The format of this feature is a work-in-progress. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Also, the video quality is really poor for some reason. It should be better in future weeks.

The Situation
It’s the first quarter, and Michigan’s offense has already looked kinda bad. A Utah pass interference penalty has given the Wolverines the ball inside Utah’s 10 yard line, and a Sam McGuffie rush sets up a second and goal from the 8. A touchdown here could help Michigan set the tone early in this game.

The Personnel and Formation
Michigan comes out in the shotgun with two tailbacks and three wide receivers. Nick Sheridan is flanked by Brandon Minor on his right and Michael Shaw on his left. Greg Mathews is split wide left. Darryl Stonum is split wide right, with Martavious Odoms in the slot to that side.

Utah lines up in a 4-3 defense. To the strong side, the corner is head-up over Martavious Odoms, with the safety deep, but aligned with Stonum. Mathews has a man head-up over him, showing press technique.

The Play

At the snap, Sheridan fakes to Minor, who cross in front of him to the left, and then fakes again (slightly less convincingly) to Shaw, who goes in the opposite direction. After the fakes, Sheridan rolls out to the right. He hits Michael Shaw at the seven yard line, and Shaw races to the corner for a touchdown.
Why it Happened Like it Did

Utah was playing man coverage on this play, keeping one safety in a deep zone, and one linebacker spying Sheridan (Cover-1 Spy). The Utah linebackers bit on the fake to Minor, freezing them long enough for Shaw to beat his man to the outside, and for Sheridan to have enough time to roll out and make the pass. With Odoms and Stonum running crossing routes, Shaw was given a clear path to the endzone.

Now you know what it was like Inside the Play.

Posted under Analysis

Posted under Recruiting

Moved from Committed:

Posted under Recruiting

Sure, they aren’t the Big Ten, but several Big Ten teams play at least one MAC school every year, so it may be interesting to see how the schools from the other conference in the Midwest are doing. There will also be a post-signing day edition of the MAC recruiting rankings.

New Rankings:

I actually think a couple of Central’s commits are underrated by Rivals. Redd, for example, got a pretty good look from Michigan at their summer camp. Same goes for Akuezue. He is rated low now because he is a DE who weighs about 30 pounds soaking wet, but he was virtually unblockable at Michigan’s camp. If he can add weight and maintain his explosiveness, he could be a very good player down the road.

Posted under Recruiting

Some of our unfiltered thoughts from the game:

• Tim and I both agreed that Threet looked much better than Sheridan again. He made better reads, better throws (for the most part), and even looked more authoritative on his runs. With a repertoire of two half games for each, I think Steven Threet should be the starting quarterback. I wasn’t watching the broadcast, so I don’t know why they were rotating; I think it was to give each guy a shot against the same team (again).
• Mark Ortmann came out in the third quarter, but the injury was treated with an icepack on his elbow. It didn’t appear to be too serious, and God help us all if it is.
• The gameplan seemed to be almost the exact same as last week. Even the first play was the exact same (of course, Odoms had much more success on it today than he did against Utah). Are the coaches holding back tricks for later games, and keeping it vanilla (a la DeBord), or is this everything they can do with quarterbacks who can barely throw and run?
• Shaw was running well, then disappeared. Anyone watch the broadcast and hear why that might have been? In Shaw’s stead, McGuffie was the best running back. I’m surprised we didn’t see more of Grady when they ran from the I-form. Minor was, well, Minor. That is neither good nor bad.
• The fans faded during the course of the game. When the team gave them something to be really excited about, they responded. However, the fan momentum wasn’t really maintained, and the third quarter was pretty quiet.
• The half-rolls that Miami was using on offense was pretty effective (once they went to it – nice adjustment by the Miami coaching staff). It prevents a fairly dominant D-line from getting to the quarterback. We’ll see if other teams go to that sort of strategy, and how Shafer reacts.
• This offense hasn’t been making too many big plays (aside from a couple of runs getting blown open and the Odoms screen), but when you watch them play, it is clear that they have big-play potential, and are just a slight improvement in execution away from making something very interesting happen. As the experience across the board improves (especially if Zirbel and Ortmann can get/stay healthy), and more of the playbook is installed, this offense may be adequate down the road.
• The offensive line was again a weak point. We can hope for improvement and the return of Zirbel, and they could be good (enough) by the end of the year.
• Obi Ezeh was again a badass in terms of making tackles, and seemed to defend the pass better this week (albeit against worse competition). He could be a really special player down the line.

