Tag: Raymon Taylor

Review of 2012 Season Predictions

This guy led the team in sacks.

Nobody else probably cares, but this is one of the things I enjoy most about the post-season: looking back and seeing how many things I got right or wrong.

Leading Rusher
Prediction: Denard Robinson, 1200 yards
Actual: Denard Robinson, 1266 yards

Leading Receiver
Prediction: Roy Roundtree, 750 yards
Actual: Jeremy Gallon, 829 yards (Roundtree had 580)

Leading Tackler
Prediction: Kenny Demens, 90 tackles
Actual: Jake Ryan, 88 tackles (Demens had 82)

Leading Sacker
Prediction: Jake Ryan, 5.5 sacks
Actual: Jake Ryan, 4.5 sacks

Leading Interceptor
Prediction: J.T. Floyd and Jordan Kovacs, 2 interceptions (tie)
Actual: Thomas Gordon and Raymon Taylor, 2 interceptions (tie); (Kovacs had 1, Floyd had 0)

All-Big Ten First Team
Prediction: Taylor Lewan, Denard Robinson
Actual: Taylor Lewan, Patrick Omameh, Will Hagerup (Denard Robinson was Honorable Mention)

Leading Scorer (non-QB, non-kicker)
Prediction: Fitzgerald Toussaint
Actual: Fitzgerald Toussaint

Breakout Offensive Player
Prediction: Thomas Rawls
Actual: Devin Funchess. Funchess didn’t light the world on fire, but he showed flashes of what he can do if Michigan can get him the ball in the coming years.  Rawls didn’t show much elusiveness or much power.

Breakout Defensive Player
Prediction: Thomas Gordon
Actual: Quinton Washington.  Washington went from a bit of an afterthought to a viable Big Ten nose tackle.  While he didn’t put up great numbers (32 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack), he took up blockers in the middle of the line and didn’t get blown off the ball.

Most Disappointing Offensive Player
Prediction: Jerald Robinson
Actual: Fitzgerald Toussaint.  Robinson was disappointing and then left the team, so he was clearly a disappointment.  But the starting running back, who averaged 5.6 yards/carry in 2011, dropped all the way to 4.0 yards/carry this season.

Most Disappointing Defensive Player
Prediction: Jibreel Black
Actual: J.T. Floyd.  Floyd didn’t make a single interception this season and got himself suspended for the Outback Bowl.

Alabama
Prediction: Loss
Actual: Loss

Air Force
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

UMass
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Notre Dame
Prediction: Win
Actual: Loss

Purdue
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Illinois
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Michigan State
Prediction: Loss
Actual: Win

Nebraska
Prediction: Win
Actual: Loss

Minnesota
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Northwestern
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Iowa
Prediction: Win
Actual: Win

Ohio State
Prediction: Loss
Actual: Loss

CONCLUSION
Out of 23 predictions, I got 12.5 right.  I’m like Nostradamus or something.

Defensive Backs Preview: Michigan vs. South Carolina

Jordan Kovacs was the team’s MVP this season

MICHIGAN
Starters: Michigan will be missing its two starting cornerbacks from the beginning of the year; sophomore Blake Countess tore his ACL in the opener, and fifth year senior J.T. Floyd has been suspended for the Outback Bowl for breaking team rules.  Sophomore Raymon Taylor (5’10”, 182 lbs.), who replaced Countess for most of the year, will likely slide over to Floyd’s boundary corner position.  Taylor had his share of ups and downs on the season, but did a fair job overall and ended the regular season with 42 tackles, 2 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), 1 fumble recovery, and 1 pass breakup.  Junior Courtney Avery (5’11”, 173 lbs.), who normally starts at nickel corner, will probably step in at Taylor’s regular field corner spot.  Avery struggled there in some limited time early in the season, but he’ll have more reps this time around; playing a new position against Alabama is an extremely difficult task.  This year Avery has 16 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, .5 sacks, 1 fumble forced, and 1 fumble recovery.  Fifth year senior strong safety Jordan Kovacs (6’0″, 202 lbs.) has actually seen his statistics decline a little bit this year, but he was named the team’s MVP by his teammates; he has 65 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, and 1 forced fumble.  Redshirt junior Thomas Gordon (5’11”, 207 lbs.) is more of a strong safety masquerading, but he has shown a knack for creating turnovers in the past; he has 75 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, and 2 pass breakups.  This is not a great group individually, but along with Floyd, they had the #2 passing yardage defense in the country.
Backups: Freshman safety Jarrod Wilson (6’2″, 194 lbs.) has played more extensively than any other backup, but he hasn’t had a signature positive play.  The game is moving too fast for him, as it often does with young safeties.  He could play a little bit at the nickel corner and has made 7 tackles and 1 fumble recovery on the year.  Another candidate for slot corner is sophomore Delonte Hollowell (5’9″, 176 lbs.), who has 4 tackles and 1 fumble recovery but is more of a special teams player.  The most interesting candidate for playing time is freshman Dennis Norfleet (5’7″, 161 lbs.), who returns kicks and ran the ball occasionally; he has now moved to defense in an attempt to shore up the depleted cornerback position.  Junior safety Marvin Robinson (6’2″, 200 lbs.) is a run stuffer who has played sparingly on defense and made 7 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.  Redshirt sophomore Josh Furman (6’2″, 203 lbs.) plays a lot on special teams but is a liability on defense; he has 10 tackles.

