Action since last rankings:
11-11-08 Northwestern gains commitment from Arby Fields.
11-12-08 Iowa gains commitment from Tyler Harrell.
11-14-08 Iowa gains commitment from Shane Dibona.
11-17-08 Illinois gains commitment from Tank Carradine.
11-18-08 Iowa gains commitment from Martin Hopkins. Iowa gains commitment from Joshua Brown.
11-19-08 Michigan gains commitment from Pearlie Graves. Northwestern gains commitment from Cooper Gerami.

Illinois is right on the heels of Penn State, despite having 5(!) fewer commits. I’d be surprised if they didn’t end up passing the Nittany Lions by the end of the year, assuming all the current commitments hold. Michigan pulls a little closer to Notre Dame. Indiana’s top commit, Jeremy Gainer, is now a soft verbal. Continued laughing at Purdue.

New Rankings:

Posted under Football

God, this is going to hurt…

Michigan has been a disappointment this year without a doubt. However, their compatriots to the South have been something of a disappointment as well, though not to nearly the degree of the Wolverines. Ohio State entered the year returning nearly everyone off a team that had played for the national title the past two years, yet got destroyed in Los Angeles, and went down on their home turf to Penn State. that said, Michigan doesn’t stand a real chance…

Offense
Terrelle Pryor’s ascent took place a year earlier than expected, but take place it did. He is now the triggerman for Ohio State, and does just about everything from running to passing to just handing the ball off to Beanie Wells. Speaking of Wells, he’s done it all for Ohio State – on the rare occasion he was completely healthy. The two areas of weakness for the OSU offense are the wideouts and offensive line. The line has ranged from bad to mediocre all year, with brief forays into the area of “passable.” They are the most culpable party for each of Ohio State’s losses. Their pass blocking has improved since the USC game, helped in large part by Terrelle Pryor’s ability to move the pocket and escape pressure. However, the run blocking still leaves something to be desired, though Pryor and Beanie can make do with the holes that are opening up in front of them. The wideouts are talented but inconsistent, with problems ranging from drops to missed cuts.

Michigan’s defensive strength is the line, which should help them against OSU’s offensive weak point, the O-line. However, many schools have schemed to minimize Michigan’s advantage here (most frustratingly Toledo) with all manner of half-rollouts and quick passes, which are the strength of Pryor’s game, unfortunately. Ohio State also seems poised to attack Michigan’s weak safeties and linebackers. I’ve had nightmares for weeks thinking about the Wolverines’ poor tackling against the Buckeyes.

Defense
The Ohio State defense has been pretty good for most of the year, with a few notable exceptions. Those exceptions include USC, who simply had their way with OSU – on both sides of the ball – and teams with mobile quarterbacks, like Ohio and Illinois. Other teams have been able to move the ball on the ground against Ohio State, however. Through the air, Malcolm Jenkins and a rotating cast of nickel players have shut down opposing passing attacks.

Alas, Michigan has neither the plethora of talent that the Trojans boast, nor the mobile signal-caller of Ohio or Illinois. I don’t particularly fancy the though of Nick Sheridan slinging the ball into the teeth of that Buckeye secondary, either. This essentially boils down to Michigan’s only hope being a healthy Brandon Minor, and a host of short passes (many of them screens) and maybe a guest appearance by Justin Feagin running the zone-read. Ohio state has had their share of missed tackles this year, too, and strong running by the likes of Brandon Minor and Greg Mathews should result in some YAC.

Special Teams
This section hasn’t appeared in any previews so far this year, but the Ohio State special teams have been notable in their boom-or-bust characteristic (sounds familiar, no?). Of course, Ohio State’s ST units haven’t been as volatile as Michigan’s and have been much more heavy on the good things, like blocked punts and returns for touchdown.

Michigan’s main goal in this facet of the game is to not have a punt blocked, and not lose the ball on a return. Playing against a coach like Tressel, special teams play and changing field position should be a huge factor.

Predictions
Michigan’s only passing touchdown comes either in the first quarter or on a screen pass.
Stevie Brown intercepts a pass, but makes enough mistakes in coverage to make up for it.
Michigan keeps this one a little closer than the experts think, losing 31-17.

