Unverified Voracity Bombs Bo Ryan Out Of Nowhere
[Patrick Barron]
On Speight. Yesterday we reported he'd be out for the regular season; someone asked Harbaugh if he was out for the season and he said no. Those aren't the same thing, obviously. You should still expect O'Korn for the next two weeks. Beyond that we'll see. There are conflicting reports about the exact nature of the injury. I've gotten some additional reports that it's a shoulder issue, not the collarbone. The upshot is the same.
Whenever we report something that comes into question our policy is to reveal as much as possible so you can judge for yourself, but there's not much I can say here. Best I can figure is that a person close to the situation got some preliminary or garbled information, which is why ESPN and the Free Press were both able to issue confirmations, with the Free Press citing the same injury. I can't say we'd do anything differently given the provenance of the information. These days we sit on anything not impeccably sourced because the downside of an incorrect report is greater than the upside, so of course.
Other dings. 247 reports that both Channing Stribling and Delano Hill should be good to go this weekend. Stribling had some issues getting off the field after his interception and Hill was replaced by Tyree Kinnel just after halftime when Hill went down with what looked like a cramp to me, but must have been at least a bit more serious. Steve Lorenz say Hill might be held out as a precaution.
PFF on Iowa. For one, Wadley is good against many teams, not just Michigan.
Iowa HB Akrum Wadley averaged 4.3 yards AFTER contact per carry -- best of any Big Ten back with 100+ carries. pic.twitter.com/ypKpiob0rW
— PFF College Football (@PFF_College) November 15, 2016
(I assume "averaged" is supposed to be "averages"; former implies they're just talking about the Michigan game but the 100+ carries indicates they're talking about the entire season.) Wadley's utilization remains a mystery. Michigan missed 11 tackles on him; prior to MSU, when the missed tackle explosion began, they had just 19 on the season.
Meanwhile the offensive grades are grim. De'Veon Smith made PFF's top five with a 55.5 grade, which is the kind of thing you see when Michigan's D plays a really bad offense. The other four, all of whom got solidly positive marks in the mid-to-high 70s, are Bredeson, Cole, Magnuson, and Butt—blockers. Michigan's skill guys disappointed.
Defense was more of the same with missed tackles hurting the LB grades. Mo Hurst again graded out excellently; per PFF he's the top interior pass rusher in the country. I'm a bit surprised he hasn't moved into the starting lineup as Godin comes back to performances that are more in line with his junior year.
FWIW, Hurst says he is leaning towards a return next year.
"It'll be just about how (me and my family) feel about it, we'll talk through it, I'll talk with coach (Jim) Harbaugh about it," Hurst said. "I think (I'm leaning toward) wanting to stay for a fifth year and pursue a Master's degree. That's something that (could be a factor).
"The degree and just the chance to come back. I love playing here. It's been everything I've imagined, especially these last two years. The atmosphere on campus. The coaches are great and they've done a great job and I know I've gotten a lot better."
That is obviously a huge deal for Michigan, which would be replacing him in the starting lineup with... Michael Dwumfour? There's a reason Michigan looks set to take 8 DL in this recruiting class.
The outlier. S&P+'s been updated and it shows just how out of nowhere Michigan's offensive performance was on Saturday. S&P+ tracks "percentile performances" on both sides of the ball. Michigan's worst outing this year against Wisconsin was at 70%; they had just one other performance under 80, that a 78% against MSU.
Against Iowa: 11%. That game alone saw Michigan's offense drop from 8th to 25th in Bill's rankings. Again I would like to shake my fist and ask why does anything happen if it's not going to be predictive.
Occam's Razor. Folks who cover OSU are in a never-ending search for red meat for the ravenous masses. See anything Bill Kurelic's ever written. Cleveland.com gets in on the act with an in-depth look at how Pioneer LB Antjuan Simmons ended up committing to OSU. Which of these approaches seems more like Harbaugh?
