner basically played as well as anyone could ask. He had zero interceptions, although there was a fumbled snap between center Graham Glasgow and himself (the third week in a row in which that has happened).

Jeremy Gallon is the best Michigan receiver ever! Gallon had 14 catches for 369 yards and 2 touchdowns (along with 1 carry for -5 yards). That set a new Big Ten record for receiving yardage and rests second all-time behind Louisiana Tech’s Troy Edwards and his 21 receptions for 405 yards and 3 touchdowns against Nebraska in 1998. The previous Big Ten yardage record (301) had been held by Purdue’s Chris Daniels since 1999, and the previous Michigan record (246) was Roy Roundtree’s since the triple-overtime game against Illinois in 2010. Former Michigan wide receiver Marquise Walker had 15 receptions twice (against Ohio State and Washington in 2001) to set the receptions record, so Gallon’s school receptions mark is one less than Walker’s; however, Walker had 160 and 159 yards in those games, respectively, so Gallon had a much more explosive day.

Kyle Bosch burned his redshirt and I don’t really care. The coaches decided to switch things up again this week and start Joe Burzynski at left guard and redshirt freshman Erik Magnuson at right guard. That didn’t last long, since Burzynski tweaked his knee early. But instead of calling redshirt freshman Kyle Kalis or redshirt sophomore Chris Bryant off the bench, Michigan went with true freshman Bosch. It was only Indiana – a smallish and bad defense – but I thought Bosch did pretty well. His size is college-ready, and I thought he was the most talented lineman in Michigan’s 2013 class. Michigan only allowed sacks when Gardner held onto the ball too long, and Fitzgerald Toussaint ran 32 times for 151 yards and 4 touchdowns. It doesn’t matter where the solution comes from, as long as the problem on the interior gets fixed. Some people were bothered about Bosch burning his redshirt halfway through the year, but if a true freshman plays half the year – especially when all other options have been exhausted – I don’t see how anyone can have a problem with it.

Channing Stribling got torched again. I really don’t care what Stribling does in practice. He’s a true freshman and the game is moving too fast for him. Last week he got beaten twice on jump balls he should have been able to intercept or knock down, once by Brandon Felder and once by Allen Robinson; that resulted in a loss. This week he used poor technique again and got beaten for a 67-yard touchdown by Kofi Hughes. Instead of going up for the ball, Stribling tried to cradle the ball into his chest, which allowed Hughes to come over the top. Add that to several missed tackles, and I think Stribling needs to be demoted. He has a good future, but the speed of the game is one reason why most freshmen redshirt.

Hello, Thomas Gordon. Gordon had a weird stat line. It consists of the following: 2 interceptions returned for 41 yards. That’s it. No tackles, no pass breakups. And those were his first two picks of the year. Opposing quarterbacks have been testing Michigan’s cornerbacks more than the safeties this year, but I’ve been a little surprised that Gordon hasn’t been more involved up to this point.

Good for Indiana. I have a soft spot for the underdog, and I somewhat hope that Indiana gets a few good years here. Obviously, I hope they lose to Michigan whenever the two meet. But as long as another team takes a dip to replace Indiana near the bottom of the conference, it would be nice to see the long-suffering Indiana fans have a little fun. They’re 3-4 right now, but I think head coach Kevin Wilson has them going in the right direction. They’ve also been doing a good job on the recruiting trail. By the way, Michigan starting cornerback Raymon Taylor was once an Indiana commit.

What does this mean for Michigan? Well, Michigan might have earned some confidence offensively, which would be nice. I also suggested prior to this game that Michigan would go to more of a spread offense with Bryant and Kalis benched, and that appears to have been the case. Al Borges’s play calling seemed to shy away from running power and zone stretch constantly and incorporated some more misdirection, draws, etc. out of the run game. Michigan can’t expect to blow people off the ball, so this is what Michigan’s offense should look like for the remainder of the year.

