A weekly look at Michigan commits’ performances in their high school games.

TX QB Shavodrick Beaver No game, but 2 TDs accounted for in a scrimmage.
OH RB Fitzgerald Toussaint W 55-21 19 Carries, 115 Yds. Also his dad did not stab a guy.
MI RB Teric Jones No game
MN WR Bryce McNeal No game
FL Slot Jeremy Gallon No game
IL OL Michael Schofield No game
MI DT William Campbell No game
LA DT DeQuinta Jones No game
IN LB Jordan Barnes W 55-21 No stats given
FL S Mike Jones No game
OH S Isaiah Bell No stats given (played RB on offense)
OH CB Justin Turner W 45-29 22 Carries, 140 Yds
TX CB DeWayne Peace No Game

Posted under Recruiting

As we get into the actual football season, the posting schedule ’round these parts is going to be changing up a bit. Here is what you can expect during the season:

• Recruiting Updates will now be relegated to one day a week, which I have yet to definitively determine. However, I am contemplating making Saturday morning posts dedicated to the Friday night performances of Michigan commits. Thoughts?
• I will be posting a draft BlogPoll ballot for commenting on Mondays, then the final ballot on Wednesdays.
• The podcast will be switching from Sunday to a time late in the week. The new focus of it will be previewing the upcoming opponent. Tomorrow, the podcast will feature our guest Tony Pizza, live from Salt Lake City, Utah (by which I mean “recorded yesterday from Salt Lake City, Utah”).
• I’m thinking about posting a new video feature each week that will be called “Inside the Play.” It will be an in-depth breakdown of one notable play from the game in the preceding week. All in favor? Opposed?
• I will also (possibly) be trading posts once a week with our colleagues/rivals at Buckeye Commentary. More details on that forthcoming.

If you have any requests for features you’d like to see on a weekly basis, let me know in the comments.

Posted under Blog News

Action since last rankings:
8-18-08 Michigan gains commitment from Anthony Fera.
8-20-08 Michigan loses commitment from Kevin Newsome.
8-21-08 Northwestern gains commitment from Tim Riley.
Since there wasn’t a ton going on this week, I’ll give a little commentary on how good each of the classes is, and the size of gaps between them.

New Rankings:

Solid class by the Bucks, but they aren’t likely to challenge for the mythical recruiting national champion in February.

There is a pretty big dropoff between Michigan and OSU, especially after one of the top commits in the class is there no longer. However, Michigan has filled needs with the types of players that are god in its specific system, if not highly ranked.

The gap between Michigan and Notre Dame isn’t quite as large as that between Ohio State and Michigan, but it is a fairly sizable one. The Irish have gotten a couple of big-time commits, however.

MSU is virtually tied with Notre Dame, though their class has less upside. They aren’t likely to challenge for any more 5-star recruits either, so unless Michigan and Notre Dame lose a lot of players form their classes, this is the peak position for the Spartans.

Penn State is nearly in a tie with Michigan State, but I rank them lower because they have tons of 3-stars and few exciting prospects.

Illinois has a very strong base for their class, and Ron Zook can be expected to continue to recruit well.

There is a pretty sizable gap between Illinois and Wisconsin. They are filling needs, and I always give offensive linemen committed to the Badgers an extra mental half-star.

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There is a cavernous, gaping hole between Wisconsin and Minnesota, even though just a look at the number of commits and stars wouldn’t seem to indicate that. Is Brewster’s recruiting mojo wearing off?

Indiana is implementing a new strategy of trying to fill their class early (which may be an overall trend in recruiting nationally). It’s working well for them so far, as they appear to be fielding their best class in years.

Cavernous, gaping hole between IU and UI. Iowa lost their best commit to MSU, but made up for it by landing the state’s top player. Ferentz is probably toast, though.

Northwestern has been built on sleepers, and they will continue to do so. However, just because a player isn’t
highly rated doesn’t make him a sleeper. Some guys just aren’t any good.

Purdue has easily the worst class in the Big Ten so far.

Posted under Recruiting

Huge update this week. There is actually more that will have to wait to Monday because this update is so JAM-PACKED. Anyway, here’s the board.

Moved to Committed:
TX K Anthony Fera.

