Ryan Mallett Drunk, Probably High, Enjoys Smell Of Own Farts

Former Michigan quarterback of the future Ryan Mallett was arrested in Arkansas and charged with Public Intoxication after the 20-year-old attempted to get into a bar. This arrest gives Michigan fans another excuse to say "good riddance" and the opportunity to marvel at the incredible mugshot of Mallett post-arrest. After one second of looking at that, I knew what the picture reminded me of:

Some highlights from the arrest report:

Club security alerted police after an underage white male believed to be Mallett was attempting to enter the establishment. Police officers patrolling Dickson Street on foot approached Mallett, who they thought “appeared to be already intoxicated.”

Officers observed Mallett “visibly swaying” when attempting to walk. Mallett, according to the arrest report, smelled of a “heavy odor of intoxicants” and his eyes appeared to be “watery and bloodshot.”

The “faint odor of burnt marijuana coming from Mallett” was also detected by officers. When asked if he had been been smoking marijuana, Mallett denied he had, but later admitted to being around people who had.

Watery and bloodshot eyes, faint odor of the ganja ... but you never inhaled? Can we just rename this "The Arkansas Defense"?

Actually, maybe Mallett is telling the truth. He probably fumbled the exchange, and Mike Hart wasn't there to pick up the pieces.

Reactions to the Threet Transfer

The blogosphere has now had sufficient time to react to the news that dropped late last night: Steven Threet will no longer be a Wolverine. Here's a roundup of the reactions from several Michigan and national blogs (I urge you to click the links to get the full picture from each of these blogs ... I'm obviously not going to copy and paste their entire articles):

MGoBlog: This is obviously not good for anything except my prediction that Tate Forcier would be the opening-day starter. For all Threet's faults he looked competent at times last year and could have been passable as a sophomore; Michigan is basically down to the two freshmen and then it's time to close your eyes, pick a walk-on, and pray.

Maize n Brew: While we at Maize n Brew respect Steven's decision to transfer and wish him the best in his future endevours, we're a little perplexed by his decisions. Watching Threet play this year, he's not really that bad a fit for the offense. He's got a live arm and decent speed for a gigantic honky. While he's not a prototypical "spread" quarterback, I can really name only protoytpical spread quarterback in college football. I'll give you a hint. His last name is Pryor. So if you're running the spread, chances are you're imporvising a tad with a quarterback that is spread deficient in some manner or another.

Varsity Blue: The Threet transfer probably does mean one positive thing for Michigan fans: that Tate Forcier has looked good enough in the training program and volunatary QB-WR workouts as to pose a significant threat to Threet’s starting position. Of course, it also means bad things, like “Michigan only has 2 quarterbacks between safety and Nick Sheridan.” The QB depth situation becomes almost as bad as it was last year, though the second option (likely to be Denard Robinson) is a step up from either Sheridan or Justin Feagin.

Michigan Sports Center: Aside from the effect Threet's decision to leave has on the team, this is yet another negative publicity type of moment for the Michigan football program. There have been plenty since Rich Rodriguez was hired, and until he starts winning, there will be plenty more. It's never usually good for a team's image when players leave the program, but when a quarterback leaves, that negative publicity is even worse.

The Diag: Of course, it's not like Threet lit the world up when he started last year (he won just one game as the starter), so to assume that there will be some gigantic drop-off is sort of silly. What Forcier and Robinson lack in game experience, they may make up for in versatility. All those QB running plays that went for naught in 2008 may prove very valuable in 2009 -- if nothing else, the playbook can open up.

More than that, this lets Rodriguez stop dancing around his QB issue. He does not have to force Threet, a drop-back style guy, to fit into his spread offense. With Forcier and Robinson he has more prototypical spread guys, so the pieces may simply come together better.

Dr. Saturday: The Wolverines hotly pursued and had commitments from a pair of primetime, athletic quarterback prospects last year, Shavodrick Beaver and Kevin Newsome, and lost both during the subsequent on-field collapse. Now their loss becomes clear: Threet's departure all but guarantees the offense is doomed to another rebuilding year, and that's only if Forcier is enough of a revelation to hit the ground running in 2010. If not, the spread 'n shred is stuck in the starter's block for the foreseeable future.

The general tenor of Michigan fans seems to fall somewhere between proclaiming doom and seeing the opportunity for Forcier or Robinson to open up the offense next year (with the caveat of AHHHHSHERIDANOOOOOOOOOOOO). This seems about right. U-M might have some early struggles with a true freshman quarterback, and those struggles may very well extend to the end of the season, so it would obviously be nice to have a competent guy under center who has some experience. However, it may be better for the long-term development of Forcier and/or Robinson to have the ball in their hands from day one. They'll almost certainly get the lion's share of practice snaps in the fall, and Forcier is already on campus and will get a ton of spring reps.

Threet's departure obviously doesn't bode well for Michigan. However, I'm not ready to jump off a bridge or anything. Remember, he struggled mightily last season, and there was no guarantee that he was going to be much better in 2009 (or even the starter, or even the backup if Robinson came on strong in the fall). The lack of depth and experience (besides Sheridan, but that doesn't really count) scares me a lot, but the prospect of Forcier getting even more time with the first team makes me more confident that he can have a solid freshman campaign, and the team can be back in the Big Ten title hunt in 2010.

Steven Threet Will Transfer

According to the Detroit News, sophomore quarterback Steven Threet will transfer from the University of Michigan, confirming rumors that had swirled around last season's starter during the past week.

"I've decided to transfer from the University of Michigan," Threet said, reciting from a prepared statement during a telephone conversation Sunday. "I have requested and received my release. I do not yet know where I will continue my collegiate career and will have no further comment until that decision is made."

This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on freshmen Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson to step up and grab the starting quarterback job in 2009. I'm sure Michigan fans will not want to see junior Nick Sheridan under center again, and David Cone, who fans can only assume is nowhere close to being a viable option to play, is the only other quarterback on the roster.

Threet will transfer for the second time in his career. He enrolled early at Georgia Tech in the spring of 2007, but transferred to Michigan before the season started. He is a former Elite11 prospect and was rated the #9 pro-style QB by Rivals coming out of high school. However, it was clear that he didn't fit the spread-option system that coach Rich Rodriguez was implementing, and fans were clamoring for Forcier, an early enrollee, to start from day one.

The move certainly hurts Michigan's depth and experience at quarterback next year, and many expected Threet to at the very least start the season as the number one signal-caller next year. However, I'm not holding any ill will against Threet, and I hope he finds success wherever he ends up. By all accounts, he was a great guy and a true "Michigan Man", and he was caught in a tough situation in Ann Arbor. I wish him the best, and hopefully he'll find the kind of success that Matt Gutierrez achieved after leaving the Wolverines.

