Week 2: Biggest Performers and Underperformers

It seemed like Michigan was 0-1 for a couple of months, and, throughout the course of the game against Air Force, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if Michigan lost back-to-back games to open the season. I'm sure it would have been ugly, but it's a reality we don't have to face thanks to some very key performances on the field.

Of course, where you find good, you also find bad. Or at least unproductive. There were some not-so-great performances from some Wolverines, too. But it is always best to start with the positives.

Top Performers

1. Devin Funchess - TE

Especially after Kevin Koger left for the NFL a year ago, who would've thought we would be mentioning a Tight End as a top performer for the Wolverines? I certainly didn't. But it turns out Devin Funchess might be a vital weapon for this offense heading forward.

Funches recorded all of his first career stats last week against Air Force, and it wasn't just getting a couple numbers next to his name. They all pop out. In fact, you would probably think you're looking at a big threat Wide Receiver's numbers.

Recapping 2012 Commit Ondre Pipkins

We've been breaking down 2012 recruits all month and as we continue along with the defensive line, we reach Ondre Pipkins.  Pipkins is an immense player that brings in large expectations and potential for both the 2012 season and for the future.  There have been concerns about his ability to contribute in his freshman campaign, especially with his recent injury, but most believe he could be one of the most important pieces of the 2012 recruiting class, especially for this season.

There are all kinds of things to be excited about for Pipkins.  To start, he's a great kid who has been known to joke about all things related to the program.  Along with that, he's a pretty good football player too.  His major asset is his impressive size, coming in at 6'3 and 340 lbs according to the athletic site.  For a true freshman, that's pretty big.  So big that he has actually had to undergo a weight loss program during the summer.  He should be trimmed down a bit before kickoff, but getting rid of his "bad" weight will be important for his career as we saw with the whole Will Campbell situation.  Pipkins also has the ability to shed blocks at will with the great use of his hands and ability to shed double teams.  What is even more impressive is his ability to run down plays.  If you watched the All-American game, you can watch Pipkins seemingly chase down plays similar to Mike Martin did last year at Michigan.  With these skills he has the ability to be a factor in multiple parts of the game.

2012 Positional Breakdown: Defensive Line

Out of all the question marks for Michigan's 2012 squad, perhaps the biggest are for the defensive line.  After losing three starters, Michigan is looking for players to fill the roles formerly played by Mike Martin, Ryan Van Bergen, and Will Heininger.  They have returning players at every position on the defensive line with game experience, but only one of the four spots has gotten a serious amount of confidence from fans.  As a result, Michigan's defensive line progress could very likely determine the direction of the defense overall and the team's performance down the stretch.

This is largely because Michigan has All-Big Ten prospects at just about every positional group on the offensive side and is returning just about everybody that started at linebacker or in the secondary last year as well.  Add in the fact that both of the specialists return and Michigan looks like a pretty good squad for 2012, assuming the defensive line can progress.  In my opinion, this is the position group that will determine the type of season Michigan will have in 2012.  Not only because it has the most question marks, but also because of the way it produced in 2011 in route to the Sugar Bowl victory.  Key red zone stops, key stops on 3rd and short, and a plethora of turnovers during the course of the season.  Making up for that is going to be a challenge, so let's start breaking down who has a chance at doing it in 2012.

D-Lineman Ondre Pipkins Suffers Neck Injury

Head football coach Brady Hoke released a statement today (Friday, August 17th) that confirmed a neck injury suffered by freshman defensive lineman Ondre Pipkins, the third significant Wolverine injury this fall. The good news is Pipkins seems to be okay with no serious damage done to the neck, and, according to coach Hoke's statement: "He had movement in all extremities and was taken to U-M Health System for precautionary reasons and evaluation." That is obviously great news, but there has been no time table set for his return.

Pipkins was competing for a back up spot behind nose tackle Will Campbell through the fall, and fellow teammates of his said he was doing a very nice job of competing and that he was learning very quickly in practice.

Should We Worry About Will Campbell?

