civil war beards

10/12/2019 – Michigan 42, Illinois 25 – 5-1, 3-1 Big Ten

It is said that when you have two quarterbacks, you don't really have any. I wonder if that might change in the near future. Survey the landscape: modern shotgun offenses virtually require the quarterback to be a viable run threat. The prospect of losing your starting quarterback, as Illinois did last week, looms.

Last trip down the bits until fall, as the spring game will get its own coverage next week and then it's just cold, dark offseason punctuated by Hello posts and HTTV work.

Defensive Tackle

Rest that, man. We're gonna need you. [Marc-Grégor Campredon]

What we want to hear: Jeter comp to Hurst or something. Somebody else stepping up at DT. Dwumfour back soon.

What we're hearing: Since last week there was a whole kerfluffle started when Harbaugh said this in his presser:

Just to follow up on Donovan and Dwumfour, are they injuries that could keep them out of the season? When you say serious, what does that mean exactly?

“It could. I’ve always been kind of just… as a coach but also when I played, I put a lot of stock in what a player, how their body feels, how they respond. So that’s the feedback. All indication we’re getting is that they really can’t do much at all. You always hope for the best.”

Are they injuries that require surgery?

“No, no. Donovan’s has been a soft-tissue injury, a groin injury. And Michael had a torn plantar fascia right before the bowl game. You start to worry when injuries linger longer than previously thought or longer than the time it usually takes, but I think nobody knows their body better than the actual person or athlete.”

And Dwumfour got word of some winds and responded on twitter (I'm choosing not to link a player's tweets since I don't want to add fuel to internet dumb). I mentioned all this with DPJ, along with my take:

"I put a lot of stock in what a player thinks" is Harbaughspeak for "It annoys me when players aren't practicing because they're healing even though I've been told it shouldn't." I gather from comments inside the program and from Dwumfour's response on Twitter that both are going to be fine. If Harbaugh's football coach instinct to expect players with minor injuries to practice has been reduced to howling at the moon about it, that too is fine.

Dwumfour was on the field but not practicing.

Rivals' young contributor Andrew Hussey shared that Mazi Smith's name comes up a lot when they talk to coaches and players.

Harbaugh also clarified what he sees in Jeter and what position they're playing:

Donovan Jeter’s our starting 3-tech right now. He continues to be an ascending player. He’s just…he appears hellbent on being the starting defensive tackle…And Carlo Kemp, talked about him before, extremely strong. He’s our starting nose.

Marich dropped a practice buzz($) yesterday that was mostly offense, but we got a few bits on D:

Jeter and Hutch looked very good in one on ones vs OL.

Rivals published some competition drills. Not much you can glean from watching them except Paea was much faster than Mazi Smith in the 58 vs. 58 battle. There wasn't much else to take away from practice, really.

What it means: We finally made it through a week this spring when the Ben Mason talk wasn't being jammed down our throats. That's the best sign yet that we might survive Defensive Tacklegeddon—Mason is a character but also not a guy who's going to last at 3-tech at 260 pounds after moving from fullback. Hey—it'll be fun, don't get me wrong—but you want them comfortable with the guy.

Moving Kemp to nose is…well his pass rush is not going to be as much of a problem as it was at tackle as long as he can stand up—that's a thing to watch in spring. It also gives the easier job to Jeter—whether that translates to better pass rush is The thing to watch. We'll have to watch it all over again in fall to see how Dwumfour fits.

[After the JUMP: Depth charts and scant explanation]

Brian,

Do you think there is any chance we would see either Terrence Robinson or Kelvin Grady at RB in the fall?

Thanks,
Rob

With five somewhat viable options at tailback, probably not. The best chance to see that move is if Vincent Smith is not fully recovered from his ACL injury since all three are tiny jitterbug receiving sorts.

HOWEVA, if Michigan goes to more four-wide looks this fall you a dollar says whichever slot receiver isn't Roy Roundtree spends a lot of time motioning into the backfield to give Michigan some two-back looks. Martavious Odoms hasn't proven himself anything more than an okay runner, so Robinson and Grady might get some reps as the slot/RB hybrid. Both were tailbacks in high school (Robinson was also a spread 'n' shred quarterback and occasional receiver) and put up crazy numbers. They've also displayed or (been rumored to have) a hands of a stone-like substance.

