Michigan Memorial Day Monday: New 2018 PWO Offensive Lineman?

Side Note:  I will be taking some time off this week, so you will be treated to some of Michigan's 2017 season game highlights each day this week.  I will pick only the wins, because nobody wants to revisit the loses again.   Special thank you goes out to parkinggod on YouTube for all the hard work on the highlights and the great job he does after every game!


Since today is Memorial Day, I thought it would be fitting to start with Air Force.


Before we do that there is a unique situation about a potential new PWO for the 2018 class, offensive guard recruit Griffin Korican.  Griffen was a 2 star prospect and has signed to be a PWO at Oregon State but has been in discussion with Coach Warinner.   Griffin is from Seattle and is 6'5 and 295 pounds.  Per Land of 10:


“I signed a preferred walk-on with Oregon State and during my spring break [in April], I visited Michigan and talked with Coach [Ed] Warinner and he told me I could do a PWO [preferred walk-on] if they could get me into the school,” Korican said. “Long story short, they got me into Michigan and now I’m making a decision on where to go.”


The 6-foot-5, 295-pound offensive lineman said he is “pretty much” committed to Michigan, but is taking a visit on June 2 to solidify his feelings for himself and his family.


“It’s more for my parents, honestly,” Korican said. “They want to meet and talk with the coaches and I want to meet with some of the players and talk with the coaches again to make sure I’m making the right choice.”


As a 2-star prospect, Korican had offers from San Diego and the Colorado School of Mines before taking the walk-on offer from Oregon State. However, he thinks Michigan gives him a better chance to be successful.


“I feel like Michigan is the only opportunity I have earned where I will compete against the best every day, which will make me into the best player I can become,” he said. “I also really like Coach Warinner because of his old-school mentality and toughness he instills in his players.


Welcome Big Man!

• Congratulations to former Michigan Wolverine Quinton Washington who is on the Pit Crew of Indy 500 Champ Will Power!

These Mistakes Will Cost Michigan A Game

Gary Flying by Todd McInturf from DetNews

Michigan for the second week in a row played a football game that was tough to describe.   ESPN called it sluggish, I lean more to non-disciplined.    Seven penalties for 79 yards and another turnover. Dumb mistakes at dumb times.   Every time Ty Isaac breaks a long run, I'm now waiting for a penalty to call it back.   That poor kid is playing great and keeps having touchdowns called back.  Now there is a injury concern for Michigan's leading rusher, which I'm sure we won't hear about from the Michigan staff this week.


The offense needs to be taking Don Brown and the defense out to a nice dinner.   That unit is winning games for the Wolverines right now.    They better add one more unit to that dinner and its the Michigan Special Teams- DPJ with a TD on a punt return and 5 fields from Nordin.    The offense has it's head in the sand again and honestly looks a bit lost out there.    The list of offensive problems, in a word is offensive.  


-Can't score TD's in the Red Zone
-Continues to turn the ball over
-Dropped balls
-Poor play calling
-Poor 3rd down conversions (5-14)
-Ian Bunting has zero catches on the year
-Wheatly has 1 catch
-Wilton is inconsistent and was 14-23 for 169 yards
-Penalties that kill drives or call back TD's

Is this the Jedd effect?  Does Michigan miss his play calling?    Which I thought was way too conservative and vanilla yesterday.   Is this Wilton not playing like a senior should be?  Is this young WR's not getting open?  The line not protecting?  I think it could be all of the above.   Everyone in the stadium knew the Air Force defense was going to blitz on 3rd down and Michigan didn't seem to have a hot route or Wilton just didn't throw it.   I felt like Michigan ran the same 6 or 7 plays all day.  Do we have a screen in the play book?  Where is the west coast offense we were hearing about during camp?


I know young teams makes young mistakes, but if this team believes in talent over experience then they better start playing more disciplined football.   If they want an example of that, look at the other sideline on Saturday. 


Let's go to the Cheers and Jeers before I get too depressed.