I've decided to give the subject of Will Campbell's arrest and arraignment a couple days before I addressed the issue. One, because I didn't know the full extent of what happened, and two, because there are always more details that emerge days after this type of incident, not right after. OK, so basically here's the legal verbage of what occurred:

Records show Campbell was arraigned Thursday by a Washtenaw County magistrate on the felony charge — malicious destruction of property worth more than $1,000 but less than $20,000 — and misdemeanor charge — malicious destruction of property worth more than $200 but less than $1,000. He was given a $10,000 personal recognizance bond. The felony charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $2,000 fine.

So there are two vandalism charges, one of them a felony. Yet, what actually happened? From what I've read he caused damage to the hood of a car by sliding over it. Yes, that's right. A Dukes of Hazzard move. Now, I'm not a physics expert or anything, but when a man of Campbell's size, which is 322 pounds, attempts to slide over a car hood...that hood is not going to come out of it unscathed. The other fact that he was intoxicated at the time, I believe, shows a severe lack of judgment.

The problem as I see it is this: Campbell was set to take over Mike Martin's spot as nose tackle on the interior defensive line. He was more than likely supposed to have stepped up and show some of those leadership skills like we were all hoping to see. Maybe even he thought he might've tried to show our DL will not lose a step with him in charge. Now, I have less faith in that. I do believe he'll be able to showcase more of the skills we've been waiting to see since he was a 5* player coming out of high school. Will Hoke show some mercy on him and not punish him very hard through his own measures? I'd like to think so.

Bottom line, Campbell did screw up. Now, sliding across some other guy's hood and causing "malicious" damage is overstating it a bit. Now drinking while doing that, that's a whole other issue. I do think Campbell will be thoroughly chastised for this, as he should be. I just hope in the upcoming season I see more maturity from him as well.

Spring Game Recap

Alright everybody, let's talk Spring Game. The picture of the #GoBlue on the field is fitting because I feel that the recent explosion of twitter warrants it, especially with the new recruiting classes coming in it's a pretty cool thing to see. Arkansas is already using this technique and I'm sure other universities will be following suit. This year's spring game attendance was 25,000 people (same as last year). So who knows, maybe that's a good omen. I personally would like to see more people show. My best friend is an Ohio fan and every year I have to hear his nonsense about how their spring game is much better. Well nothing at Ohio is better than Michigan we all know that, but I do think that if we had higher attendance numbers that could help us out as far as "impressing" recruits.

Spring Game Final Score: Blue 17 - White 0

Offense: 

As I expected, we wouldn't see much from Denard. No real need to since he's the clear cut starting quarterback. The couple of bobbled snaps worried me a little bit, but let's all remember that Barnum is making the transition to Center and he is replacing the best center in the country from a year ago in David Molk. Let's not freak out just yet, as there is still the rest of spring and summer for them to get things right. Fitz Toussaint had 39 yards on just 5 carries and Thomas Rawls had 42 yards on 10 carries and also had 2 touchdowns. Broke some tackles and looked great between the tackles.  Which was good and bad because as Coach Hoke said in his press conference, they weren't that strong up the middle defensively.

I think the most intriguing thing offensively is the backup quarterback job. Devin Gardner didn't look as good as I thought he would. Maybe the best choice is to move him to wide receiver and put Russell Bellomy in the backup position. Gardner is a very good athlete, on top of the fact that he's tall which is always a good thing at WR. Bellamy went 6 for 9 for 40 yards and looked very good on some of his throws. I definitely think we will be all set on offense this year and Denard is only going to be better this year, as long as he cuts down on the interceptions, which Al Borges has already stated has happened in spring practice.

Defense: 

I'd definitely say we have to improve on the D Line. Guys like Mike Martin and Ryan Van Bergen leave some pretty big holes to fill. Big Will Campbell should be able to jump right in, and with the improved play of Jibreel Black, I think we are ok, but the offense definitely had a few big plays right up the middle. With this upcoming first game against Alabama (who is absolutely huge on the O Line) we will definitely have to get better up front.