Michigan Adds Delaware State to 2009 Schedule

The red and teal eyesores you see above are the Delaware State Hornets, a I-AA (screw that FCS/FBS bull) squad that went 5-6 last season. Yesterday Michigan announced that the football team will host the Hornets on October 17 at the Big House, filling in the last gap in the Wolverines' 2009 schedule.

Tim from Varsity Blue has a full rundown of Delaware State over at MGoBlog. This one should be a laugher, and if it isn't, cue the burning of the internets.

Projecting Michigan's 2009 Recruiting Class

Tate Forcier, 2009 starter? (photo from Varsity Blue)

Signing day has come and gone, and Michigan has the seventh-rated recruiting class in the country (based on Rivals' rankings). Last offseason, I spent way too much time combing through ten years of recruiting data to come up with a way to project the success of players in each recruiting class. A quick recap of that post:

I will be looking at Michigan's classes as a whole, so every player given a scholarship will be counted. This may be flawed, but it's the data I have to work with. My query is, out of every player Michigan gives a scholarship to, what are the chances the player:

• Plays out his full eligibility
• Sees significant playing time
• Is an All-Big Ten/All-American performer
• Gets drafted
• Leaves early (and why they leave early, when that data is available)

For this, I used Mike DeSimone's incredible database of Michigan recruiting classes, which covers every player in every class from 1993 through 2008, and the Bentley Historical Library for data on starts and All-American and All-Conference performers. I will be looking at the classes from 1993 to 2003 (the last class in which every player has played out his eligibility or left the team). Tomorrow, I will be taking this data and doing my best to guess which players from Michigan's recruiting class of 2008 will fall into which category.

Overall, Michigan handed out 220 scholarships from 1993-2003. Of those players:

• 106 (48%) started at least twelve games for Michigan
• 48 (22%) were taken in the NFL Draft
  
• 10 (4.5%) were taken in the first round of the NFL Draft
• 50 (23%) were selected All-Big Ten at least once
• 19 (9%) made an All-American team
• Charles Woodson (.45%) won a Heisman Trophy

I made sure for the All-Conference and All-American players to not count the same players twice if they made the teams in multiple years. Even though Charles Woodson was All-Big Ten all three years he played at Michigan, he still counts as one.

Using that data, I projected the outcome for each player in the Class of '08. Things already hilariously wrong with those projections include expecting Sam McGuffie to become an All-American (Kool-Aid, anyone?), subsequently expecting Michael Shaw to transfer down the road, and placing Martavious Odoms in the "career backup" category. Did I get anything right? Well, I do like my placement of Boubacar Cissoko as a future All-Big Ten player, as well as guessing that Justin Feagin and Mike Cox will eventually transfer (Cox almost did already). It's not a lot to hang my hat on, but it's something.

Anyways, despite it being far too early to guess these things (who knows, we might still add some players), here's my rundown of this year's recruiting class. First, the numbers, adjusted for our 22-man class:

• 14 play out their eligibility
  
• 10.5 start at least 12 games(that half-player's fate will be decided later)
• 5 players get drafted
• 1 player gets taken in the first round
• 5 players make at least one All-Big Ten team
• 2 become All-Americans
  

I'm going to stick to the numbers, despite my optimism that every recruit Michigan ever hauls in will become the next Tom Brady/Charles Woodson/LaMarr Woodley etc. Realism sucks sometimes. Without further ado, let's start the show:

Does not play out eligibility, All-American (1):

• DT Will Campbell (Rivals 5*, No. 26 overall): Consider me fully on the Big Will bandwagon. Thanks to a complete lack of depth at DT, he's going to see significant time (and probably start) from day one. He enrolled early, so he is already off to a head start. He is a prototype DT, at 6-5, 317 lbs. My guess is he'll be solid as a freshman, All-Big Ten as a sophomore, All-American as a junior, and a first round NFL draft pick after leaving a year early. No pressure.

Will Campbell (photo courtesy of the Detroit News)

Play out eligibility, All-American (1):

• DB Justin "J.T." Turner (Rivals 4*, No. 3 Safety): Turner can play either corner or safety (he played corner in the Army All-America Bowl) and Michigan has a huge need for someone to step up at both positions. He can see the field as early as this year, and has tremendous talent. His size (6-2, 185) projects very well to any position in the defensive backfield, and he'll be a playmaker wherever he ends up.

J.T. Turner

Play out eligibility, All-Big Ten (3, assuming All-Americans will also make All-Conference, because duh):

• QB Tate Forcier (Rivals 4*, No. 5 dual-threat QB): I have really high expectations for Forcier. If you watch his highlight tapes, you'll see a guy who makes plays, often out of nothing. He makes things happen with his arm and his legs. He is tremendously accurate (completing around 70% of his passes his last two years in high school) and seems like a perfect fit for the spread. It certainly won't hurt that he'll likely have four years of starting experience under his belt by the time he leaves Ann Arbor.
  
• OG Quinton Washington (Rivals 4*, No. 8 offensive guard): Even with the big offensive line class of '08, Michigan is still pretty thin in the interior of the offensive line. Q fits a huge need, by all accounts has a ton of talent, and should be an anchor on the interior of the line down the road.
• DE Craig Roh (Rivals 4*, No. 7 weakside defensive end): Roh needs to add weight (right now he clocks in at 6-5, 230), but when he does, I think he's going to be an absloute monster off the edge. This is exactly why we employ Mike Barwis. He is a great pass rusher, and with Mike Martin and Campbell eating space in the middle for the next few years, he should have ample opportunity to get to opposing quarterbacks.
  
  
  
  Craig Roh (photo courtesy of Rivals)
  

Play out eligibility, start at least 12 games (7 -- I cheated, but you'll see why):

• RB Fitzgerald Toussaint (4* Rivals, No. 8 all-purpose back): Toussaint put up ridiculous numbers his senior year, amassing over 2000 rushing yards. He makes people look absolutely silly in his highlight tapes. Most importantly, he has an awesome name. This guy is destined for big things.
• OT Taylor Lewan (Rivals 4*, No. 16 offensive tackle): Lewan was a relative latecomer to the national recruiting picture, but quickly worked his way up the recruiting rankings and onto the offer lists of prominent national programs (including Nebraska, Miami and Oregon). He only started focusing on the offensive side of the ball as a junior, and has the potential and frame (6-7, 272) to be another in the long line of great Michigan tackles.
• WR Je'Ron Stokes (Rivals 4*, No. 14 wide receiver): Michigan needs outside receivers. Stokes, at 6-1, 180 with 4.4 speed, can play outside or in the slot. With the overabundance of tiny, fast slot guys (Odoms, T-Rob, Gallon, Teric Jones, Vincent Smith) he'll end up on the outside and have a chance to compete for playing time right away.
  