There are only two things that can explain Michigan's approach: Either Harbaugh never prioritized Simmons on his recruiting board or the Wolverines completely blew it with how they recruited the 6-foot-1, 215-pound prospect.
Maybe Simmons will be great at OSU but there's no story here other than sometimes people disagree on a recruit.
A nasty lawsuit in a surprising locale. A former basketball player at a Power 5 school has filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging various attempts to boot him off his scholarship. That school is... Northwestern?
The suit describes a variety of measures the program and athletic department used to free up Vassar’s scholarship, which was eventually transferred from athletic grant-in-aid to an academic scholarship. The University, the complaint alleges, went so far as to offer Vassar a cash payment in March of 2016 so he would “go away.”
The suit also alleges that Northwestern placed the three-star recruit in an “internship” so he could retain his athletic scholarship. The program, called the “Wildcat Internship Program” involved him working in a janitorial capacity. It also claims that Northwestern tried to falsify Vassar’s timesheets during the internship “in an effort to create grounds for revoking [Vassar’s] guaranteed athletic scholarship.”
The suit also attacks the NCAA and its transfer rules and is part of a larger lawsuit put forth by Hagens Berman against the NCAA in 2012.
I did not expect Northwestern basketball to be accused of cutthroat behavior this day.
The larger lawsuit is an attempt to bash down various NCAA transfer restrictions in a class action and goes hard in the paint on Bo Ryan:
123. To call Ryan a hypocrite would be an insult to hypocrisy.
(Because he blocked Jared Uthoff's transfer to Iowa after moving up to Wisconsin despite a contract with UWM.)
Etc.: settings –> options –> mute "tuddy". This article on responding to motion is very technical but may be of interest to actual coaches and football nerds. Inside the FEI rankings. Tom Brady and Brandon Graham make PFF's midseason All-Pro team.
November 15th, 2016 at 6:39 PM ^
November 15th, 2016 at 4:05 PM ^
First off, it's Petr Klima, not Peter Klima.
Second, this is what Brian's job is. He's a journalist, and he does an excellent job - better than anyone else who covers the team - in keeping Michigan alumni and college football fans informed about what's happening with the program. The site isn't exclusively reporting-based, but Brian has a very good track record of responsibly reporting news and relying on sources who have served him well in the past. His responsibility, like any reporter, is not to pick and choose only the positive reports that please the athletic department, but to keep people as informed as possible to what is happening within the program. To think that he should ask himself "why he is reporting it and whether it helps the team we all come here to be entertained by?" is the pure antithesis of journalism. If that's something you actually believe, there's a position waiting for you as the SID for the University of North Korea Fightin' Propagandists.
Jon Rosen
School of Music '03
November 15th, 2016 at 4:15 PM ^
You are confusing "journalism" with entertainment. All of what you said would matter if this was news about human rights, legal developments, politics, etc. Those things require a free and critical press. It is important to our society.
Covering entertainment and depth charts do not.
Plain and simple.
P.S. - If you want an analogy, try this one: The law gives you a fifth amendment right against self-incrimination. It is an important right. However, that does not mean that your wife has to accept that when you refuse to answer questions. Important rights and duties do not translate to unimportant contexts.
And, my handle is Peter, not Petr. I am not a hockey player. It's a story I have explained before...
November 15th, 2016 at 4:38 PM ^
There is no distinction between the nature of news and commentary. If there is, maybe you can cite the controlling Supreme Court ruling that distinguishes it, going back over the past 150 years.
November 15th, 2016 at 4:53 PM ^
No one is saying Brian broke the law. I think you need to re-read all these comments and focus in on the discussion.
November 15th, 2016 at 6:06 PM ^
PeterKlima- if people lose trust in MGoBlog and leave it, will you pay Brian's bills? You see, that is an ethical issue and you have to ask yourself the question. Are you asking Brian to taint his own blog for your gain (as a fan)? Without financial compensation?