Posted under Football

After much scouring, we finally found a Buckeye who could converse in modern English. Our liaison to the unwashed masses of Buckeyes is Zach Meisel, a football beat writer for THE Lantern. Enjoy:

Posted under Football

Over the course of the year, Michigan fans have seen what the Wolverines have been offering on the field. What they may not be quite as familiar with is their counterpart down South, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Fortunately, I’ve been scouting the Bucks all year for the “Across the Border” series with Buckeye Commentary. What has each game showed us that is relevant to Saturday? Take a look:

Youngstown State
Not much, aside from serving as a stark contrast to Michigan’s opener. The two programs are starting off on a completely different plane, and a dominant performance from Ohio State puts the fear of God in Wolverines fans.

We do know that Michigan fans will probably grumble discontentedly when Terrelle Pryor does something of note against Michigan on November 22.

One area that might actually be relevant is also the offensive line of Ohio state being rather underwhelming. Presumably, however, they will cut down on penalties and other mistakes over the course of the year. Of course, there were also other occasions where the OSU line gave Boeckman about 3 weeks to throw the ball downfield. We’ll see which is more indicative of the actual quality of the offensive line when the Bucks see some better competition.

Again, there are caveats about quality of competition, but OSU was also able to harass YSU’s quarterback all day long.

Ohio
Not much, really. Again, Ohio State faced a team that was nothing like Michigan, and the level of competition was very low. Unless Beanie’s foot injury is a lot more severe than the public currently is aware (which I doubt), Michigan will not see an Ohio State team that is minus its offensive catalyst and best player.

However, the pass protection problems persist from last week. Maybe with a more reliable running threat to take some additional heat off the QB, the Buckeyes will be able to settle down and protect the passer, but for now, I wouldn’t be confident they can do this. Of course, Michigan’s offense is terrible bordering on pitiful, so it is likely that, even if Michigan finds itself with a lead in the Shoe on November 22, Jim Tressel will keep pounding away until 3rd and long. With little threat of Michigan building (or extending) a lead, Tresselball will likely be in full force for the greatest rivalry in all of sport.

The other thing noticed was the success of the Bobcats’ spread offense. Even with a backup quarterback in the game (note: still better than either of Michigan’s starting QB options), the OU offense ran pretty smoothly, carrying an upset bid into the fourth quarter. Of course, Jackson could run and not throw, and Michigan’s QBs can hardly do either. Is OSU the new Michigan in terms of inability to defend the spread? Wolverine fans are certainly hoping so. Also, they are hoping that their own offensive line stops sucking.

USC
USC gave us the blueprint for beating Ohio State: play them when they don’t have the services of their best player, and have more talent than them at nearly every position. OK, so maybe that doesn’t realistically tell the 2008 Michigan Wolverines how they can beat Ohio State, but it does show us that the Buckeyes can be beaten, and handily.

Several flaws with Ohio State’s team were accentuated: the quarterback(s), the offensive line, and to a lesser extent, the play calling. Of course, Jim Tressel always saves his most creative gameplan for the Wolverines, but if nothing else, this has given the Michigan coaching staff an idea of what buttons they can press to stress the weaknesses of Ohio State.

Troy
There are a few key notes that Michigan fans should have taken from this game:
1. Terrelle Pryor is likely to be OSU’s starter for the remainder of the year. The Wolverines had better get some practice stopping a running quarterback.
2. The Ohio State offensive line’s struggles early in the year might speak to an actual problem with the unit, rather than shaking out some early-season cobwebs.

I’m not willing to say that Michigan is likely to beat Ohio State this year, but it is starting to seem like Jim Tressel is approaching becoming a new Lloyd Carr. Letting clearly overmatched opponents stay in a game much longer than they should be, laying an egg on national TV last week with arguably his most talented team ever. Of course, some of these problems will be solved with the return of Beanie Wells, but the trajectory isn’t favorable for The Senator.

Minnesota
First things first, it tells us that the Ohio State offense is far better with Beanie in the backfield. If he can stay healthy through the entire year, OSU shouldn’t have any more struggles like they did in the three game stretch between Ohio and Troy.

It also gives us our first chance to see an opponent that Michigan and Ohio State will have in common in 2008. Sure, you can’t compare boxscores side-by-side, but you can (eventually) see who actually played a better game against the Gophers, taking all factors into account.