• WR Jeremy Gallon (Rivals 4*, No. 11 athlete): The major caveat here is that Gallon has yet to qualify academically, which poses concern for his present and future. However, if he makes it on campus (and stays there), Gallon could be one of the most electrifying players Michigan has seen in a long, long time. He'll get playing time in the slot and possibly on returns as soon as this season, because there's just no way you can keep someone of his athletic talents off the field.
• DE Anthony LaLota (Rivals 4*, No. 11 strongside defensive end): Faces little depth at DE, is enrolled early, and has the size (6-6, 260) to play right away. LaLota is raw, having not played varsity football until his junior season, but because of that inexperience has a ton of upside. He complements the smaller Roh quite well, and I could see Roh, Campbell, Martin, and LaLota being one of the best d-lines in the country in a few years.
• S Thomas Gordon (Rivals 3*, No. 24 player in Michigan): I like the combination of Gordon's physical abilities (5-11, 200, runs a 4.6 40-yard dash) and his football knowledge (he played quarterback at Cass Tech). At safety, he'll be able to utilize his physical and mental abilities to their fullest extent, and the Wolverines need that kind of size, speed and skill at defensive back.
• K Brendan Gibbons (Rivals 2*, No. 8 kicker): This is why I fudged the numbers ... I hated to knock off another guy so I could say the incredibly obvious: Gibbons quite possibly has the best shot of any recruit to start from day one. Let's hope he works out better than Bryan Wright. My guess is he will.

Fitzgerald Toussaint (photo by Cyle Nunemaker, via Rivals)

Play out eligibility, backup (3):

• OT Michael Schofield (Rivals 4*, No. 18 offensive tackle): This is based on my guess that Lewan will be the best tackle in this class, and that Dann O'Neill will be a monster down the road (in last year's edition, I picked him as one of the future All-Americans). Assuming we pick up more 4-5 star OT's in the next couple classes, Schofield could get lost in the shuffle.
• LB Brandin Hawthorne (Rivals 3*, No. 35 outside linebacker): He is only 6-0, 197 pounds, but he does run a 4.5. This seems like a guy destined to be an impact special teams player and a solid situational pass rusher, but his size might keep him from ever finding a permanent position on the field. If he fills out, this pick could make me look very, very dumb (who am I kidding, all these picks could/probably will make me look dumb).
• RB Teric Jones (Rivals 3*, No. 37 running back): Jones looks like a guy who will end up playing in the slot, where Michigan is quickly becoming stacked. He can also play running back, obviously, but I'm he doesn't have the size (5-9, 191) desirable for a future every-down back. With 4.4 speed, he'll see the field somewhere, but I don't know if he'll find a place to start on the field.

This leaves seven guys who won't play out their eligibility (not including Campbell):

• S Vladimir Emilien (Rivals 4*, No. 14 safety) and CB Adrian Witty (Rivals 2*): Both these players have a history of serious knee injuries, and in a list like this, that throws up a big red flag. I want, as much as anyone, for Michigan to have a strong safety named "Vlad the Impaler," so here's hoping that this pick is incredibly wrong.
• WR Cameron Gordon (Rivals 4*, No. 36 wide receiver): Gordon will either play wide receiver or linebacker for Michigan. I'm sorry, but that combination sounds incredibly strange to me. For all I know, he could be a huge freak at either position, but I'm playing the odds here and guessing he has a hard time finding a position that he can outperform more traditional recruits at.
• ATH Denard Robinson (Rivals 4*, No. 14 athlete): I REALLY hope I'm wrong with this pick, because I would love to see a guy with 4.4 speed taking snaps for the Maize and Blue. However, I'm guessing Forcier beats him out at QB, he sees spot duty taking snaps for a while, and then switches to the defensive backfield and gets buried behind guys with more experience at the position.
• S Isaiah Bell (Rivals 3*, No. 26 outside linebacker) and S Mike Jones (Rivals 3*, No. 2 safety): Both these guys will come in as safeties, although Bell seems destined for a move to outside linebacker. Michigan is stockpiling guys at both safety and outside linebacker, and these guys might get lost in the shuffle.
• RB Vincent Smith (Rivals 3*, No. 36 running back): I love watching little guys dominate college football, but 5-7, 159 is downright tiny. We all saw what the pounding of a Big Ten season did to Sam McGuffie, so there's no way Smith stays in the backfield. For the umpteenth time, I'll point out our tremendous depth at slot receiver, and guess that Smith doesn't see the field in any major capacity.

That's all for this year's opportunity to make myself look like a complete fool. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Where You At?: Marcus Ray Edition

The "Where You At?" series returns with a look at former Michigan safety Marcus Ray.

Anyone who has followed Michigan recently knows that the Wolverines have had their fair share of problems at safety (the mere mention of Ryan Mundy or Stevie Brown sends shivers down my spine). However, the 1997 national title team featured Marcus Ray, one of my personal favorite Wolverines and a hard hitting strong safety.

Ray was a product of the same Columbus, OH high school that produced Archie Griffin (Eastmoor High School). While Charles Woodson was the more highly-regarded defensive back in the 1995 recruiting class, Ray also made an immediate impact during his freshman year. He started six games at safety, amassing 27 tackles, three pass breakups, and an interception.

Woodson and Ray: Not a bad DB class (photo from mikedesimone.com)

He broke out as a sophomore, starting all twelve games at strong safety. His best game came in Michigan's 45-29 victory over Michigan State, when he tallied ten tackles, broke up a pass, and had two of the Wolverines' four interceptions. Ray would finish the season with 100 tackles, good for second on the team, as well as seven pass breakups and three picks. He was named second-team All-Big Ten, as selected by the coaches, and was an honorable mention for the media team.

As we all know, everything came together during the 1997 season. Ray finished third on the team with 71 tackles, broke up four passes and had five interceptions (second on the team behind a certain Heisman Trophy winner). He had two interceptions during Michigan's 28-24 comeback victory over Iowa, and added two more during the team's blowout of Michigan State. However, the defining moment of Ray's season, career, and arguably the 1997 season as a whole came during the regular season finale against Ohio State. Late in the fourth quarter, OSU quarterback Joe Germaine rolled to his right and sailed a pass over the head of receiver David Boston, who had been physically and verbally battling with the Wolverine defensive backfield all day. Ray pounced on the opportunity to give Boston the licking he deserved, and sent him flying up into the air before crashing down onto his back (video here). The hit was immortalized on the next week's cover of Sports Illustrated, and would come to symbolize the smashmouth defense of the 1997 title team. Ray was named second-team All-America and first-team All-Big Ten after the season.

Ray's 1998 season was a rocky one. After Ray started in the Wolverines' season-opening losses to Notre Dame and Syracuse, it came to light that he had accepted illegal benefits from a Cincinnati-based agent named James Gould. He was forced to serve a five-game suspension, and when he returned his starting role and captaincy were both gone. He would finish the season with only 31 tackles and one interception, coming in the last regular season game against Hawaii.

After graduating from Michigan in 1998, Ray went undrafted, and signed a free agent deal with the Oakland Raiders for the 1999 season. He appeared in eight games and recorded one tackle that year, and in 2000 was optioned to the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe. He had a solid season for the Claymores, recording 39 tackles, defending seven passes, and picking off a pass while helping lead the team to a World Bowl appearance.

