ESPN was in Ann Arbor today to tape a Titletown segment on the city of Ann Arbor. No doubt they’ll focus on the dominant Pioneer swim teams!

I went to the shoot after stopping at Moe’s to buy a maize shirt, to fit in. There was a decent crowd, maybe 75-100 partisans. What made the scene funnier was the fact that as their setting up and the crowd is warming up and doing some cheers, there are orientation groups being led through the diag on tours. Just another day at Michigan…

Unfortunately the anchor for the section wasn’t Dana Jacobsen, but the anchor (Nicole something, I couldn’t really here anything from where I was) seemed cool and talked with crowd and whatnot. Anytime Desmond Howard became visible the crowd immediately exploded. One kid shouted “I was born the year you won the Heisman.” Kids are so young these days.

I’ve seen a few of the Titletown segments and it really looks like a quick and easy thing that could have been done live; this is not the case. We did each take multiple times. The producer would give us hand gestures to tell us when to get loud, to cue the band, to let the cheerleaders when to do what they do. I felt like the mob should at least get a small appearence fee for trying to get into to football saturday roudy mode on a Monday at noon.

A couple times the ESPN crew had to reshoot a section because (get this) the fans were TOO LOUD. This could be the only time Michigan fans outside of Yost have ever been too loud. I will remember this always. When the producer told us to cheer quietly during an interview with Desmond Howard, I thought “Finally! Someone playing to Michigan Fan’s strengths!”

Overall it was an fun experience even though I could care less about yet another mythical title that the WWL seems intent on creating bi-annually. Hopefully the small group of fans did the University proud. The A^2 T^2 segment will air on the 6 o’clock Sportscenter on July 20th

Posted under Misc.

Pretty much as expected, from what we’ve been hearing lately, the official Michigan jerseys for 2008 have been unveiled on MGoBlue:

Let the bitching commence. I find them to be entirely inoffensive.

Posted under Misc.

Much stuff from late last week snuck its way in here because of the JAM PACKED WITH CONTENT nature of Friday’s update.

Added:
FL WR Rontavious Wooten. Michigan is in his top 4, though LSU leads.
WA DT Deandre Coleman. I’m still convinced Michigan needs to take another DT in this class.
FL OL Andrew Carter. Apparently offered.

New Information:
Pahokee, FL prospects. Will play on ESPN August 30, where many of them also plan to announce college decisions. Also, they got in a huge brawl this weekend.
MD RB Tavon Austin. Wants to have freedom in his college offense. Seems a spread attack would be a good fit for him.
GA WR Braxton Lane. Baseball fluff. At this point, I expect him to be a top pick in next spring’s MLB Draft, and would be surprised if he went to college. Hell, we’d definitely take him for both sports.
FL TE Orson Charles. Decision Timeline.
OK RB David Oku. Talks officials (Michigan’s is for the MSU game). Video? Video:

Ladies, if you’re going to go visit him at work, don’t forget to sport some of this stuff.

Removed:
FL DT Antwan Lowery. Down to two (info in header). I’m betting neither is Mich, since he has visited several other schools.

Posted under Recruiting

Hooray Alliteration!

Is Ann Arbor TitleTown?

Be part of ESPN’s TitleTown segment on Ann Arbor!

Come to the Diag on Monday, July 14th at 11am in order to participate in the taping of this segment.*
*Taping will begin at noon and finish at 1pm

Former Michigan Great Desmond Howard will be on hand for the interview portion.

For more information, visit sports.espn.go.com/espn/titletown/index.

Posted under Misc.

Audio only this week. Enjoy.

Posted under Recruiting

Action since last rankings:
7-5-08 Ohio State gains commitment from Sam Longo.
7-7-08 Notre Dame gains commitment from Marlon Pollard. Purdue gains commitment from Gary Bush.
7-8-08 Michigan State gains commitment from Nate Klatt. Notre Dame gains commitment from Tyler Eifert.
7-10-08 Indiana gains commitment from Duwyce Wilson.

New Rankings:

Sam Longo commits. OSU probably has 3-4 slots left for people like Marcus Hall, Jaamal Berry, etc.

Michigan is waiting for more commits.

Adam Gress, Curtis Dukes, and Christian Kuntz commit.

The Irish grab two prospects, is big-timer Chris Watt on the horizon?

Wisconsin moves past Michigan State because I give slightly more value (up to a bonus star) to any offensive lineman that Wisconsin deems worthy (and they have 3 so far in this class).

Nate Klatt becomes a Spartan.

Keise, Rengel, and Michel probably low-3/high-2 guys. Kickers are rarely rated very well.

Steve Hull to the Illini.

Indiana gets a boatload of commits. Keyt will be a 2-star (he is being brought in as a greyshirt long-snapper), Gainer might end up a mid-to-high 3-star, and the rest will be in the low 3-star range.

