Michigan Monday: Game Week and the Story that will never Die

There are lots of bad things in this world.  There are bad people, bad business, corrupt politicians, the list goes on and on.   As long as there have been people walking the earth there are bad people trying to take advantage of good ones.  

This brings me to the NCAA and how they have handled Spygate.  What type of organization, leaks information non-stop during their investigation, has zero legal authority to speak to anyone, and continually tries to derail a season on purpose?  That was the NCAA last season.  You either cooperate with the NCAA or you don't.  They can't force you to do anything.  You either share your phone or you don't.  If you don't they will make it very difficult for you to do your job.   The NCAA has targeted Jim Harbaugh ever since he didn't remember buying a kid a cheeseburger and the NCAA found a receipt that he did.  

Most of that stuff happened last season or during COVID.  So let's fast forward to now.  The NCAA leaks the proposed NOA against Michigan to ESPN a few weeks ago.  Since there was nothing going on in sports, that led to 2 days of media attention.  Now, Connor Stalions Netflix documentary is due to release on Tuesday.  It's also Game Week to start to start the 2024 season.  Guess what the NCAA did?  They sent the official NOA to Michigan on Sunday.   Wow, what a coincidence?  Alanis Morissette should write a song about the NCAA. 

There is a old saying when something is leaked and they are trying to identify who leaked it.  Who did it benefit?  Michigan has taken a hit everytime Pete Thamel gets behind a keyboard and types out a tweet.  

BTW, the notice being offically delivered barely made a ripple in the media.  Connor's lawyer has already released a statement and we get to hear from the man himself on Tuesday.  I'm not a huge fan of the Untold series as they have really missed the mark on a few of them.  The Urban Meyer Florida Gators one was terrible.  

The NCAA is an old "Karen" yelling at kids to get off her lawn.  Their time has passed and they have barley have any control left with NIL and these Super Conferences.  It's time to shut them down and start from scratch.  

Did someone mention Game Week?  It really is happening!  I expect Sherrone to do his first Monday game week press conference and the permanent head coach today.   The biggest question remains, who is the starter at QB?

Too early look at Fresno State:

Last Season: 9-4

Best Win: Purdue and Arizona State

Worst Loss: 18-42 vs. San Jose State 

Coach Tedford is a highly regarded head coach but he had to step down a few months ago due to health reasons.  That leaves Tim Skipper in charge.  

2023:

Pass: 282 yards per (21st)

Run: 105 yards per (118th)

Points scored: 30 (46th)

Points against: 24 (56th)

Fresno likes to air it out and I expect they want to test the Michigan secondary on Saturday night.  They will have a hard time stopping Michigan's defensive line and pass rushers so expect a quick throw passing game.  Hard to know what Fresno has this season but this has been a solid program and a game not to take lightly if your a Wolverine player, coach, or fan. 

• Nice to have college football back this weekend.  I think some leagues missed a window to put better games up when football fans are just "jonesing" for more football.   For example there are a ton of Thursday night games this week.  

• Vegas was way off in pretty much every line this weekend.  Even Vegas has a hard time predicting what will happen early in the season with all these transfers and quick turn programs. 

• Former Michigan player Pat Kuglar has gotten arrested and the allegations are not good. 

Michigan Tuesday: Jimmy Speaks

Jim Harbaugh gave his regular Monday press conference yesterday and here are some of the more interesting responses:

“Yes, unfortunately Ronnie will be out for the season. He has a knee injury. It’s a shame. “Ronnie won our player of the game. He had a phenomenal game. Along with Blake, making the big plays, carrying our offense early in the game. Got the big play on the long pass. Great contested catch and then finishing the run. And then, one of the best catches I’ve ever seen in my life, the one-handed catch. He was able to stay in-bounds. Very clean and tremendous catch. Punt return in which he got injured, unfortunately, he was just having a great game.”

“Defensively, Aidan Hutchinson, Dax Hill. Those two played great. There was some real examples of really good play all across the board on our team, but there were some group examples of guys playing just how you want them to play. Dax, Aidan, Josh Ross. Offensively Ronnie Bell, Blake Corum, Cade McNamara, the tight ends. Andrew Vastardis had a tremendous game, so did Stueber. Caden Kolesar on special teams was our player of the game on special teams. Played the most, played 23 plays. Mike Sainristil was right there, next best on special teams. Guys just setting the example of how to play in a game. Especially for a lot of players who were just playing for the first time, playing in their first game. Tremendous to have on tape — teaching tool.

