Presser/Practice Notes 9-17
Editor's note: I asked Tim to ask about shading the coverage to Warren's side and about Renaldo Sagesse's play to date.
On the shade:
"You can do a lot of things. But if you rotate your defense to one side or the other, they can throw to the other side or they can run the football. I thought our defensive coaches had a pretty good plan. They [Notre Dame] made some plays and we didn't. Boubacar didn't have his best game, but he's a good football player, and he's a competitor, and I'm sure he'll come back and play better the next time"
On Sagesse:
"He played pretty well. He didn't get a lot of reps, but he's continuing to get better. He's a big guy that we need to keep progressing because we want to play him more. You know, Greg Banks is a guy that's played very, very well, and we're gonna get him more snaps because he's shown that he's a guy that we feel comfortable that we can give 20-30 snaps a game. And Renaldo, hopefully we can get him to the same spot."
So sounds like no thought to realigning the DL.
Other bits:
- Junior Hemingway practiced yesterday and looked pretty good. Hopefully he'll be moving around better today. He was wearing a green (limited contact) jersey.
- The OL Lineup Saturday will depend on David Moosman's progress. Moosman was wearing a red non-contact jersey and riding the stairmaster. They're trying different right side combinations. David Molk has played well so far, which is exciting because it's just his second year. There's 7-8 guys that will play on OL. Err on the side of caution with all injuries.
- On Jonas Mouton's "punch," Rodriguez said he didn't see anything that he thought was a penalty, and if something had happened, the refs would have called something. There will be no additional punishment.
- Eastern is an intense team, they have good fundamentals and blocking. They almost won their last game. They made a great improvement from week 1 to week 2, and they'll make the same progress this week. They're focusing on Eastern instead of ND. Hungry to prove themselves each week.
- Getting more players in. "Our plan... is to get more guys ready to contribute, and particularly the young guys... If they're not ready, we can't put them in there. It's not fair to them or the team."
- Talking to guys about sportsmanship. "Let me make it perfectly clear. No personal fouls will go unpunished (by the coaches)." It's emotional, and sometimes emotional things happen. Play between the whistles and play fair. Penalties can be due to lack of discipline, but the team is doing OK in that respect so far. Saturday didn't seem to be much chippier or physical than most games.
- Brandon Graham hasn't gotten too much more attention from the first teams than you'd expect. Notre Dame is a heavy max-protect team, so they would probably double him no matter what. He still got some good pressure, and made plays in the run game.
- Denard Robinson will not be a package guy. "We want him to continue to be an every-down quarterback." He can make all the throws, he's just still learning the offense. The college game is pretty complicated. In the walkthrough, Nick Sheridan seemed to be getting fewer reps than either Tate or Denard.
- Troy Woolfolk is very active, and has made some big plays, very fast. Safety is the right position for him.
- The walk-on tryouts went well. 2-3 guys will get asked to join the team for a couple weeks. Looking for a bit of athletic ability, size, or speed. If guys look good, their HS film will be evaluated.
- Vincent Smith is just a freshman, so blitz protection against TAH-NOO-TAH blitz was the main reason he didn't play against Notre Dame.
We need to be careful this week, because Ron English was the Defensive Coordinator that put together the defensive game that beat Florida in the Capital One Bowl a little while ago. He caught them by suprise.
I know EMU shouldn't have the guns to pull that off, but one could argue that Michigan didn't have the guns to win that game as well.
Go Blue!!!
The Original Voice of Reason
Any chance Denard could line up as WR. He can out run any corner throw it deep to him? A combo play with Tate and him would be great.
Denard become a decoy sometimes. You can't fake anyone out if, you don't fake anyone out. I know he still get the yards, but I wonder what would happen if he handed off the ball? He needs to distribute the rock.
Maybe we are watching a set up in the making? I think RR is setting up a series of plays to spring on PSU or OSU. Michigan is good and is going to get better. I predict an OSU loss. UM will be those bums in C-bus.
Victors Valiant '88
We all know what is going to happen when he comes into the game. He still seems to get good yardage because of his speed but still would be nice to see him throw from time to time. I find myself saying that he can break one for a td everytime he is in the game even though he has only done it once. I would like to see a quick lateral out to him and let him beat his guy/rest of the team. I know he is a QB but with that speed he needs to be on the field with Tate, plus knowing that he could potential throw it could be one more thing for the defense to worry about. Kind of like a halfback toss from a QB who is playing WR. I think Baylor? did this in their first game.
Seems the offense is growing more and more each week. I'm sure RR has something for MSU coming up as well as PSU/OSU. I would venture to say most coaches do this before big games on the horizon.
"UM will be those bums in C-bus."
I don't know...the legion of bums already in C-bus might not take kindly to the competition.
sgtwolverine.com
I know RichRod has been full of coach speak (my favorite was the suggestion that all three QBs were very close . . . Tate looks quite a bit better than Sheridan, no offense!), so I don't necessarily believe all remarks about our current QB situation.
HOWEVA, in the long run, I just don't see the point in Denard running the same offense as Tate. For this year, he should be learning the full playbook because 1) we need a backup QB, and 2) I believe we promised him a chance at QB. After that, tough, it just seems redundant to have them both play QB, doesn't it?
I totally disagree. I believe Denard will stay at QB for his entiree career. Having Denard there creates such a huge matchup for opponents to gameplan against. Furthermore, if you dont like it now you wont like it in years to come when tate denard and gardner are all out there at the same time. I can see RichRod creating a 3 Headed Monster which will be nearly impossible to gameplan against. Having all 3 qbs but Denard knowing the slot too and Gardner also knowing the Wide could spell disaster for all
If Denard really does run the same plays as Tate, is it really that hard to game plan against? I just think it would be so much more dangerous if Denard 1) had his own package, or 2) switched to a Percy Harvin role.