November 15th, 2016 at 6:40 PM ^
November 16th, 2016 at 9:00 AM ^
With this whole side discussion it's difficult to tell who is responding to whom, so I'll just put my two cents in here. If Brian had some super secret information that nobody in the press could possibly know, I might agree that he should just sit on this information. The reality though, is that others would have been reporting the same news whether Brian reported it or not. It might have come a few hours later, but the injury status of the QB for one of the top three teams in the country is the kind of story that reporters will pursue, and there are people talking about it who know enough to be able to say that Speight's injury is severe enough to keep him from playing in the next few weeks.
Either that, or Brian is part of a disinformation campaign to confuse OSU. Speight is really uninjured, but he will be held out against IU anyway. Based on the story Brian released, Meyer will scheme to defend against O'Korn, and not be prepared when Speight takes the field.
November 15th, 2016 at 4:16 PM ^
This blog is obviously his job but has Brian said that first and foremost he's a journalist??
November 15th, 2016 at 4:19 PM ^
I thought he's said just the opposite - that he wants to be a fan who can cheer loudly in the stands, not someone watching quietly in the press box.
November 15th, 2016 at 4:27 PM ^
I think Harbaugh (as he should) wants to put doubt in the minds of Indiana and more importantly OSU, forcing them to prepare for both QB's.
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November 15th, 2016 at 4:31 PM ^
source. And this blog covers this progrm and this is pertinent news. And so it matters. And not just to us but to Michigan fans across the country. And guess what, other news outets were seeking the same information. This school competes and so does this blog and so do other journalistic endeavoers for the minds and clicks of its followers.
The fact that teams may have to prepare for one if not two quarterbacks over the next two weeks is the same as if they had to wait till Saturday to find out. Because there is still no definitive answer about the quarterback situation. And you act like controlling the information, as if Schembechler Hall were the Politburo and this is Wikkileaks nakes a big difference in game planning and management. Well, wake up, because every team has to be prepared for a backup coming in to replace a starter regardless of the circumstance even when that circumstance doesn't arise until the game itself.
If Harbaugh had asked for media silence on the situaiton and cooperation, it still would be up to each news outlet to decide what's more important to its mission, not the whims of a coach it covers.
November 15th, 2016 at 4:53 PM ^
Whether the public has a right to know the health status of college student-athlete is actually pretty murky from a legal standpoint.
This situation feels awkward. Speight himself retweeted someone quoting Harbaugh as saying it isn't season-ending.
November 15th, 2016 at 5:54 PM ^
gleaning certain information protected by privacy. But a Michigan qb's health isn't psrt of that proscription whether you want it to be or not. In fact, Speight is past 18. He has certain inalenable rights as an individual. But we aren't talking about his personal rights to non-disclosure of injury status. We are talking about a strategic value in protecting information about player health, whcich isn't protected.
November 15th, 2016 at 2:15 PM ^
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November 15th, 2016 at 2:36 PM ^
I agree with you that a collar bone break means that he is definitely out and that an ac sprain (in a non-throwing arm) is less definitive. But, even if Speight has an AC sprain, I still want him resting against Indiana, for a few reasons:
1. The sprain is likely to impact his performance. Even if his throwing mechanics are ok, he will be "aware" of the injury, overprotective and will likely need to avoid contact more than usual.
2. Let's say he can play, but takes a hit late in the 3rd that further injures him. Now JOK comes into the game and gets a single quarter of game reps before OSU. I would rather JOK get the whole game as starter, as he will almost certainly be called upon to lead us against OSU.
November 15th, 2016 at 2:44 PM ^
The first time he was hurt it looked like a shoulder issue, but when he went down the second time it definitely looked like collarbone with the way he was holding his arm.
While strange, he could have two seperate injuries which would explain the conflicting reports.