Washington's Loss?

“I don’t think it’s relevant. You always think the first game is the second-hardest to prepare for, but the second game is even harder. Because both games will go back and work on — they know where they’re at, they go back and work on the things that they need to improve and they will. It’s a race to make those improvements in one week. Got a good idea that Washington has been preparing for us for a long time. It’s an important game for both teams so I think that makes that first game irrelevant. As it most always is, but as they say, especially in this second game scenario.”

Will Kolesar still return punts?

“Possibly. He’s also our best rusher on punts. He’s also our best hold-up guy. Ultimately AJ Henning — when he gets, if he could get really comfortable back there catching the ball, that’s an ideal position for him, as well as receiver. Right now, Caden is the most sure-handed guy, next-best from Ronnie. Problem is if he returns the punts, he’s not rushing, blocking and holding up. So many other places he could play on the punt return. We’ll figure that out as we go.”

• Michigan wasn't the only team to lose a star player.  Minnesota has lost RB #24 Mo Ibrahim for the year and Washington lost WR Polk for the year as well. 

• RIP to one of best character actors:  Michael K. Williams, who played the character Omar Little in the TV series "The Wire".

Michigan Monday Labor Day Edition: First Look At The Huskies

Washington had a disappointing start to their season late on Saturday night taking a loss at home to Montana.   Your first reaction might be, "ok, they're not that good and Michigan should win easily on Saturday".   That is the wrong take, there isn't a more dangerous team then one that is coming off a loss.  Case in point, MSU last year.  MSU looked like they were playing lacrosse or some other sport week one last season and Michigan had a nice ranked road win.    The next week, MSU beats Michigan so badly, it sent Joe Milton to Knoxville.  

On a side note, does it seem like every team in America has a Michigan transfer on it?  Even some guy I have never heard of transfers from Michigan and throws 10 TD's for Presbyterian and makes SportsCenter.   Who says Jimmy can't develop QB's, he just develops them for every school in the country: including Illinois, Northern Colorado, Tennessee, and Presbyterian. 

Lets look at the numbers from UW's week 1 loss:

-QB Dylan Morris threw 46 times and completed 27 for 226 yards and had 3 picks 

-RB Newton ran 17 times for 62 yards 

-Some guy named Giles Jackson ran twice for 19 and had 4 catches for 15 yards 

-Montana had just 232 total yards and UW 291 

-UW scored in the first quarter and was shut out the rest of the game

-UW was 4-14 on 3rd downs

I didn't watch this game but it looks like the 3 picks and poor 3rd down conversation was the difference in the game.  UW is supposed to have a very good defense an the numbers show they do.   The 3 picks is also something that can be fixed and another reason to not pre-determine next weeks outcome.  

• Glad we don't play Iowa this season.  That defense looks legit.  IU takes an ugly loss week 1. 

• Of course I didn't see most of PSU - Wisconsin but it looked like an old school Big Ten game with nothing but defense.   Same thing for Clemson - Georgia.  

• The FSU - ND game night was more of a movie then a football game, my goodness it had just about everything in it.   Marcus Freeman has some more work to do on that defense.  

• Watched a little Arizona - BYU - supporting Jedd Fisch.   Don Brown is continuing to do Don Brown things and his over blitzing cost Arizona a ton of yards and points.   If you notice during the ND - FSU game, the same thing happened when Marcus Freeman did the same thing. 

• I hate to say it, but MSU looks very much improved due to being Transfer Portal U.   You could also call FSU the same thing. 

• Illinois takes an ugly L to USTA 

• Also Maryland continues the condition of winning a nice Week 1 win with a win over WVU. 

I fear we are going to get really bad news on Ronnie Bell today in Jimmy's press conference. 

I hope everyone enjoys their Labor Day! 

Michigan Thursday: Week 1 Starts Tonight - Let's Talk Offense

cbssports.com

The Tom Brady - Drew Henson Michigan QB curse has continued for too long.   For those too young to remember what happened:   Michigan had the greatest NFL QB ever playing very consistently but also had the #1 recruit in the nation and local boy Drew Henson as his backup.   At that time, the Golden Boy was Drew Henson.  The Michigan faithful didn't hate Tom but thought that Drew might be the better QB.   Tom as a senior leads Michigan to win over Alabama in the Orange Bowl and the next year Drew gets hurt and then leaves a year early to play baseball for the Yankees.   Michigan has had good QB's since like Chad Henne and Denard Robinson but the lack of star and healthy QB's has hurt Michigan's chances for more wins.  