If Denard can run the regular playbook better than Tate can, then what's the point of letting Tate play? And same goes for vice versa.
I guess I'm just not seeing it ... ?
Did he mention anything about Mike Williams and how soon he will be back?
Williams just had cramps, according RR, according to some posters who commented on the Monday press conference.
These next couple weeks will have us talking about Vincent Smith quite a bit. I think he sees the field and does some serious damage.
I would expect we will finally see Denard in some extended action this week, and I am looking forward to seeing him throw. His video and HS stats suggest he can wing it.
Once he starts throwing, teams wont be able to stuff the box when they see him come in....could lead to some nice broken field opportunities when the defense has to honor the pass.
Go Blue
I am happy to see Greg Banks getting some playing time. He is a really funny guy if you ever get to talking with him.
I have a Fandom Endurance III merit badge
NO PUNISHMENT FOR MOUTON OH DEAR LORD HOW CAN THIS BE MICHIGAN HAS LOST ITS WAY SOLD ITS SOUL TO THE RODRIGUEZ FIEND CHRIS HENRY CHEATER I USED TO RESPECT MICHIGAN PACMAN JONES WE ARE LOSING OUR FAMILY VALUES PAT LAZEAR WHY CAN'T WE HAVE A FINE MOULDER OF MEN LIKE DANTONIO THIS -NEVER- WOULD HAVE HAPPENED UNDER CARR I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND WHO LIVES IN CANADA JUST WAIT THIS PROGRAM IS GOING TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET.
Fin.
"I know where you're at, man. You had it all, and now it's gone. It's torn a hole in your soul bigger than my Escalade. So you turned to the drugs, the alcohol. Pornography, free-basing with OJ, human trafficking, dog fights / orgies ... darkness."
ha, you get a point from me.
That we can get actual valuable questions asked of the coaching staff? Great job, Brian and Tim.
Tim: Did any of the MSM sneer at you for actually attempting to get useful information? This could not have made them happy.
"...there's no excuse for the slander, but what's good for the goose is *still* good for the gander." -Dead Prez
Glad to see Renaldo getting some compliments from the Coach! Being from Canada, I'm glad to see one of my fellow countrymen getting the a chance to play with the big boys haha
That shading comment is coach speak at its finest.
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It is, and makes me wonder about the media glasnost Rod and his staff supposedly brought with them. I mean, there are tangible differences, which would include the injury reports and open spring game proceedings.
But at the same time, nobody ever SAYS anything at any of these events. It's just kind of 'what price progress' when almost everything could be reduced to the kind of 3-word pegging that Brewster's twitter feed could (though not in all caps):
"____ was playing really well in practice. ____ is right behind him, though; they're a pair of real competitors."
"____ made some plays, and ____ did too. We'll have them both in next week, because they bring a different skill set to the table."
"Coach ____ has been commenting on ____'s progress, and we'll probably see him in some situational-type usage next week."
agree. He reminds me of that old "Reagan Mastermind" skit from Saturday Night Live.
Thanks for the update!
"Wow, so you go to Michigan, so you can spell, good for you." - white_pony_rocks
i guess that settles that then. it wasnt the worst thing ive seen on the football field, but i still would have liked to see some punishment. oh well.
lloyd was better.
Does this mean he has already been fed to the Barwis Wolves? I have a hard time believing that they just let this go after I saw Robinson chewing on Floyd for his extra curricular activities.
Cissoko pushed the guy into Mouton's shot, which was clearly meant for the shoulder, the kind of thing you see after every play. If there's no push from Cissoko, then there's no punch.
EDIT: Actually, it seems the whole thing started a few seconds earlier, during the play. The ND player committed a whole series of infractions before the "punch," including two vicious personal fouls after the whistle. See this comment at Maize n Brew.
That comment is ridiculous. The push from behind... maybe 1 in 20 times that gets a flag. Saying that Olson should get a personal foul for finishing his block on Mouton is nutso. At worst he launched into Mouton simultaneously as the ref blew his whistle. And the choke? What the hell is the commenter talking about?
You can hate on me all you want to, but what can you possibly say to somebody that looks like Rambo, pretty much, with his shirt off?
It's possible the commenter is right about the choke -- you can see something going on right before Floyd passes in front of them (note that Floyd is walking -- the play is over). In HD it might be clear what it is.
How long after the whistle does Olsen get to "finish his block"? He dove down there to give Mouton a shot, not to follow through. The whistle blew at least two seconds before he got there -- Mouton had stopped driving toward the ball and was instead turning to get up by the time Olsen arrived.
I guess it's possible Olson conveniently choked Mouton for the 1/4 second Floyd was in front of him, but there's absolutely no proof, something that's kind of required when making a sensational claim.
I have no idea what you're talking about when you say the whistle blew two seconds before Olson dove into him. We seriously must be watching different video, because in the one Brian posted Olson hits Mouton on the ground as the whistle is blown. It seems like if your version of events were even vaguely true more people would have picked up on it.
You can hate on me all you want to, but what can you possibly say to somebody that looks like Rambo, pretty much, with his shirt off?
I guess you're right about the whistle -- I couldn't really tell when exactly it was first blown and I see the MnB commenter agrees with you on that.
Nonetheless, I still think you're dreaming if you think Olsen is totally innocent and didn't do anything special to provoke anyone. It only takes a fraction of a second to hit the throat when your hand is already up there, which it appears to have been. I think it's safe to say Rodriguez, like the commenter, has seen it in full HD precision. You say there's "absolutely no proof," but in fact you have no basis for saying that, since you haven't seen it in HD like the commenter has.