Cheers:

• Nordin going 5-5 on field goals
• DPJ Punt returned for a TD
• Ty Isaac for another good day
• Higdon for his run late and playing well
• Michigan's Defense!
• Michigan's Special Teams (minus one unit)
• Bush had 11 tackles and 1 sack
• McCray had 11 and 2 TFL
• Winovich 9 with 1.5 sacks and 2 TFL

Jeers:

• Chris Evans had 30 yards and one fumble that looked like he just dropped the ball.
• Can we try a different punter please?
• Crawford had a bad drop
• Does Crawford look like he is running on kick off returns?
• Penalties are killing this team!
• This game was close and scary for 3.5 quarters
• Wilton is struggling with accuracy and had a very bad fumble
• Tarik Black and Ty Isaac both could have injuries
• No Red Zone touchdowns
• One offensive TD by the Wolverines

I didn't see the game but Purdue is going to be the talk of the Big Ten this weekend.   Michigan all of sudden has to travel to a team that is playing well that many thought would be a pretty easy win for the Wolverines.   Purdue beat an SEC team in their home stadium yesterday 35-3.    The Wolverines are going to have their handful next weekend against a hot team on the road.   If Michigan's plays like they did the last two weeks, they will struggle to win this game. 




Side Note:  Please don't schedule the Air Force again!  The ghost of David Brandon keeps haunting this program.   

Air Force Preview

Time: Noon
Location:  Big House
Weather: Sunny 76
TV: BTN
Stream: BTN To Go
Line: Michigan -24


Michigan brings in an opponent that you rather shake their hands and thank them for their service then play them in a football game.   I usually like to have something I don't like about a Michigan opponent, but not this week.  For these kids to go to the Air Force Academy and play football deserves a tip of the hat and a heartfelt Thank you!


They're also a pretty darn good football team as well.   One when you see them on the schedule, you think about the 1000 ways they can beat you with that triple option. 


Tale of the Tape
Michigan Running Game vs. AF Defense = Michigan
AF Running Game vs. Michigan D = Push
Rest = Air Force
Time to Game Plan= Air Force
Kickoff Time = Michigan
Coaching = Push


Remember this match-up in 2012?  It ended up being a one touchdown game 31-25.  Michigan had all kinds of trouble with that triple option.   I like defending this type of offense, if Michigan has had more then a week to prepare, when it's just a week that favors Air Force. 


I'm pretty sure each coach would prefer to run 95% of the time with their strong running games.   This game might take 2.0 hours total!


Leave feeling good about a trip to Purdue if.......................

• Michigan's defensive linemen, doesn't have any lower leg injuries
• Michigan wins by a comfortable margin and looked decent in all phases
• Wilton doesn't fumble or throw a pick
• Wilton is accurate in the 4 passes he is going to throw
• Michigan's running game is gaining yards in chunks
• Michigan can punt the ball further then 21 yards.

Say, we never should schedule the Air Force again if..........................

• Wilton is turning the ball over in anyway
• Michigan's young defense is confused by the triple option
• AF is running circles around the Michigan LB's and DB's
• The AF defense stops the Michigan offense more then a couple times
• This game is close in the 3rd quarter

I don't like this match-up for the Wolverines as the Falcons can make any team look pretty bad.   If this young defense gets frustrated, it could be a long day for the Wolverines at home.   The Michigan offense will have to score and score often to keep up if the Air Force is running the ball like we know they can.  The noon kickoff is very early for our guests from Colorado Springs and should help the Wolverines. 


I like Michigan's running game in this one and expect big days from Ty, Chris and the offensive line should do well against a smaller AF Dline.   Michigan's defense will need to be led by guys like Carlo Kemp, Devin Bush, and Rashan Gary.   The young guys will have to stay with their assignments, even when it looks like they shouldn't.   I'm a bit concerned for the young DB, playing the run and getting hit over the top on some long passes.   The Michigan Dline will need to protect their knees from the cut blocks.   Win the game and stay healthy! 


