Tag: Taylor Lewan

South Carolina 33, Michigan 28

Denard Robinson had a solid final game as a Wolverine (image via AnnArbor.com)

Thanks to the seniors.  For the most part, this group of seniors is made up of stellar kids.  I really like Denard Robinson, Jordan Kovacs, Craig Roh, Vincent Smith, Patrick Omameh, Roy Roundtree, etc.  That group of kids entered school around the time that I started this blog and really started concentrating on evaluating players and such, so it’s odd to see them graduating.  They accomplished some great things, and I’m looking forward to watching some of them on the next level.

J.T. Floyd really hurt his team.  I never really cared about the suspension of Hagerup.  It was a dumb move on his part, but I really think that Matt Wile is just as talented, if not more so.  But Floyd, a fifth year senior, hurt the team in more ways than one.  I’ve said all along that Floyd was susceptible to the deep ball because of his lack of speed, so I don’t know that he would have been able to curtail the deep throws that beat Raymon Taylor, Courtney Avery, and Jarrod Wilson.  What I do know is that the re-shuffling of the defensive backfield due to Floyd’s absence hurt the defense numerous times.  Avery is a pretty good slot corner, but he struggles every time the team puts him on the outside.  With Floyd out, Avery moved to the outside, safety Thomas Gordon moved down to the slot, and freshman Jarrod Wilson came in to play safety.  Floyd’s suspension not only hurt the team at his cornerback spot, but it diminished the quality of play at slot corner and safety, too.

Hooray for Al Borges.  I didn’t agree with every play call or personnel decision by Borges, but he came out with a quality game plan and plenty of wrinkles.  Unfortunately, Michigan lacked the horses and the execution to get the job done.  There was a Statue of Liberty hand-off to Denard Robinson and a fake jet sweep screen to Devin Funchess; Borges moved Denard Robinson around to QB, RB, FB, and WR; and there were some funky special teams plays concocted by the coaching staff to get first downs.  Overall, the players just didn’t execute.  South Carolina got steady pressure on Devin Gardner, Jadeveon Clowney made a couple key plays, and Gardner missed some open receivers.  You can blame some of that stuff on the coordinator, I guess, but a lot of it is on the players.

Holy hell attrition. Out of 24 starters to begin the season, Michigan was missing 5 for the Outback Bowl.  Cornerback Blake Countess, Floyd, middle linebacker Kenny Demens, running back Fitzgerald Toussaint, and Hagerup were all out for this game, along with a solid special teamer in Brandin Hawthorne and part-time fullback Stephen Hopkins.  Running back Thomas Rawls also missed the game, and quarterback Denard Robinson could muster only one measly pass attempt because of his elbow injury.  I know excuses are lame, but the Outback Bowl squad was really just a shell of what it was on September 1.  South Carolina was banged up some (their starting running back and right tackle), but their losses were fewer.  In a game decided with 11 seconds left, it’s quite possible the outcome would have been different if a couple of those guys were still available.

Denard needed new cleats. Robinson has always tested the laws of gravity with the way he leans to cut back, but I didn’t see anyone else having a problem with the footing yesterday.  I’m not sure why he struggled so much, but there were some plays available that he just didn’t make because he slipped and fell.  I thought they had the issue fixed after a couple carries in the second half, but then he want back to looking like he was playing football on ice.

Penalties were a problem.  Michigan only had four penalties, but they netted South Carolina an additional 55 yards.  These weren’t 5-yard offsides or illegal procedure calls.  Taylor Lewan took two big penalties, Joe Bolden made a silly late hit on Connor Shaw, and Ricky Barnum grabbed a defensive lineman’s facemask and held on for the duration of the play.  Lewan was a penalty machine in 2010, got rid of those tendencies in 2011, and seems to have regressed now in 2012.  I like Lewan a lot and I know he’s probably gone for the NFL, but I think he had a better season last year.

Running back is a gaping void.  There has been some recent buzz about Drake Johnson, who redshirted this season, but otherwise, the running back position is wide open for 2013.  Running backs Vincent Smith and Justice Hayes combined for just 8 carries and 6 yards; Rawls didn’t play at all; Toussaint will be coming off a nasty broken leg..  Johnson is a bit of a wild card, but none of these guys look like starter material except a healthy Toussaint.  Wyatt Shallman isn’t the answer, either, so I’m hoping DeVeon Smith is better than I expect or that Derrick Green commits in the next month.