Added:
A kicker category to the board. Thanks, Fera, ya jerk. Maybe in the light of more recent developments, I shouldn’t be calling anyone committed to Michigan a jerk.

Moved from Committed:
VA QB Kevin Newsome.

New Information:
CA QB Tate Forcier. August 30th visit (info in header).
GA WR Braxton Lane. Skipping football this fall to focus on baseball. Sounds unlikely he’ll hit the gridiron in college.
NC OL Travis Bond. His official visit is set for October 25.
VA DE Will Hill. Fluff.
SC DE Chris Bonds. Michigan and Notre Dame won’t move into his highest group until after he has a chance to see campus. They are still in his top 5.
OH DE Tank Carradine. Does he have an offer? He’s been working on his grades.
FL LB Brandin Hawthorne has set up 5 official visits, despite planning a decision before any of them. If Michigan is his choice on August 30, expect him to either forget about the other visits or not be given all the priviledges (i.e. having a spot saved for you) of a true commit.
OK CB Gabe Lynn. His friend (and former UM target) David Gordon is trying to lure him to Arkansas. Lynn’s junior highlights.

Removed:
PA WR Todd Thomas. He may have trouble qualifying. That may explain why Michigan never really seemed interested, despite his early love for the Wolverines.

Etc.:
MN WR commit Bryce McNeal is a speed prospect, but is currently too skinny to be considered speed and size. Paging Mike Barwis, who will have McNeal built like an All-American in no time flat.
TX QB commit Shavodrick Beaver welcomes competition. I was so much more into this article when there was someone in the class for him to compete with.

Analysis:
Recruiting changes from the developing Newsome situation outlined here. On the defensive end front, Michigan still really needs people. Though Tank Carradine is now reporting an offer, his recruitment remains under the radar, likely because of qualifying issues of his own.

Posted under Recruiting

Projected Depth Chart

Kicking Game
After The Horror and the several other games in which Jason Gingell was horrible, he was replaced by5th-year senior KC Lopata, who just so happened to be pretty good. He will return as the kicker. Punting will be the domain of redshirt junior Zoltan Mesko, with Bryan Wright handling kickoffs. Wright is also moving from placekicker to punter, where he will back up Mesko.

Statistics

Analysis
KC was a good replacement for Gingell last year, and should maintain his grip on the job in 2008. He was consistent, even if he doesn’t have great leg strength. Zoltan is poised to be one of the best punters in the conference, and Bryan Wright has a big leg for kicking touchbacks, but clearly not accurate enough to kick field goals. The move to a rugby punt may scare some Michigan fans, but it hasn’t come back to bite West Virginia in recent years.

Return Game
On punt returns, Donovan Warren is expected to be the starter. If his speed isn’t what the team needs at the position, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a return to the steady hands of Greg Mathews. On kickoff returns, Morgan Trent and Brandon Harrison are expected to start. Both have good top-end speed.

Statistics:

Analysis
There are plenty of options, especially with the freshmen recreuited to the speed-friendly offense of Rich Rodriguez. Don’t be surprised to see a more exciting return game than Michigan had in 2007, though perhaps not as electrifying as Steve Breaston was in the role.

Posted under Analysis

After John Ferrara moved to the offensive line, there were questions about why it was necessary. The reason? Corey Zirbel appears to be out for (at least) the season:

The position move comes on the heels of the realization that guard Cory Zirbel likely will miss the season with a knee injury.
“It’s pretty significant,” Rodriguez said. “We’re not even hopeful he’ll be able to return this year.”

Though it was known that Zirbel and redshirt freshman Mark Huyge were injured, the extent of Zirbel’s injury is more severe than Michigan can really afford. Huyge is week-to-week with a high ankle sprain.

In other injury news, Freshman slot receiver Terrance Robinson will also miss a couple weeks with injury. This likely means that Michael Shaw, Sam McGuffie, Toney Clemons, and Very Horn will get more playing time at the position than was expected.

On a lighter note, the Bowling for Brock event to aid Elliot Mealer’s brother was last night, and the Free Press has a photo gallery.

Mixed reports out of Utah camp on whether the offense is struggling…
or doing as well as expected.

Just over a week away from the season, time to start getting really excited.