Ironically, Michigan is in a similar position this year.  Cade McNamara seems like a smart kid, that knows the offense, and works hard.  Behind him is JJ McCarthy the 5 star gun slinger that hasn't taken a snap in college but has a huge upside.  To top it off, Michigan has Alan Bowman a 3rd string QB that just transferred from Texas Tech with a ton of playing experience.  

We know right now Cade will be starter against Western but I would imagine JJ gets some snaps no matter the score.   This situation is very similar to what happened with Brady and Henson at Michigan.   (please note, I am not comparing Cade to the best QB ever - just a similar situation at Michigan). 

Maybe the best way to reverse a curse is to recreate it. 

WR

My biggest concern with this group is, can they catch?  I know they're fast, I hope they can run good routes, but their hands concern me.   

Starters: Cornelius Johnson, Ronnie Bell, Daylen Baldwin

First in: Roman Wilson, AJ Henning and Mike Sainristil 

TE

This position to me is a bunch of the same guys and we're just waiting for one of them to be Jake Butt. 

Starters: Erik All or Luke Schoonmaker 

First in: Honigford, Selzer, and Hibner.

OL

Michigan has some much needed depth with experience on the offensive line.  There is a rumor that one guy is banged up and might not go on Saturday.   So that is why we haven't had more talk on starters. 

Starters: Hayes, Keegan, Vastardis, Zinter, Stueber

First in/maybe starters:  Filaga, Barnhart, Crippin 

RB

This postion group is so deep it could lose a guy that ran 6 times for 106 yards and 3 TD's last Saturday and not miss a beat.  To me, its the most talented meeting room on offense.   I expect Michigan to find creative ways to get Edwards in the game (ala Reggie Bush). 

Starters: Haskins and/or Corum 

First in:  Edwards

As always, Michigan success on offense depends on their ability to run the ball and have a QB that makes the right decisions to get first downs and TD's.  

• NCAA Football on Tonight, including that team in Columbus. 

OSU @ Minnesota 8:00 Fox 

Temple @Rutgers 6:30 BTN  (game just moved to Saturday)

BGSU@ Tenn 8:00 SECN (Joe Milton) 

Wolverine Wednesday: Time to Talk Michigan's Defense

If Michigan is going to make a turnaround this season, it has to be with a very strong defense.   Under Don Brown the defense got so predictable every team that parked at Michigan Stadium knew how to beat it.  Michigan's offense will be better with a healthy offensive line and a stable of great RB's, but they're not built for shoot outs.  

So lets take a look at each position and a give them a Pre-Season grade:

Michigan is expected to have multiple looks on defense but should be in a base 3-4. 

DLine

Starters: Smith, Jeter, and Hinton

First in: Transfer Whittley,  Welschof, and Speight 

Preseason Grade B-   Plenty of upside here but hasn't had a ton of success to date.  The freshman are most likely going to redshirt but may need to play if there're  injuries.  

Inside LB

Starters: Ross and Hill-Green 

First in: Colson, Barrett, Solomon 

Preseason grade B+ - This unit needs to stay healthy and be impactful.  Has talent and the biggest ceiling. 

Outside LB

Starters: Hutchinson and Ojabo

First in: Upshaw, Morris, McGregor 

Preseason grade A-   Hutch is an All American and high NFL prospect, he and Dax are the superstars on defense.  This unit needs to be elite if Ojabo is ready.  Look out for McGregor. 

Safety 

Starters: Hill and Hawkins 

First in:  Paige and Moten 

Preseason Grade B+  Hill can be a superstar and will probably will play nickel and some CB, Hawkins has been in Ann Arbor for 15 years and had a poor 2020.   Time for experience to kick in and be better. 

CB

Starters: Green and Gray/Turner 

First in: Perry and Seldon 

Preseason Grade: C-   This unit was awful in 2020 and needs big improvement if this defense is going to stop teams.   Their best friends are going to be a consistent pass rush from DL and OLB's.   Jimmy said that Green, Gray, and Turner are the starters.   Lets hope the new scheme helps protect this group some. 

Vincent Gray thinks there are some major changes on defense:

“It’s night and day, for real,” Gray said on Tuesday night after practice. “I feel like this defense allows us to create more plays and create more plays on the ball. And that’s gonna be good for us going forward this year.

