Be Still My Heart -- ESPN Talks Positively About Michigan
Todd McShay: "Well guess what, Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson are the right parts. And I think this can work. Forcier is more of a dual threat and Robinson looks like he is Pat White minus the passing skills. Great speed"
Nice to be back in the sports news in a good way.
September 9th, 2009 at 10:47 AM ^
Pat White minus the passing skills made me laugh. Does he remember Pat White when he first came out? I thought Denard rifled a few about as inaccurately as Pat White did with less arm strength.
Just my e-pinion.
EDIT: I don't think either were that wildly inaccurate to start, just neither was spot on, which is to be expected.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:05 AM ^
Nice to hear something positive. Denard had a solid and accurate arm within 15 yards but he didn't really get more than the one opportunity to throw longer than that so the jury is likely out and the media and fans are possibly making assumptions at this point. Regardless, positive press is good!!
September 9th, 2009 at 11:21 AM ^
Personally, I like that most outsiders are assuming that Denard cannot throw well. I may be looking into this a bit much, but I wouldn't be surprised if Rich Rod purposely limited Denard's throwing during the Western game. Then, against Notre Dame, Denard comes out and throws many of the =15 yard passes that he reportedly is quite accurate with.
I may just be overly optimistic here, but I guess we'll find out Saturday.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:40 AM ^
I think the "Denard can't pass" talk comes solely from the Tate comparison.
I wouldn't call him a polished passer. But he did successfully execute a bubble screen, which would have have put him atop last year's QB crop.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:25 PM ^
Perhaps they limited Denard's downfield passing not because of his physical inability to pass (i.e. get ball from point A to point B) but because he is new to the playbook and maybe a little too nervous out there.
September 9th, 2009 at 2:06 PM ^
I think the biggest issue with Denard is his ability to read a defense and make the right throws without locking onto his first read. If you watched him in the game, he would look directly at the receiver he was going to throw to.
More experienced DBs will make him pay for that. IMHE, his bigger issue is with understanding the offense, not with throwing the ball.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:54 AM ^
FA, I agree with, but it is likely that McShay only got to see the cuts of a few plays from several games. So he sees the play where Denard is late making his decision on the long ball up the right side and it goes incomplete. From a very limited data set and a whole lot of assumptions, he's Pat White (as people remember him from his junior and senior years) less the passing ability.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:11 PM ^
IIRC, that pass was fairly accurate, if a little late.
I'm all for teams underrating Denard as a passer.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:35 PM ^
I agree denard's arm is much stronger, I seriously wonder sometimes about these analyst. They watch film all day. Pat white can't freaking throw the ball 40 yds on a rope, denard can his arm strength is much better, now accuracy is a different story
September 9th, 2009 at 2:44 PM ^
Pat White had passing skills? That's why they ran the ball somewhere in the 70 percentile while he was there right?
September 9th, 2009 at 10:48 AM ^
Todd McShay also had our "stock" up while calling out the Zookies and saying that they were the least prepared team of the weekend.
September 9th, 2009 at 10:49 AM ^
Todd McShay's usually a fairly reasonable guy. I just love it when he and Mel Kiper debate their mighty draft boards every year.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:15 AM ^
McShay played FCS football (albeit as a walkon) and worked as a scout for Scouts, Inc. Mel Kiper started a newsletter about who he thought was a good draft pick while in community college and got laughed off when he applied for a job as an NFL scout. Guess who's epinion I'd trust?
September 9th, 2009 at 11:50 AM ^
What was the logic behind replacing I-AA with "FCS"? Symmetry with "BCS"?
September 9th, 2009 at 12:13 PM ^
IMO the whole name change was at least partly based on the perception (by some) that the old designations could be a value judgment of how good each division is.
Even though that is absolutely true, in today's PC society the new designations are neutral.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:14 PM ^
I believe the 1-AA schools were upset because the 1-AA designation implied they were below 1-A schools or they that they weren't full members of Division 1. FCS and FBS make it clear that, at least technically, they're equal.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:00 AM ^
As Michigan wins more, the "fall of Michigan" will officially become "old news," and Michigan will reclaim its place among the elite, both in the polls and in the tone of their coverage. A nice win over ND and a 5-0 start should turn Michigan football coverage into another "RR turnaround" story. 9-3 would be a great turnaround, but I have a feeling that even 8-4 with a win in an easier bowl game for a total of 9-4 would be enough to turn most of the stories into either "
RR turnaround" or "Michigan football is back."
September 9th, 2009 at 11:09 AM ^
haha, +1 just for the title. Anyways, it is always good to be talked about in a positive light by the world wide leader.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:15 AM ^
I'm not putting much stock in their about face, it symbolizes nothing more than ESPN jumping on the story of the minute. Michigan wins, they're back! Michigan loses this week, they're not back and Rich Rod won't last the season!
September 9th, 2009 at 11:40 AM ^
Yeah, the national media has no memory past what happened 2 days ago. They keep forgetting that Favre is a manipulative douche.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:38 AM ^
What I've heard is that Denard is already a much better passer than White was as a redshirt freshman.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:42 AM ^
found something other than Sam Bradford to talk about.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:15 PM ^
Can't forget about Tim Tebow!
September 9th, 2009 at 11:46 AM ^
We can use Tate for our passing offense and let DRob run everywhere while he develops an arm. The joys of having two solid QBs.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:36 PM ^
Colin Cowherd just finished talking to Sweatervest and mentioned that he was kinda pulling for Michigan because he's sick of people piling on RichRod. This guy flip-flops like no other. Maybe its because the "mother station" is broadcasting the game instead of the Domers' NBC.
September 9th, 2009 at 1:11 PM ^
...if the fact that ABC was broadcasting this game would visibly alter the ESPN hype machine's content for the week. Signs point to yes, though it could just be excessive backpeddling after all of last week's drama and the win.
At least we won't have to stomach another NBC domer homer broadcast...
September 9th, 2009 at 1:21 PM ^
Some have already mentioned the fact that this is likely just going to last until we lose a game. Once we lose one it will be right back to doom and gloom for UM as far as ESPN and most other media outlets are concerned. Screw 'em all. We had a great first game and hopefully we can pull off the upset this weekend. ND wasn't tested by the D of Nevada but they should be getting all they can handle this weekend. If we can run the ball and control the clock I think we have a much better shot than most people think. Honestly, if we win this I am going straight after all those ND fans who have been rubbing in how badly they whipped us last year, inspite of the fact that we lead in virtually every statistic except turnover margin and score. They beat us, but didn't whip us by a long shot. I don't think there is an ND fan alive that thinks we can pull this off so we could get in some serious gloating if we win. LETS GO BLUE!
September 9th, 2009 at 4:02 PM ^
More & more I understand why some coaches ignore the media altogether.
September 9th, 2009 at 5:31 PM ^
For some reason I read the "My heart" in the title as Mike Hart.