Tag: Quinton Washington

Preview: Michigan at Ohio State

Rush Offense vs. Ohio State Rush Defense
Michigan is the #36 rushing offense in the country with 195 yards/game, but the rushing offense is perhaps in a dire situation.  Starting running back Fitzgerald Toussaint (514 yards, 5 touchdowns) will miss the rest of the season with a lower leg injury, which leaves the running back duties to Thomas Rawls (240 yards, 4 touchdowns, Vincent Smith (27 carries, 76 yards, 2 touchdowns), and Justice Hayes (16 carries, 83 yards, 1 touchdown).  The numbers don’t look too bad, but most of Rawls’s yards have come in garbage time and he has struggled against decent teams.  The wild card is Denard Robinson, who started at running back last week and – mostly from the quarterback position – has rushed for 1,044 yards and 6 touchdowns, good enough for the 15th-most yards in the nation despite missing 2.5 games due to injury.  He’s clearly the best running option, but he may not be able to run Michigan’s full complement of plays.  The Buckeyes have the #17 rush defense and have given up just 117 yards/game.  Defensive tackles Johnathan Hankins and Garrett Goebel don’t get a ton of penetration, but they are space eaters who have combined for 8 tackles for loss.  Defensive end John Simon and linebacker Ryan Shazier have each made 14.5 tackles for loss, and Shazier has improved significantly since last year, when he played as a freshman.  The Buckeyes should be able to handle Michigan’s interior offensive line, so the Wolverines will have to attack the edges and through the air.
Advantage: Ohio State


Pass Offense vs. Ohio State Pass Defense
Michigan has been improving incrementally in the passing game and now sits at #95 with 201 yards/game; quarterback Devin Gardner has been the impetus for that rise, and he threw for 314 yards and 3 touchdowns against Iowa last week.  Wide receivers Jeremy Gallon (34 catches, 617 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Roy Roundtree (25 catches, 461 yards, 2 touchdowns) have stepped up their games recently, and tight end Devin Funchess has been a productive red zone target.  The Buckeyes are #84 in pass defense (250 yards/game), but #28 in pass efficiency defense.  Simon has made 9 sacks and Shazier has made 4.  Meanwhile, cornerback Travis Howard has 4 interceptions on the season, although 3 of them came in the Buckeyes’ first two games.  Michigan will have to pay extra attention to Simon and roll Gardner out to get him on the edge, but Gardner should be able to find some success with crossing routes and play action.
Advantage: Michigan


Rush Defense vs. Ohio State Rush Offense
The Wolverines give up 151 yards/game, good enough for 51st in the country.  However, that stat has been dropping since a couple rough outings early in the year.  The middle of Michigan’s defense has been stout, but starting defensive tackles Quinton Washington and William Campbell have combined for just 3 tackles for loss.  They don’t get consistent penetration, but they do hold their ground pretty well, which allows the inside linebackers to flow to the ball and make tackles.  Teams can gain yards running the ball, but usually in small increments.  Meanwhile, the Buckeyes have the #9 rushing offense and gain 245 yards/game, with quarterback Braxton Miller running for 110 yards/game and running back Carlos Hyde pretty close behind with 91 yards/game.  They like to run the option with Miller, who is very adept at pulling the ball out of Hyde’s belly and making things happen on the edge.  Michigan should keep Hyde pretty well in check early, until/unless Miller starts to gash them.  Miller is also very adept at tucking the ball and scrambling, which hurt Michigan last year; that will continue to be an issue, because the Wolverines don’t really have the athletes at defensive end to keep Miller hemmed in.
Advantage: Ohio State


Pass Defense vs. Ohio State Pass Offense
Michigan is #1 in overall pass defense (152 yards/game), but #30 in pass efficiency defense.  Free safety Thomas Gordon and cornerback Raymon Taylor each have 2 interceptions to tie for the team lead, but nobody in the secondary is known as a true ball hawk or a shutdown player in coverage.  The linebackers are pretty solid in coverage, but Michigan lacks a strong pass rush.  Defensive end Craig Roh has 4 sacks, outside linebacker Jake Ryan has 3.5, and safety Jordan Kovacs is next with 2.  The Buckeyes are the #100 passing offense with 180 yards/game and they’re #57 in passing efficiency, but they still have dangerous players on the outside.  The Buckeyes abused Michigan’s back seven in last season’s matchup, although that was a different offensive system and they had DeVier Posey.  Wideout Corey Brown (52 catches, 574 yards, 2 touchdowns) is more of a possession guy, but Devin Smith (28 catches, 555 yards, 6 touchdowns) has some explosive abilities and might be just as good as Posey was.  Poor quarterback play has prevented Michigan from getting beaten too badly on the outside, but I’ve been dreading the moment when it would hurt Michigan; there’s a very good chance that the Wolverines’ shortcomings on the outside will be exposed on Saturday.  I don’t think Taylor and his counter J.T. Floyd will be able to stick with Smith for the entire game, and Michigan’s safeties are just so-so in coverage.  The Buckeyes will run the ball a lot, so they probably won’t sit back there and throw 50 times to win, but they’ll get some big plays through the air.
Advantage: Ohio State