Posted under Personnel

Michigan Defense
Defensive Line
Linebackers
Secondary

Overall Defensive Analysis
This should be the strength of the team, with several returning starters, especially along the D-line. Having to replace big parts of the linebacking corps and secondary may be troublesome, but the defensive line is expected to be somewhat dominant. As long as they keep the pressure on, the other units might not have to do too much.

Keys to Defensive Success
The Mike Barwis factor may get more press than it deserves, but the defensive line was consistently winded during games last year, and if they are all in shape to go for an entire game, they should bring a lot of success to the offense. With the more aggressive defensive schemes of Scott Shafer, the corners will have to be able to get a good jam on receivers, and the new safeties will have to prevent giving up big plays. Another thing that might be helpful is to score some points on their own, since the offense may struggle to do so.

Posted under Analysis

Michigan Offense
Offensive Backs
Receiving Corps
Offensive Line

Overall Offensive Analysis
The youth and inexperience at quarterback and offensive line (and to a certain extent, receiver) could mean bad things for the Michigan offense this year. The running backs will provide a certain degree of consistency. The slots are very young, but the system is tailored to their skill sets, and they should have some success.

Keys to Offensive Success
Quarterback play is essential in this system, and it will be especially crucial in 2008 with youth at the position. The quarterbacks will have to distribute the ball to the playmakers (enough of which there are to run a successful offense) and avoid making mistakes and committing turnovers. The offense has to keep the ball, and allow the defense to get a bit of rest. Since the defense is expected to be fairly dominant, the offense’s main job is to not screw up.

Posted under Analysis

As a college football junkie, nothing is more pleasing to me than being able to watch the game every day of the week as I await the upcoming season. Yes, this even includes the 2002 Purdue-Iowa game that I am watching at 2:00 in the morning. Of course, there is also a lot of crap, and they have no idea how to run an internship program, but being able to watch college football right now is a godesend.

Screw you, Comcast, for robbing me of this experience for a year. And screw you even more for acting sanctimonious about carrying the network now. everyone knows you’re full of crap, why try to lie about it more?

Posted under Misc.

So, Kevin Newsome appears to be out. Aside from losing a highly-rated player from the class of 2009, how will this affect the Michigan Wolverines?
At quarterback, Michigan is now in search of a replacement for one of its best players in the class. Thankfully, the coaches seemed to have some idea that this decommitment was possible, and even likely, as they continued pursuing a pair of highly-touted passers as contingency plans. While neither Tate Forcier nor Eugene Smith has the high upside that Newsome does, Forcier might actually be ready to play sooner, having had a private quarterback coach for a number of years. Despite Michigan’s class being seemingly full, Forcier consistently named the Wolverines among his top choices. Now that there is an opening, will Forcier jump at the opportunity, or be insulted that he was a backup plan? We might see shortly after Forcier’s recently-confirmed August 30th official visit to Michigan (for the Utah game).

Speaking of Forcier being a backup plan, this may be a slight misrepresentation of the facts. Of course, Kevin Newsome was Michigan’s #1 quarterback target. However, after Newsome’s commitment, Forcier and Shavodrick Beaver seemed to each know that the first to commit to Michigan would be the second signal-caller in the class. When Beaver was ready first, two players who were tied for #2 suddenly changed from an even race to a bird-in-hand/bird-in-bush comparison, where Beaver was given the benefit of the doubt over Forcier. So, while neither was the number one quarterback, both were in Michigan’s top 3 (of course, after Russel Shepard became unavailable) from the get-go.

What else does this mean for Michigan? While Newsome had good relationships with some of Michigan’s other commits, namely Bryce McNeal, these relationships clearly weren’t strong enough to convince Newsome to stick with Michigan, so I would be surprised if they were strong enough to convince anyone else to jump ship. McNeal also has a strong relationship with seemingly rock-solid Shavodrick Beaver, . If anything, his relationship with Newsome might help pull Kevin back into the fold (though I think this is unlikely either way).

Overall, the Michigan recruiting class will depend heavily on whether the team has success on the field in 2008. If it is an ugly year on the field, a few guys may look elsewhere, and the class could go downhill. however, losing one recruit in August (while there is still time to recover) does not a disaster make.

Editor’s note: I’m not sure if the childhood picture is of Tate or Chris, but the point remains that the Forciers love Michigan.

Posted under Recruiting