Still, Ohio State didn’t look overly physical yet again (though better than they did against Troy), and I wonder if they’ll snap out of it during the course of the season. If not, is it possible that they’ll lack physicality against the Wolverines, or (the more likely scenario) be a little TOO physical and aggressive, either being susceptible to misdirection or liable to commit penalties (the “Sparty, No!” syndrome, as it’s known in Ann Arbor).

Wisconsin
The Ohio State offense is much better when they have both Beanie and Pryor available. Assuming those two are in the game against Michigan, Ohio State will definitely manage to score some points. However, The Buckeyes somehow managed to score less against the Badgers than did Michigan’s dysfunctional offense, so the Buckeyes are far from unstoppable. However, given Michigan’s troubles stopping Illinois, it could be a long night when there are more talented players plugged in.

Defensively, there is going to be yardage available against Ohio State. Michigan’s weakness is in the interior offensive line, and Ohio State’s defensive tackles, while they’re pretty good, did not dominate by any means against the Badgers. The Wisconsin offense also did its best when relying on misdirection, which is essentially the cornerstone of Michigan’s offense.

Purdue
Offensively, the Buckeyes really shouldn’t worry. If the offensive line plays well one game all year, they’ll save it for Michigan. However, there is something of a disturbing trend developing here.

Defensively, the Buckeyes showed what they’re capable of doing if they play up to their potential. If they’re in peak form against the Wolverines, maybe Michigan should just punt on first down every series. Wait – then the Buckeyes might just block it for a TD

Michigan State
If last week showed us that, with a little bad luck and some inconsistency, the Buckeyes are beatable, the game against Michigan State did the exact opposite. Whereas last week the offense sputtered and a blocked punt provided the only points on the day, this week the fumble returns and such were just the icing on a particularly delicious cake in the eyes of OSU fans.

Alas, this is the effort Michigan is mo
re likely to see out of Ohio State (the Wolverines and Buckeyes always get the other’s best effort), instead of the Purdue sleeper. However, Michigan fans can look at the last two Ohio State games and see that it is indeed possible to beat the Buckeyes if they don’t show up to play.

Penn State
Though the Buckeyes have only lost two games so far, a couple teams have given a blueprint for what Michigan needs to do to beat Ohio State. First, stopping the run is paramount. Penn State and USC both did this, and it led to their success. Not letting OSU’s WRs behind the defensive secondary will give Pryor more difficult throws to make, and he has shown that he doesn’t yet have the experience to hit covered guys with regularity. Purdue was an example of Pryor’s occasional freshman struggles bringing the team down, though Ohio State’s defense and special teams still managed to win the game for them.

Of course, the offensive line is Ohio State’s key. If they put it all together for one more game this entire year, it will be against Michigan. Therefore, Michigan likely has to commit a few more guys to stopping the run, and hope that Pryor makes enough freshman mistakes to hold his offense back.

Northwestern
The Buckeye offensive line is bad (a relative term in this case, of course), and probably isn’t going to get any better this year. Michigan will provide the best defensive line Ohio State has seen since USC, or maybe Penn State. Michigan should be able to get into the backfield. However, Ohio State has had success this year because of Wells’s and Pryor’s abilities to make plays even when there are players in the backfield. Michigan has been a terrible tackling team this year. I foresee a pretty good offensive day for Ohio State.

Defensively, Ohio State has shown they are capable of shutting down unconventional offenses – though it sometimes takes them a quarter or two. All year, Michigan has shown they can score – but only in the first quarter. The Wolverines will have to pull out all the stops to get a lead early in The Game if they want to stand a chance. The Buckeyes do face their second of three consecutive shotgun-option offenses this week, however, so they may come out pre-adjusted.

Illinois
Well, considering my prediction above [ed. – OSU pounds Michigan], I don’t think Michigan stands too much of a chance in this game. However, we did learn a couple things (relevant, hopefully) about Ohio State from this game. I’m not sure how many tackles the Buckeyes will be missing against Michigan, though.

First, they are definitely susceptible to the run, especially when there’s an option look mixed in. Michigan has less talent for running that type of offense than does Illinois, but if Brandon Minor is healthy, Michigan should at least be able to move the ball a little bit.

Considering Nick Sheridan will likely start for Michigan, I expect to see something more like the offense against Utah or Northwestern (bad) than against Minnesota (good).