Whether that happens will depend on a lot of things, primarily Smith's health again. If you've got Smith in the game you've already got a slot receiver who can play running back and then the other guy will probably be a Cox or Hopkins capable of going directly upfield with bad intentions. With that possibility, three veteran tight ends hanging around sucking up playing time that this slot/RB hybrid might otherwise get, and the presence of Odoms and Roundtree chances for Grady and Robinson to

Brian
After reading the notes on RR presser, how concerned should we be about the LB unit heading into fall camp?  I was already concerned with this unit, but then I read this…

If Mark Moundros wins a linebacker position, he probably won't continue playing fullback. He's not just at linebacker as a gimmick, and there's a chance he'll get minutes there.  

UM has 2 guys in Mouton and Ezeh who have 20+ starts each under their belt.  They've got a couple other guys, Demens and Leach, who both saw a decent amount of action last year.  Now granted, the performance of the LB's last year was not very good, but now a guy who I believe has played fullback his entire career at UM might actually get some minutes at LB (and I'm assuming RR wasn't referring to garbage time minutes)???

Is Moundros blowing up at LB?  Are the returning LB's just not progressing like everyone had hoped they would?  A combination of the two?

Keeping my fingers crossed that the 2011 recruiting class is stocked with some stud LB's.

Scott

I'm also leery of the idea Moundros finding playing time signals anything but more DOOM this fall. I remember Fitzgerald Toussaint squirting through a weak tackle attempt in the spring game and being relieved that the guy who missed it was Moundros because the assumption was he wouldn't play. But I'm also skeptical of the veracity of press conference statements about team-favorite, hard-working walk-ons. Sometimes public comments are made less for their accuracy and more for their effect on the team—remember the Johnny Sears hype?—and the idea Moundros could play a lot this season falls squarely in that realm.

Moundros obviously works like a dog if he's a team captain despite being a walk-on who hardly played last year; I'm guessing this gives him an advantage over his competition that the coaches would like to reward in an effort to get other people to work as hard as he does. If I had to bet I'd say Moundros is a consistent participant in the short-yardage and goal-line packages but doesn't get regular playing time in the base defense.

On the other hand, it's not like he could be that much worse, right? Michigan football is fun!

Hey Brian-

I know you briefly mentioned WVU's sanctions and the effect they might have on Michigan in yesterday's Voracity and seemed to deem them minimal, but do you have any idea whether this could possibly result in us forced to get rid of Rodriguez because he is "blacklisted" in the NCAA compliance book? I am in the camp that believes another coaching change at this point would be disastrous, and really think we are starting to turn a corner. It would really suck to lose Coach Rod just when we might be able start something special.

Thanks, Brian

I'm not sure even the Bylaw Blog would be able to say much for certain about whether Rodriguez could be singled out for special sanction, since history would suggest it's not likely but the NCAA is in an era when they're attempting to change precedents. I don't think the WVU allegations are a major factor since they are essentially identical to the ones at Michigan. They may even help since the new regime apparently changed nothing. This isn't the equivalent of Kelvin Sampson because Sampson had already been sanctioned by the NCAA and immediately went back to the illegal-call well. Rodriguez can reasonably argue he was not knowingly flouting the regulations at either school. If he makes that case successfully he should be fine.

Even if he doesn't, the NCAA generally imposes like-for-like sanctions. If you commit recruiting violations to get players they reduce the number of players you can have and put recruiting restrictions on the school. If you go over practice limits you give them back two for one. I'm not sure what a like-for-like penalty specifically directed at Rodriguez looks like—not being able to attend practice?—and in any case Michigan's bent over backwards to cooperate, Rodriguez has no track record, and the violations are so minor that I'd be surprised if the NCAA did anything except put a nasty letter in RR's file no matter how many newspapers call Michael Buckner.

And consider this a follow-up to yesterday's post about bowls:

Brian, There is an incredible reference that you might be interested as you rally the troops this year to start the season.  In Nathaniel Philbrick's new book 'The Last Stand" there is a reference to Custer leading a charge at Gettysburg with a Michigan contingent that might have won the war (pre SEC).  From page 48:

As it turned out, all Stuart(Jeb) had to do was punch his way through a vastly outnumbered regiment from Michigan and victory was his,  but as the Confederates bore down on the northern counterparts (who were outnumbered by four to one), an event occurred that changed the course of the battle and, arguably the war.

Custer, dressed in an almost comical black velvet uniform of his own design that featured gaudy coils of gold lace, galloped to the head of the First Michigan and assumed command.  Well ahead of his troops, with his sword raised, he turned toward his men and shouted, "Come on, you Wolverines!"  With Custer in the lead, The Michigander's started out at a trot but were soon galloping, "every man yelling like a demon."

A union leader mentioned later that this "was the most gallant charge of the war."

-Anon

We should start a campaign to have Rodriguez sport velvet and gold lace. It is in this way our ascendance will be assured.