Ray after a game-sealing interception of Danny Wuerffel sent the Claymores to the 2000 World Bowl (I'm not making this up)

Ray hung up his cleats after the 2000 season, and he took a job as co-defensive coordinator at Linden McKinley High School in Columbus in 2001. The next season he was the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Eastmoor, his alma mater, before taking the same positions in 2003 at Northland High School.

He moved his way up to the college ranks in 2004, taking over as defensive backs coach for Division II Ohio Dominican University. He coached for three years at Ohio Dominican before accepting a job as a graduate assistant on Lloyd Carr's staff in 2007. When Carr retired, he helped Ray get a job as a graduate assistant at Central Michigan, where he currently works. He lives with his wife, Lynda, and his two young sons, Marcus II ("Deuce") and Malik.

Here's hoping Ray works his way onto Michigan's coaching staff in the future. He sure seems to be a football lifer, and it would always be great to have a former national champ and All-American. Having potential recruiting ties into Ohio State's backyard certainly wouldn't hurt either.

Ray, today (photo from cmuchippewas.com)

I cannot let this article end without commenting on an incredibly strange thing I stumbled across while researching this piece. In September 1998, just nine months after Michigan won the national title, the movie "Knock Out" was released. According to IMDB, in the movie "Action star Jean Claude Van Damme plays a fashion designer who must join forces with a C.I.A. agent to combat terrorism.". The name of Van Damme's character: Marcus Ray. Coincidence, right? Not so fast, my friend! His sidekick, played by Rob Schneider (what a cast!) is named Tommy Hendricks, which also happens to be the name of the Wolverines' starting free safety in '97. I used Wikipedia to the best of my ability to try to find the reason for the main characters being named after the Michigan safety duo, and the only thing I could find was that the screenwriter, Steven E. de Souza (who also wrote Die Hard and Die Hard II) went to Penn State. The only reason I can think of for him naming the characters Marcus Ray and Tommy Hendricks is that he lost a bet. If so, just be glad the characters weren't named Curtis Enis and Mike McQueary.

UPDATE: Something I missed last night that attests to Ray's character: while suspended during the 1998 season, he suited up at running back for the scout team after the Wolverines struggled mightily against two option offenses. That's how to put your ego on the back burner and do whatever it takes to help the team win.

Sources:
MGoBlue Statistics Archive
Bentley Historical Library
NCAA: Ray to miss two more games (Michigan Daily)
Marcus Ray Statistics (Pro-Football-Reference.com)
2000 Scottish Claymores Team Statistics (indexNFLEL)
Scottish Claymores (Wikipedia)
NFLE2000 Week 9 (Scottish Cheddarheads)
CMU adds well-known graduate assistant (MLive)
Marcus Ray (CMUChippewas.com)
Knock Off (Wikipedia)

Michigan Hires a Defensive Coordinator

It's official: former Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson will be Michigan's next DC. Robinson went 10-37 as a head coach at 'Cuse before being fired, and has previously been a DC at Texas and in the NFL with Kansas City, Denver, and the New York Jets. He has two Super Bowl rings from his time with the Broncos.

As expected when you hire a horrible college head coach with a mixed-bag NFL background, reactions are mixed. Personally, I think you can pretty much throw out a candidates head coaching career when looking at him for a coordinator position. To me, those jobs entail entirely different skill sets (especially at the collegiate level). Would I be happier if our new coordinator's heyday was more recent than 1997-1998 (with the exception of his one-year stint as a co-defensive coordinator with Texas in 2004)? Of course. However, I'm willing to put any criticism on the back burner until I see how the team performs on the field this year.

Old School ABC College Football Intro

Via The Wiz of Odds comes this intro to the 1990 Michigan/UCLA game, which happened to be Gary Moeller's home debut (which U-M won 38-15):

The video is great for so many reasons. Gotta love Brent Musburger's glasses, which fit perfectly with the old school graphics (I especially liked the UCLA logo). The Big Ten logo didn't have the incorporate an "11". Dick Vermeil was the color commentator, and raved about Michigan's enormous offensive line. That line averaged all of 6-5, 282 pounds, which outweighed the New York Jets line that year.

But the reason you can really tell this video is over 18 years old? Notre Dame was number one in the polls at the time. When it's put that way, it's a wonder that Musburger and Vermeil are still alive today.

Michigan Season Review: A Look Back At Our Predictions

...would be ashamed.

They say hindsight is 20/20. To make the obvious joke, our Michigan Football Roundtable series showed foresight so poor it needed some JoePa glasses. Few Michigan fans were able to predict just how poor this season would turn out to be, but some of our predictions were comical, even though we didn't get our act together in time to post a final season record prediction. Judging by our other previews, it's a damn good thing we didn't try to pick the Wolverines' final record. That could've been embarassing.

Anyways, for the purpose of comic relief, here are our preseason roundtable predictions, in all their misguided glory:

Impact Freshman:

Joe and Webstarr: Darryl Stonum. Not a terrible choice, considering he finished with 14 catches for 176 yards and a touchdown. However, he was never a huge part of the offense, disappeared for long stretches (although that can be blamed on the general ineptitude of the passing offense), and showed a troubling propensity for dropping passes.

Sam: J.B. Fitzgerald. Finished with 8 tackles, and saw playing time almost exclusively on special teams.

Ace: Terrence Robinson. Damn, wrong pocket-sized slot receiver. Robinson took a redshirt after injuring his knee before the season. I did include this caveat:

[Note: If Odoms beats out Robinson as the designated slot guy/returner, just switch my vote to him. You can basically just swap "Odoms" for "Robinson" for that entire post and it would still ring true. I'm totally cheating, but you get the idea. Slot guy = big deal.]

However, this is called "hedging your bet" and is totally cheating.

The Actual Impact Freshman: Martavious Odoms.

Sam McGuffie showed early flashes of brilliance (mostly in the Notre Dame game) and finished second on the team in rushing (486 yards) but faded quickly down the stretch. Michael Shaw seemed to have a big impact any time he touched the ball (5.1 yards per carry), but that didn't happen very often (42 attempts in 10 games). Boubacar Cissoko saw the field sporadically, and traded decent plays (3 pass breakups, tied for second on the team) with coverage blunders one would expect out of a true freshman.

Ultimately, Odoms was the freshman with the biggest impact. He led the team with 49 catches, 443 receiving yards, and 1040 all-purpose yards, and the offense's ability to move the ball often relied on him to turn bubble screens into first downs. He also returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown in the Purdue game. Yes, he had some major issues holding on to the ball on punt and kick returns, but it's hard to argue against him being the best freshman on the team this season.