Northwestern is still in on a couple of big-timers. Will they be able to land one?

Ferentz’s glory days in recruiting seem to be over.

Not sure where Aristide will be ranked, but it has to be a more important commit than a long-snapper. He was on the verge of becoming a big prospect before a junior year injury.

Posted under Recruiting

Mega-full week. Some stuff may be held until Monday’s update.

Added:
IN OL Kyle Koehne. Top 4 of UM, MSU, BC, UF. Wants to decide before his senior season.
VA DE Will Hill. Visiting this weekend.

New Information:
VA QB Commit Kevin Newsome. May camp at VT. :(
MI QB/S Thomas Gordon. Nearly guaranteed to commit if offered.
MS S Dennis Thames. Recruiting fluff, +visited this week and subsequently named Michigan his favorite.
IN OL Zach Martin. Top 5 of UM, ND, UVa, UK, Ill. Wants to decide before senior season (not set in stone). Visiting this weekend.
GA LB Devekeyan Lattimore. Likes Michigan and plans to visit this summer (info in header).
NV DE Keenan Graham. Michigan in his top 9.
OK CB Gabe Lynn. Michigan would let him run track in college.
CA WR Shaquelle Evans. Michigan “high on his list.” He is expected to visit Notre Dame for the Michigan game.
GA CB Darren Myles. He plans a visit to the northern schools on his list sometime this summer. Michigan is on his list but not explicitly mentioned as one of the visited.
NC WR Jheranie Boyd. Recruiting fluff.

Removed:
SC QB/S Stephon Gilmore. Michigan is out of his top group.
FL CB Brandon McGee. Has made decision plans, Michigan not among the schools considered.
IA WR Keenan Davis. Will not decide until signing day, no apparent M interest.
TN WR Marlon Brown. Trimmed list, no Michigan.
NC CB Terry Shankle. Michigan eliminated.

Etc.: TheWolverine’s Josh Helmholdt breaks down Michigan and MSU recruiting classes thus far.

Posted under Recruiting

Toledo Offense:
QBs
The Rockets had a ton of injury problems at the signal-caller position last year. Aaron Opelt, now a true junior, was the primary starter, but he missed time in several games. Backup Clint Cochran, now a 5th-year who is listed on the roster but not the depth chart, played until he was injured as well. DJ Lenehan had been expected to redshirt, but now enters the 2008 season with a few starts under his belt. Depth will be provided by JC transfer Alex Pettee.

Statistics:

Analysis:
If nothing else, the injuries to Toledo quarterbacks have prepared the backups to get some playing time in the future. Opelt is the main guy here, but the Rockets are prepared if he goes down. He is the most mobile threat of the bunch, and his passer rating wasn’t that much lower than the likes of Chad Henne in 2007 (albeit against much weaker competition). He should be able to sling it pretty well this year.

RBs
Toledo loses last year’s leading rusher in Jalen Parmele. Returning is their second leading rusher, redshirt junior DaJuane Collins. After QB Aaron Opelt, true sophomore Gordon Warner was next in rushing for the Rockets. Behind them, little-used redshirt sophomore Jason Washington and used-even-less-frequently true sophomore DeAndre Ware bring the depth. Adonis Thomas redshirted last year, and should be able to jump these two on the depth chart.

Statistics:

Analysis:
Parmele carried the vast majority of the load for Toledo last year, and losing a drafted player will certainly not help the ground game this year. Collins and Warner will likely get a more even share of the carries than the #1 and #2 have for the Rockets in the recent past, but it is unlikely that they will be able to perform to the level that Parmele did in the past couple years. Expect a big dropoff at the top, with some compensation in the form of better depth behind the top couple RBs.

Receivers:
The leading receiver for Toledo last year returns in the form of redshirt junior Stephen Williams, a second-team all-conference selection. Redshirt senior Nick Moore was directly behind him, followed by a host of now-departed players in TE Chris Hopkins, as well as WRs Andrew Hawkins and David Washington. Senior John Allen will now start at the TE position (backed up by redshirt junior Tom Burzine), and redshirt freshman Tom Cortazzo, who was second string last year but did not play, will man the third WR spot. RS junior Robin Bailey will be a backup at wideout, but several players who didn’t receive playing time last year will have to step up now.

Statistics:

Analysis:
Toledo didn’t spread the ball around as much as many teams do, with their top 2 receivers getting the vast, vast majority of the receptions. With the next three behind them (in addition to the leading receiver at RB) gone, they may take an even larger proportion. While most smaller
schools tend to have short, speedy guys, the Rockets have starters who are 6-1, 6-4, and 6-5. Michigan’s corners will have to use good technique and superior athleticism to keep toledo from going over the top.