Michigan 41 Air Force 21

Michigan Monday and Tuesday: Quick Look At Air Force and Injury News

Sorry for the delay all, I live in Florida now and lost power when Irma came through.   Power is still out and right now I'm at Panera fighting for bandwidth with everyone in Florida.  :)


Michigan this Saturday hosts the very scary Air Force Academy.   Air Force runs the triple option which is something the Michigan defense sees once every 5 years or so.  If you watched the Labor Day night game when Tennessee played Georgia Tech, you know how hard it can be to defend this type of offense.


Last Week:  Bye Week, Week 1 they beat VMI 62-0
Stats:
Rushing: 473
Pass: 190
Total: 663 yards (Wow!)
Yards allowed: 95
TV: BTN
Kick: Noon
Line:  Michigan -24


This is a good football team that Michigan will have to play well against.  The team that showed up to play UC might be in trouble, if they don't clean up a few things.  This game will test Don Brown and the young Michigan defense.   The Michigan offense should score a few points,  if they hold on to the ball during hand offs and don't throw pick 6's.


Still its a very unique offense and one that can gain a ton of yards if haven't prepared properly.

• Donovan Jeter is out for the year and just had surgery.  He will for sure redshirt now

• Oliver Martin and Kareem Walker are a bit banged up and didn't dress for Cincinnati.   Jimmy does not like talking about players who don't dress!

• Sounds like DPJ will be back on punt returns, Jimmy said he watched the tape and some of the issues were not DPJ's.   

• Tyree Kinnel was the defensive player of the game for the Wolverines last week.   He is really playing well!  He had 2 sacks, interception for a TD and 7 total tackles.

• Lastly I agree with the point Brian at Mgoblog made about Wilton.  His issues are fixable like using two hands on hand offs and throwing mechanics when he has a rusher in his face.    Wilton's knowledge of the offense with a ton of young WR's is the reason he is playing over O'Korn and Peters.    It can be frustrating at times, but like it was said in the comments, In Jimmy we trust!

Wolverine Wednesday: News On Former Wolverines

An ABC/ESPN pilot Jalen vs. Everyone was released last night at 7:30.   It had some funny parts and some rough spots.   Running into Kobe was probably the funniest part of the entire show.   I'm not sure what type of number it got in the ratings but I hope the executives give it a shot and fund it for next season.  ABC passed on it and ESPN will now have to make the decision.

• David Harris got released by the Jets.  He is now considering retirement.  I remember when Rex Ryan told the media he was the best player on the team.   He has had a great NFL career.

• Brady Hoke has lost weight.  

• Schedule update: Air Force will be a noon kick on BTN.   This game and the triple option scares me.

• 5 star QB Justin Fields has de-committed from Penn State

• 2018 4-star OG Emil Ekiyor has recently stated he is '100%' committed to Michigan.  He was recently concerned with some lack of communication and other programs started to recruit him pretty hard.

• I heard that both Aubrey Solomon and Brad Robbins have both enrolled already and can participate in Summer Work outs.  

Air Force Aftermath

To close for comfort was the theme of the day.   Air Force moved the ball at up and down the field and minus a missed field goal and a Michigan stop inside the five they would have upset the #19 ranked Wolverines.   Air Force is a team that is designed to make look silly and compete with teams that are bigger and have more talent.   Both of those things happened on Saturday. 

Michigan was pretty one dimensional on offense as the Denard show continued while the rest of the running game faltered.  Denard was fairly accurate in the passing game with only one INT after a tipped ball.  He did have a couple nice throws and a few deep balls.    Another positive on offense was the introduction to Devin Funchess a TE/WR hybrid who looks like a future star with 106 yards and his first touchdown as a Wolverine.   His intro reminded me of the first time we saw Kevin Koger a few years ago.

On to the first Cheers and Jeers of the year.

Cheers:

• Denard Show was in full effect
• Devin Funchess showed he needs to be a bigger part of the offense
• Jake Ryan wearing #47 made the game saving play
• James Ross a true freshman had two big tackles on 4th down
• Norfleet is an electric kick returner. 
• Special Teams seems to be a strong area for the Wolverines
• A win is a win

Jeers:

• The Michigan defense gave up 417 total yards
• Fitz had 7 yards on 8 carries
• The Michigan offensive line had trouble run blocking all day
• Gardner had two drops that could have cost Michigan the game
• ESPN's loss of signal during the Gardner non-catch review
• Will Roy Roundtree report to the Michigan offense?  Paging Roy Roundtree.

