The Other Side

I've had my time to reflect over the disappointing 21-10 loss suffered by my beloved Wolverines last Saturday.  While the disappointment will never be acceptable, I found an eerie calm about myself as I awoke from my drunken stupor on Sunday.  There was even a sense of joy.  Back to this later; first, my thoughts about the game.  We need bullets!

• The defense played surprisingly acceptable.  Part of this was going back to the secondary of Floyd/Warren/Woolfolk/Kovacs.  I felt that this was the best option all along because you can always give safety help to JT Floyd, the same safety help that was utterly worthless with Jordan Kovacs playing deep instead of Troy Woolfolk.  Kovacs is an acceptable player near the line of scrimmage, so this played to our strengths.  Also, Kevin Leach for Obi Ezeh was a substitution that had to be made.  Obi is at a crossroads in his career at this point.  On the one hand, he has not had more than 1 year under a defensive system since he has been here.  On the other hand, he has not shown the instincts to be a consistently good linebacker.  Don't even get me started on his coverage skills.  So what will the staff do with him?  This is one of the biggest questions going into the spring.  You can't just waste a 6'4 250 lb guy like him on the sidelines.  I look for them to give him the option of playing a DE position of some sorts, where his instincts will not be as big of a hindrance.
• Wow, did the Greg Banks/Will Heineiger substitution package ever bite us in the ass?!  Seemingly every time Ohio State made a big play in the running game, Banks and Heine were on the field.  Banks has been about typical of a late Lloyd Carr recruit: mediocre, unathletic, and generally uninterested.  However, at least he hasn't been collecting splinters like Adam Patterson, who was beaten out by the walk-on Heineiger.  Hopefully another recruiting class will lead us to have a little more depth on the DL next year.  I count Martin, RVB, Roh, Sagesse, Campbell (who played really well Saturday), Herron, and a redshirted Anthony Lalota as guys that could contribute.  This is still not where you want to be as a D1 team, so Heineiger will likely see some time again next year.  This is where an Obi Ezeh move possibly comes in.  
• It's safe to say that I love Roy Roundtree.  He has the one thing that you love in a receiver: production. He might not be the fastest or biggest guy, but he finds a way to get open and when he is thrown the ball he never drops it.  He reminds me of a smaller Jason Avant in that regard.
• Patrick Omameh is going to be something special on the OLine.  Where he excels is when he is in space, as I saw him absolutely murder Kurt Coleman on a couple of downfield blocks.  His play as a RS Freshman leads me to believe we can pencil him in at a starting spot somewhere on the line next year.  That gives Omameh, Schilling, a returning Molk (hopefully), and then two spots that will be up for grabs.  Of all the positions on the roster, OLine has the most potential, IMO.  Guys like Ricky Barnum, Taylor Lewan, and Quinton Washington are high-ceiling type guys who should be ready to step in and contribute (Barnum especially - tempered expectations on the other two as just RS Frosh).
• I'm going to miss Brandon Graham.  Nothing more needs to be said.
• Vince Smith is going to contribute here for four years.  He finished with a great two games against the two stingiest run defenses in the conference.  He doesn't need the biggest hole in the world to get positive yardage, and not just because he is Freshman Year Andy Kardos in size.  He also has that uncanny Mike Hart ability to turn a 4 yard loss into a 4 yard gain.  I like the way the kid plays, and he never backs down.  
• Tate had a great game from 20-20, but a lousy game backed up (sweaty palms) and in the red zone.  Michigan moved the ball better than I thought they would, and a lot of this was due to Tate making plays.  Of course, it was disappointing not to get into the endzone, but THE GUY IS A FRESHMAN! Name me the last freshman quarterback that was any good consistently.  Was he in over his head?  No doubt in my mind!  HE'S A DAMN FRESHMAN! PLAYING AGAINST OHIO STATE! One of the best defenses in the country.  But if you can say that you didn't see glimpses of positive play in that game than you are flat out lying to yourself.  Even the great Tim Tebow only had 2 plays that he ran as a freshman.  Colt McCoy didn't even play as a freshman.  Sam Bradford red shirted.  On and on and on.

So am I disappointed in how this season played out?  You are damn right I am.  The pessimist says we caught breaks and got lucky against Notre Dame and Indiana.  The optimist says we made plays in those games to win the game, and also were a play away from beating Michigan State and Iowa on the road, as well as Purdue at home (that was the game that hurt the most).  There are always two sides to a story.  My side is this: Rich Rodriguez had to dig himself out of a hole that no Michigan fan will ever begin to understand.  71 scholarship players out of the 85 limit.  The depth isn't there yet.

Back to my joy on Sunday.  Saturday against Ohio State was the biggest recruiting weekend Michigan has ever had.  Over 100 prospects poured into The Big House to watch the game.  For the people that say Rich Rod doesn't recruit defense, just wait until the chips fall from last weekend.  The talent we will have on the field in 2-3 years is going to be incredible.  Mark my words.

NRTTS
Coach Deuce