football

My twitter is blowing up this morning. Two true freshmen starters, according to the first official depth chart, Carvin Johnson at a hybrid saftey spot. And Will Hagerup at punter.

And according to Varsity Blue "Rich Rod: Devin Gardner probably won't redshirt."

http://mgofootball.com/ This is the best link I have found this morning to the new depth chart.

Hey i remember watching College Football Live a few weeks back and Randy Edsall was on and they were talking about the Big East and opening up with Michigan, and he made the comment that he has yet to beat West Virgina.  So I was thinking will this help Michigan this saturday considering that West Virgina still runs Rich Rods system.  What do you guys think?  I think the lack of experience on defense is the main factor. Sorry guys i know this isn't a great post just trying to get threw till saturday.

Here are last year's National Rankings:

Comparing Offense vs. Defense:

The teams are pretty even in most categories.

Michigan has an advantage in Rushing Offense but UConn has an even greater advantage in rushing offense (which then carries over to the total categories).

So, once again, it appears that our rushing defense is the key.

EDIT: SOS (strength of schedule)    UConn #24 (540 Points), U/M #75 (476 Points)

http://www.rogerspoll.com/ncaafb_2009_sos_final.html

This just in: According to an article yesterday on MLive, Zoltan not only excelled at punting last year, but he also led the team in scoring!

4. Shore up the kicking game Resolution: As much as it can determine the difference between victory and defeat, this is something largely beyond the bounds of a coaching staff's control.  For all the Wolverines' troubles last year, the kicking game was not among them, with Zoltan Mesko handling all duties and emerging as one of the most outstanding punters in the nation, while hitting 11 of 15 field goals, including a long of 51 yards.

Perhaps the next article will credit Jason Olesnavage for coaching the LBs?

...days...

...until Tate Forcier shows us what a lot of moxie, years of grooming, a healed shoulder, and a wingless helmet produce in 2010.

Jack Tabb

6'4", 230 lbs.

Tight End

Red Bank, New Jersey

Michigan obviously wants a tight end in this class as they've gone after, and missed on, a few so far. Tabb has already taken an unofficial to Michigan, and is contemplating taking an official this weekend for the UConn game.

I'm going to try to make it up there, because that would be perfect timing for a first official. I really like Michigan, so we'll see.

I should know if that's 100% by the end of the day today (Monday) if he's coming. The reason this is such a big deal is because Jack wants to make his final decision in the next few weeks. I would go as far to guess that it may be North Carolina and Michigan at the top. With all the NCAA investigations looming at UNC, this visit could swing things in favor of Michigan.  That would be a decently big pickup; Tabb has offers from two dozen BCS schools.

Marquise Williams

6'3", 218 lbs.

Quarterback

Charlotte, North Carolina

Also in the North Carolina NCAA scandal benefiting Michigan, we move to Marquise Williams. Though he's a UNC commit, Williams had always stated that he would take his official visit to Michigan and possibly some other schools. That is still the case, and the NCAA snooping around Chapel Hill aren't helping any:

I don't want anyone to think I'm not committed to North Carolina still, because I am. I'm just still looking at everybody, and seeing what's out there. You never know what could happen. I'm coming up to Michigan on October 9th, that's the Michigan State game, that's when I'll be there.

He wanted to make sure that everyone knew he was still committed, but he wasn't happy about the looming investigation. He was in contact with Coach Gibson a few days ago, and said he still plans on keeping in touch with him. Also, in his first game he threw for 341 yards and 7 TD's while his team won 61-0. It was against a bad team, but still noteworthy.

Daren Kitchen

6'1", 175 lbs.

Cornerback

Houma, Louisiana

The latest on Daren is that he sent his first game film to three of the Michigan coaches, and they loved it. He had 3 pass break ups, a field goal block, and an INT for a TD. He says (I know he's said this before) that the Michigan offer is now his.

He's coming up for the UConn game on an official visit, as well. I don't know if the offer is officially official, but we should know by Friday if it is. If so, a commit is expected in short order.

Demetrius Hart

5'8", 190

Running Back

Orlando, Florida

If you didn't originally see this thread, then I'll bring you up to speed. Demetrius Hart (as of now) is not coming to the UConn game. There was some paperwork missing from his clearinghouse info, and he can't take an official visit until it's processed. [UPDATE: Hart's visit is seemingly on as of now.]

I spoke with Demetrius' mother today to see what the mix up was. She said that as of today they won't be coming to the U Conn game, and that Demetrius was going to take an unofficial visit to Auburn. She was told that the paperwork that needed to go through would take two weeks to get processed. It seems like they're trying to expedite the process, or figure out what needs to get done, but she wasn't optimistic that they would be able to.

I'm supposed to get a hold of her tomorrow to find out if they were able to work around it, and still make it up this weekend. Like I said, she didn't sound optimistic. We'll see what happens. 2012 QB Nick Patti, Demetrius' teammate, will still be coming. I'm not going to comment on if any of their other teammates will be there, because there's a possibility that teammate doesn't want it reported either way. I have a headache from this already. We'll see what happens, it looks like it could go either way.

Extra:

• The extensive UConn visitor list is here. Anthony Zettel recently decided that he'll be at the game. He's not 100% sure, but leaning towards going.