Tag: Vincent Smith

Preview: Michigan vs. Illinois

Illinois running back Mikel Leshoure had 150 yards rushing and averaged over 7 yards a carry in 2009.

It just so happens that my personal schedule hasn’t left me much time over the past couple days.  I don’t have time for a full preview, and even a full preview would say the same thing it always does: Michigan’s offense has the advantage, and no matter how bad the offense, the Wolverines’ defense will be worse. 

The problems on defense have only been exacerbated by this week’s loss of cornerback J.T. Floyd to an ankle injury and the ongoing ankle problems for nose tackle Mike Martin.  Mediocre Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase will likely look like the Second Coming of . . . well . . . Matt McGloin and shred Michigan’s defense.

Meanwhile, Illinois is #15 in total defense and #12 in scoring defense.

I do not expect good things to happen.

Final Predictions

• Running back Mikel Leshoure will run for a billion yards
• Quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase will pass for a billion yards
• Vincent Smith will get a handful of carries and do virtually nothing
• Denard Robinson will run for a bunch of yards, get hurt, and throw the ball erratically (not necessarily in that order)
• Illinois 38, Michigan 27 

Michigan vs. Penn State Awards

PSU wide receiver Graham Zug catches a touchdown pass over freshman safety Ray Vinopal.

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Vincent Smith as slot receiver.  He can catch the ball and make an occasional person miss in space.

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Vincent Smith as running back.  I don’t care if it’s Michael Shaw, Stephen Hopkins, Michael Cox, Teric Jones, whatever.  I’ll take the heat if the experiment doesn’t go well.  Just get Smith off the field when you slam the ball up the middle.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Renaldo Sagesse at nose tackle.  I guess the experiment with Adam Patterson at nose tackle didn’t work out.  Gee, I wonder why.  There are lots of 275-pound nose tackles in major college football, right?  Right?  Anyway, Sagesse is clearly a more capable NT now that Mike Martin is missing significant time due to injury.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Cameron Gordon at Spur.  I felt like this game was Purdue 2008.  In that game Carson Butler played defensive the week following a position switch from tight end.  In this game Cam Gordon replaced Thomas Gordon at Spur, even though Thomas Gordon looked decent throughout the year.  Seriously, a redshirt freshman goes from starting free safety to starting outside linebacker from one game to the next?  At least give him a few weeks to get acclimated to his new position.

MVP of the Penn State game . . . Denard Robinson, obviously.

Penn State 41, Michigan 31

Happier now?  No?  Yeah, me either.

Michigan lost last night.  I’m not sure if you heard, but it was bad.

Sad bullets:

Michigan’s defense is still atrocious.  Matt McGloin, a former walk-on who has been the borderline third-stringer for the Nittany Lions, completed 17 of 28 passes for 250 yards and 1 touchdown (plus 1 rushing touchdown).  Furthermore, the Wolverines were unable to force a turnover even once.  Running back Evan Royster was averaging 64 yards a game until this point, and he torched the Wolverines for 150 yards on 29 carries; his 5.2 yards per carry average would have been significantly higher if Penn State wasn’t simply trying to run out the clock at the end of the game and slamming into a stacked line.  The defense got one important stop in the game, but a hurting offense – missing its top two tight ends and its starting quarterback, and with a hodge podge offense line – put up 435 yards and 41 points.

Vincent Smith isn’t good at running.  You all know my thoughts on where Vincent Smith belongs in the pecking order at running back on this team, but here’s where he ranks among the rest of the Big Ten’s lead rushers.  Smith had 9 carries for 24 yards against a depleted Penn State defense and behind a solid offensive line.  Stephen Hopkins had a slightly better day running the ball, and Michael Shaw’s lone rushing attempt went for 4 yards.  I wish I had a good reason for offensive genius Rich Rodriguez only being able to squeeze out the tenth best yards per carry average for a running back in the Big Ten, but I don’t. 