Roster Notes

• Michigan recruited OG Darryl Baldwin, RB Warren Ball, DT Michael Bennett, S Devan Bogard, CB Corey Brown, WR Corey Brown, S Christian Bryant, OT Taylor Decker, OT Kyle Dodson, RB Bri’onte Dunn, DT Garrett Goebel, LB Curtis Grant, CB Doran Grant, DT Joel Hale, RB Jordan Hall, OT Marcus Hall, DT Johnathan Hankins, TE Jeff Heuerman, QB Cardale Jones, QB Braxton Miller, DE Steve Miller, OG Joey O’Connor, LB David Perkins, DE Se’Von Pittman, CB Armani Reeves, DT Tommy Schutt, LB Ryan Shazier, WR Devin Smith, RB Rod Smith, DE Noah Spence, TE Jake Stoneburner, S Ron Tanner, TE Nick Vannett, and DT Adolphus Washington
• Players from Michigan include Grosse Pointe (MI) Grosse Pointe Farms OT Reid Fragel and Detroit (MI) Southeastern DT Johnathan Hankins

Predictions

• Denard Robinson starts at running back but gets a couple chances to throw
• Devin Gardner gets flustered by the pass rush and forced into a couple bad throws
• Ohio State makes some big plays over top of the defense
• Michigan holds down Carlos Hyde well, but Miller wins the game with his feet
• Ohio State 24, Michigan 17

A Look Back . . . 

• Last year’s game recap
• Grades for Michigan’s defense last year
• Last year’s game awards

Michigan 45, Illinois 0

The team celebrates Jeremy Gallon’s 71-yard catch-and-run.

I think Nathan Scheelhaase got hurt.  Play-by-play man Bob Wischusen only said it about 35 times, so I’m not sure.  Also, Danny Kanell is really bad at talking.  Seriously, though, sometimes it’s not so much fun watching a team that’s missing its starting quarterback.  It’s still great to win 45-0, of course, and everyone needs a blowout win once in a while.  But as soon as I saw Scheelhaase hit the ground and look dazed, I assumed that any coach not named Mark Dantonio would yank him for the remainder of the contest.  Thankfully, Denard Robinson’s hand injury only kept him out for a short period, or else that game could have been a real stinker.

Denard Robinson hasn’t thrown an interception in the last two games.  It’s funny how that works.  Michigan has made a commitment to running the ball the last couple games, rather than trying to have Robinson throw for the win.  I know Robinson has had longer runs and more important runs, but his 49-yard touchdown in this game might have been his single greatest individual effort.  He made a couple separate jump cuts before bursting out to the left and outrunning the defense.

What’s up with Jerald Robinson?  Almost every outgoing wide receiver for the past couple seasons has pointed to Jerald Robinson as the next year’s breakout star, and he continues to look completely harmless.  He did have an 8-yard reception in this game, but he also had another drop.  As a redshirt sophomore, that gives him 4 receptions for 47 yards in his career.

The defense was excellent.  Injury to Scheelhaase aside, Michigan held the Illini to just 134 total yards – 105 rushing, 29 passing.  The Wolverines also grabbed an interception, recovered a fumble, recorded 9 tackles for loss, and notched 3 sacks.  Jake Ryan was the most disruptive force with 11 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.  Middle linebacker Kenny Demens has played significantly better since the first couple games, and yesterday he had 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 interception.  A huge chunk of Illinois’ yards seemed to come when backup quarterback Reilly O’Toole first entered the game and hit Michigan with several screens and draws.

Every running back had a good game . . . except Fitzgerald Toussaint.  Even Toussaint had a touchdown, but he only averaged 3.4 yards/carry and lost a significant chunk of playing time to Thomas Rawls.  I’m not sure what’s up with Toussaint, but Rawls had 9 carries for 90 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown.  Even Justice Hayes had 10 carries for 66 yards, although most of his carries came after Illinois had thrown in the towel.  Hayes has decent speed, but he’s not a very physical runner . . . and he fumbled the ball without even getting touched.  Luckily, it bounced right back up into his hands.