Anything to add?

Posted under Analysis

Action since last rankings:
8-24-08 Illinois gains commitment from Darryl Lee.
8-31-08 Ohio state gains commitment from Jamaal Berry. Michigan gains commitment from Tate Forcier.
9-2-08 Iowa gains commitment from Bret Van Sloten.

The rich get richer as OSU and Michigan pick up a key piece each. Then the slightly-less-rich get poorer as William Campbell defects. For next week, I’ll probably take a closer look at re-ranking the teams (Michigan out of second?), but I just didn’t have the time this week.

New Rankings:

Posted under Recruiting

Conflicting sources reports that Michigan has lost a commitment from william Campbell. Campbell is the highest-rated recruit in the Wolverines’ class of 2009, but Michigan has always known that he was planning to take official visits to other schools.

If that is the case, then how could he “open up” his recruitment? It seems that to make himself any more open, he’d practically have to state that Michigan is out of the picture for him. Otherwise (as it has been all along), it would seem that he is a soft commit, with Michigan merely a leader among an elite group of schools.

Insert Thor pic here for mega-lolz.

Posted under Recruiting

Back in the summer when we previewed Miami, it appeared as though they would have a strong defense on the strength of three returning seniors, all of whom are all-conference candidates in the MAC. The offense didn’t look quite as strong, with something of a quarterback controversy going on. After the loss to Vanderbilt, we weren’t quite sure what to think, because nobody carries ESPNU. However, we relied on Dan Kukla of The Miami Student to fill us in on what we had missed.

Vanderbilt took Miami behind the woodshed, and the RedHawks weren’t even competitve against the SEC bottom-dweller. The defense did not perform as expected, and the offense languished under the guidance of Daniel Radabough.

One thing that Kukla specifically pointed out was that Vanderbilt’s “SEC Speed” was apparent against the RedHawks. Of course, I’m personally of the opinion that “SEC Speed,” aside from not really existing, certainly doesn’t aply to the Commodores. That said, Michigan’s athletes, position-for-position, were all more highly recruited out of high school than were Vandy’s, and Michigan has a decided speed advantage at every position as well. This doesn’t bode well for Miami.

However, the speed means nothing if Michigan fails, as it did against Utah, to get athletes into space. The offensive line has to protect the quarterback(s) and make holes in the running game. Brandon Minor being healthy enough to get full prctice reps this week should make him the starter, and give a little stability to the UM offense.

On the other side of the ball, MIchigan’s defense is facing a much limper test than it was last week against the Utes. Assuming there isn’t as much of a first-half struggle to get into the game, this defense should be able to dominate a weaker opponent.

Predictions:
Michigan’s defense will take out revenge for their first-half struggles last week by dominating the RedHawks.
Michigan’s offense will be able to move the ball more effectively, with Steven Threet starting at QB.
Martavious Odoms and Brandon Minor will both have at least one touchdown.
There will be a big play for Michigan on special teams.
The Wolverines win, 24-3.

Posted under Analysis

Each week, Varsity Blue will have a guest poster, Massey from Buckeye Commentary, give us his thoughts on the Michigan game. In return, I’ll guest post on BC. Check out my view of Ohio state’s game over there.

Utah v. Michigan – August 30, 2008

What I Saw

On offense, I saw a surprisingly inept running game. No one was expecting Nebraska circa 1995, but I viewed the running backs as the strength of the Wolverine offense. Sam McGuffie, Brandon Minor, Michael Shaw, and Carlos Brown (shoulder) were totally ineffective, however. None of those four had any rhythm because of limited carries. I knew the offensive line was all new, but I was surprised that the misdirection plays were not more effective. Hell, a few of them fooled me on the couch, not to mention the camera operators. They were slightly better catching passes out of the backfield

The offensive staff clearly wanted to throw down field early in the game, which should have signaled to me that they needed to spread out Utah’s front seven because the ground game was poor. Even though the deep passes were not overly effective, 106 of Michigan’s 167 passing yards came on four completions. The short passes seemed far easier for Michigan to execute and the play they ran to get their first touchdown was borderline indefensible. After that, I was expecting to see a ton of those short throws.

