angry iowa running back-hating god

Ben VanSumeren
Ben VanSumeren is the only scholarship back not injured right now and this is fine [Bryan Fuller]

The big news since our last bits was Harbaugh went through pretty much all 120 guys on the team (and some trying to make it), including some major injury updates. Let's catch up on the offense.

Quarterback

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"'Backup QB looks great' is a free space in Spring Hype Bingo." –Alex Cook [Patrick Barron]

What we want to hear: Shea is loving this new offense, McCaffrey had made it a competition because that's what they say about backups in spring when the backup is not bad.

What we're hearing: Take it for what it's worth in the first week of April, but I've got multiple practice observers who say McCaffrey's push for the starting job is not just a "Shea can't put his heels up" competition. They're saying things like "McCaffrey has been outplaying Shea," and "McCaffrey truly is one snap away from beating out Shea this spring," and "They're getting equal snaps in practice," and most helpfully (paraphrasing) "Shea's been slower to adapt to the new system." I can actually publish the real quote for the last one because it came directly from Jim Harbaugh's presser:

“Yeah, Shea in particular, when the new system came in it takes some time. Thought there was some indecisiveness—natural indecisiveness. The last two practices he’s been very decisive going through his reads and knowing where all 11 are on the field and making good decisions and being quick with his decisions and accurate. He’s really doing well. Last two practices are showing that.

“Dylan’s also picked it up extremely fast and doing well. Little mistakes here and there but they have to get a feel for the reads and decisions that they make. I would say really all are progressing well in that area.”

What it means: I've got two possibly relevant historical examples of talk like this in early spring. The first was 2009, when people watching practice starting going all "Denarrrrrd!!!" and we were like "Lol right, like anyone's going to beat out MOXIE after a year of starting!" The second is the "McCaffrey be coming!" talk from last year.

As much as we like to comp Shea to Good Tate (and that QB competition turned out to have as much to do with Tate's work ethic, i.e. lack thereof, as a rising transcendent talent), Shea Patterson-Dylan McCaffrey 2018 is the most relevant precedent for Shea Patterson-Dylan McCaffrey 2019. That was a competition in that Harbaugh gives the top two guys equal reps, but wasn't one because Shea has a mountain of experience on McCaffrey; a 15 seed and a 2 seed get equal time on the floor; one remains a massive favorite.

Since we're hearing it the first week of April after an offense switch, the explanation Harbaugh gave makes the most sense: Shea has probably been slow to pick up the Gattis stuff, and McCaffrey, as you should know by now, is smart, diligent, brave, ambitious, and a lot of other traits you appreciate in a good heir. The real question is where are we after Practice 30, not Practice 7, when Shea's got his feet under him, and the consensus is Patterson will reassert himself over the feisty challenger.

So I'm pumping the brakes: if McCaffrey has the kind of spring game that forces Ace to make a highlight video, then we can talk about that time MTSU upset Michigan State for a few months.* If on the odd chance we come back in August and start hearing we have to put away the Weapon of Choice video for Flash Dilithium, well, I can live with that.

* [Or now, if you like.]

Depth chart: Shea, McCaffrey, Milton, [big gap], the other guys.

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Running Back

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Who's hurt/out:

  • Chris Evans: academic suspension, back in fall or next year or not at all.
  • Zach Charbonnet: light surgery, back for fall camp
  • Christian Turner: hamstring since Day 2, back in a week or two
  • Lucas Andrighetto: torn ACL, out for the year
  • Hassan Haskins: meniscus, limited this spring
  • Jared Char: hamstring, back maybe end of spring

Geezus! Who's available?

This lamb right here.

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Luiel Qorban is 3'2/85, has not fumbled once in practice, and RB coach Jay Harbaugh has been raving about his peripheral vision. Insiders confirm Qorban, though an even-toed ungulate, is getting the majority of the snaps, had one crazy catch out of the backfield where he tip-hoofed down the sideline for a touchdown, and is absolutely freaking adorable.

Num Num, a goat, and Schechita the Bull have also been getting carries. Num Num came in as a slot receiver/corner prospect but Rivals confirmed she's exclusively a running back. Schechita was at fullback last year. These are the only other running backs on the roster. Nope, no other running backs at all.

[After THE JUMP: A mountain goat, and Martin references]

Hey folks. Hope you had a pleasant holiday. I did except for my hard drive dying, then beeping alarmingly, then resurrecting itself. Either I need a new computer or I should hand over this hard drive to SCIENCE so all can benefit from this discovery. Probably the former. Anyway…

Merry Christmas. Stauskas attempts to hit 90% from three, does:

I like to have this man on a basketball team I like.

A non-ringing non-endorsement. Hoke on the Big Ten expanding:

Michigan coach Brady Hoke suspects it won't end there.