Linebackers looked amazing. Senior Mike Jones had 6 tackles, while Brandon Hawthorne had 5 tackles and a nice interception. Early enrolees Joe Bolden and Kaleb Ringer looked good also, combining for 5 tackles. Our secondary should be pretty good lead by Jordan Kovacs who is an absolute ball hawker at safety. Blake Countess is turning into that shut down corner and he was lights out as a true freshman so look for him to be even better this season.

Special Teams: 

Going to be interesting as far as the kicking game goes. Matt Wile and Will Hagerup will battle it out for the punter position. Both had some good kicks in the game, so I'll be curious as to who wins what job this season as both alternated duties last season.

I think we have a legitimate shot at beating Alabama. We have the most exciting player in America in Denard Robinson and if we dont turn the ball over and get some stops on defense, we can definitely be right there. It's Big Ten title or bust this year, as it is every year. With these coaches and this great recruiting class coming in, look for Michigan to do big things again this year. Go Blue!


Photo Credit: USAToday

Spring Game Tastes

On April 14th, Michigan football will take the field for the annual spring game in front of thousands of fans. There are a few reasons that college teams do this, but I tend to think it's to give fans a small taste of what's to come later in the fall. It's a good time for fans to go to a free game, although parking is not (hint hint). The upcoming season of 2012 should be a great one for Team #133 if things work out the way most envision. I want to go over a few things that I believe should be evident, even if it's just a scrimmage.

Here's a list of things to look for in the spring game:

1. The confusing mystique of Denard Robinson. Denard has a very loyal following in Ann Arbor, and one only has to watch one game to see why. This will be Hoke's second season as head coach, but I think what gets lost among the hullabaloo is that Al Borges, offensive coordinator, will be in his second season as well. Last season was Denard's first in a pro-style offense under Hoke and Borges, and while at times it looked nice and fluid; at others it looked sporadic and clumsy. It's no accident Denard threw a conference high 15 interceptions and had a low completion rate. What we need to see at the spring game is a much more confident pocket passer who can take passes from under center just as well as he would in a shotgun formation. Denard will always be able to burst out of the pocket to make a big run if he needs to, but he needs to show off more accuracy of his arm.

2. The Barnum (and Bailey) circus? Ricky Barnum is a senior this upcoming season, and primed to take over the center position from David Molk. Molk provided consistency, strength, agility, and intelligence in that position that will be difficult to replecate. Barnum has the talent to take over but not much experience. Also gone is Huyge so look to Schofield or possibly Kalis to get some major snaps at right tackle.

3. Defensive line. It was a real treat last season seeing our defense progress from one of the worst to top 20 in the country. A lot of it had to do with the arrival of Greg Mattison from the Baltimore Ravens, and a lot had to do with significant improvement from the D-line. With Martin, Van Bergen, and Heininger all gone it will be up to Will Campbell, Craig Roh, and Richard Ash to bear the load this season. Martin and Van Bergen alone were the pivotal guys and I want to see if the current D-Line, Campbell specifically, can step up.

4. Secondary should be a primary focus. With stalwart cornerback Troy Woolfolk gone, now it's up to Blake Countess and J.T. Floyd to anchor the secondary. This has been a big issue for the past few seasons; giving up the big play at the worst time; amd hopefully at the spring game they have more of a spring in their step (pun intended).

5. Receiver core. Hemingway, Odoms, and Koger are gone and it's up to Roundtree, Gallon, Jackson, and Grady to pick it up a bit. I can see Denard throwing to Roundtree on a post route, or a fade, and Gallon is speedy enough to warrant two defenders. Maybe Chesson catches a few big passes. I think the receiving core is one of the positions where depth is going to hurt the most.

I could make this a lot longer. Things are never finely tuned in the spring game and rumors are always abundant. Remember just a couple years ago when Denard started and Forcier played just a few horrible snaps? Rumor had it Tate did not put in the effort in the offseason, waas called out by fellow teammates, and lost his helmet wings. That turned out mostly true and prophetic, as he left Michigan after Denard became a star that season and transferred to San Jose State, only to flame out there as well. Position rosters are never finalized in the spring game but it does give a good indication as to how things are going to flow for the upcoming season. I think I can say that I'm more excited for this spring game than I have been in a long time.


Photo Credit: Toledo Blade