Name: Vincent Smith Height: 5’6″ Weight: 175 lbs. High school: Pahokee (FL) Pahokee Position: Running back Class: Senior Jersey number: #2 Last year:I ranked Smith #43 and said he would be a backup running back and third down specialist. He rushed 50 times for 298 yards (6.0 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns. He also completed 1/2 passes for 17 yards and 1 touchdown, along with catching 11 passes for 149 yards (13.5 yards per catch) and 2 touchdowns, and returning 7 kickoffs for 129 yards (18.4 yards per return).
Hooray! After two years of railing against the suboptimal deployment of Vincent Smith, Brady Hoke and Al Borges finally recognized the proper way to use a back like Smith. He had his most productive rushing average (up from 4.4 in 2010) and his best receiving average (up from 8.7 in 2010). When you think of a third down back, someone like Smith comes to mind. He had an exhilarating catch-and-run against Notre Dame off a screen pass to help win the game, and he continued to be a superb blocker for Denard Robinson.
Going into his senior year, Smith looks destined to continue that same type of role. Fitzgerald Toussaint has solidified his starting job (if he can avoid getting in too much trouble with the law), and Thomas Rawls looks the backup for the every-down position. Smith should continue to be an all-around guy with his blocking, receiving, running, and occasional halfback passes. He returned some kicks last season, and he could be a fill-in there, though he’s not a game-changer back there due to mediocre top-end speed. This is the type of role player that can make one or two key plays per game. I would expect very similar production out of Smith in 2012.
Prediction: Third down back; occasional kick returner
MICHIGAN Starter: Redshirt sophomore Fitzgerald Toussaint began the season alternating with junior Vincent Smith, but Toussaint quickly took the lead in the race to be the lead back. Toussaint finished the season with 174 carries for 1,011 yards (5.8 yards per carry) and 9 touchdowns. Toussaint has the toughness to break tackles, the stop-and-go moves to make people miss, and enough speed to be a breakaway threat. Sophomore fullback Stephen Hopkins has carried 11 times for 43 yards (3.9 yards per carry). Backups: Smith is the third down and change-of-pace back. He rushed the ball 49 times for 296 yards (6.0 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns. Despite being only 5’6″ and 172 lbs., he’s the superior blocker. Smith has also caught 10 passes for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns. Senior Michael Shaw is the next guy in; he finished the regular season with 31 carries for 199 yards (6.4 yards per carry) and 3 touchdowns.
VIRGINIA TECH Starter: Junior David Wilson has started all 13 games and finished the season with 266 carries for 1,627 yards (6.0 yards per carry) and 9 touchdowns. Wilson has also caught 21 passes for 126 yards (6.0 yards per catch) and 1 touchdown. Redshirt junior fullback Joey Phillips has 3 carries for 2 yards on the season with zero touchdowns; he has yet to catch a pass. Backups: Fifth year senior Josh Oglesby has 90 carries for 336 yards (3.7 yards per carry) and 6 touchdowns. Redshirt sophomore Tony Gregory has the next most carries with 16 for just 27 yards (1.7 yards per carry).
THE TAKEAWAY
Wilson is the more accomplished back. He leads Toussaint in yardage and yards per carry. Wilson has at least one explosive play (20+ yards) in 10 out of his 13 games, and his only sub-80-yard rushing effort of the season came against Clemson in the ACC Championship. Toussaint is also less effective and almost non-existent in the passing game (5 catches, 14 yards, 1 touchdown) than Wilson. Fortunately for Michigan the Wolverines have significantly more depth at the position with two backups who have starting experience and a fullback who can run a little bit, too. If there’s an injury to either running back, Michigan is more able to withstand the blow.
Running back play is largely dependent on the offensive line (which we’ll discuss another day), but this is a near wash when both teams are at full strength. Wilson is not only the First Team All-ACC running back, but has also been voted the conference’s top overall player and was recently voted to the All-America team. Toussaint would very likely have been All-Big Ten if not for the early-season platoon and missing one game due to injury. With a superior fullback and experienced, potentially explosive backups, I have to give the advantage to . . . Advantage: Michigan
Didn’t you dummies watch the Notre Dame film? What else is there to do in Minnesota but watch film?
(image via AnnArbor.com)
Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Thomas Rawls. The freshman running back (10 carries, 73 yards) is yet another runner who looks better than Stephen Hopkins. The lower Hopkins goes on the depth chart, the better off Michigan will be. Fitzgerald Toussaint (11 carries, 108 yards, 1 touchdown) looks like the best back, Vincent Smith is a solid change-of-pace and third down back (5 carries, 27 yards; 3 total touchdowns), and Michael Shaw (8 carries, 60 yards) ran the ball well on Saturday, too.
Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Hopkins. It was necessary for #33 to play almost the entire way because starting fullback John McColgan missed the game due to injury. McColgan has developed into a better blocker this year than he had been previously, and I think he has some value when running out of the I-formation. Hopkins made a nice catch out of the backfield for 28 yards, but I’m hoping McColgan can return when the schedule gets tougher.
Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Blake Countess. The freshman cornerback looks to have surpassed sophomore Courtney Avery. He’s a decent enough tackler and has better coverage skills than Avery or redshirt junior J.T. Floyd. Countess had 2 pass breakups and 1 forced fumble to go with his 5 tackles.
Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Troy Woolfolk. For goodness’ sake, let him have a week off. For the fifth week in a row, Woolfolk left the game due to injury. He’s got a tweaked ankle. I know he wants to play and I commend him for it, but everybody and their mother knew that Michigan didn’t need Woolfolk to beat Minnesota handily. The coaches had a chance to rest him against Minnesota so he would be available for the two tougher offenses coming up the next two weeks – Northwestern and Michigan State. Now he’s still injured, Northwestern looms as a snake in the grass that could rise up and bite the Wolverines, and Michigan State follows with its dangerous passing game. There won’t be another possible opportunity to rest him until possibly Purdue, three weeks from now.
Play of the game . . . The most exciting play of the game was Devin Gardner’s scramble and run. He bootlegged right into a defender, ran out of an arm tackle, reversed field, juked two defenders, gained about 4 yards up the sideline, and then churned his legs for another 2 or 3 yards after the defense caught up to him.
MVP of the game . . . It’s a tough choice between Denard Robinson, Vincent Smith, and Fitzgerald Toussaint. I’m going to go with Smith, who didn’t have a monster day numbers-wise but had a hand in three offensive touchdowns. His day included 5 carries for 27 yards and 1 touchdown; 1 pass reception for 28 yards and a touchdown; and 1 halfback pass for 17 yards and a touchdown to Drew Dileo. On top of that, he made a heads up recovery of a Devin Gardner fumble late in the game.
Verb: Beat (someone) repeatedly with a bludgeon or other heavy object
I bet Minnesota fans are yearning for Glen Mason. I know Minnesota wasn’t exactly a juggernaut under their former coach, but at least a winning season was within reach. Today was downright embarrassing for the Gophers. They managed only 177 yards to Michigan’s 580, of which 363 came on the ground. It’s not just that they were overmatched physically – it’s that they didn’t look like they wanted to play.
Vincent Smith yay. Smith had a day that would make LaDainian Tomlinson jealous. Smith carried the ball 5 times for 27 yards and 1 touchdown, caught 1 pass for 28 yards and a touchdown, and threw a halfback pass to Drew Dileo for a 17-yard touchdown. The touchdown reception looked like the exact same play on which Smith scored against Notre Dame a few weeks ago.
Trick plays galore. I think Al Borges ate a box of sparklers for breakfast this morning, because he was farting out fireworks. Backup quarterback Devin Gardner took some snaps early in an effort to confuse the defense, which worked in a way, because he turned what looked like a triple pass into a gain of about five yards. In the first quarter, with Gardner at quarterback and Denard Robinson at a wing position, Gardner pitched to Robinson who ran right, then threw back to Gardner on the left, and Gardner wanted to hit a wide receiver (Junior Hemingway?) streaking downfield. But the receiver was well covered and Gardner just tucked it and ran. Eat your heart out, Eastern Michigan. Meanwhile, the halfback pass and other option plays with both Gardner and Robinson in the game made me think Brady Hoke has been sneaking into Chris Petersen’s bedroom and reading his diary.
Blake Countess is the next Leon Hall. Yep, I said it. Minnesota doesn’t have the greatest talent in the world, but Countess has looked pretty darn good for two weeks in a row. Courtney Avery had a nice 83-yard fumble return for a touchdown, but Avery has been getting beaten more regularly than any of Michigan’s other corners this year. He’s still not bad, but it looks like Countess will grab a starting spot sooner rather than later.
Fitzgerald Toussaint, please stay healthy. Toussaint seems to have gained some confidence since the 2011 opener. He’s running more decisively and doing a better job of running with a purpose. He had 11 carries for 108 yards, including his customary single-back dive over the top for a goal line touchdown. What’s the over/under on how many times he scores on that play this year?
FIRE JERRY KILL. He grabbed a kid’s facemask. This madman must be stopped!
Shoelace, Jr. Devin Gardner made some very Denard-esque plays, topped off by losing his shoe on one scramble. Only two of his five throws were completed, but one was a downright drop by Roy Roundtree and another was a catchable ball that Jeremy Gallon probably should have had; the fifth should have been an interception, but Minnesota’s defensive back wanted his belly button to get its first career pick. I found it hilarious that the BTN’s color analyst said he made “a great play on the ball”; if making a great play on the ball means jumping for a pass that hits you in the chest, then I used to coach some superstar middle schoolers.
William Campbell killed a guy with a trident. Campbell literally ran over the center on one play and also crushed quarterback Max Shortell into the ground. The switch is getting closer and closer to being flipped . . .
Biggest blowout in series history. Michigan won this game with the biggest margin of victory in series history, beating the 1993 episode that saw the Wolverines beat the Gophers by a score of 58-7.
