kurt taylor

A third transfer, this one more understandable:

ANN ARBOR -- The Michigan football team will be down one running back for the remainder of the season.

Reserve back Kurt Taylor recently decided to leave the program and pursue a transfer, team spokesman Dave Ablauf confirmed to MLive on Tuesday.

Taylor had fallen behind at least Christian Turner in the class after him—never a good sign—and seen Tru Wilson suck up all the designated pass blocker snaps. That latter was Taylor's most promising path to the field and Wilson would have likely blocked him for another two years.

Taylor's departure leaves Michigan with 19 currently open slots in their 2019 recruiting class, a number certain to grow by a significant number. Near as I can figure there are ~8 players likely to head for the NFL draft early or graduate and be offered a firm handshake. That would put Michigan at 27, and there will probably be another few playing time transfers and/or injury retirements. Michigan could accommodate a class of 28-30; they've got 24 commits right now.

Previously: Podcast 10.0A. Podcast 10.0B. Podcast 10.0C. The Story. Quarterback.

[Bolded player rules: not necessarily returning starter, but someone we've seen enough of that I'm no longer talking about their recruiting profile. Extant contributor.]

FEATURE BACK	Yr.	SHORT YARDAGE	Yr.	3RD DOWN	YR.
Karan Higdon	Sr.	Karan Higdon	Sr.	Chris Evans	Jr.
Chris Evans	Jr.	Chris Evans	Jr.	Karan Higdon	Sr.
Tru Wilson	Fr.*	O'Maury Samuels	So.	Tru Wilson	Fr.*
Christian Turner	Fr.	Hassan Haskins	Fr.	Christian Turner	Fr.

Like every other thing about the run game, this was a story in two parts. Michigan started the year trying to be the kind of team that can run inside zone 80% of the time and make that work because they're just so good at repping it that all attempts to swamp it get outsmarted.

This did not work at all, in part because first-level defenders were continually left alone. The running backs had their hand in those early failures too. When not getting hit in the backfield by DEs they were often running directly into linebackers, thus spurring a UFR complaint about "zero cut running":

Too frequently Michigan guys are running straight the whole play. When the opposition has put an extra guy in the box you need to get someone to waste themselves without occupying a blocker, and misdirection is the way to do that. There's play-level misdirection that gets filed under Rock Paper Scissors, and then there's an in-play misdirection where you threaten one gap and then show up in another. There's a reason you hear a lot about "great one-cut runners" and not great zero-cut runners. ... Evans [just] runs directly into Bentley here:

Cut. You are 210 pounds; he is 260. You have the advantage when he changes direction. Purdue has pinched their line here to get this exact thing, but the risks are clear: on either side of the Great Wad in the middle of the play are big pockets. Don't take their bait.

It was heartening that Michigan's running backs repaired this deficiency over the course of the year. A shift towards more power rushing helped, as did a general surge in competence after Juwann Bushell-Beatty was inserted. More room and a more familiar patterns helped but to your author's eye the just flat-out got a lot better. After they nuked Minnesota:

 

Earlier in the year I complained about "zero cut" running that left no question about where you were headed, and requested a cut. Michigan's backs have started doing this very well on power plays.  The most whizbang example was on the long Higdon touchdown, which happened in part because Higdon's path convinced #8 that he needed to be farther outside:

 

... Higdon had less spectacular results on better and more subtle cuts. This is a much narrower gap that he commits to late; once again that safety is in the wrong gap:

These are decisive shallow cuts that allow Higdon to maintain speed and exploit thin gaps in the defense. The big missed cuts from early in the year are gone. He'll occasionally miss a crack or do something somewhat suboptimal, but the caverns power plays carve out aren't a surprise; he's benefited from the power focus as much or more than the OL.

Some of that got swamped in the general malaise—safeties made contact two yards from the LOS I don't know how often, but the rushing renaissance was real. Despite a bunch of personnel changes and the limitations imposed by the passing game, Michigan finished last year 14th in rushing S&P+. This wasn't just on the backs of Rutgers and Indiana and Minnesota, either: Higdon and Evans combined for 122 yards on 22 carries versus OSU. Give 'em some breathing room and things could be real nice.

RUNNING BACK: I CALL HIM MINI-ROCK

RATING: 4.5

stop! collaborate and listen, ice is ba—where are you all going [Patrick Barron]

There wasn't much question about which running back would get top billing here after KARAN HIGDON ended up six yards short of being Michigan's first thousand-yard running back since Fitz Toussaint, but any lingering doubts were obliterated by this offseason's favorite slice of S&C porn:

Higdon went from 187 pounds on last year's roster to 202, and apparently if you're 5'10" adding 15 pounds of muscle turns you into The Rock. Since Higdon was already a pad-popping runner who brings the "run behind your pads" bit of scouting jargon to vivid, YAC-filled life, expectations have ratcheted up a notch. This was Higdon last year:

Higdon this year is going to be fun.

[After THE JUMP: a caveat and a running mate]

Hi it's a Norfleet. [Bryan Fuller]

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[Site notice: It happened.]

You know those “make your all-time” lists that circulate in the offseason. That inspired me to make some themed versions, sort of like how Ace made his all-Beilein teams last year. Previously: The 5-stars. This week: Extracurricular Entertainment!

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Rule: This team is for those who made their contributions off the field. I don’t mean being a quiet model citizen; I mean doing things that we found entertaining, insane, or otherwise meme-worthy.

Cutoff Point: Had to exist in the Michigan consciousness during the Time of Blog (2005-present)

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Quarterback: David Cone

Please still exist please still exist please still exist DAMMIT.

Why you gotta use MySpace, Notorious C.O.N.E.? Since stone age social media no longer hosts, former WR Toney Clemons filmed roommate/former QB David Cone in their apartment laying some sick rhymes (free mgoshirt to whoever can track down a copy of the album for us).

Mr. Dave

Fortunately MVictors still has the audio, if the vid is gone for all time. But that video was so good.

Honorable Mention: Denard. How do you separate Brian’s kid’s name, Shoelace, the smile, Whaaaaat?!?, the cover of the last NCAA edition for a decade, and a crumpled up mailbox from the actual dilithium? You can’t, and the purpose of this list is to honor the Coners because these lists otherwise exist just for an excuse to put Denard at QB when you wouldn’t otherwise.

[after THE JUMP: bang bang]