Preview: Michigan at UConn

Rush Offense vs. UConn Rush Defense
The Wolverines have better rushing statistics than it might seem; they’re averaging 4.96 yards/carry, but that’s propped up by quarterback Devin Gardner’s 30 carries for 237 yards (7.9 yards/carry) and 4 touchdowns. Running back Fitzgerald Toussaint (55 carries, 199 yards, 3.6 yards/carry, 3 touchdowns) looks recovered from his broken leg, but the offensive line is struggling to open holes. Primary backup Derrick Green has just 2 carries for 2 yards in the last couple games, so he’s not really a factor in tight games. UConn’s opponents are averaging 4.57 yards/carry; that list of opponents includes Maryland and FCS team Towson. Redshirt junior linebacker Yawin Smallwood (6’4″, 236 lbs.) leads the team in tackles with 30, and the next guy on the list is redshirt freshman safety Obi Melifonwu (6’4″, 208 lbs.) with 15. Melifonwu and and fifth year senior strongside end Tim Willman (6’4″, 267 lbs.) lead the team with 1.5 tackles for loss each. The Huskies have decent size up front with redshirt senior weakside end Jesse Joseph (6’3″, 262 lbs.), redshirt senior defensive tackle Shamar Stephen (6’5′, 313 lbs.), and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Julian Campenni (6’0″, 298 lbs.). If UConn uses their vanilla 4-3 Over front, Michigan should be able to handle the front four pretty well, but Smallwood can fly all over the field. My guess is that Michigan’s offensive linemen come out angry and create some of the holes that were lacking against Akron last week.
Advantage: Michigan

Pass Offense vs. UConn Pass Defense
Gardner has been up and down this year, completing 47/78 passes (60.3%) for 704 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He has made some poor decisions in the passing game, and he has a tendency to lock onto his favorite receiver, Jeremy Gallon (18 catches, 297 yards, 4 touchdowns). Sophomore tight end Devin Funchess is the next most targeted receiver (7 catches, 131 yards, 1 touchdown), but the other guys have been somewhat pedestrian. One potential breakout player is 6’3″, 196 lb. redshirt freshman Jehu Chesson, who caught a 33-yard touchdown pass last week and could develop into a deep threat. Melifonwu and senior cornerback Taylor Mack (5’9″, 175 lbs.) have the team’s only two picks thus far, but Melifonwu in particular is speed-deficient and could be taken advantage of in the passing game. As for the pass rush, well . . . Connecticut has zero sacks in two games. Smallwood had 3.5 last year, but 22.5 of their 33 sacks graduated after last season. They would be smart to run some twist stunts to confuse the young offensive guards, but as for pure athleticism and skill, it’s not really there.
Advantage: Michigan

Rush Defense vs. UConn Rush Offense
Redshirt junior running back Lyle McCombs (5’8″, 175 lbs.) averaged 3.54 yards/carry in 2012, and this year he’s all the way up to 3.58. He’s the only significant ball carrier for the Huskies. Sixth year senior left tackle Jimmy Bennett (6’9″, 307 lbs.), redshirt senior Steven Greene (6’5″, 308 lbs.), redshirt junior Alex Mateas (6’4″, 315 lbs.), redshirt junior Gus Cruz (6’4″, 309 lbs.), and redshirt sophomore Xavier Hemingway (6’5″, 273 lbs.) make up the line from left to right. Michigan holds opponents to 3.45 yards/carry, and the front seven is considered to be a strength, especially against pro-style running teams. Connecticut can’t outmuscle the Wolverines if fifth year senior nose tackle Quinton Washington and/or sophomore nose tackle Ondre Pipkins is on the field. Junior middle linebacker Desmond Morgan and sophomore weakside linebacker James Ross are both very good against the run, so McCombs should find it to be tough sledding. I doubt the Huskies will be able to do much in the running game.
Advantage: Michigan