Greg Mattison has had better days.  He was sort of hamstrung by a lack of personnel, but I wasn’t a fan of Mattison’s strategy late in the game.  He was sending blitzes because he realized that his defensive backs aren’t very good, but Michigan appeared to be doing better when they rushed two or three guys and put eight or nine back in coverage.  It was a mistake to count on his young cornerbacks and athletically limited safeties to hold up when they’ve been burned again and again.  If it’s me in that situation, I put four guys deep, rush three, and hope that South Carolina can only complete a short pass.  They were 0/2 on field goals up to that point, and that kicker’s confidence had to be waning.  Make them complete something short, and then force them to chuck something into the end zone or try a pressure-packed field goal.

Overall, a slightly disappointing season.  The schedule was tough.  Michigan’s four regular season losses came against teams that were 46-4 prior to yesterday; two of those teams are playing for the national championship, and another went 12-0 but was banned from the postseason.  But Michigan had very real chances to beat Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Ohio State, and couldn’t pull out any of those close games.  The season ended with another close loss to a solid but flawed South Carolina team.  I predicted a 9-3 year, and I predicted the loss to South Carolina, so my projection would have been 9-4.  Not a huge difference from 8-5, but five losses is too many.  Next year should be better, though.

Offensive Line Preview: Michigan vs. South Carolina

Taylor Lewan will be the best lineman in the Outback Bowl

MICHIGAN
Starters: From left to right, the Wolverines start redshirt junior Taylor Lewan (6’8″, 309 lbs.), fifth year senior Ricky Barnum (6’3″, 296 lbs.), fifth year senior Elliott Mealer (6’5″, 308 lbs.), fifth year senior Patrick Omameh (6’4″, 305 lbs.), and redshirt junior Michael Schofield (6’7″, 300 lbs.).  Omameh has started 41 games, Lewan has 27 starts, Schofield has 22, Barnum has 15, and Mealer has 12.  Altogether, they have 117 starts among them and average a shade over 6’5″ and 303.6 lbs.  The Wolverines are #25 in the country in sacks allowed (1.25 per game) and have the #40 rushing offense (187 yards/game).
Backups: The Wolverines are very thin on the offensive line, but they’ve tried to preserve the redshirts of some highly touted freshmen.  Other than redshirt freshman center Jack Miller (6’4″, 288 lbs.), the rest of the subs have been walk-ons.  Redshirt sophomore guard Joey Burzynski (6’1″, 295 lbs.) has made the biggest push for playing time of the entire backup crew; redshirt sophomore Erik Gunderson (6’8″, 303 lbs.) and redshirt junior Kristian Mateus (6’7″, 309 lbs.) have both played in blowouts, but both would be severely overmatched against the Gamecocks.

SOUTH CAROLINA
Starters: Michigan recruited redshirt freshman right tackle Brandon Shell (6’6″, 331 lbs.) and redshirt sophomore left guard A.J. Cann (6’4″, 309 lbs.) coming out of high school.  The line is completed with redshirt sophomore left tackle Corey Robinson (6’8″, 337 lbs.), fifth year senior center T.J. Johnson (6’6″, 319 lbs.), and junior right guard Ronald Patrick (6’2″, 305 lbs.).  Johnson has started 52 games in his career, Cann has 25, Patrick has 12, Shell has 9, and Robinson has 8.  Altogether, the squad has 106 starts under their belts, but the tackles have less than a season of experience, and Robinson was a defensive tackle prior to this year.  They average a bit over 6’5″ and 320.2 pounds.  The Gamecocks are #105 in the country in sacks allowed (2.92 per game) and have the #84 rushing offense (143 yards/game).
Backups: Redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Cody Gibson (6’7″, 278 lbs.) started a couple games early in the season.  The other backups haven’t been used much, including senior offensive guard Kaleb Broome (6’6″, 332 lbs.), redshirt junior center Travis Ford (6’3″, 278 lbs.), and redshirt freshman offensive guard Will Sport (6’5″, 291 lbs.).

THE TAKEAWAY
Having watched Michigan’s offensive line struggle to create a push all year long, it’s a little tough to believe, but the Wolverines have the edge here.  Despite being outweighed by an average of almost 17 pounds, Michigan gains more yards on the ground and allows fewer sacks.  They also average a couple more starts each.  Individually, the only South Carolina offensive lineman to garner consideration for All-SEC is Johnson (Second Team), whereas Michigan’s Lewan is an All-American and Omameh was selected by the coaches as First Team All-Big Ten.  Except for heft, Michigan is ahead everywhere.
Advantage: Michigan

2012 AP All-America Team

Taylor Lewan went from Under Armour All-American to AP All-American

The AP All-America Team was released last week, so this isn’t exactly a timely post, but I figured I would gather together the names of players that are pertinent to Michigan fans.

