Just watched the 01 Citrus Bowl recording (UM vs Aub). It is truly stunning to be reminded of what size & talent Michigan used to have. Carr deserves credit for building that roster, as well as for letting things slide a bit (depth at RB, WR), but for all the celebration of RR developing Denard, this evolution to a read option offense sure killed an amazing lineage and tradition of talent.
QB Drew Henson
RB Anthony Thomas (Justin Fargas, Chris Perry,
FB BJ Askew
WR David Terrell
WR Marquise Walker
OL Steve Hutchinson
OL Jeff Backus (Tony Pape, David Baas)
TE Bennie Joppru
It was also interesting to see how many slip screens, reverses and creative things Michigan ran against Auburn, particularly while remaining a physical running & playaction team.
Carr didn't recruit great WRs down the stretch, but Toney Clemons & Darryl Stonum would be a lot more useful in these pro style attacks (Darryl would not be reduced to a kick returner for an entire season while being the most dangerous WR).
Then you flip on some recordings of The Game:
04 WRs Braylon, Breaston, Bass, Avant
05 WRs Avant, Breaston, Manningham
06 WRs Manningham, Breaston, Arrington
Despite recruiting a billion slot-dots and WRs, their WR corps does not come close to the UM lineage at the position.