Michigan’s backup quarterback situation is shaky.  Russell Bellomy struggled somewhat.  He let a snap squirt right through his hands, and he completed just 1/3 passes.  I’m not a huge fan of what I’ve seen out of Devin Gardner as a quarterback, and I do think Bellomy has potential down the road . . . but boy, does he look shaky right now.  He wasn’t helped out by his receivers, though, who had their hands on both incompletions; but Bellomy looks afraid to push the ball down the field, and he’s not very crisp running the plays.  I’m going to try to enjoy Denard Robinson while I can, because the quarterback play might be really iffy for a couple seasons.

Dennis Norfleet is too fast.  He blew past everyone except the punter . . . and when the punter stepped up to make the tackle, Norfleet didn’t even give himself time to shake; he just tried to run right through the punter, which doesn’t work when you’re only 165 lbs.  Regardless, he had yet another moment where Michigan fans just think “It’s only a matter of time.”  He did muff a kickoff return (which he still managed to pick up and gain 12 yards), but that 42-yard punt return was fun to watch.

The defensive line continues to improve.  It was obvious that they would improve, but they’re better than I thought they would be at this point in the season.  Quinton Washington had 5 tackles and 1 tackle for loss.  Craig Roh had 3 tackles and half a sack.  Jibreel Black had 3 tackles, but he showed impressive speed in chasing down Scheelhaase before driving him to the ground on the play that caused the quarterback’s concussion.

Jeremy Gallon screen fun.  Gallon took the throwback screen (which Michigan runs once or twice every game), made a couple people miss, got some nice downfield blocking – especially from walk-on tight end Mike Kwiatkowski – and raced 71 yards for a touchdown.  Gallon had just that one reception, but that was just one more piece of evidence why Michigan needs to get him the ball early and often.

This was a nice confidence booster before the Michigan State game.  The Spartans looked pretty bad in a loss to Iowa, and Michigan obviously looked very good.  At this point in the season, Michigan clearly looks like the better team.  Hopefully the momentum can carry over into next Saturday’s game, which has been announced as a 3:30 p.m. kickoff to be shown on the Big Ten Network.

2012 Season Countdown: #41 Quinton Washington

Quinton Washington

Name: Quinton Washington
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 302 lbs.
High school: St. Stephen (SC) Timberland
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #76
Last year: I ranked Washington #32 and said he would have 15 tackles as a backup DT.  He played in eight games and made 1 tackle.

I guess I overrated Washington’s ability to contribute last season, because he wasn’t even close to being productive.  He seems like an offensive guard who got stuck on defense, and by now it’s probably too late for him to switch back.  He lacks the quickness to get off the ball well, so whenever he’s in the game, it seems like he and an offensive lineman just get in a shoving match with nobody going anywhere.

With three stout linemen having graduated (Mike Martin, Ryan Van Bergen, and Will Heininger), the spots along the defensive line are wide open.  Washington has a chance to play nose tackle or 3-tech, but the coaches have inserted William Campbell at NT and bumped Jibreel Black down from weakside end to the 3-tech position.  Those are your likely starters for the beginning of the season, so guys like Washington, Richard Ash, and freshman Ondre Pipkins are going to be working their way up from below.  It seems like big #76 needs to step up this season for Michigan to have a strong defensive line rotation, but I didn’t see him flash a whole lot of potential in the spring game.  He will likely be a backup once again, although hopefully more productive than he was last season.

Prediction: Backup defensive tackle, special teams contributor

Poll Results: Who will be Michigan’s starting nose tackle against Alabama?

William Campbell (#73) is the frontrunner for the nose tackle position in 2012

William Campbell: 73%
Believe it or not, Campbell is now a senior.  The former 5-star recruit has spent the last three seasons as a backup defensive tackle and offensive guard.  He should have redshirted in 2009 and, in an ideal world, would have two seasons of eligibility left.  Unfortunately, this will be his last hurrah.  Campbell is 6’5″ and around 320 lbs., and when he fires off low, not many offensive linemen stand a chance; however, that’s about a 50/50 proposition.  Last season he made 14 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and 1 fumble recovery as Mike Martin’s primary backup.  He’ll probably get the first crack at taking Martin’s starting spot

Ondre Pipkins: 17%
Pipkins is a 6’3″, 330 lb. incoming freshman who won’t hit campus until June.  It’s notoriously difficult for true freshmen to play on either side of the line, so he would normally be a huge long shot . . . but the lack of productive depth at the position suggests Pipkins will be in the running for playing time.