He later continued: “I’m very excited to show that I can do more than just stand in front of a guy, press him and run around with a guy. We learned a lot this offseason conceptually and it’s gonna show on Saturdays.”

“It’s more than just lining up and studying a guy’s release and just chasing one guy around the field,” Gray said. “I learned a lot about route concepts, offenses schematically, formations, what are they looking for certain down and distances, and certain areas of the field that they’re targeting. Just learning how to play different positions on the field.”

“I played zero coverage my whole life, so coming from high school to college, originally, was the same,” Gray said. “The exact same – I didn’t really learn much new. But over this offseason, being around Coach Macdonald and Coach Clink – and even Coach Mo in the spring – we just learned so much more about what the offenses would bring to us.”

Michigan Monday: Welcomes Back Game Week

It seems forever that Michigan Football played a football game.  The program would like you to remove last years COVID season from your memory and I'm all for that.   College Football has become a game for its super stars or NFL bound players.   Michigan had 2 sit last season and it cost them games.  

Now its game week again and Western Michigan takes a couple hour trip to the Big House on Saturday.  So how did the Broncos do last season? 4-2

Wins over: CMU, Akron, Toledo, and N. Illinois  Started the season 4-0

Loses: EMU and Ball state - 2 loses to finish the season 

Western likes to score points and give up points.   Scored 41 per  (9th in the country) and gave up 34 per. 

Western's offense gained: 479 yards per game (16th in the country) 

Defense gave up 400 yards per

Western Michigan loves it offense with returning WR's Jaylen Hall who averages 27 yards a catch  and also 5-9 speedster Skyy Moore.

They also have 4 returning starters on the offensive line which will help the Bronco's running game with La’Darius Jefferson and Sean Tayler.  

Michigan's DB's and Defensive line will be tested in this one.   The Michigan offense might have to score each time they touch the ball.   This is not a push over game and quite frankly Western matches up well against the Wolverines weakness.   This is a good first test to see if the team in Ann Arbor is different on both sides of the ball.

• Nebraska - Illinois was interesting.   Poor Brandon Peters goes down in the 1st quarter with a shoulder injury.   It looks serious but we haven't gotten an update yet.   Nebraska played like they have under Frost and BB brings his Wisconsin run first mentality to Illinois.   Former Wolverine Oliver Martin also made an appearance with his 3rd Big Ten team and caught a few balls for Nebraska.  Both teams are lacking superstars but Illinois seems like they are on a much better track. 

• Raise your hand if you knew Zach Charbonnet was going to be really good for UCLA?  I would say 6 carries, 3 TD's and over 100 yards in the first half is a good first impression.  UCLA has LSU this week.  (Saturday was all about spotting the former Wolverines)

• Congratulations to Taylor, Michigan winning the Little League World Series! 

Michigan Monday: A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action Please

I'm betting many of you that read this blog would agree with the title of this post.   We have been talking about Michigan Football for over 10 months without seeing them play on the field.   Even though Michigan competed with a very good Alabama team on January 1st, it seems like years since we have seen them take the field.   No Spring Practice, No Spring Game, and almost a 2 month delay in starting the season.   It is my pleasure to welcome you to......

GAME WEEK! 

Many of us thought we might not get here for another 12 months.   We are here and its now time to see what this team has.   Anything can happen between now and 7:30 on Saturday, so lets hope both teams continue to test negative and we have a ball game on Saturday night.  

• NFL Wolverines had a bad Sunday for injuries, as it is expected that both Devin Bush and Taylor Lewan have torn their ACL's.   I don't follow MSU social media but it seems Sparty is enjoying the injury to Devin Bush.   Stay Classy East Lansing. 

• There was a very large change in the Michigan - Minn betting line this weekend.   Michigan went from a underdog getting 2.5 to a favorite at 3.5.   Usually there are 2 reasons for a jump like that, news about one team or all the money was coming in on the Wolverines.

• I'm sure you didn't miss it but Michigan got its highest ranked defensive commitment on Friday when Branden Jennings committed.   Michigan has a very strong LB class and could use one more DB and 2 more DT's.   Michigan is also after another FSU commit in Duke Cooper who is a 4 star CB.

• Michigan has offered 2024 Brandon Davis-Swain who called U of M, Michigan University.  He has time to learn how it works.  

• Fun Fact: Tom Brady played with Jon Runyan at Michigan.  Last night he played against Jon Runyan Jr. in Tampa vs. Green Bay.