SOUTH CAROLINA
Starters: Redshirt sophomore Victor Hampton (5’10”, 197 lbs.) starts at one cornerback spot; he has made 34 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 interception, and is tied for the team lead with 6 pass breakups.  The other starter is senior Akeem Auguste (5’9″, 188 lbs.), who was injured early in the season and returned to start the last couple games; he has 15 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, and 1 fumble recovery on the year. Senior D.J. Swearinger (6’0″, 210 lbs.) is the free safety and has 70 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 forced fumble, and 5 pass breakups.  Sophomore Brison Williams (6’0″, 205 lbs.) starts at strong safety and has made 48 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and 4 pass breakups this season.
Backups: Redshirt junior Jimmy Legree (6’0″, 189 lbs.), the other starting corner when Auguste was hurt, did a solid job.  Legree is a converted free safety and has 43 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 2 interceptions.  Redshirt freshman Ahmad Christian (5’10”, 189 lbs.) has 8 tackles and 2 pass breakups as the backup to Hampton.  Sophomore Kadetrix Marcus (6’1″, 185 lbs.) backs up the strong safety position and has made 5 tackles.

THE TAKEAWAY
The Wolverines have the #2 pass defense and #35 pass efficiency defense in the country, but quarterback play in the Big Ten has been woeful and they’ll be down a starting corner (or two, if you include Countess).  Meanwhile, the Gamecocks have the #16 pass defense and the #34 pass efficiency defense in a schedule that included Georgia’s Aaron Murray, Tennessee’s Tyler Bray, Arkansas’s Tyler Wilson, and Clemson’s Tajh Boyd, not to mention East Carolina and UAB teams that put up pretty decent numbers through the air.  The Wolverines have played a steady diet of teams that rank in the 70’s or lower in passing offense, and Alabama’s A.J. McCarron – whose team blew out Michigan – was the only decent passer on the docket.  I don’t think South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw will shred the secondary, but the edge in defensive back play goes to the Gamecocks.

Advantage: South Carolina

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

Nebraska 23, Michigan 9

She’s better than any pictures from the game, I think.

The QB situation.

  I don’t even know where to start.  Denard Robinson was playing okay before he got hurt (6/11 for 55 yards; 10 carries for 46 yards).  After that all hell broke loose.  Redshirt freshman backup quarterback Russell Bellomy entered the game and threw eleven or twelve straight incomplete passes.  He finished the game 3/16 for 38 yards and 3 interceptions, along with taking 2 sacks.  His receivers dropped some passes, but mostly the throws were inaccurate and uncatchable.  At some point Devin Gardner should have been inserted as the quarterback.  Brady Hoke and Al Borges have insisted that Gardner is their #2 quarterback, and while that obviously hasn’t been true, even the #3 guy should be given a shot when #2 can’t get the job done.  The Wolverines were down by a touchdown or less for most of the game, and Gardner might  have been able to provide a spark.  He’s obviously not the best quarterback in the land, but he does have some athleticism to improvise if the play breaks down.  Bellomy looked absolutely lost.

Al Borges anger?  Am I mad at Al Borges?  A little.  The throwback screen to Jeremy Gallon has become way too predictable, for one.  But I’m certainly not mad at him for calling the plays he did after Bellomy entered.  Borges gave Bellomy some easy throws early, and Bellomy threw them into the ground or sailed them over the receivers’ heads.  What plays should an offensive coordinator call for a guy who’s bad at running every play?  Aside from running the ball, which wasn’t working (Fitzgerald Toussaint had 15 carries for 38 yards), there’s not much an OC can do.  Nebraska blitzed Bellomy on passing downs, and they sucked up on the short routes because Bellomy doesn’t like to throw downfield.  If I remember correctly, he threw exactly two passes beyond 15 yards; the first was an incompletion to Roy Roundtree in the endzone that was incorrectly called pass interference against the defense; the second was to a double-covered Devin Gardner that turned into an interception.  Bellomy is terrible at this stage in his career.