Posted under Football

GoBlueWolverine reports defensive tackle Pearlie Graves (6-3, 260) from Tulsa East Central High School in Oklahoma has given his word to become a Michigan Wolverine. Graves is the 19th commit in the class of 2009. Also, he has an awesome name.

Player Notes
Graves plays primarily defensive end in high school, and that is where the recruiting sites list him. However, he has a big frame, and with a college-level strength and conditioning program, he will likely move to defensive tackle. He will likely end up as a penetrator who is more of a speedy defensive tackle than Big Ten fans are accustomed to.

Recruiting Notes
Graves was offered by Michigan in the summer, and the Wolverines immediately became one of his favorite schools. He took his visit to Ann Arbor this fall, and went home raving about his time there, particularly the academic support. Graves’s stock has been rising lately, with several programs offering him scholarships recently. He picked Michigan over Oklahoma State and others.

Posted under Football

The Situation
Michigan and Northwestern are tied at 14 midway through the 3rd quarter. Neither offense has been doing a particularly good job moving the ball down the field, so it’s likely that the next score could be the game-winner in deteriorating weather conditions. The Wildcats have the ball on Michigan’s 47-yard line, and they have a 1st and 10. They have only moved the ball across midfield once the entire day.

Personnel and Formation
Northwester is in a spread formation, with trips to the right, and a single receiver to the left side of the line. Stephen Simmons is lined up to CJ Bacher’s right in the shotgun. Michigan counters with a 4-3 formation, with Brandon Harrison playing linebacker, and aligned slightly wider to the trips side. Stevie Brown and Charles Stewart are the safeties.

The Play

At the snap, all four Northwestern wideouts go downfield. The outside receivers run fade routes down the sidelines. The outisde slot runs a skinny post, and the interior slot runs a deep crossing route. Simmons comes out of the backfield as a checkdown, running a hitch route. Michigan counters with a cover-2 zone. Trent and Warren cover the fades on the outside, and Brown and Stewart cover the deep middle. Ross Lane Eric Peterman, running the skinny post, is wide open behind the safeties, and sprints into the endzone for one of the easiest touchdown catches of his life.

The player will show in this paragraph

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Why it Worked
There is a little disagreement between Paul and me as to who is to blame on this play (though both of us think Stewart is the primarily culpable party). Trent and Warren seem to be covering the fades quite well in my opinion, leaving the safeties free to cover the other two downfield routes. Paul disagrees, and thinks Trent has lost his man, giving Stewart no choice but to cover the sideline route (of course, the Big Ten Network shows no replay that shows the secondary, which would certainly help decide who is to blame). Regardless, Stewart leaves Lane Peterman completely alone on the skinny post, as Brown has stepped up to cover the deep cross. It is apparent that Stewart is primarily to blame, as Brown bitches him out in the endzone, with no apparent protestations from Stewart.

Also helping Northwestern succeed on this play is one of the most ridiculous non-calls of a holding I’ve seen so far this year (except maybe in the OSU-OSU game). Tim Jamison has a free run at Bacher, except, of course, for the left tackles arm, which is wrapped around his neck. Just another example of the despicable officiating the Big Ten has seen this year (I won’t even get into Donovan Warren’s INT for TD that wasn’t…).

Now you know what it was like Inside the Play.

Posted under Football

I heard this elsewhere, but will cite MGoBlog for bringing this information to the public.

Defensive Tackle Jason Kates has left Michigan, according to Rich Rodriguez at Wednesday’s press conference. Kates was a Lloyd Carr recruit who struggled with his weight the entire time he was at Michigan.

Under Mike Barwis, Kates had seemingly found his way, and was working towards being a viable player for Michigan. However, he is no longer with the Michigan Wolverines, and best of luck to him wherever he ends up.

Scholarship count updated accordingly.

Posted under Football

Sophomore Zion Babb, a Wide Receiver from Alhambra, California has decided to leave the Michigan football program. Babb was an athlete without a true position in his time with the Wolverines, bouncing between wide receiver, defensive secondary, and special teams.

While Babb is a gifted athlete, it became clear the he was not a natural football player, and after being unable to find a position in Rich Rodriguez’s first spring in Ann Arbor, he settled at Wide Receiver. Despite getting the ball thrown his way a few times this year, he has decided that his future will not be in Maize and Blue. He is not expected to be the last player to leave Michigan.