Honestly, I though Nick Sheridan was better than Steve Threet. I know Threet made a nice toss to Hemingway, but he had the advantage of coming in late and having relatively little pressure. It could not get much worse when he stepped into the huddle. You could view that battle as a lesser of two evils, and I know I am in the minority, but I think Sheridan ends up being the starter, unless Justin Feagin bursts onto the scene.

What I Didn’t See

I sure as hell did not see the defense I expected in the first half. The first half defensive performance was crippling. Were they even calling defenses in the huddle? The Utah receivers could not have been more open. On 3rd and 19, Johnson hit a wide-open slant for a 50 yard gain. Huh?

I thought Terrance Taylor (foot injury), Will Johnson, Tim Jamison, and Brandon Graham would cause significant disruptions in Utah’s backfield, keep everything in front of them, and force Utah to march slowly down the field. But that did not happen until the second half, when their defensive adjustments yielded six sacks on Brian Johnson. Half of those were drive killers.

If the defense can continue at their second half level, and not get tired of carrying the offense, they could become a formidable unit before this season is done.

Who I Watched

I could not ignore sophomore Obi Ezeh, who was everywhere. He was great as a freshman and will be very good by the end of this season. If he showed up in Scarlet and Gray tomorrow, he would start. Aside from the defensive line and Ezeh, I have not heard of any of those players.

I was interested in the quarterbacks, of course, and I watched McGuffie with YouTube-tinted glasses. I would be lying to you if I said I did not imagine Pryor running that offense a few times. He is the real thing and far beyond any QB talent on Michigan’s roster at the moment. Otherwise, Michigan shuffled in so many players, I had trouble keeping track of who was doing what.

What I Expect For Next Week

I have no idea. Honestly. At the very least, I expect the defense to play well for the entire game. Miami (Ohio) is a MAC challenger, but they are not at Utah’s level.

Despite my earlier proclamation, I bet Threet starts at quarterback. I also expect the rushing attack to receive more attention, if not improve. But, the Wolverines were opportunistic against the Utes, and will need to be again if they want to put up some points.

What This Can Tell Us About The Game

Nothing, for the moment. I think we can all agree on the outcome if The Game were this weekend. But, it’s not. The Wolverines have an entire season to get better offensively and get meaner on defense. Every fan knows the role emotion plays on that last Saturday and you cannot discount the confidence and camaraderie the Michigan players may build as they collectively learn this fall.

For Michigan, every game is step towards November 22 and all we learned this past weekend is how many steps Michigan has to climb.

Posted under Analysis

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio State	—
2	Southern Cal	2
3	Florida	1
4	Georgia	1
5	Oklahoma	—
6	Texas	3
7	LSU	3
8	West Virginia	—
9	Wisconsin	2
10	Penn State	3
11	Missouri	5
12	Auburn	2
13	South Florida	3
14	Alabama	12
15	Oregon	—
16	South Carolina	10
17	Oklahoma State	4
18	Utah	5
19	Wake Forest	7
20	Brigham Young	6
21	Arizona State	3
22	California	4
23	Illinois	1
24	Kansas	2
25	Colorado	1

Changes from preliminary ballot: I agree that I overrated South Carolina slightly on the basis of a national TV win. If Smelley has a good game thursday, however, that are candidates to move up. Obviously Tennessee had an ugly loss since the draft ballot was published. So much for the “clawfense.” They have been dropped. I moved BYU down a little bit, and dropped Colorado in favor of a team that I liked more in the preseason in Kansas. I also think I had slightly overrated Alabama on the basis of one game that just so happened to be a classic Tommy Bowden choke job. I also moved Southern Cal to second, because the only real reason they weren’t before is that it would kill me to see OSU in yet another #1 v. #2 game.

If there’s still something you disagree with, let me know and I’ll take it into consideration for next week’s vote.

Posted under BlogPoll