White, UW: 86 carries, 570 yards, 6.6 ypc, 9 TD
Edwin Baker, MSU: 124 carries, 800 yards, 6.5 ypc, 7 TD
Leveon Bell, MSU: 95 carries, 585 yards, 6.2 ypc, 8 TD
Dierking, Purdue: 67 carries, 403 yards, 6.0 ypc, 3 TD
Clay, UW: 160 carries, 887 yards, 5.5 ypc, 13 TD
Royster, PSU: 117 carries, 600 yards, 5.1 ypc, 4 TD
Dan Herron, OSU: 129 carries, 634 yards, 4.9 ypc, 12 TD
Leshoure, Illinois: 158 carries, 780 yards, 4.9 ypc, 6 TD
Robinson, Iowa: 172 carries, 806 yards, 4.7 ypc, 10 TD
Vincent Smith, Michigan: 79 carries, 349 yards, 4.4 ypc, 4 TD
Darius Willis, Indiana: 64 carries, 278 yards, 4.3 ypc, 4 TD
Bennett, Minnesota: 104 carries, 444 yards, 4.3 ypc, 2 TD
Trumpy, Northwestern: 74 carries, 307 yards, 4.1 ypc, 2 TD

Freshmen play like freshmen.  On a long completed pass thrown by McGloin last night, I remember seeing freshman cornerback Cullen Christian, freshman free safety Ray Vinopal, and redshirt freshman wide receiver-turned-free safety-turned-quasi-linebacker Cameron Gordon converging on the play.  I honestly don’t know that I’ve ever seen a more inexperienced defense.  And that doesn’t even include the pain of watching a perfectly positioned Terrence Talbott watch a ball whistle right past his perfectly positioned arm and into the belly of a PSU wide receiver. 

Denard Robinson runs the ball TOO MUCH.  Holy crap, Rich Rodriguez.  When are you going to learn that you’re driving Robinson into the ground by running him 27, 28, 29 times a game?  Sure, Robinson had 27 carries for 191 yards and 3 touchdowns.  He had a great game (running the ball, anyway).  But he also missed time due to injury for the sixth time out of eight games.  If he’s such a valuable runner, put him at running back and give the snaps to a quarterback who can actually pass the ball, Tate Forcier.  While I haven’t been a fan of changing Robinson’s position up to this point, the gaping hole at running back makes me think the Forcier/Robinson combo in the backfield might not be such a bad idea after all.  In case you’re wondering, Robinson is averaging 20.5 carries a game so far this season.

So much for the bye week.  We thought Michigan would be able to heal its injuries and put together a good game plan for a struggling Penn State team.  But Mike Martin re-injured his ankle injury and missed most of the game, Denard Robinson got dinged up again, and running back Michael Shaw totaled one carry.  Meanwhile, Michigan’s defense couldn’t cover the flats, couldn’t break on deep balls, and couldn’t stop a paltry running game.  And Jeremy Gallon still looks like a lineman trying to catch the ball; instead of letting a kickoff go into the endzone for a touchback, he dropped the ball and then kicked it out of bounds at his own 2-yard line.  I don’t really feel like the week off helped this team at all.

Greg Robinson is gone after this year.  I’m almost sure of it.  Somebody’s head has to roll after this year’s performance, and Rodriguez will be lucky if it’s not his.  But I do not expect Greg Robinson to return in 2011, whether the defense has been littered with freshmen or not.  This is the worst defense in Michigan history and perhaps the worst in the country.

Michigan vs. Iowa Awards

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Tate Forcier.  I’m not advocating for Forcier to be the starter or take away Denard Robinson’s playing time.  Robinson has been excellent for the most part.  But this issue popped up in the Michigan State loss, and again this week against Iowa: Forcier is the better overall passer.  If and when Michigan is down by a few scores late, I think Forcier offers a better chance of leading a comeback via the pass.  He’s better at reading defenses and understands the passing concepts better.  And to be completely honest, he looks more comfortable dropping back to pass than Robinson.  Forcier is like a solid long reliever.  If the starter isn’t getting it done, #5 might be able to give you a few innings of good pitching and a chance to get back in it.  The Wolverines only had 7 points up until the point in the middle of the third quarter when Robinson got hurt.  In about 1.5 quarters, the Forcier-led Michigan squad put up 21 points (1 rushing TD by Stephen Hopkins, 1 passing TD from Forcier to Junior Hemingway, and 1 rushing TD by Forcier himself).

Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Vincent Smith.  Please.  He averaged 3.9 yards a carry and had a key fumble on Iowa’s 14-yard line.  There are better options, and Smith can see some time in passing situations or at slot receiver.

Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Kenny Demens.  Demens seems to be an upgrade at the middle linebacker position, at least against a power running team like Iowa.  He plays downhill more than Ezeh and offers more pop.  At this point in the season, Michigan is #82 in scoring defense and #105 in total defense.  Any change at all just might be worth it.

Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . Adam Patterson.  It’s not because I have anything against Patterson himself.  It’s just that Mike Martin, the starting nose tackle, is perhaps the most valuable player on the defense right now.  Michigan’s pass rush was virtually non-existent in the Iowa game, and the penetration up the middle that has at least slowed down running games this season was absent with Martin out of the game.  Hopefully the ankle injury caused by MSU’s illegal chop block will heal quickly, because Patterson isn’t a nose tackle.  I’m not quite sure why the coaches wouldn’t put Renaldo Sagesse at NT instead of Patterson, but regardless, a 275 lb. nose tackle is begging for trouble.

MVP of the Iowa game . . . Tate Forcier.  He gave Michigan a spark when they needed it most.  He still showed some of the poor ballhandling and decision-making immaturity that he had last year, but he still finished 17/26 for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns (1 rushing, 1 passing) and led another scoring drive.  He needs to tuck the ball away when scrambling and make better decisions throwing the ball, but 21 points in 1.5 quarters is pretty productive.

Iowa 38, Michigan 28

Tate Forcier (#5) jumps for joy after a Stephen Hopkins rushing TD.

I expected an Iowa victory on Saturday, but once again, Michigan’s defense failed in spectacular fashion.  Giving up 38 points to a team with mediocre offensive personnel is extremely frustrating.  I can’t imagine what a team with a truly good offense – Oregon, for example – might do to Michigan’s D.  Some bullets:

Tate Forcier is quarterback 1b.  I’m not prepared to call for the benching of Denard Robinson.  Robinson is still the prototype for Rich Rodriguez’s zone read option offense.  However, Robinson also feasted on defenses early in the season who a) lacked athleticism or b) lacked complex defensive schemes.  How many times did we see him torch defenses that committed an extra safety or two to the run game, only to see Robinson and one of his receivers beat man coverage with a throw over the top?  Meanwhile, Forcier made a couple questionable throws, but provided a spark when relieving an injured Robinson late in the game.  Tate finished the day 17-for-26 for 239 yards, 2 touchdowns (1 rushing, 1 passing), and 2 interceptions.  Is there any question at this point that Forcier ought to be one of the top two quarterbacks on the team?  We haven’t seen freshman Devin Gardner since the Big Ten season started, so I still can’t understand why the coaches burned his redshirt against UConn . . . unless Gardner comes down with a mysterious “injury” or “illness” that allows him to get a medical exemption.

Denard Robinson runs the ball too much.  Posters over at MGoBlog have done “studies” to show that mobile quarterbacks and pocket quarterbacks have similar rates of injury.  When people have made the argument that Denard Robinson is bound to get hurt because of his small stature, some internet message boarders have scoffed.  Well, my study of Denard Robinson says this:

• On 143 pass attempts, Denard Robinson hasn’t suffered an injury that caused him to miss playing time.
• On 137 rushing attempts, he has suffered injuries that have caused him to miss time in 6 games.

Robinson is too slight and/or injury prone to be carrying the ball nearly 20 times a game.  If I remember correctly, he had 17 carries at halftime.  Should Michigan really be running its MVP and starting quarterback 34 times in a single game?

Rocko Khoury is a solid backup.  Unlike last year, when right guard David Moosman replaced David Molk at center due to Molk’s injuries, redshirt sophomore center Khoury played admirably after Molk aggravated an ankle injury early in the game.  Khoury had a case of the jitters early on and had some snap issues, but those seemed to get solved pretty quickly.