Breakout Player:

Joe: Kevin Grady. Joe certainly went out on a limb here, and the gamble didn't really pay off. Grady was a seldom-used short-yardage back, carrying the ball 14 times for 33 yards and a touchdown. It is clear that he doesn't fit in to RichRod's offense.

Webstarr: Brandon Graham.

More on Graham later.

Sam: Stevie Brown. If this award went to the player who caused the most fans to "break out" their inner demons and do serious damage to property, people in the vicinity, and unfortunately placed pets, Brown would win in a landslide. However, we were looking for something different. From Stevie and Sam. Sorry, guys.

Ace: Carson Butler. Caught two passes all year, was in the coaches' doghouse for blowing assignments and punching opposing players, and eventually moved to defensive end. Epic fail on my part.

The Actual Breakout Player: Brandon Graham.

Went from a pass rush specialist (8.5 sacks in 2007, but only one other tackle for loss, and 3.5 of those sacks came against an incompetent Notre Dame line) to a full-fledged beast this season. Led the team with 10 sacks and 20 tackles for loss, had 46 total tackles and forced two fumbles. Despite facing constant double-teams, BG lived in the opponent's backfield. Graham was by far the best player on Michigan's defense, and was named second-team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and the media.

Team MVP:

Joe: Tim Jamison. Jamison had a solid season, with 5.5 sacks and 10.5 TFLs, but had nowhere near the impact of Graham.

Webstarr: Wasn't in the article, but knowing Noah the pick would have been BG. Too bad he didn't send me anything before the season. Children, this is why you shouldn't be lazy -- you lose the right to gloat if there's no proof you were right in the first place.

Sam: Morgan Trent. Sam made the argument that Trent was the most proven player on the roster in the preseason, and used this pick as evidence that Michigan was not going to be very good. The overall point was correct, but Trent actually seemed to regress this season after a solid 2007 campaign. He did intercept three passes, but nobody in the Wolverine secondary can escape the fact that as a whole they gave up way too many big plays to considered anything but a liability.

Ace: Carlos Brown. Oops. Brown was limited by variety of injuries throughout the season, and rushed for 122 yards on 29 attempts, all but six of which came against Northwestern in his lone game as the featured back. My visions of Brown as a 1000-yard back and part-time QB could not have been much further from reality.

The Actual Team MVP: Zoltan Mesko.

Yeah, I said it. Our punter is my pick for MVP this year, and only partly because I already named Graham as the breakout player of the year. Brandon Minor, who one could argue was the most valuable player on offense, only ran for 533 yards this season. The rest of the offense teetered somewhere between surprisingly mediocre and epic suck. Besides Graham, nobody on defense can claim that they performed consistently well this season. K.C. Lopata hit only two-thirds of his field goals this season, and blew an easy chance to tie the Toledo debacle.

Mesko, however, averaged 43 yards per punt, nailed 24 kicked inside the 20-yard line while kicking only three touchbacks, boomed 24 50+ yard punts, forced 21 fair catches, and was the biggest reason why Michigan spent much of the season as the top net punting team in the country (we're currently #5). Zoltan the Inconceivable was able to almost single-handedly change field position, and with the 111th ranked offense in the country, field position was at a premium. He was the lone Wolverine to garner first-team All-Big Ten honors.

That should really tell you all you need to know about this season.

Lil' Wayne Lyric:

Before the season, we all tried to choose the Lil' Wayne lyric that would best describe the season. I won't do the rundown, but all our quotes essentially talked about overcoming adversity to achieve great success. In the long term, this should be the case, and I certainly believe it will be. However, if you were to take a Weezy quote that summed up the general Michigan fan's reaction to this season, I would go with:

"And man I miss the times, we would shine, you would keep me on your side
You would teach me how to ride and you would teach me how to pry
Then we get on the line and go over our lines
We were in the same position and that's when you change positions, shit
I never change and I miss ya, and its strange but I never forget ya
say that ain't you in them pictures"
--Lil' Wayne, "I Miss My Dawgs"

Interpret that as you will. In two years, I expect the tune to be very different.

Thoughts on the Transfers

Yikes. Take a couple (unannounced) weeks off, and shit really starts hitting the fan. We lost to Northwestern during a miserable day at Michigan Stadium. I left at halftime while we were ahead, something I could never have imagined doing just a short few months ago. I was too numb, in every sense of the word, to willfully stay while every fiber of my body screamed for a warm couch, some hot food, and a clear view of an HDTV. I watched the rest of the second half, still caring about the outcome, but for the first time as a Michigan fan also caring about my sanity, and whether this was all worth it.

I guess I wasn't the only one feeling like that. Zion Babb got kicked off the team, Jason Kates has decided to transfer, and there is rampant speculation that Artis Chambers and Sam McGuffie will also finish their collegiate careers elsewhere. From a completely nonpartisan standpoint, I can't say I blame them. It's easy to sit here, quote Bo, and dismiss the players as not tough enough, mentally or physically, to play for Michigan.

Except, as much as I can, being a 5-11, 140 pound bespectacled aspiring writer, I understand why these guys would leave. Nobody signs up to play for Michigan player thinking 3-8 (and in all likelihood, 3-9) is within the realm of possibility. Recruits weren't thrown into the middle of a Mike Barwis workout on their official visit. Most of this team signed a letter of intent to play for Lloyd Carr. Many of these players saw their positions disappear, or other players leap them on the depth chart, and have little hope of seeing the field is they remain Wolverines. To see the end of your playing career when you're 20 years old can't be easy. I'd be looking for ways to extend it as long as possible, too.

It doesn't just end with football. No matter how much help these guys get, Michigan classes are hard. Nothing in high school prepares you for your first week of midterms, or having hour-long tests that count for 30% of your overall grade, or how hard it is to write a five-page paper when you know your friends are just ten minute walk away, getting drunk at a house party. The flip-side to being a great school academically is, well, that it's a great school academically. I can't imagine how poorly I'd be doing in school if I had to juggle academics with a sport as time-consuming as football.

It's not just the academics. Ever been through a Michigan winter? It sucks. You go outside only as a last resort. The wind cuts straight to your bones at every corner, and it always seems to find a way to blow right into your face. Nobody wants to party anymore, since cabs are expensive and there's just no way you're walking across campus. All the pretty girls in tank tops and miniskirts you saw during welcome week are replaced by an army of puffy Northface coats, scarves, and sweatpants. You're pretty sure there's a girl in there somewhere, but there's just no way to be sure.

North Face, the official sponsor of the least-titillating winters of your life.

I love Ann Arbor, and the University of Michigan. I grew up here. I always knew I would go to school here. But for the kids who came here expecting one thing, and getting something completely different, I feel you. As Brian so eloquently put it, these guys want a place that will specialize in Not Vomiting Every Weekday. And maybe that place won't stress you out so much with an academic program that causes 4.0 GPA high school students to decide that Tuesday is a tremendous night to get shitfaced, as long as it makes them forget about their test on Thursday. Maybe they'll even be able to see the sun between November and May.