Line:
Along the line, Toledo’s returners all come on the interior. True sophomore right guard Kevin Kowalski started most of the season at the position past year, as a true freshman. Center Buster Garrett is a redshirt junior, and he started several games at the position last year. Projected left guard Jared Dewalt is a true junior who gained starting time at right guard his freshman year, then started at right tackle most of last year. The tackles ar both new, with redshirt freshman Mike VanderMeulen taking over on the left side, and redshirt sophomore Chris Meenan, who got playing time in 8 games last year, on the right. The backups are generally inexperienced freshmen, except right guard Patrick Dawson, a senior who has been the primary backup for the past 3 years.

Analysis:
New tackles could mean that Aaron Opelt ends up on his back a lot. However, both of their new guys are good-sized, and the Rockets are hoping they can protect Opelt. With the new outside linemen and a new starting running back, I wouldn’t be surprised to see rush yards go down and sacks go up. Opelt’s escapability is the wildcard in that equation.

Offensive Analysis:
Losing your leading rusher, an NFL draft pick, has to hurt the Rockets. If Opelt can stay healthy this year, Toledo will probably toss the bal around a bit more than they did last year, though several of the top targets are no longer in blue and gold. This year should be a rebuilding one for the Toledo offense, but they should come on strong in 2009 with only 1 starter a senior this year. 2008 will also be a transition year to a new offensive coordinator, which bodes poorly for this campaign, but well for ’09.

Toledo Defense:
Defensive Line:
Sean Williamston returns to the Rockets after being injured for the entire 2007 season. The redshirt senior will start at one defensive end spot. At the other spot, a sophomore phenom-of-sorts in Alex Johnson, who led the DL in tackles last year, will start. This displaces former starter Doug Westbrook, but I can’t imagine Johnson not starting after the year he had (and neither is close to large enough to move inside). Art the tackle spots, junior Skylaar Constant will man one starting position. The true junior got 7 starts last year. At the other spot, true junior Maurice Hill and true senior Alfred Martin will duke it out for the starting nod.

Statistics:

Analysis:
With two positions not entirely settled going into the fall, Toledo should have a fair amount of depth. Their DL is very light, however (heaviest projected starter is 6-2, 282), and they may be pushed off the ball with relative ease by a team with the talent of Michigan. The inside run should be a vulnerability, and the ends are closer to pinebacker size than they are to true run-stuffers.

Linebackers:
The Rockets run a 4-2-5 defense, but for the sake of my sanity, the rover shall be considered a linebacker. Returning at that position is Toledo’s leading tackler from last year, now-junior Lester Richmond. At the linebacker positions (not sure of the nomenclature in a 4-2-5. Middle and weak?), Keith Forrestal will come back for his senior season, but the other starter from ’07, the Rockets’ second-leading tackler in Greg Hay, has graduated. Stepping in will probably be Archie Donald, a junior who started half the games his freshman year, but was out for last season with academic troubles. The backups at linebacker all have
some starting experience, and juniors Beau Brudzinski, Derrick Summers, and Joe Shuler (rover) should not be huge liabilities when they spell the starters.

Statistics:

Analysis:
The 4-2-5 defense is designed to stop spread attacks, replacing a true linebacker with a hybrid LB/safety. Toledo runs such a system, but it remains to be seen whether it is effective against high-talent spread teams. Behind the primary backups, Toledo returns virtually nobody, so they may try to get a bit more depth developed this year. The return of Archie Donald give Toledo a pretty athletic LB to counter Forrestal’s bigger size.

Defensive Backs:
Toledo returns four starters at defensive back, and has enough quality players that one of the returners wasn’t even able to hold onto his starting spot in the spring. At corner, junior Walter Atkins returns as a starter, and Desmond Marrow, who redshirted last year with a foot injury, wrested the starting spot away from true sophomore Myshan Pettis in the spring. This means the Rockets will have 3 quality corners. At the safety positions, junior Barry Church may be the most celebrated player on the team. The junior strong safety has been first team all-conference the past two years. At free, senior Tyrell Herbert, who started his freshman and sophomore years before being limited due to injury last year, gets the starting nod. His backup is the lanky (6-2, 166) junior Chris Murphy.

Statistics:

Analysis:
There is plenty of experience in the defensive backfield (despite not that many players, all of the top guys return plus Marrow), and surprisingly good size for a MAC team. The starting corners are 6-1 and 6-3, and both safeties are 6-2 and near 200 pounds. Church is the best of the bunch, and look for him to make most of the tackles. Toledo won’t be as susceptible to the passing game as you might expect, with their defensive style and experience in the secondary. However, the number of tackles Atkins made leads me to believe he’s far from a lockdown corner, as opposing quarterbacks neither feared throwing it his way nor failed to complete the passes they hurled in his direction.