Quarterback recruiting and development.  I have been beating this drum now for a couple years, but Brady Hoke should have taken a quarterback in the class of 2012.  Michigan is apparently down to two quarterbacks on the roster: Robinson and Bellomy.  Gardner has been limited to wide receiver exclusively.  Even if the freshman isn’t good, he would at least give the Wolverines another option if Bellomy stinks it up as the backup.  Hoke offered just eight quarterbacks in the 2012 class, and none really seemed to be heavily pursued.  Additionally, I’m still annoyed that Rich Rodriguez burned Devin Gardner’s redshirt back in 2010.  From what I understand, the belief is that he will not be granted a fifth year of eligibility, and now he’s a true junior instead of a redshirt sophomore.  Even if Hoke wanted to develop Gardner as the heir apparent to Robinson, he would only have a year to play the position.  Both of Michigan’s most recent coaches have failed to handle the quarterback position appropriately over the last few years.

Michigan’s run defense was excellent.  By the end of the game, Nebraska was wearing down the Wolverines a little bit.  But even with some big runs by running back Ameer Abdullah and quarterback Taylor Martinez late in the game, they combined for 159 yards on 38 carries, which is just barely over 4 yards/carry.  If Michigan’s offense could have stayed on the field longer and kept them in the game, I doubt the Wolverines would have had the same kinds of breakdowns.

Michigan’s secondary was burned several times.  Raymon Taylor was torched.  J.T. Floyd was beaten a couple times and picked up two pass interference calls.  Jordan Kovacs was beaten.  Thomas Gordon was beaten for a touchdown, albeit by an illegal pick.

The referees were terrible.  It went both ways, but the refs were bad.  The early 55-yard catch by Roy Roundtree was ruled as a reception on the field, and there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn it; yet overturn it they did.  Vincent Smith’s diving attempt that launched the ball up into the arms of P.J. Smith could have been overturned just as easily as the Roundtree play, but the interception was upheld.  Bellomy’s deep ball to Roundtree shouldn’t have been called pass interference against Nebraska.  There were numerous holding calls that they missed, including against Taylor Lewan, who has been committing way too many infractions.  Nebraska also took a penalty for targeting Jeremy Jackson, but the defender led with his shoulder and hit Jackson in the chest, not the head.

Much of this could be fixed if Michigan could run the ball.  Outside of Denard Robinson, nobody on Michigan’s team can run the ball effectively this year.  Michigan’s interior offensive line is weak, and honestly, it’s the two most experienced guys who are playing the worst, in my opinion.  Ricky Barnum and Patrick Omameh, both of whom are fifth year seniors, have often failed to get a push.  Center Elliott Mealer has been mediocre, but he hasn’t played much in his career.  Offensively, Michigan doesn’t have an identity.  The offensive line has been pretty healthy, but they can’t run the ball; both quarterbacks have been subpar in the passing game; the receivers are average.  Unless Denard Robinson is running the ball, Michigan is ineffective.  Now Michigan has gone two consecutive games without a touchdown, and you can’t put your defense in that type of situation consistently and expect to win.

Midseason Statistical Leaders

Dennis Norfleet – Image via MLive.com

Assuming Michigan goes to the Big Ten Championship Game, the season is exactly halfway through.  Here’s a look at team 133’s statistical leaders so far.

Leading Rushers
Denard Robinson – 900 yards (7.4 yards per carry)
Fitzgerald Toussaint – 283 yards (3.5 yards per carry)
Thomas Rawls – 174 yards (7.0 yards per carry)

Leading Receivers
Jeremy Gallon – 309 yards, 16 catches
Devin Gardner – 251 yards, 15 catches
Drew Dileo – 216 yards, 10 catches

Leading Tacklers
Jake Ryan – 52
Desmond Morgan – 44
Thomas Gordon – 40

Leading Scorers
Brendan Gibbons – 55 points
Denard Robinson – 36 points
Toussaint and Gardner – 24 points 

Leading Sackers
Jake Ryan – 3.5
Craig Roh – 2.0

Leading Interceptors
Thomas Gordon – 2
Raymon Taylor – 2

Leading Punt Returners
Dennis Norfleet – 53 (26.5 yards per return)
Jeremy Gallon – 44 (8.8 yards per return)

Leading Kick Returners
Dennis Norfleet – 494 (23.5 yards per return)
Jeremy Gallon – 12 (12 yards per return)