"It's probably not finished," he said Thursday in Tampa during a segment with Michigan Radio.

Although Hoke offered no dissension toward expansion, he also didn't endorse it.

"Is it a positive? I think it's the world we live in right now," he said. "As coaches, we have no say in anything, I want you to know. The presidents make those decisions -- people way up in the food chain. But I doubt it's done."

Bo is spinning in his grave right now. As I've mentioned before, at this point I'm all for further expansion since Big Ten Old and Big Ten New (And Purdue Or Something) is a much better setup than seeing Iowa and Wisconsin and whoever else once every million years.

Meanwhile, Michigan's moving to a third hotel Monday for some reason.

Hoke quote, epic variety. Is here:

Hoke on Denard & Kovacs: "So we have a distant cousin of Bob Marley and an accountant as our captains."

Cumong man. Very frustrating to hear Will Campbell speak of his laziness early in his career:

"When I was younger, I was lazy," Campbell said. "I didn't listen as much, I didn't take everything in like I should of. There were people around me telling me, too -- it was just me not doing it."

That's one thing recruiting rankings will always struggle to encompass. Jonathan Hankins couldn't get through three consecutive reps when he hit Michigan's camp as a rising senior, but got it together and turned into a beast. Campbell had that famous picture where he's all throwing guys all over the place…

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…and then he doesn't really do much until he's a senior and by then we're just happy when he's okay. Meanwhile, repetition of theme about redshirting: RR threw Campbell on the field as a true freshman despite the fact he was patently unready, and now both Michigan and Campbell probably wish they'd have one more year together in which Campbell improved on his 2012 and maybe moved into the middle rounds of the draft. The redshirt forever.

On the other hand. Will Campbell on his beach day:

It's hard out here. I done fought two sharks, wrassled a sting ray, ate two crabs--had butter out there. It's hard out here but you know how we do it, I'm from Detroit. You know, it was nothing. Two great whites, punched a whale in the face... easy day. Go Blue.

He has never lacked for entertainment. The entire segment is pretty fantastic:

Also in this category. Brendan Gibbons on pirates:

Michigan placekicker Brendan Gibbons grew up a big Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, and has always dreamed of playing at Raymond James Stadium.

Of course, he has a perfectly logical reason for loving the Bucs.

"I like pirates," he said.

Unfortunately, we are doomed since Gibbons no longer looks like Keith Stone.

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DOOOOM

Made with weed and torn ACLs. A reader sends along a shot of a micorbrewery in Coralville, Iowa, with a very special Extra Special Bitter:

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Other than the relatively low alcohol content, perfect.

Exit bizarre decision guy. MSU wing forward Brandan Kearney announced he was leaving a few days ago, leaving Izzo to grasp his hair alarmingly($) and dance on the edge of calling Kearney a danger to society:

One of the more bizarre things I’ve been involved with in coaching. Came back from Christmas and (he) just informed me he thinks he’s better off going somewhere else. Not really happy with his role, you know. Wants more role, wants to score more, wants to do this more, wants to do that more. I gotta admit, it was a little strange for me and the players when a guy’s playing 17 minutes a game, but at the same time it’s gonna open it up maybe for another guy.

Thus ends what was, in retrospect, one of the most overblown recruiting controversies in Michigan basketball history: Carlton Brundidge vs Brandan Kearney. Answer: neither, and nobody in state. Unless I missed a guy from outside the Rivals 150 who is blowing up Amir Williams is the only guy from that instate recruiting class doing anything at a major school at the moment. Michigan did get a guy named Trey Burke that year, so that recruiting class something less than a total loss.

As for the departure's impact, Kearney was playing about 40% of MSU's minutes but when the going got tough those dwindled to 6-9 per game. He was a quality defender with little offensive game; MSU will probably revert to the twin towers lineup they had scrapped earlier in the year in an apparently futile effort to cut down on turnovers. I'm not sure Kearney's departure is worth much—maybe a game—but in a brutal big ten every little bit helps, or hurts as the case may be.

Oh for pants' sake. One side of the story and all that but a former Louisville player has sued UL for cancelling his scholarship mid-year after

  • two teammates attacked him in the locker room and broke bones around one of his eyes (they were later charged with assault and kicked off the team)
  • he was told not to tell the doctor and other folks how he sustained those injuries
  • a doctor told him to stop playing football after problems with his eyes

Cancelling a scholarship mid-year is against NCAA regulations, FWIW…

Mid-year cancellations must be for specific reasons in the NCAA bylaws or for violating a term of the scholarship agreement. Any cancellation or non-renewal requires the student-athlete to be provided written notice from the financial aid office and a hearing opportunity.

…and it seems like they could easily have medicaled the guy. I'm sure Strong and Louisville have their side of the story. Looks ugly.