Pass Defense vs. UConn Pass Offense
Redshirt junior Chandler Whitmer (6’1″, 193 lbs.) is the Huskies’ quarterback. He completed 57.6% of his passes for 2,664 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions as a starter last year, and this year he’s upped that percentage to 60.8% while throwing for 3 scores and 3 picks. Redshirt junior Shakim Phillips (6’2″, 209 lbs.) is his favorite target with 15 catches for 255 yards and 3 touchdowns; classmate Geremy Davis (6’3″, 215 lbs.) led the team in receiving in 2012 and has 10 catches for 154 yards this season; and junior slot receiver Deshon Foxx (5’10”, 172 lbs.) has 4 catches for 54 yards. Meanwhile, Michigan has 5 sacks thus far, 4 of which have come from SAM linebackers Brennen Beyer and Cam Gordon. The Wolverines also have 5 picks, 3 of them dropping into the hands of redshirt sophomore corner Blake Countess. Michigan’s defensive backs seem to be playing too far off their receivers this year, causing too few breakups and some easy completions. Unless that philosophy changes, I expect a lot of short completions and then some shots down the field.
Advantage: UConn

Roster Notes

• Zero Huskies players hail from the Great Lakes State.
• Offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach T.J. Weist was a grad assistant at Michigan from 1990-93.
• Quarterbacks coach Shane Day was a quality control assistant at Michigan in 2006.
• Director of Football Alumni/Community Affairs Andy Blaylock got a graduate degree from Michigan in 1962.
• On a personal note, I saw presentations by Connecticut head coach Paul Pasqualoni and running backs coach Kermit Buggs (at Penn State) at coaching clinics in recent years.

Michigan vs. Notre Dame Awards

Jeremy Gallon

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Jehu Chesson. Still without a catch on the year, Chesson has been carving his niche as a destructive blocker so far. After a couple highlight-worthy blocks against Central Michigan, he had a knockdown block against the Fighting Irish on Jeremy Gallon’s 61-yard touchdown reception that sealed the score. He also shows some nice speed and looks like he really belongs on the field, despite still being a little skinny.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . the trainer. Amara Darboh’s out for the year, and within a short span on Saturday night, three guys walked off the field: Taylor Lewan, Devin Funchess, and A.J. Williams. Michigan doesn’t have the depth to weather many injuries. While all three of those guys returned in short order (Lewan didn’t miss a play because the whistle was blown for Funchess’s injury), it was nerve wracking.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . nobody. I thought Michigan did a good job of playing the best guys on Saturday night.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Dymonte Thomas. Okay, we actually haven’t seen much of Thomas at safety up to this point, but there’s a reason I don’t like freshman safeties. Thomas’s 15-yard late-hit penalty was really frustrating, and it was just a sign of immaturity. Safety is the last position on defense where a team can afford immaturity, so I’m glad he’s a backup nickel corner right now. He’ll be good eventually.

Play of the game . . . Devin Gardner’s 61-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Gallon. Gardner play-faked to the left before rolling out to find Gallon settling into the deep middle of the field. Gallon caught the ball, made a couple guys miss, spun out of a tackle, and was helped out by Chesson’s knockdown block on his way to a touchdown.

MVP of the game . . . Jeremy Gallon. This was a tough choice between Gallon and Gardner, but I’m choosing the guy who didn’t make a disgusting, potentially disastrous turnover. Gallon had 8 catches for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns on the night, including a few catches in traffic and some nifty running after the catch.

Michigan 41, Notre Dame 30

Devin Gardner wears cliched quarterback #98 (image via Times Union)

Hail to the Victors. I thought the team showed a lot of toughness and grit in beating the Irish. For a while in the second half, Michigan really had to fight through some adversity – a horrible interception for a touchdown, a barrage of penalties, and a bunch of injuries (A.J. Williams, Devin Funchess, Taylor Lewan, and Jeremy Gallon all had injury scares). After the way the first half went, I knew Michigan was going to have some struggles in the second half, but it got really ugly there for a bit.

Ugliest interception ever? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Michigan quarterback throw a more ill advised, damaging interception than the one Gardner threw. Late in the game he retreated into his own endzone, got wrapped up by blitzing safety Austin Collinsworth, twisted around uncomfortably, and tried to heave the ball (to no one in particular?) as he was being flung to the ground. Mammoth defensive end Stephon Tuitt made a diving interception as the duck floated to the ground in the endzone, and suddenly Notre Dame was within four points.