Although I didn't intend this when I started writing tonight, this has essentially become an open letter to the fans who make personal attacks on the players.

Get a life.

Suck My Balls, ESPN

Please, please put that same bet up again for the Ohio State game. Assholes.

The Michigan Three-Man Front

I mean, seriously. Scott Shafer, please stop single-handedly raising my blood pressure to Old Faithful-esque levels. The last time the Wolverines gave up 48 points to Purdue? Um, never.

Have I mentioned their quarterback played running back two weeks ago? Ugh.

Time to block this out of my mind and attempt to enjoy the rest of Halloween weekend. Heavy drinking is absolutely inevitable.

Go Blue

Overheard in the Student Section: Toledo

Photo courtesy of The Detroit News

Pathetic.

Something just didn't seem right from the start. We arrived at our seats five minutes to noon, and entire blocks of the student section were completely empty. Kickoff came and went, but still many of those seats remained unfilled. Unless I was unaware that Saturday was "Disguise Yourself As a Blue Metal Bench Day", something was amiss.

As for the noise, well, there was little to speak of. I realize that it's hard to put your heart and soul behind a struggling team, but I'm pretty sure Northwestern fans would have been disgusted with the sound output of our student section. There was one kid, standing a row in front of us, who did his best to encourage our section to yell on every defensive play, to do something to help a team that found itself struggling with a 1-4 MAC squad. People looked at him like he had nine heads.

We all know what happened. Steven Threet gifted Toledo a 100-yard touchdown, Nick Sheridan remained Nick Sheridan, and K.C. no longer stands for Kicking Consistency. Now we're 2-4, desperately trying to figure out how we'll win another game, with our bowl streak tenuously hanging by the thinnest of threads and our undefeated record against the MAC shattered like a Bee Gees record on Disco Demolition Night. Holy Toledo, indeed.

But what disappoints me almost as much as our play is the complete lack of support coming from the player's own peers. I was talking on Friday to a woman who works with me at the Michigan Union who is close with many current and former players, all of whom will remain nameless for the sake of this post. After the Wisconsin game, she said at least four current and former players all separately expressed their disappointment in the fans who booed the team after the first half. Not only that, but the bile coming from the fans doesn't stop after the game is over. Students actually have the gall to walk up to players on campus and tell them, in so many words, that they aren't happy with their play on the field. People may not realize it, but these guys actually listen.

This is not a plea to stop booing in order to not hurt these players feelings. However, you have to wonder how hard these guys want to play for a student body in which seemingly 25% of the ticket holders don't show up to games, and half of those that do spend the entire 60 minutes exploring uses for every possible variation of the word "fuck". This may be a lost season from a Big Ten standpoint, but these players still have to show up for six more games, including two more at home. They can't just go "fuck it" and walk out on this season, not unless they want to throw away lifelong dreams of NFL millions, thousands of hours of work, and a huge part of their identity. Our "fans", however, seem to have no such qualms about doing just that, and I doubt that's helping our team in what is already an incredibly trying season.

My one quote for this game comes from the bitter end, overheard as I was ascending the stadium steps towards the exit, readying for a dreary walk to campus followed by a postgame ritual of crappy Chinese food and a much-needed nap. I didn't want to hear anything else. The sound of the stadium announcer proclaiming "Final Score: Toledo 13, Michigan 10" was more than enough for me. Then I heard it:

"I hate to be The Right Guy, but I'm The Right Guy."

It was said so joyfully, with so much pride in the speaker's own greatness and glory, that it HAD to come from someone wearing a Toledo shirt. I was almost too scared to look back, in fear that I would lose what little faith I have left in Michigan fans. Sure enough, I turned to see a guy decked out in Michigan gear, smiling like he had just bet the farm on a Toledo victory. Just to rub it home, he repeated the same statement three more times during the 40-row ascent out of the Big House. I remember the number, because that's how many times I had to count to ten and resist the urge to knock the motherfucker straight to Row B. He capped off his Chronicles of Douchebaggery with a simple "Rich Rod sucks," before disappearing to wherever people without souls go (probably Pike).

I tend to think of myself as a rational, level-headed guy, but at that point I really hoped that man's night would end with a slow ride in an ambulance. My emotions have settled down a bit since then. Now I only wish he is subjected to the kind of toture detailed at the beginning of the song "Method Man" (I'd post a link, but I have relatives who occasionally read this blog, and I'd like to continue to be on speaking terms with them). Hey, it's better than death. Barely.

In all seriousness, I have no respect for you if you take joy in watching your team lost just because it makes you right. Do us all a favor and just stay home next time. I'm sure your friends in Round One of the Ninth Circle of Hell will enjoy your company (and yes, I have actually read Dante, so save it). But before you go, try to sell your ticket to someone who actually cares about Michigan football, if there are any of them left.

Dear TMQ: Stop, Please

From today's Tuesday Morning Quarterback:

Rich Rodriguez Was Behind This Somehow: Reader Brian Lemay of Ann Arbor, Mich., notes the Wolverines were playing well against Illinois in the first half. At intermission, the Michigan cheerleaders donned jackets and pants; in the second half, Michigan was blown out. And about that Gatorade shower Rodriguez received the week before, after the Wisconsin game: Standards are slipping if the coach gets a bucket dunked on his head for reaching a .500 record.

This combines all of Gregg Easterbrook's ingredients for his "Things That Piss Ace Off" cocktail. One part creepy obsession with cheerleaders half his age, two parts completely unprovoked potshot at Rich Rodriguez, and one part complete lack of knowledge about college football. I'm sorry, but a Gatorade shower is completely warranted in the case of a young, rebuilding football team pulling off the greatest comeback in the history of a storied stadium in the first conference game of the tenure of their new coach.

Mr. Easterbrook, kindly fuck yourself and die.

Overheard in the Student Section: Wisconsin

Photo courtesy of the Detroit News

Before I could fully comprehend what was going on, I felt my back hit the concrete. Blackness engulfed me as I felt bodies pile on top of me. Hysterical screams pierced the air. My hat was lost in the struggle.

It was awesome.

Johnny Thompson's 4th quarter interception return for a touchdown set off a raucous celebration in the student section, punctuated by my friends decided it was a good idea to form a giant dogpile in our section. The scene would replay itself two more times, after Sam McGuffie put Michigan up 27-19 and when Allan Everidge's pass sailed out of the back of the end zone on Wisconsin's two-point conversion attempt. I finally learned my lesson during the final celebration, and jumped on top of my 6'2" friend before I could be once again buried underneath the sweaty pile of exuberance.

The scene could not have been more different at halftime. Boos rained down on a Wolverine team that had managed a paltry 21 yards of offense and coughed the ball up five times en route to a 19-0 deficit. We spent much of the halftime show discussing what the post-game meal would entail and how big a deficit it would take for us to leave the stadium. Morale was low.