A win is a win and that is really all you can say about the game on Saturday.  Denard was 100% of the offense and the defense had trouble stopping a unique opponent.   It's a game you go home happy you won but knowing there is a ton of more work to do.  

Work to be done:

• Michigan's offense line has now under preformed in two games.  They can't seem to open a hole for anyone other then Denard. 
• Michigan's Dline is not doing anything special either.  Big Will had two defensive holding calls.   It seemed having Frank Clark back helped later in the game.   Not much from Craig Roh yet.
• I thought Kovas would have a huge day but I didn't see much of him after the first two drives.
• Michigan needs more game breakers on offense other then Denard.   Is Funchess part of the answer?
• Did we lose Roundtree's productivity with the loss of Tate Forcier?  He needs more looks if he is open.  (he may not be)
• I know this might not a popular take but better coaching/game management from Brady Hoke.  I thought he screwed up time management at the end of the first half, missed a challenge opportunity when Gallon had clearly made a first down by two yards and didn't have his team prepared enough to face Air Force's offense.  I expected he would know Air Force pretty well from his two years at SDSU.   It seems he may need to communicate with the coaches in the press box more often. 
• Receivers please catch the ball.

I think we are starting to see this team might not be as good as we thought going into the year.  I hope they improve before they go down to South Bend and the Big Ten season starts.  Maybe next week will be a confidence building experience against UMass.

Air Force Preview

Time: 3:30 PM
Location: Big House
TV: ABC
Weather:  Cloudy and High of 70, 90% chance of rain during the day
Line:  Michigan -21

Time to move on from last weekends game.   Time to play another opponent and focus on the rest of the season.   Michigan played a powerful team with little to no weakness last weekend.   This weekend they get to play a team that runs the triple option.   If your not familiar with that type offense, it's basically death by running the ball and confusing the defense on which player has the ball.   Just when you key on the run, they hit you with a play action pass.  Georgia Tech has been successful running it the last 4 years or so. 

This offense is something you don't see very often and just the opposite of what the Wolverines defense saw last week.   The Wolverines defenders will have to stay in their gaps and do a better job in tackling the ball carrier.   One of the reasons this offense is hard to defend is because you only have  a week to prepare for it.    Georgia Tech played Iowa in the Orange Bowl a few years ago and the Hawkeyes dominated because they had a strong defensive line and they had a month to prepare.   Having Big Will and Q Washington regularly in the backfield will help the defense get off the field quickly.

Tale of the Tape

Spread/Pro Style Hybrid vs. Triple Option = Denard Robinson X Factor
Triple Option vs Michigan's Defense = Push
Michigan's Offense vs AF Defense = Huge Day by Fitz and Gallon
Letdown vs. Trip to Big House = Push
Needing a win vs Happy to be there = Needing a win


Air Force has smart football players that run a complicated miss direction offense that is hard to defend.   They run that offense to stay competitive in games like this.    Brady and Big Al should not be surprised at what Air Force runs since they saw them every year at San Diego State in the Mountain West.   The key to this game is that Air Force does not have the athletes or size the Wolverines do.  They give up a ton of points on defense and try to out score their opponents when they are over matched in talent and size.   AF gave up 59 points to ND last year and if you were up at 9:00AM last weekend, you saw what ND did to a similar type of offense at Navy. 

Sing Hail to the Victors if..............

• Michigan shows no let down from the Alabama game
• It's the Denard Show running and throwing
• Fitz is close to 200 yards
• Gardner is playing QB instead of WR in the second half
• The Michigan D line dominates the smaller AF O line
• The AF running backs can't get outside to run free

Give thanks to our service men from the Air Force Academy if..............

