Penn State @ Michigan

[marshallman]

Michigan looked sad. They have no speed on defense and that offense looked lost. They got whipped on the line and Penn St ran it at will. Again, coaches fighting on the sidelines and players looking shell shocked. The fact of the matter is, no one fears the winged helmets or the big house anymore. Michigan is going to be looking at a long season if they don't get it together. They looked weak against Penn St and out manned.

[candystore]

Brandon Graham is great. However, he is wasted on that D. He should be a champion somewhere. No matter who you cheer for, you have to appreciate his efforts each week.

agreed...that was down right embarrassing

[Mikenmike]

Michigan looked sad. They have no speed on defense and that offense looked lost. They got whipped on the line and Penn St ran it at will. Again, coaches fighting on the sidelines and players looking shell shocked. The fact of the matter is, no one fears the winged helmets or the big house anymore. Michigan is going to be looking at a long season if they don't get it together. They looked weak against Penn St and out manned.

I agree, honestly having molk out at center really hurts this oline. The opening drive they looked awesome, then molk got hurt and the oline had to be changed up and it showed how important he is. They need a better replacement then mooseman at center for molk because he just cant seem to get the job done at center. Ever since molk got hurt the line has suffered(1-3 without him playing) and the offense has suffered because of it. Had nothing all day against msu untill the last two drives, despite putting 21 on iowa really had nothing against them either, and now psu completely dominated them.

[Peake]

Let me start by saying that I had the opportunity to see if the luxury boxes really made that big of a difference in terms of crowd noise retention. Yes, it makes a huge difference. I have been to games where I have forgotten I am even at a game, but it is easily 10x louder in the Big House. This will give UM an advantage they have really never had. I also had the opportunity to meet Michael Scholfield and Quinton Washington's father. We tailgated with them before the game. I also went out after the game with a certain compliance person. Moving on.

To the game:

Let me start by saying that the opening drive was very impressive. Molk really makes a huge difference on this line. His mentality and aggressiveness is something that most of the current line does not have. He is very intense and hard-nosed. You could see a rhythm develop when he was in. Moose is a good guard, but there is a huge drop off when Molk is not in there. One of the things that is very evident is when the QB's have Molk in v. Moose. Both Qb's are very comfortable with Molk, not so much with Moose.

With that being said, I thought UM had a lot of chances to make things happen. Several times Michigan would start moving the ball and then they would turn it over, or the wideouts would drop passes. I was very disappointed with Koger. Before the game I was told UM was going to game plan around Koger. They thought they could take advantage of PSU in the middle of the field. Koger was open all night, problem is, he had three HUGE drops combined with a big one by Martel Webb.

Michigan got handled up front---period. PSU has a better Dline then Michigan's offensive line, and it showed. Tate had trouble because they were on him quickly, but he is also showing that he is still a freshmen.

The defensive line I thought did an excellent job of getting pressure on Clark, problem is there WR were wide open once they got to the safeties.

This brings me to big problem #1: Michigan's safeties are as bad as I have ever seen. Mike Williams may be the worst Safety I have ever seen. Problem is Michigan has no one behind him. Vlad is still not 100%, and JT is being red-shirted. JT did not get to camp until two weeks into camp. He is behind. IMO Kovacs is not the problem. When Obi got smoked on a long touchdown, it was actually Mike Williams who blew the coverage. Williams misses a lot of tackles and takes really bad angels. He is on of the problems IMO. BTW, Floyd has been really sick the last two weeks.

The word on safety is: If Warren goes pro then JT will slide to DB and Wolfolk will go back to FS. If Warren stays, which is best case scenario, then Warren and Wolfolk will be the DB's, while JT and Vlad take over at safety. I also heard that they may move Wolfolk back to FS if Warren stays and let Cissoko and JT Floyd battle it out at Corner, while JT takes over the SS position. This would allow Vlad to get some snaps and take over the FS spot once Wolfolk leaves. Marvin Robinson will also get a shot at SS next year, but most believe he is too big (220), and will move to LB.

So in other words the safety position will get better, but that does not help this season.

The linebackers are a big problem as well. Once you get them in space, they are really bad open field tacklers, but pretty good at the point of attack (LOS). Linebacker will soon be a position of strength, but still too young. The defensive line is still very young. Michigan starts a Senior, Sophomore, RS Sophomore, and a True Freshmen. They will get better, they are just too young right now.

***Brandon Graham is a stud*** If you do not think this defense plays fast, then watch him play.

Michigan is not really fast on defense, but with the exception of the safeties and Obi, they can all move.