Quinton Washington: 5%
The 6’4″, 302 lb. made a bit of a sacrifice a couple seasons ago when he switched positions from offensive guard to defensive tackle.  When I watch him play defense, I see an offensive guard playing defense.  He’s a very strong, stout player, but he’s not athletic enough to be a real playmaker.  I think he lacks the qualities that the coaches are looking for in a starter, but he’s a decent sub and goal line player.

Richard Ash: 2%
Ash will be a redshirt sophomore this fall and has yet to see significant playing time in college.  He did play in three games in 2011, but did not accrue any statistics.  As the voting indicates, I think Ash is the biggest long shot to start at the position.

Other: 0% (3 votes)
I’m not sure who was earning votes here.

Defensive Line Preview: Michigan vs. Virginia Tech

Defensive end James Gayle was Second Team All-ACC for the Hokies

MICHIGAN
Starters: Fifth year senior strongside end Ryan Van Bergen (6’6″, 288 lbs.) is a three-year starter and All-Big Ten Honorable Mention this past season; he finished the year with 41 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 3 fumble recoveries.  Senior nose tackle Mike Martin (6’2″, 304 lbs.) is also a three-year starter and has been Second Team All-Big Ten the past two seasons; he ended the regular season with 54 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks.  Fifth year senior defensive tackle Will Heininger (6’6″, 295 lbs.) is a former walk-on who started for the first time this season; he has 23 tackles and 1 sack.  Junior weakside end Craig Roh (6’5″, 269 lbs.) is a three-year starter; he currently has 29 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.
Backups: The key backups are junior defensive tackle William Campbell (6’5″, 322 lbs.), sophomore defensive end Jibreel Black (6’2″, 260 lbs.), and freshman defensive end Frank Clark (6’2″, 228 lbs.).  Campbell mostly plays behind Martin and has 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks on the season; there is a good chance Campbell will start due to a lower leg injury to Heininger.  Black is Roh’s platoon mate at weakside end and finished the regular season with 17 tackles and 1.5 sacks.  Clark also plays weakside end and plays situationally, but provides a speedy matchup and made 5 tackles on the season.  If Campbell does indeed start against Virginia Tech, that will increase playing time for redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Quinton Washington (6’4″, 302 lbs.), who has made just 1 tackle this season.

VIRGINIA TECH
Starters: Redshirt junior Antoine Hopkins began the year as a starting defensive tackle but tore his ACL halfway through the season.  His sophomore brother Derrick (6’0″, 301 lbs.) started every game at DT and finished with 50 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery.  Freshman defensive tackle Luther Maddy (6’1″, 283 lbs.) picked up for the elder Hopkins, notching 17 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery.  Redshirt sophomore defensive end James Gayle (6’4″, 257 lbs.) was named Second Team All-ACC after making 34 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, and 7 sacks.  Redshirt sophomore J.R. Collins (6’2″, 240 lbs.) made 50 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, and 1 interception on the year and earned All-ACC Honorable Mention.
Backups: Redshirt freshman defensive end Zack McCray (6’4″, 264 lbs.) made 14 tackles and 1 tackle for loss on the year.  Freshman defensive tackle Corey Marshall (6’1″, 253 lbs.) has made 12 tackles and 2 sacks as a frequently used reserve.  Redshirt junior defensive tackle Isaiah Hamlette (6’5″, 291 lbs.) has made 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 sack on the year.

THE TAKEAWAY
Michigan definitely has an advantage in the size department, where the average Wolverines starter is about 19 lbs. heavier than his Hokies counterpart.  Virginia Tech is small, quick, and relatively young, since all four starters are sophomores or freshmen; conversely, Michigan has three seniors, and the only junior starter has been starting since his true freshman season.  Although Campbell is a mammoth backup tackle, none of the backups has been exceptional for either squad.  Size is important here, since Michigan’s small-ish offensive line matches up against Virginia Tech’s small-ish defensive line, and the Wolverines’ large-ish defensive line goes up against a large-ish Hokies offensive line.

The Hokies defensive line has helped them to rank #17 against the run (107.8 yards per game) and tie for #11 in sacks (2.92 per game), so despite the lack of size and experience, they are fairly effective.  Gayle and Collins make a formidable pass rushing duo from the edges.  Meanwhile, the Wolverines are #34 in rushing defense (129.1 yards per game) and #27 in sacks (2.33 per game).  The numbers suggest the Hokies are stronger up front defensively, and the potential loss of Heininger will be a blow to a thin defensive line.

Advantage: Virginia Tech