Best of luck in the future to Zion.

Scholarship count updated accordingly.

Posted under Football

One of the most common complaints among Michigan fans early in this year was that Rich Rodriguez put all of his eggs in one basket in terms of recruiting quarterbacks. Once Terrelle Pryor chose Ohio State instead of Michigan, a rough first year was sealed for the Rodriguez era. With the two teams squaring off this week, it’s a good time to talk about the player who caused one of the most heated recruiting battles between the two schools in recent memory.

However, did Rodriguez really put all of his recruiting effort into one player, ignoring other possibilities at the position?

Terrelle Pryor
Pryor was the #1 overall recruit in the class of 2008, and given his production as a true freshman, it’s easy to see why. Analysts said Pryor chose Ohio State over Michigan because being able to redshirt as a freshman (er… or not) and playing in a pro-style offense (er… or not) would be most beneficial to his eventual pro prospects. However, the more likely factor in his picking the Buckeyes was the relationship he developed with DeVier Posey and other OU commits.

Marqueis Gray
Gray was also a top prospect to the recruiting services, and an Army All-American. Gray came from a state (Indiana) that shares a border with Michigan, meaning he wouldn’t have to travel too far to school if he did pick the Wolverines. However, Gray went with Minnesota, and Wolverine fans cried foul about Rodriguez’s lack of effort in recruiting him. Fast forward a couple months, and Gray was unable to get through the NCAA clearinghouse, and was an academic casualty of Minnesota’s highly-ranked class. Of course, Gray will play for the Gophers next year, but next year doesn’t really help the 2008 Michigan team.

BJ Daniels
Daniels hails from Florida, one of Rodriguez’s main recruiting pools. The Wolverines were on him heavily in January of 2008, but suddenly their pursuit of him cooled, though he continued to mention Michigan. Daniels ended up at UCF, and it is rumore that everything may not have been 100% compliant in his recruitment, particularly in regards to his demands. If that was indeed the case, you can’t blame Rodriguez for not doing whatever it took to land him.

Already-committed Recruits
Though there were few available prospects out there by the time Rodriguez was established in Ann Arbor, there were certainly top-flight quarterbacks committed to other schools who might be good fits for the Michigan offense, no? It certainly stands to reason, especially considering the cases of Michael Shaw, Roy Roundtree, and Ricky Barnum, that Rodriguez did at least due diligence in giving a phone call to guys like Darrin Thomas (Oregon) and even Boo Williams (of “I almost beat Ohio State this year” fame).

Justin Feagin
That brings us to the prospect that Rodriguez did land, Justin Feagin. Of course, asking a true freshman to step in at quarterback any time is a difficult situation to put a player in, particularly one so highly thought of as a thrower that the recruiting services ranked him only as a defensive back. However, Feagin was the best Rich could land, and he certainly has worked hard and done everything he could to help Michigan – and you can’t blame the kid for that effort not being enough to save his team.

So, in the end, did Rodriguez pursue only Terrelle Pryor, at the expense of the entire 2008 season? Evidence suggests otherwise, and one must assume that a guy who likes winning as much as Rodriguez does would have a contingency plan in place.

Posted under Football

The Board.

Added:
GA Slot Justin Lord. ESPN reports Michigan is pursuing him.
OH LB Anthony Gibson. Michigan after the Trotwood-Madison prospect.

New Information:
MI RB Austin White. Fluff.
PA WR Alex Kenney. Notre Dame is pursuing him. Penn State has to be the favorite though.
FL WR/Slot Chris Dunkley. Scouting report and another from SoFlaFootball.
FL Slot De’Joshua Johnson. Offered. And a SoFlaFootball scouting report.
OH DT Josh Davis. Honorable mention all-conference.
SC DE/OT Dexter Morant. Recruiting-y fluff.
MI DE William Gholston. Sam Webb in the Detroit News fluff.
FL CB Lorenza Wood. More video added.
SC CB DeAndre Hopkins. Fluff.

Analysis:
De’Joshua Johnson appears to be the first true slot offered by Michigan in the 2010 class. Obviously, there is the Pahokee connection there.

Posted under Football