Since it's Tuesday night, I really don't need to tell you what happened next. The offense came to life, and the defense continued to play the way Michigan fans expected them to play before the season. Steven Threet briefly blacked out and was possessed by the spirit of Randall Cunningham. Brandon Graham unleashed the beast. Travis Beckum forgot the basic rules of football, costing the Badgers the game-tying two point conversion.

Oh, and the student section was louder than I've ever heard it. As the second half progressed, and the tides turned, the fans who remained (and shame on you if you left) brought the noise like Public Enemy, circa 1988. After Thompson's touchdown, you could sense that the students, whose skepticism of this team has been well-documented on this site, finally embraced the team. They certainly seemed to embrace us. On the final drive, Steven Threet spent most of the time between plays with his arms raised, trying to squeeze every last decibal of noice out of the student section.

Our quarterback (courtesy of the Detroit News)

In case you can't tell by now, there is not like the previous "Overheard..." posts breaking down all the stupid things said in the student section last weekend. I will only say that those who booed should feel ashamed for booing their fellow students who were doing all they could in the first Big Ten game of the RichRod era. However, I would rather not dwell on the negative. There were too many positives coming out of this game.

There is a different feeling on campus this week. Despite the struggles, the 2-2 record, the long stretches of offensive putridity, we love this team. People are starting to truly believe that Rodriguez was the right hire, and that we really will be good -- no, great -- in the seasons to come. We've been saying that all season, but the words had rung hollow, like we were only saying them to try to convince ourselves that, if we said them enough, they would become true.

Every week may be an adventure, but now it's an adventure in the sense of a roller coaster, not walking alone through a bad neighborhood at night. I look forward to more dogpiles, chaos, and lost articles of clothing in the years to come.

Quick Link Drop: Mac Back in the Fold

Sorry for the lack of content today ... got a test tomorrow. Hate it when real life gets in the way of the important stuff. Here's some links to hold you over:

• Slightly old news, but Darren McCarty agreed to a one-year, two-way deal to remain a Red Wing. I personally hope the guy retires a Wing, and I'm sure practically every Detroit fan feels the same. The only issue will be whether he can crack the regular lineup.
• Michigan just picked up another big commit in Arizona DE Craig Roh, who committed on ESPNU tonight. Roh is a Rivals250 player who fills a huge need for the Wolverines.
• The Pistons will look to bring Antonio McDyess off the bench this season, meaning Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson, and Kwame Brown are competing for a starting role this season. The favorite has got to be Maxiell, but I'd love to see Amir step up and allow Mad Max to continue to bring his energy off the bench.
  

Gregg Easterbrook, Total Douche, Continues Total Douchery

"A degenerate, am I? Well you are a festizio! See, I can make up words too, sister."

The evidence that ESPN.com Page 2 writer Gregg Easterbrook is a complete jackass and a hack writer mounts, well, every time he writes something (those links were the first five relevant Google results for "Gregg Easterbrook is a douche"). His obnoxious look-at-me-I'm-so-smart-watch-me-reference-some-genius-shit-that-is-completely-irrelevant style, his painful attempts at humor, his creepy obsession with cheerleaders and his 1000-word tangents into political issues that have nothing to do with football all make me dislike him. However, I decided to take a look at his most recent article when I saw this picture on the front page of the WWL:

Could Easterbrook have some brilliant insight into the beginning of the RichRod era? Could he give Michigan fans already calling for his head some interesting historical perspective? Perhaps he'll discuss how strange the Michigan-Notre Dame game was and note how the Wolverines dominated statistically?

Or, maybe he'll lump RichRod in with two of the bigger jackasses of the coaching ranks (scroll down to "Weasel Bowl Approaches":

This Saturday it's Little Nicky Saban versus Bobby Petrino as Alabama meets Arkansas -- the first Weasel Bowl! Note the schools of the Weasel Three -- Saban, Petrino and Rich Rodriguez -- are a combined 13-8 since these extremely expensive promise-breakers arrived. They'd probably be a combined 13-9 if Arkansas' game at Texas had not been postponed by Hurricane Ike, and surely Arkansas boosters are now praying that meeting is never rescheduled. The 13 victories include wins over cupcakes Western Illinois, Western Kentucky, Western Carolina and Miami (Ohio). Between huge salaries, legal fees and buyouts, Alabama, Arkansas and Michigan have already spent about $20 million to get a mediocre 13-8 result. Considering the fantastic advantages in money and recruiting power possessed by Alabama, Arkansas and Michigan, orangutans could have coached them to 13-8.

Nick Saban left the Dolphins for Alabama after unequivocally proclaiming that he would not be taking the Alabama job. He is a weasel.

Bobby Petrino abruptly left Louisville for the Atlanta Falcons, then quit on the Falcons in the middle of the season and left only a typewritten note behind. He is a weasel.

Rich Rodriguez left his alma mater to accept a job at a more prestigious university and football program. Yes, he got caught up in that ugly buyout business, but if you still think Rodriguez was entirely at fault for that ordeal you've been reading too much Michael Rosenberg. Rodriguez did not pick up and leave in the middle of the night, deny he could potentially leave, or abandon his team in the middle of a season. He is not a weasel.

Also, does Easterbrook seriously think that the 13-8 record of Alabama, Arkansas and Michigan is at all representative of how good these coaches are? Only Saban has had more than this season to do anything at his school. Petrino took the reigns of a team that lost Darren McFadden and Felix Jones from a team whose offense entirely consisted of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. RichRod took over a school with three returning starters on offense who were recruited for an entirely different offensive system. This is not karma. This is exactly what any sane person would expect.

Why does this guy still have a job? Orangutans could have written a better football article. And I bet they would cost ESPN less than whatever they're paying Easterbrook.

Rich Rod, Lou Holtz Sympathizes

A Michigan-Notre Dame game in South Bend ends with a team who was thoroughly outgained escaping with a victory over an unranked team with a first-year coach thanks to a bevy of turnovers, special teams errors and questionable officiating.

Think I'm talking about this past Saturday? Try 1986.

The parallels between Michigan's 24-23 victory at Notre Dame Stadium borderline on eerie.

Goodness gracious, who won this game, anyway?

Surely it was the team that piled up 455 yards and 27 first downs, converted 8 of 12 third-down situations, completed 21 of 33 passes, averaged 6.3 yards per play and never had to punt. Sorry.

You mean it was the team that punted four times, began one offensive drive on its own seven-yard line and finished it on its own five, averaged 2.4 yards per running play in the second half, gave up as many rushing touchdowns in the first half (two) as it did in the entire 1985 season and generally played defense more ineptly than it had since the ark was built—when Bo looked up and saw that, yeah, all bad things are wont to fall from the sky?

Well, at least Bo didn't tear his ACL and MCL. But yeah, other than that, replace Bo with Charlie Weis and fudge the numbers a little and this is essentially the same game. And think Michigan fans were tortured by the mistakes that plagued the Wolverines on Saturday?