November 15th, 2016 at 3:38 PM ^
I hope everyone can forgive me for taking whatever the Freep reports with a grain of salt. ESPN also has a great track record of crediting reports or breaking news as their own, so is it possible they just took this from the Freep? The irrational fan (is that redundant?) in me wants to believe this is just a mild AC sprain that he could possibly play through (absolutely sit him against IU), and that Harbs is just trying to rope-a-dope Urbs into a false sense of security.
All of this is not to say that Speight is some force to which osu has no response for, but if you can affect their game planning even just a little, maybe it's enough to throw them off their game.
Anyway this shakes out, I haven't lost all hope, there are FAR worse backups you could be turning to than O'Korn. The defense will need to step things up as well as the other skilled positions on offense.
November 15th, 2016 at 6:12 PM ^
There is no clear path to a right decision here.
Do you play a seasoned Speight and get part production because he is scared of getting hit again or is still in pain?
I guarantee OSU D will take every chance to rock him
Is it worth a more serious injury?
Or do you go with JOK and take your chances with 2nd best in the "big game"?
November 15th, 2016 at 4:24 PM ^
I think its very clear that Evans needs to be getting more carries than Smith. As a freshman, Evans' vision is already way better than smith and when you couple that with his speed I think it should be a no brainer. Smith really does not offer anything that great and its really bothering me how he still receives a ton of carries. Hopefully this loss helps the coaches realize that a change needs to be made.
November 15th, 2016 at 4:58 PM ^
on the eve of Michigan's biggest game in decades, bigger than any game in 1997, what Bo's health situation was after a taping in Southfield 10 years ago. That day, the team had already made its way to Columbus when word arrived hat Bo had passed and the largest ever memorial message campaign began to honor his memory in the history of the Michigan football program even as its team prepared to play its biggest game since Bo coached the team.
It was a week and a game I will never forget. Well, 10 years after, we have another chance to vindicate and to change history and put those Ohio assholes in their place. And I don't care what obstacles lie ahead, but I want a new reason to recall this time, a great and positive one that resonates through time. And it starts this weekend, beating Indiana with all our great senios making a difference and getting their due and then taking their game to a different level in Columbus.
November 15th, 2016 at 5:18 PM ^
We saw this last year when the DL started to give up plays toward the end of the year. It seems the pattern is being repeated. The front 7 does not seem as fresh and they do not seem to have the same bounce.
November 15th, 2016 at 6:14 PM ^
November 15th, 2016 at 6:15 PM ^
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November 16th, 2016 at 8:08 AM ^
He's a troll.
November 15th, 2016 at 10:03 PM ^
This year's team has the better chance of reaching the playoffs. You never know how teams are going to play and I think there is a 50/50 chance we can beat OSU. Next year we have a much younger team and probably a few more losses. But by 2018 we should get back on the playoffs track.
November 15th, 2016 at 6:42 PM ^
November 15th, 2016 at 7:33 PM ^
...I mean Brandon Graham.
I've always felt he was a Pro Bowl talent who couldn't stay healthy or have a consistent DC/system.
Sad because, IMO, he was a fringe HOFer type talent. I think that highly of him. Hopefully he stays healthy this year and makes the Pro Bowl, even if he doesn't actually attend it. Because, well, it's the Pro Bowl.
November 16th, 2016 at 10:05 AM ^
Reading through the lawsuit:
It is quintessential archaic, esoteric legalese. It's got it all:
- Lengthy Quotations rather than "Scare Quotes": The NCAA operate pursuant to a set of "Bylaws" and Northwestern falsified "internship" timecards.
- Incomprehensible Metaphors: "The shot clock on Johnnie's limited eligibility window ticks down"
- Quotes witty insults: "he 'sucked'"
- Cites vaunted ancient texts: "accompanied by a handwritten post-it note"
- Veiled insults: "a dumb reason"
- Obsure Latin Rules: "General Rule"
In all seriousness this is good stuff. Northwestern really boned him. The lawsuit lays out the law, says why Johnnie got screwed, and does it all in an accessible way.
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