Jeremy Gallon for the #1. The #21 jersey is nice and everything, but Gallon is everything you would want in a #1 receiver – speed, good hands, leaping ability, game-changing plays, blocking, toughness, etc. He won’t be a first round pick, but 8 catches for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns against Notre Dame – on top of what he has already achieved – is worthy of that jersey. The problem with the #1, apparently, is that players have to prove their worth at least one season before their final year in Ann Arbor, and it’s greatly dependent on the quarterback throwing him the ball. If Gardner had been the quarterback for the entirety of 2012, Gallon might be wearing the hallowed jersey of Anthony Carter, David Terrell, and Braylon Edwards instead of Desmond Howard’s.

Here comes Blake Countess. Countess finished the game with 6 tackles and 2 interceptions. The second interception, which bounced off Raymon Taylor’s knee and popped up into the air, was a right-place-right-time kind of play that sealed the game for Michigan. The first one involved Countess coming off his flat receiver to jump into the throwing lane of Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees; he followed that up with a 30-yard return that showed good speed, vision, and cutback ability. The last Michigan player to make 2 picks in one game was cornerback James Rogers against Purdue in 2010.

The offensive line struggled as expected. Notre Dame blitzed often, and they put pressure and hits on Gardner repeatedly; Michigan also struggled to run the ball. The running backs combined for just 24 carries and 71 yards, which is almost 3.0 yards/carry. I thought the guards were the weakest links. Both had problems with picking up linebackers in Notre Dame’s 3-4 defense. Fighting Irish nose tackle Louis Nix was his dominant self (4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss) and got penetration consistently, and left tackle Taylor Lewan had his hands full with Tuitt, although Tuitt’s only entry into the box score was that interception for a touchdown. I would say Notre Dame won the battle up front, but Gardner scrambled and ran the option well enough to get the edge frequently (13 carries, 82 yards, 1 touchdown). Michigan has to improve along the front five, but that’s probably the best defensive front they’ll face all season.

Gardner and the #98. Before the game, Gardner was announced as the recipient of the #98 Legends jersey, previously worn by Heisman winner Tom Harmon. It bugs me a little bit that Gardner’s #12 jersey won’t have a chance of joining Michigan’s pantheon of Legends jersey numbers, but there’s no better representative on the current team than Gardner. He was 21/33 for 294 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception, to go along with those rushing yards above. Aside from two balls thrown into the dirt and that terrible interception, Gardner was on point throughout.

Michigan needs to blitz. Rees mostly did a good job of seeing the blitz, audibling appropriately, and getting rid of the ball. Michigan notched just 1 sack (by Brennen Beyer) and got little pressure on him throughout the night. Through two games, I just don’t think Michigan’s defensive linemen can get to the quarterback consistently enough without sending at least one additional blitzer. Zone blitzes are probably the way to go, because while Michigan’s corners can cover well enough, the safeties and linebackers leave a little to be desired in man coverage. The pass defense, which allowed 314 yards, was not stellar. And while Rees’s 29/51 effort wasn’t great, running back George Atkinson dropped about three balls, and wide receiver T.J. Jones missed another one or two, perhaps because he appeared to injure both shoulders in the span of about three plays.

The weapon that is Devin Gardner. Good ol’ sandbaggin’ Al Borges rolled out the pistol formation, which had been rumored to be Michigan’s new wrinkle this year with Colin Kaepernick Devin Gardner taking over the quarterback position. Michigan ran the veer option and the zone read better than Denard Robinson could have done, and they tossed in a little inverted veer as well (one of Robinson’s best plays). And obviously, Gardner has the capability of making any throw. His chemistry with Gallon is as excellent as was advertised in the off-season. Gardner is the new breed of quarterback.

Eminem’s halftime interview. I like some of Eminem’s music, but I’m halfway embarrassed that the two biggest modern “pop culture” representatives of the state of Michigan, Detroit, etc. are Eminem and Kid Rock. Marshall Mathers’s interview with Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit was one of the more awkward television interviews you’ll see, because . . . well . . . that’s Eminem. He likes the attention.

What does this mean for the season? Michigan just beat a national championship game participant from last season, so that’s cool. I thought Notre Dame sort of lucked into that game, but that’s neither here nor there. Michigan has shown they can play with just about anyone on their schedule. They should be favored in every contest except perhaps Ohio State.