2009 TSUN News (football only discussion)

[jwinslow]

GBMW Blogspot - A page of UM practice updates

It is hard to practice, or at least run all the drills coaches want to run in practice, when the depth is so thin like it is right now. Even though the team was in full pads and did some very controlled scrimmaging, the lack of numbers has forced the coaches to tone down the amount of time they are hitting. This will change in the upcoming seasons when defensive numbers increase.

2) Quarterback's are rotating in and out like one would expect. We know Coach Rod does not like depth charts, but at this time the qb derby is not … close that is. Tate Forcier will start the first game and Nick Sheridan will be the back-up. If Tate gets hurt, Denard Robinson may get more snaps early on in special situations. Again, a reminder that Coach Rod told us in the spring coaches clinic that even if he knows who starts he will not let the media know about it, because he believes the kids will not work as hard if they know they have a spot sewn up and do not have to compete on a daily basis.

Quarterback play has been okay, but very up and down. But a mark of a very good quarterback is the ability to score in the red zone and the offense simply could not do that in a recent controlled scrimmage. Now it must be noted that the team was running basic plays, but the execution was not very good at times.

3) Michigan needs to recruit a SUPER wide receiver that can play the split end position in next year’s class. This group currently is serviceable, but nothing special. And we are starting to believe that Stonum just may not make it. At least, he may not live up to all of our expectations. If the season started today, the starters could actually be Mathews and Savoy: yes, we said Savoy, or Hemingway.

That's about 1/3 of the writeup.

 

[leroyjenkins]

? The biggest hit of the day might have come from the team's smallest player. Tailback Vincent Smith cracked back on a Forcier run and laid out all Wolverine defenders.

FIFThem



J/K, im just jealous that we havent had practice info for 4 days......

 

[blueinfla]

Gardner is not going to redshirt.

You have any inside sources to back up your statement of certainty?

 

[goblue15]

You have any inside sources to back up your statement of certainty?

yes!

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Cat fight!!!

:p

 

[brutus2002]

When Sheridan is throwing bombs to WR's and QB's are running 72 yard TD's thats not good for your defense. Michigan is in for a long season. The defense may be worse than we thought. I can't imagine Pryor or Williams going against that defense today. When true freshmen are scoring 4 TD's and came in the fall thats not good...heck in 7 on 7 thats not good for a defense.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

I can't imagine Pryor ... going against that defense today.

I can...

 

[buckeyeinfla]

i looked at their two deep on defense....train wreck was the first thing i thought of

 

[Jaxbuck]

Last year a pathetic offense put too much pressure on a pedestrian defense. This year a pathetic defense could cause a mediocre offense to constantly play from behind and deal with all the bad things that result from that.

I like what Dick Rod has done with the symmetry here.

 

[Folanator]

Rumors of Toussant's shoulder getting busted up. Nothing official, but it would suck for them if true. He will be a nice player.

 

[blueinfla]

Rumors of Toussant's shoulder getting busted up. Nothing official, but it would suck for them if true. He will be a nice player.

He was a likely redshirt candidate anyway. There's quite a bit of depth at RB.
Sucks for the kid to have an injury this soon in his career. Hopefully he'll come back better off. Hopefully he's not Minor/Brown v2.0.

 

[buxfan4life]

FWIW. A good buddy of mine who is a HUGE scUM fan has already made it clear that this season we are not to rag him like normal. He knows it is going to be a rough season after all he has seen with the spring game and practice film.

Put it this way. He is 15-5 over the last 20 years when betting on The Game in Vegas.

Side note, he does not like RR as the coach and hopes he get fired soon.

A lot to be said from him.

Again, not my take, but his.



What I told him when we talked yesterday............

His response....Fuck You.

Kinda says something, don't it?

 

[Oh8ch]

Once again our D continues to give up big plays....

As a general rule very little can be taken from fall practice in regards to how good a team will be. Good offensive performance may simply mean weak D, and vice versa.

I would think it would be particularly difficult to judge a team like UM. With an offense that nobody else in the conference uses there is little basis to judge how the D would perform against a more traditional O. In that same regard, practicing against an offense that nobody else is using may not be the most effective way to prepare a team to face more traditional offenses.

This might help explain why RRs teams gave up 30 or more points 23 times in his 7 years at WVU and six times last year. (By way of comparison OSU gave up over 30 or more 9 times during that span - including three times in OT and twice against the National Champions.)

 

[buxfan4life]

As a general rule very little can be taken from fall practice in regards to how good a team will be. Good offensive performance may simply mean weak D, and vice versa.

I agree, but based on the recruiting "genius" of the beloved RR, the D is still weak, ala 2008. Will Campbell and JT Turner do not a top 10 defense make. Sorry, but I have to say that the scUM D is going to suck this year, as worse if not more worse (is that even good English?) than last year. IMO.

I would think it would be particularly difficult to judge a team like UM. With an offense that nobody else in the conference uses there is little basis to judge how the D would perform against a more traditional O. In that same regard, practicing against an offense that nobody else is using may not be the most effective way to prepare a team to face more traditional offenses.

Illinois? Northwestern? Most of PSU last year (who had a GREAT D)?
Just sayin'.

This might help explain why RRs teams gave up 30 or more points 23 times in his 7 years at WVU and six times last year. (By way of comparison OSU gave up over 30 or more 9 times during that span - including three times in OT and twice against the National Champions.)

RR does not give a shit about D, and it is very apparent through his last 2 recruiting classes. He really thinks that he can outscore the competition by getting speedy undersized players in the college game. It works in the Big East, but I don't see it happening in the Big Ten. JMO.

 

[blueinfla]

RR does not give a [censored] about D, and it is very apparent through his last 2 recruiting classes. He really thinks that he can outscore the competition by getting speedy undersized players in the college game. It works in the Big East, but I don't see it happening in the Big Ten. JMO.

I think you made some good points, but I'd like to clear up the defense vs. offense recruiting. Maybe this is me just rationalizing a real problem, but I'm prepared to go on a little faith here. So, I think RR knew the talent that he had on offense when he took over the reigns. And in these last two classes, he's tried his damnedest to fill the offense with as many playmakers as he could, trying to sure up the one side of the ball that he knows best.

When you look at the numbers, it really is more balanced than many here make it seem. Offense to defense, in three classes, RR is at 37-27, including 26-20 his first two complete classes, of which '08 wasn't entirely his. Which, by the way, was 16-9 in favor of the offense. His '09 sits at 10-11 in favor of the defense. The 37-27 also includes the 2010 class that is incomplete. Also, I expect at least one WR commit to switch over to defense, and you never know who will finish out the class, or who that is committed now, won't make it to AA.