20Aug 2013
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| Drew Dileo |
Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Drew Dileo. He’s not a big-play threat in the sense that he’ll run a long way after the catch or break open deep, but he’s a very clutch receiver who just finds ways to get open. And when the ball gets thrown to him, he catches it. Knock on wood.
Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Jeremy Jackson. Denard Robinson targeted Jackson deep a couple times, and it was uneventful. Jackson is a slow possession receiver. If you want to run someone deep, send Gardner, Roundtree, or Gallon. Heck, even Amara Darboh runs better than Jackson, though the former is just a freshman. Jackson isn’t even that great of a blocker, so I’m not sure why he’s seeing so much time.
Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Raymon Taylor. I’m not Taylor’s biggest fan, but I’m starting to get concerned about the cornerback depth once again. With starter Blake Countess out for the season and his replacement Taylor knocked out of the game on Sunday, Michigan was nearing the bottom of the barrel. The only scholarship corners left are sophomore Delonte Hollowell and freshman Terry Richardson, both of whom are tiny and inexperienced.
Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . nobody. The defense is playing very well.
Play of the game . . . in a tight game like this, there were lots of key plays. One was Thomas Gordon raking the ball out of the tight end’s hands on the goal line. Another was Robinson’s late throw to Dileo to set up the field goal. But I have to give this one to Brendan Gibbons for hitting the 38-yard, game-winning field goal.
MVP of the game . . . Drew Dileo. Yeah, somebody had to throw the passes, but Michigan’s receivers were struggling to get open and struggling to hold onto the ball. But Dileo didn’t really have those issues. He was also the holder on all four field goals.
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| Drew Dileo (image via AnnArbor.com) |
Well, that was terrifying. That was way too much of a heart attack game for my liking. I mean, I still liked the end result and everything, but that game was frustrating. Neither team could do anything consistently on offense, and I’m not convinced that it’s because both defenses are great. Both defenses are very good, but the offenses are just so-so.
That being said, yay! Good golly, I hate Mark Dantonio. I hate William Gholston, too, but Dantonio is the biggest tool of a coach in the Big Ten, even more so than Bret Bielema. It would have felt great to see Dantonio lose, even if Michigan wasn’t the opponent. It just makes the win that much sweeter that seniors Denard Robinson, Elliott Mealer, Patrick Omameh, Jordan Kovacs, Craig Roh, etc. succeed in their last chance to beat the Spartans. Congratulations to those guys.
Thank you, Drew Dileo. Wide receiver Drew Dileo played a great game. He’s never going to be the fastest player in the field, and he certainly isn’t the biggest. But he’s the type of do-it-all player and possession receiver that finds all kinds of ways to win a football game. He came up huge in the Sugar Bowl against Virginia Tech, and he had another standout performance on Saturday with 4 catches for 92 yards . . . and as the holder on all four of Michigan’s scoring plays.
Brendan Gibbons and Matt Wile were great. I was extremely impressed with the solid kicking from these two guys. Gibbons was 3/3 kicking, including the 38-yard game-winner. Wile was 1/1 in his first career chance to kick a field goal, and that one was a long attempt from 48 yards. Obviously, each of the four kicks was huge.
Jeremy Jackson is slow. At a couple points in the game, I couldn’t help harking back to the days when wide receiver Jeremy Jackson was recruited. I said then that he didn’t have the athleticism to be an impact player at Michigan, and I still question why he’s on the field so much. Denard Robinson targeted him a couple times deep, and while the throws could have been more accurate, Jackson looked like he was running in quicksand. If the play call is for someone to go deep, then Jackson should be replaced by someone with a little giddyup.
The defense was pretty darn good. There wasn’t much of a pass rush, and the coverage on the outside was mediocre. But the Wolverines only allowed 68 yards to Le’Veon Bell (on 26 carries) and 86 total rushing yards to the offense (punter Mike Sadler ran 26 yards on a fake punt, which I won’t pin on the defense). Desmond Morgan (11 tackles) is playing very well, and Jake Ryan (10 tackles, 1 sack) was all over the place once again, and Bell’s longest run was 8 yards.
Cornerbacks are a concern. J.T. Floyd made a couple nice plays on short passes and supporting the run, which is an improvement for him; however, he was beaten deep a couple times by receivers who were unable to hook up with MSU quarterback Andrew Maxwell. Meanwhile, Raymon Taylor left with an elbow injury, leaving the opposite side to slot corner Courtney Avery. I’m hoping that Taylor can return soon, because the Wolverines are running out of healthy corners. The only other guys left on the roster are backup slot corner Delonte Hollowell and tiny freshman Terry Richardson.
Michigan has 900 wins. That’s more wins than any other football program in the history of the whole wide universe. By comparison, Michigan State has 643 all-time victories. The Wolverines are now 68-32-5 against the Spartans.
