16Nov 2014
Frank Clark has been arrested
As appears to have been first reported by MGoBlog (LINK), Michigan defensive end Frank Clark was arrested late Saturday night/Sunday morning in connection with a domestic violence incident. As far as I know, details of the incident have not been made public.
You may remember that head coach Brady Hoke has handled incidents like this with something more than the typical reaction at Florida State, so I will assume that Clark will be suspended for the upcoming game against Maryland, if not longer. Reference points:
- Clark himself was suspended for the 2012 season opener against Alabama for stealing a laptop
- Fitzgerald Toussaint was suspended for that same game for an alcohol-related offense
- Darryl Stonum was suspended for an entire season (for which he would have redshirted) after dealing with multiple alcohol-related offenses
- Graham Glasgow was suspended for this season’s opener against Appalachian State for an alcohol-related incident
- Will Hagerup was suspended for the entire 2013 season (for which he redshirted) after some funny business
- Jake Butt was suspended a couple weeks for a “failure to meet team expectations”
- Josh Furman and Tamani Carter were suspended from participating in spring practice activities during an investigation in 2012
So yeah. I think it’s a safe assumption that Clark will not be playing next Saturday, at the least.
Clark is perhaps Michigan’s best defensive player and has 42 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, and 2 pass breakups. He would be coming off his best performance of the season against Northwestern, when he had 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and those 2 pass knockdowns.
The backup for Clark is listed as Mario Ojemudia, a junior who had 2 sacks of his own against Northwestern. He has played a good amount of snaps throughout his career and has 24 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks this season. Ojemudia will probably be a starter next season, so the starting job should be in at least decent hands. The problem might arise when Michigan has to rotate other players, which may include redshirt freshman Henry Poggi (1 tackle) or junior linebacker/defensive end Royce Jenkins-Stone (8 tackles). Sophomore Taco Charlton (18 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks) might also be in the running to start, but he has been Brennen Beyer’s backup on the other side and is less experienced and consistent than Ojemudia.