Vincent Smith should be relegated to backup duty.  I know I’m a broken record, but at least Rich Rodriguez finally figured out what I’ve been saying for awhile: Smith isn’t a short yardage back.  Hopkins was the short yardage back on Saturday, and he responded with 8 carries for 38 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and a goal line touchdown (pictured above) in which he actually ran through a tackle.  Meanwhile, Smith had 10 carries for 39 yards (3.9 yards per carry) and a critical lost fumble on Iowa’s 14-yard line.  For the record, Smith also had 2 catches for 22 yards and 1 touchdown, so he wasn’t exactly useless.  But that’s my thing with Smith: if he’s lined up in the slot or catching passes out of the backfield, I’m okay with him being out there.  But he shouldn’t be leading the running backs in carries.

Tate Forcier and Darryl Stonum are in love.  When Denard was in the game, Darryl Stonum got visibly frustrated with having to dig out a couple errant passes from hitting the ground.  When Forcier entered the game, it seemed like the QB was looking for #22 on every play.  Stonum ended the day with 9 catches for 97 yards, most of which came after Forcier’s entrance into the game.  Forcier also hit Junior Hemingway a few times and Hemingway ended the day with 9 catches for 134 yards and 1 touchdown.

Run the ball, damnit.  It would have been nice if Michigan’s offense could have kept Iowa off balance by running the ball late in the game.  I know they were running short on time, but passing on every down is extremely difficult.  Once Forcier entered the game, the playcalling seemed to want him to sling the ball all over the field.  Maybe it’s just me, but I thought Forcier’s second interception was the result of the lack of a running threat.  Like I said, the clock might have dictated the playcalling, so I don’t have a huge problem with the call.  But it sure would be nice if a dangerous running back (hopefully Demetrius Hart in the near future) could make defenses think twice before getting to their drops.

Michigan’s defense is atrocious.  I’m not going to spend too much time talking about the defense.  We all know which unit most needs to improve for Michigan to have any chance of success.  Michigan failed to come up with key defensive stops and allowed a mediocre running back to run for 142 yards.  And while Iowa’s passing offense isn’t prone to huge plays, quarterback Ricky Stanzi completed 71% of his passes.  My frustration reached its apex when JT Floyd aligned himself inside of Derrell Johnson-Koulianos to take away the slant and force the receiver to the sideline.  Johnson-Koulianos deked outside, Floyd jumped him, and Johnson-Koulianos waltzed untouched into the endzone after catching – what else? – a slant.  I don’t know if that’s poor coaching or poor execution, especially because Floyd made the same mistake a couple drives later (although it didn’t go for a touchdown).

Jordan Kovacs is oh so close to being good.  On a corner blitz in the first quarter, safety Kovacs jumped a fade route near Michigan’s end zone.  If Kovacs were a half step faster, the ball would have been picked and returned about 100 yards for a touchdown.  But since Kovacs is who he is, the play resulted in a PBU.  Kovacs played well for the most part, but his physical limitations will continue to make me wish brain transplants were feasible.  If Justin Turner had Kovacs’ knowledge and work ethic, Turner would be an All Big Ten safety.

Kenny Demens played well.  He still did some frustrating things, but Demens showed more promise than Obi Ezeh has shown this year.  I’m still not entirely sold on Demens as the savior at MLB, but he made some strides against Iowa.

Special teams were atrocious, too.  Walk-on kicker Seth Broekhuizen has beaten out redshirt freshman Brendan Gibbons.  Gibbons must be horrible, because Broekhuizen had a field goal blocked for the second week in a row.  He also booted at least two (three?) kickoffs out of bounds to give Iowa great field position.  That’s effing ridiculous.  And if you’ve been wondering why William Campbell hasn’t earned more playing time on the defensive line, maybe that blocked field goal gives you an inkling – Iowa defensive tackle Broderick Binns got lower than Campbell and blew open a gap in the protection.  At least Will Hagerup played well and averaged 50+ yards a punt.  I wonder if he can kick off.