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4Sep 2023

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Michigan 30, East Carolina 3

Football is back! All is right in the world when it’s football season. In another few days, the NFL season will be back and we can all enjoy Heaven for a few months. It has been a long off-season for me on an individual level, and this is also a chance to break away from the 2023 Season Countdown and get back into a groove with writing about various topics.

This was a boring matchup. I like seeing different opponents, but with East Carolina, there were no storylines. It’s not a geographical matchup. When I looked through the roster and coaching staff, there was no crossover. East Carolina doesn’t recruit in the state of Michigan. No transfers or ex-staffers from Michigan. There was no angle. The most interesting aspect going into the opener, aside from seeing who starts for Michigan, was . . .

. . . Peacock. The Peacock stream sucked. I signed up for Peacock on Friday because there’s really no other reason to do so earlier. And I don’t really care about the expense. I’ll pay $5.99 to watch a Michigan game. But when I’m paying for it, I expect a good product. When I paid for cable, I expected ESPN and FS1 and BTN to give me a good product. Otherwise, I’ll just turn off the volume and think through it myself. I don’t need Mike Tirico and one of the Simms brothers to tell me what’s happening on the game. Peacock actually complied – presumably on accident – when there was just no audio for several minutes. The fourth quarter feed got blurry, too, but maybe that had something to do with my local internet. But Peacock also cut out a play, there was no pregame show, the halftime show was boring, and oh yeah . . . the Simms kid isn’t exactly top-notch. If I wanted crappy analysis, I would watch some of the ex-Buckeye talking heads like Josh Perry and Joey Galloway.

Hit the jump for more.

2023 Season Countdown: #53 Keshaun Harris

Name: Keshaun Harris
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 190 lbs.
High school: Lansing (MI) Waverly
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt senior
Jersey number: #18
Last year: I ranked Harris #78 and said he would be a backup cornerback (LINK). He played in eleven games and made 5 tackles and 1 pass breakup.
TTB Rating: N/A

Harris plays one of the toughest positions in college football to make hay as a walk-on, and that’s cornerback. Most guys who are athletic enough to play corner end up with a scholarship somewhere. And the corners at Big Ten and SEC programs are just such outstanding athletes that it’s tough to overcome them. So even though Harris is a walk-on, the fact that he has played cornerback in ten games over the past two seasons is a pretty impressive feat, even if the playing time came mostly in blowouts.

Harris had a couple nice plays in the 2023 spring game and seems closer to significant playing time than at any other point in his career. Will Johnson mans one corner spot, but the other spot is up in the air. Harris is unlikely to start, but he could be part of the rotation. Also, if Mike Sainristil ends up playing outside corner, Harris could potentially play in the slot a little bit. Harris is also a decent tackler and a physical player, so he brings the capability to play special teams. I expect to see him play a little bit more this fall, and hopefully he can make some memorable plays to finish out his career (unless he decides to come back for a sixth year in 2024).

Prediction: Backup cornerback and special teamer

30Jun 2022

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2022 Season Countdown: #78 Keshaun Harris

Name: Keshaun Harris
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 186 lbs.
High school: Lansing (MI) Waverly
Position: Cornerback
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #18
Last year: I ranked Harris #107 and said he would be a backup defensive back (LINK). He played in thirteen games on special teams and four games at cornerback.
TTB Rating: N/A

I underestimated Harris going into 2021. After sitting the bench as a walk-on for his first two years on campus, he suddenly became a contributor on special teams and even defense during his third year on campus. Granted, his defensive contributions came at the end of blowouts, but it’s still significant for him that he was on the field during live game action.

Now we enter 2022, and I think competition to play corner is going to be a little stiffer. Yes, Michigan lost Vincent Gray to an attempt at the NFL (he went undrafted), but they brought in a couple freshmen, one of whom is a 5-star who is certainly going to see the field in Will Johnson. Add in some development time for the younger guys, and perhaps they’ll see the field before Harris. Regardless, Harris should be a special teamer once again and somebody who can take some snaps in blowouts if necessary.

Prediction: Backup cornerback and special teamer

24May 2021

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2021 Season Countdown: #107 Keshaun Harris

Name: Keshaun Harris
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 183 lbs.
High school: Lansing (MI) Waverly
Position: Defensive back
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #18
Last year: I did not rank Harris. He did not play.
TTB Rating: N/A

Defensive back – particularly cornerback – is a tough place to get on the field as a walk-on, largely because it’s predicated on innate speed and athleticism. And if players have that athleticism, they get a scholarship somewhere instead of walking on at one of the biggest programs in the country. Safety Hunter Reynolds was the most recent Michigan walk-on defensive back to play significant minutes, but the past decade has only really seen three: Reynolds, safety Jordan Kovacs, and safety/linebacker Jordan Glasgow.

All that is to say that Harris probably won’t see the field as a walk-on defensive back. There are a ton of safeties on the roster – though I suspect Harris is repping at corner – and the cornerbacks are all longer than Harris, faster than him, or both. I imagine Harris will spend another year on the scout team defense.

Prediction: Backup defensive back