Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Andrel Anthony. Anthony has better speed than I thought he had coming out of high school, and he showed some playmaking ability on Saturday, squeezing a few yards out of what seemed to be doomed to be a big chunk loss on an end around. Maybe he’s not ready to be a big-time contributor, but I think he should earn a few more snaps.
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FIRE MCNAMARA! OR DON’T! After the game yesterday, I hopped on Twitter and came across a tweet saying “Cade [McNamara] has missed almost everything today.” I found that to be a very odd statement, considering he completed a season-high 74% of his passes. McNamara finished 20/27 for 129 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. He averaged 4.8 yards per attempt, which is a pitiful number. After I called the Twitterer out for being factually incorrect, he relented and lamented the fact that McNamara missed the deep shots down the field. Which leads me to my next thought.
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RUSH OFFENSE vs. NORTHWESTERN RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan is #6 in rush offense (246.5 yards/game) with two of the more interesting backs in the Big Ten: bruiser Hassan Haskins (492 yards, 8 TD) and lightning-in-a-bottle Blake Corum (610 yards, 8 TD). They have 97 and 101 rushing attempts, respectively, so Michigan is bound to use either one at any given time. The Wolverines are mostly a downhill rushing team, but they can hit the edges, like Corum did with a 31-yard touchdown scamper on a BASH play against Nebraska two weeks ago. Michigan had some issues with the health of their offensive guards (five played against the Cornhuskers), so it may be interesting to see who’s ready to go on the offensive line this week. Northwestern is #118 in rushing defense (206.2 yards allowed/game) and they’re giving up 5.4 yards per attempt, which is #119. The Wildcats have experience up front, but not much talent. Junior defensive end Adetomiwa Adebawore (6’2″, 265) is the best of the bunch with 22 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks. The leading overall tackler is senior SAM linebacker Chris Bergin (5’11”, 223 lbs.) with 63 tackles, followed by sophomore safety Brandon Joseph (6’1″, 192) with 40 tackles. One of the best rushing offenses against one of the worst rushing defenses? I expect Michigan to stick to the ground for much of this one.
Advantage: Michigan
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Here’s a look at the top ten longest plays over the years against the Northwestern Wildcats.
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Shea Patterson (image via Michigan Daily)
Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Chris Evans. Evans left the SMU game two weeks ago with a hamstring injury, and he’s still not back. He didn’t travel to Evanston with the team. Michigan needs more playmakers on offense, and Evans can be one of them.
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