Defensive Analysis:
The Toledo offense certainly doesn’t rely on the blitz game. Almost no sacks and very few tackles for loss came from the linebackers or secondary. For that matter, the linebackers didnt’ seem to do a ton in coverage either, registering no interceptions. Toledo instead relies on D-linemen to create pressure (both on the q
uarterback and for the opposing run game), linebackers to control the run game, and defensive secondary to take care of the pass. The latter should be the most successful this year, unless the d-line does nothing to get pressure on the QB.

Special Teams:
Kicker Alex Steigerwald returns after two solid years as the starter. Toledo loses punter Brett Kern, and he will be replaced by redshirt freshman Bill Claus. Return duties will have to be accounted for as Jalen Parmele handled them last year.

Statistics:

Analysis:
Kicking won’t be a liability, but the return game and punting could pose some problems for the Rockets.

Overall Analysis:
It’s so tough to do a final evaluation of teams like Toledo, because it’s so tempting to say “also, none of that mattered because their a MAC team and they played approximately nobody.” However, Toledo was really inconsistent last year, getting housed by Central Michigan, beating 1-AA Liberty by one point (better than Michigan could against a 1-AA team hur hur), and also doing things like hanging 70 on Northern Illinois and 52 on Eastern. It seems that Toledo should be a middle-of-the-pack MAC team, struggling against good compeition.

Posted under Analysis

A little while back, there was a good post on Burnt Orange Nation about Texas Tech, and how a “gimmicky offense” doesn’t inherently lead to a team having poor defenses. Of course, the reason I bring this up is because of the perception that Rich Rodriguez run a gimmick offense himself, and the fear that this wouldn’t work at a high level.

Essentially, the theory goes: (1) offenses can be enginnered[sic] to take advantage of inferior athletes much more easily than defenses. (2) defenses require great athletes to be great. (3) it’s very hard to recruit great athletes to Lubbock, Texas. (4) therefore, Leach’s offenses have outpaced his defenses. Look around college football at the mid-level programs that have over-achieved in the past 10 years. What do they all have in common? Explosive offense; spotty defense.

This holds true for West Virginia to a certain extent as well. While Rodriguez’s recent success enabled him to recruit better players to Morgantown, WV, it was the Mountaineer offenses that became known around the nation, not the defenses. Recently, the defensive was able to improve based on the success of the team overall. Obviously, Michigan has been a national power, and will not have the same recruiting difficulties as Texas Tech or West Virginia.

If any of you have read the Blind Side by Michael Lewis, you’ll recall his discussion of Bill Walsh’s innovative West Coast offense. Well, NOW it’s called innovative. Back when it was introduced, it was thought of as gimmicky and voodoo. Sound familiar? Then Walsh (who himself said that defensive prowess depends primarily on having great athletes and smart football players, not a scheme) and his 49ers got a defense and won a few Super Bowls and now teams freely use the West Coast Offense as a viable system.

Of course, Michigan’s defense is expected to carry the torch in year one while the offense plays catch-up, so will the Rodriguez spread simply considered “innovative” rather than “gimmicky” in no time flat?

Leach could have been content with Tech being a mediocre team that loses to good teams with better players and beats the teams it’s supposed to. But he instead created a system that allowed his inferior players to beat the best on any given Saturday. Unfortunately for Leach, however, if his offensive system isn’t working, Tech can lose to teams that have even more inferior talent than it. Why? In short, no damn defense.

Of course, a lack of offense explained the WVU loss to Pitt, but it wasn’t because they had “no damn defense” (Pitt only put up 14 points). The lack of the system working and special teams blunders (due to Pat White’s injury and missing three field goals, respectively) were to blame here. With ability to recruit better backups and, presumably, special teams players than West Virginia, hopefully Michigan can avoid upsets of this nature.

In the end, it comes down to Michigan having a “decided schematic advantage” over the opponents (note: actual advantage, not Weis-labeled advantage) on offense, without the defensive difficulties that a team like Texas Tech or West Virginia may encounter. With an effective offensive system and the ability to recruit high-caliber defensive recruits, the sky is the limit for the Wolverines.

Posted under Coaching

Per ESPN and the News, Rich Rodriguez has agreed to pay the full $4 Million buyout, but without having to pay any interest or legal fees to West Virginia.

This should resolve the issue, and I wonder if West Virginia fans will ease the vitriol towards their former headman, now that he isn’t engaged in legal wrangling with his alma mater. I kinda doubt it (I think their anger was over being dumped by Rodriguez, and the suit gave a good excuse), but we shall see.

At any rate, this should be the end of the entire ordeal, and everyone associated with Michigan football can stop worrying about this, and focus on football.

Posted under Coaching