• Michigan can't stop the triple option and they run free all day
• Michigan isn't scoring every time they have the ball
• Michigan still has a "hang over" from last weekend
• A slow start by the Wolverines could cause doubt and indecision
• AF is still running strong in the 4th quarter because they are used to training in the thin air of Colorado.

On paper this game is not close and why Vegas has the Wolverines winning by three touchdowns.  
I don't see the Wolverines having much trouble moving the ball on offense against a small AF defense.  The key to the game is: can the Michigan Defense stop the triple option?  At times the Wolverines have had trouble with games like this one.  I think Brady's experience playing Air Force at SDSU and him coaching the Dline will help the likes of Q, Ash, Black, Big Will, Roh and Clark do their job.  I expect a big day from Denard passing the ball and Fitz running mad for missing last week.   I expect to see a ton of tackles from Kovas and Thomas Gordon at the line of scrimmage. 

Michigan 41 Air Force 17


Go Blue!

Michigan Thurday: Depth Chart for Air Force

Michigan's depth chart for Air Force came out yesterday and there wasn't a ton of surprises and at least one mistake.

• Fitz is the starting RB
• Brandon Moore is listed at the starting TE but we know he is out for 2-3 weeks with an MCL injury.  So expect Mike Kwiatkowski to start.  New nickname/logo for Mike =




 












• Frank Clark is listed #2 DE behind Jibreel Black
• Russell Bellomy is the #2 QB
• Elliot Mealer is the starting Center
• Taylor Lewan is in his regular starting spot
• Courtney Avery is the starting CB taking over for the injured Blake Countess

Great article on Maurice Hurst, Jr. from Boston.com.  He sounds like a good kid and a great athlete.

Coach Hoke has given Bennie Oosterbaan's #47 legendary jersey to a player wear this weekend.   We don't know who the player is yet.

From wikiapedia:  Benjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan (February 4, 1906 – October 25, 1990) was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team. Despite the fact that he last played in the 1920s, he is still widely regarded as one of the greatest football players in Michigan's history. He was selected by Sports Illustrated as the fourth greatest athlete in the history of the U.S. state of Michigan in 2003 and one of the eleven greatest college football players of the first century of the game (ending in 1968).

I had no idea he played three sports for U of M.  What an incredible athlete.  Bennie was Bo Jackson before Bo Jackson. 

Michigan Tuesday: What Did We Learn?

It's important we don't let the Alabama game beat us twice or three times.  Back in 2007, Michigan gets shocked by App. State and gets blown out the next weekend by Oregon.  That can't happen this year. 

With that in mind, Michigan needs to find some positives from the film and play better football on Saturday against Air Force.  I feel bad for the coaches and players having to watch that film again. 

Here are some things that stood out to me:

• We need Fitz.  We have to have a play maker in the backfield next to Denard.  I don't think he would have made a difference against Alabama but our back ups are not close to his skill level.

• Denard needs to run more and has to make better throws. (obvious)

• Gallon is Michigan's best WR and Roy Roundtree is not an outside receiver.

• Gardner has a ton of work to do at WR.  Flashback:  Remember in high school when you played flag football in gym?  You always told the best athlete from the basketball team to run deep because you knew he could run faster and out jump the entire defense.  That guy right now is Devin Gardner.

• Big Will showed some nice things on the Dline.  I would like to see how he does against a line that isn't full of NFL first round draft picks. 

•  When I first saw #15 Ross out on defense, I thought who is that? I was a little surprised to see James Ross get so much time. Doesn't seem like there are going to be a ton of redshirts from the 2012 class on defense this year.  

• Dennis Norfleet is fast. Use him on offense, somewhere.


• Big AL either thought he was going to kill Denard running the ball or that Vincent Smith sweep play was going to work because he ran it 100 times.

• Countess ACL is a huge loss for the Wolverines DB's

• I almost threw up when the Michigan WR's dropped the first two passes.  I also yelled at Roundtree when it was really Gardner.

• We are very thin at TE and we might not see much from that position this year.  Brandon Moore is out this week with an MCL injury.

• This Saturday can't get here fast enough.