FIRST TEAM
Montee Ball – RB – Wisconsin
Ka’Deem Carey – RB – Arizona
Taylor Lewan – OT – Michigan
Chance Warmack – OG – Alabama
Barrett Jones – C – Alabama
Jadeveon Clowney – DE – South Carolina
Manti Te’o – LB – Notre Dame
C.J. Mosley – LB – Alabama
Dee Milliner – CB – Alabama

SECOND TEAM
D.J. Fluker – OT – Alabama
Spencer Long – OG – Nebraska
Tyler Eifert – TE – Notre Dame
Stephon Tuitt – DE – Notre Dame
Johnathan Hankins – DT – Ohio State
Kawann Short – DT – Purdue
Bradley Roby – CB – Ohio State

THIRD TEAM
A.J. McCarron – QB – Alabama
Braxston Cave – C – Notre Dame
John Simon – DE – Ohio State

Of the 75 total players listed on the first, second, and third teams, Michigan played (or will play) against 17 of them, or 23%.  This just reinforces how difficult Michigan’s schedule was, as the Wolverines lost a close game to the #1 team (4 players), lost in a blowout to the #2 team (6 players), lost a close game to a 12-0 team in Ohio State (3 players), and then lost by two scores to Nebraska (1 player).

I threw in Arizona RB Ka’Deem Carey simply because he plays for former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez and leads the country with 1,929 rushing yards (and will end the bowl season that way unless someone else busts out with a couple hundred yards in a bowl game, which is possible).

Video: Taylor Lewan – Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year

2012 All-Big Ten teams announced

Taylor Lewan is First Team All-Big Ten

The All-Big Ten teams were announced on the Big Ten Network this evening, and there were some . . . interesting decisions.  Here are the Michigan players on the teams:

FIRST TEAM (Coaches):
Patrick Omameh, OG – 12 starts
Taylor Lewan, OT – 12 starts

SECOND TEAM (Coaches):
Craig Roh, DE – 36 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks
Jordan Kovacs, S – 65 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble

HONORABLE MENTION (Coaches):
J.T. Floyd, CB – 48 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 5 pass breakups
Jeremy Gallon, WR – 40 catches, 684 yards, 2 touchdowns; 11 carries, 67 yards; 12 punt returns, 66 yards
Brendan Gibbons, K – 14/16 field goals, long of 52; 44/44 extra points
Will Hagerup, P – 33 punts, 1486 yards, 45.0 yards/punt
Roy Roundtree, WR – 28 catches, 553 yards, 3 touchdowns
Jake Ryan, LB – 84 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 3 pass breakups, 4 forced fumbles

FIRST TEAM (Media):
Taylor Lewan, OT
Will Hagerup, P

SECOND TEAM (Media):
Jake Ryan, LB

HONORABLE MENTION (Media):
William Campbell, DT – 44 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack
J.T. Floyd, CB
Devin Funchess, TE – 14 catches, 230 yards, 5 touchdowns
Jeremy Gallon, WR
Brendan Gibbons, K
Jordan Kovacs, S
Patrick Omameh, OG
Denard Robinson, QB – 89/166 (53.6%), 1319 yards, 9 touchdowns, 9 interceptions; 154 carries, 1166 yards, 7 touchdowns
Craig Roh, DE
Roy Roundtree, WR

I’m not too upset with these picks, because nobody on Michigan’s team really had an outstanding season.  The only choice (or non-choice) that bugs me a bit is the lack of Jake Ryan on the coaches’ team; Ryan should have been selected ahead of Nebraska linebacker Will Compton for second team honors.  But then again, the selection of Patrick Omameh to the first team on the coaches’ team means you win some, you lose some.

Based on his last couple seasons, the absence of Denard Robinson from these lists is almost shocking.  He is one of the most exciting players in the entire country, but he missed too much time due to injury and threw the ball poorly in the first half of the year.  I can’t argue that he deserves to be any higher, but I have to admit his performance was a little bit of a letdown after being in the Heisman discussion at various points throughout the past three years.  I hoped for better, and yet, he is what he’s always been – an excellent runner and a poor passer.