So, my key point is this team is what I thought they would be (6-6 or 7-5). They are still very very young. Two freshmen at the most important position on a team (QB), two beat up running backs, two sophomore wideouts, a sophomore TE, sophomore LT. This team is a few points away from being 4-4 and a few plays away from being 7-1. They lost to two of the better teams in the country (PSU and Iowa) and lost the other in a rivalry game. One loss was in OT and the other was by 2 with a shot to win at in the end. If you would have told me at the beginning of the year this team has a shot to win 7 games then I would have been very happy and I still am. Last game was disappointing but PSU is better at this point. They start a Senior at QB and that is huge. Look at the top 3 teams in the country (2 have a Senior at QB).

My conversations:

1st- After talking to Mr. Scholfield, I believe Michigan is on the right track. Rich believes he will have one of the most athletic OL in the country by next season, and by 2011 he thinks he will have the top OL in the country.

2011 OL should look like this: Center- Rocko Kourey (4*), LG- Rickey Barnum (4*), RG-Quinton Washington (4*), LT-Patrick Omameh (3*) and Taylor Lewane (4*).

He said that there is a huge difference between the way Michigan recruits and Alabama. Bama can take JUCO's and kids with grade problems, while Michigan has a tough time getting Jeremy Gallon in with a 2.8 and 20 on his ACT. The SEC schools can take kids with grades that are far below average, while schools like Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State can not.

The difference between this staff v. the Carr staff is very different. Carr would evaluate and tell coaches who to recruit based on just talent. Rich allows his staff to decide which guys best suit his style. They will go after kids that may be 3*, but they feel can play multiple positions and can first of all run, have a true love for the game, and have good instincts. They went hard after Brandon Hawthorne (3*) who was bypassed by most big programs. Why? Because first he can run 4.5 40, he has great football skills and instincts (led the state in sacks his senior year, and loves the game. He is not your prototypical LB at 5'11, 200, but he is now up to 210 and they expect him at 215-220 next season. They like kids like him that some other programs and old Michigan would not go after.

Do not get me wrong, they still go after the big boys, but are more willing to go after kids that fit their style of play.

The consensus is that Michigan is still a year away from competing with the Big Boys again. Remember Michigan is the youngest team in the country. Next year they will still be very young, but in 2011 people close to the program expect Michigan to be top 5.

So did Michigan looked shell-shocked. I believe so. They have two freshmen at QB, lost their leader on offense, lack depth in the secondary, and are still a year away. This team will look like world beaters one week and a bottom feeder the next. They are inconsistent---a true mark of a young team.

People don't fear Michigan right now? Iowa looked very scared to be giving Michigan the ball back with 1:30ish in that game, MSU was not happy they had a two TD lead erased in minutes, so I do not follow.

There was no fighting on the sidelines. Rich yelled at his coaches for not being aware and letting there be 12 men on the field. They had to burn a timeout they could have used with 13 seconds left 3rd and goal. Bo used to apologize to his coaches before the game because he yelled at them so much in game.

[Mikenmike]

Good post peake! Thanks for the info

[Speedofsand]

peake, I hear Loeffler went to Inkster last week and chatted with D. Gardner. The rumor mill's wishful thinking is that Forcier's success will chase Gardner off. I listened to some of Inkster at Stuebenville Fri. nite. What a thriller of a game ! Inkster was ahead, Stu got a safety and then a TD to go up by 1. Gardner threw a 63 yd. TD w/ :39 left. Stu got back to the 20 w/:10 but threw a pick in the end zone. Ended a long winning streak for Stu. I've been a Dwight Macon fan since he was a soph., he will be at CMU next year.

[Peake]

He has been to every Michigan home game and said last week he is 1000% committed to Michigan. I am not worried. Inkster was good last year, this year they are all him.

[marshallman]

The only thing about talented, young starters for any team, they show their potential as a freshman, get noticed nationally as a sophomore, star as a junior then they are gone to the NFL. Tebow stuck around because NFL doesn't want him at QB they want him at LB or TE. Thats why I'm saying Pryor will stick around for 4 years, to prove he's a QB and not a WR.

[Mikenmike]

He has been to every Michigan home game and said last week he is 1000% committed to Michigan. I am not worried. Inkster was good last year, this year they are all him.

I thought Ricardo Miller move to Inkster from florida?

[Peake]

Ann Arbor Pioneer

[Mikenmike]

Was that always the plan or did something happen to change his mind? I thought I had heard he was moving to play with Gardner

[Peake]

Inkster is a good 35 minutes from Ann Arbor and his family got a house in Ann Arbor.

[Mikenmike]

Saw cissoko was kicked off the team. What was the actual reasoning? I know it said team rules just curious which ones that would be.

[Peake]

missing class and tutoring