As more money flows into the top echelons of the sport it's time to ask why the NCAA has such strict limits on scholarships issued. If a team wants to carry 100 scholarship players, why not let them? All of this oversigning business would be done tomorrow if the NCAA would restructure revenue sports in such a way as to encourage retention instead of attrition, as a hard cap does.

In the barn. The following six true freshman have enrolled early:

  • OT Logan Tuley-Tillman
  • OG Kyle Bosch
  • CB Ross Douglas
  • S Dymonte Thomas
  • DE Taco Charlton
  • TE Jake Butt

For Douglas, Bosch, and Butt the early enrollment should give them a better shot at early playing time. With the thin interior OL it's not out of the question that Bosch is in the mix to play from day one despite being an OL. Douglas will probably have to wait a year with Countess/Avery/Taylor in front of him but the fourth guy will get PT and the race is on for that spot. Thomas may play some as well; Charlton and LTT seem like obvious redshirt candidates.

All but out of the barn. Taylor Lewan:

"I have an idea what I'm doing. I'm almost positive what I'm doing. But at the end of the day, this bowl game doesn't have to do with what I'm going through. ... I'm playing football on Tuesday, Jan. 1, and I'll make my decision, and I'll talk to the coaches about it, and then we'll obviously go from there and what they want to do to get it out.

Is there something that could change his mind?

"No," Lewan said. "No."

So long and thanks for all the fish.

It all worked out. Followup on "how to schedule nonconference games": Michigan did pretty well this year despite the Binghamton game. They approach the finish line of their nonconference slate 15th nationally after playing 5 major teams and avoiding the very bottom of D-I with the exception of the Bearcats. Their peripheral numbers should be good come tourney time after slogging through the brutal Big Ten, and that'll give them a leg up on anyone with around the same record not named Duke when S-curves are plotted.

Fight. James Young vs.  Derrick Walton, go:

Walton is ripping opponents for 30-40 points a game these days to go along with the point guard stuff. There will necessarily be a dip when Burke is gone next year; it may not be a huge one.

Etc.: Elliott Mealer reminisces about the bad thing. Tony Dungy drops in on Michigan. Chad Ford declares Trey Burke "firmly planted in the first round"($), so godspeed Mr. Burke. Going I-A: Why? Stop. Don't. Joe Lundardi has Iowa the last team in, Iowa fans excited. Craig Roh is about to break the Michigan record for consecutive starts.

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Given the weak home schedule this year, I planned on creating a new feature on the site to detail my exploits in obtaining seats for every home game (by methods available to the hoi polloi) without ever paying a forced donation. Rule was I had to get two people into each game and sitting next to each other. Then I didn't bother for awhile because it would've been a lot of dividing by zero. To wit:

Air Force: I couldn't attend so I sent a correspondent, who then accepted a free ticket from somebody.

UMass: Offered one guy near the northeast entrance $10 each for his tickets and another guy interjected with two free ones.

Illinois: Family friend offered me a pair of his earlier in the week, then the day of the game both my designated game buddy (Misopogal) and the couple who owned the tickets decided it wasn't worth sitting in a rainstorm for this edition of Illinois, so I rolled solo with 4 tickets. I traded one to a student for his student ticket and 5 bucks 'cause the kid needed to get his buddy in, and sold the other two extras for $10 each outside the Stadium-Main entrance. I think I gave the student ticket away. Total: –$25.00

MSU: Bought two Row 11s from our new affiliate on Friday for $129 each plus $14 to have them FedEx'ed overnight (cheapest seat on Stubhub was $20 higher at the time even before their fees). Corner, but our endzone got most of the action.

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Remaining home games are Iowa and Northwestern, and I'm at net $111. Guys, I think this is working.

DON'T MISS THESE:

The Thing About Purdue. In other useful though tardy things, the blogger formerly known as Blue Seoul (now ttifiblog) brought back the formerly weekly Game Wrap With Pics post for Purdue. Don't remember what that looks like? Like this:

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…but bigger and legible and there's lots of them. Brian front-paged but those who went to see discovered some bad html. Now fixed; dig in. And welcome back, Diarist of the Week.

Denard Watch. As he climbs toward the big career marks, let's look back on some of the milestones already passed along this trail of hobbled safeties, heaving linebackers, flying shoes, sanctified endzones, flappitty laces, askew helmets, smile-curved mouthguards, and soaring dreads. Courtesy of jeepinben.

Kugler and some guys we're looking at. Everyone's looking for the next 2013 recruit with consensus 4 stars to start moving up boards, and Patrick Kugler's one of those dues. A couple of helpful readers got a scouting report on his recent game, plus those of three prospects.

[JUMP: Weeklies, Best of the Board, Waving things in front of Brian]