Luck of the Irish? Hah. Notre Dame suffered two lost fumbles, an interception in the end zone, a kickoff it could not field, a dropped touchdown pass, a missed extra point, an apparent go-ahead touchdown reception in the fourth quarter that was ruled incomplete and a last-second field goal attempt that was tipped and barely missed winning the game.

It keeps going. Michigan fans were relieved to see that Rich Rodriguez's offense would be less predictable and (eventually, hopefully) more successful than the plodding mess that Mike DeBord's offense was. On first-year coach Lou Holtz:

Another is that Notre Dame finally has itself a real college coach who can draw up real college plays. "We could predict how they'd line up, but not what they'd run," said Schembechler. Said Notre Dame's Tim Brown, who led the team with 65 yards rushing on 12 carries, "No more Pinkett right, Pinkett left, Pinkett up the middle, punt." Allen Pinkett, since graduated, was Faust's idea of offense last (5-6) season.

Seriously, this is creeping me out. If there's a critical touchdown catch negated by a possibly dubious call, I'm locking all the doors and closing my blinds.

It was clear that Notre Dame could win the game. In fact it appeared that Notre Dame had , when Beuerlein threw a bullet to tight end Joel Williams leaping in the back of the end zone with less than five minutes to play. But the pass was ruled incomplete because the back judge, Ted DeFilippo, saw Williams's right foot come down on the end line (NCAA rules require a receiver to first touch one foot inbounds for a reception to be legal). Neither photographs nor TV replays conclusively supported the call by DeFilippo, who had a direct sightline to Williams's feet. Notre Dame settled for a field goal, making it 24-23, which was how it ended, after John Carney missed a 45-yard field goal attempt with 13 seconds left.

Williams said after the game that he had been told by a Michigan ball boy poised near the end line that Williams had, indeed, landed inbounds. Said a crushed but ever-wry Holtz afterward, "The ball boy said he was in, and I believe Michigan runs an honest school."

Self-portrait, taken moments after reading SI's recap of the 1986 Michigan-Notre Dame game.

Good lord. I guess the debacle in South Bend was 13 years in the making. It's even stranger when you consider that Saturday was the day Notre Dame honored Holtz for his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. Holtz went 5-6 in that 1986 season, losing five of those six games by a combined 14 points. He then went on to post a 100-30-2 career record with the Irish, and captured the 1988 national title.

Now if RichRod started talking with a lisp and committing major recruiting violations, we'd really be talking about some interesting parallels here.

Sorry, that was too easy. Michigan's loss to the Golden Domers certainly wasn't fun to watch, but there was enough good there to be very optimistic for the future. There's clearly already a very good precedent set, even if it was set by the insufferable Dr. Lou.

Jimmah! and the Aztecs: Part Two

This post continues my look at Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen's performance against San Diego State last week. Without further ado, the second half (first half can be found here).

Ninth Drive:

2nd and 13: Swing to Allen for 3 yards.
3rd and 10: Shotgun; runs from pocket and delivers off-target pass that is too high for Rudolph to haul in.

Drive ends in punt.

Tenth Drive:

1st and 10: Fade to Kamara; overthrown and intercepted. The pass was not there and Clausen should probably never have thrown that pass. It seems like he went with his first read and threw it without looking at the coverage.

Eleventh Drive:

No passes; drive ends on fumble by Allen.

Twelfth Drive:

1st and 10: PA rollout; completion to Tate for 10 yards. Throw is a little low from Clausen but a nice catch by Tate.
2nd and 5: Quick flare to TE Yeatman for 4 yards. Nobody around him.

Drive ends with punt.

Thirteenth Drive:

1st and 10: Finds Hughes sitting in middle of field wide open. 8 yard gain.
1st and 10: Slant to Tate. Clausen hits a window about the size of a Mike & Ike, again showing off his arm strength.

1st and 10: Another slant to Tate. Almost identical to previous play. 15 yards. Jimmah(!) bears frightening resemblance to RoboHenne.
1st and 10: Screen to Allen for 5.
2nd and 5: Streak to Tate for touchdown.

Another perfectly placed pass by Clausen. He looked really, really good on this drive.

Fourteenth Drive:

2nd and 10: Screen to Allen for 10 yards. Long developing play; Clausen actually did a good job of hitting Allen in the face of pressure.
2nd and 15: Threw deep comeback route to Tate, thrown 20 yards on a rope. Catch was called out of bounds, but a solid throw nonetheless. ND looks like it could (and possibly should) have challenged.
3rd and 15: Had Tate on streak, but Tate has to lay out and traps ball on ground. Would have gone for 40 yards. Pass interference keeps drive alive, but had nothing to do with play. I'm sure Irish fans would have liked for Clausen to throw a perfect strike to Tate, but throw was catchable (albeit difficult).
2nd and 7: Quick out to Grimes; 6 yard gain.
2nd and G from 6: Corner fade to Grimes for touchdown. Clausen puts the ball exactly where it has to go.

Notre Dame had one more drive after this, but it was entirely comprised of clock-killing runs.

Clausen's final stat line: 21-34, 237 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, no sacks.

My impressions:

• His arm is way stronger than it was last year. Not only that, but his decision-making seems to have improved as well. Besides the one bad interception on the overthrown fade, Clausen did a great job of making safe throws when necessary and going downfield when he had one-on-one coverage. If given the time, he can make any throw he wants to.
• Having said that, I'm still unsure about his pocket presence. San Diego State got almost no pressure on him, thanks to a completely depleted defensive line (the Aztecs were playing their best linebacker at DE, to give you some perspective). However, the one time they were able to get pressure (during the third drive, on 3rd and 10) Clausen completely lost his mind and should have been hit with an intentional grounding flag. If Michigan is able to get some pressure on Clausen (and I think they will), there is definite Yakety Sax potential.
• Michigan needs to force Clausen to make more intermediate throws. Almost all of his passes against San Diego State came either on wide-open dumpoffs, screens, or fades/streaks. There was nothing thrown deep over the middle all game, and the only intermediate stuff thrown over the middle was the two lazer-like slants to Tate and a couple crossing routes where nobody was within 10 yards of the receiver. Clausen has to prove he can make those throws, especially if Michigan gets some heat on him.

It may be a complete waste of time to try to assess Clausen's maturation based on a game against a team that lost to Cal-Poly in week one. However, as Michigan fans should know by now, no matter who a team plays against the quarterback has to execute on his throws. Clausen executed against the Aztecs. He will certainly go up against a much better defense in Michigan, but the Wolverines have to be prepared for a better Jimmah(!) than the guy they saw last year. The key, clearly, is going to be getting solid pass rush and forcing Clausen to make quick decisions with the ball. If he has time, he will pick us apart.

Just for kicks:

I'll be at the game on Saturday, so a special "Overheard at Notre Dame Stadium" post may be coming on Monday, depending on where my seats are. Go Blue!