CMU Snowflakes

I hope Borges isn't one of those coaches who overcoaches and makes the player worse.

Glen Mason got a little creepy near the end. Talking about thighs and bodies.

Norfleet is awesome.

A few years ago our depth was awful, heck we didn't even have good starters.  We had to play Avery and Talbott as true freshman.  Now we have Countess and Taylor starting, and then Stribling, Lewis and Hollowell coming off the bench.  All five played solid today.  Best part is none of them are seniors, so they will all be back.

One thing that did bug me, though, was the soft coverage the corners were playing. It was Central FFS. Why weren't they pressing? That was a big reason the D-Line couldn't get to the QB early. Short routes were open and Central had their timing down and M did nothing to throw it off.

/Rant

Really impressed by Green. I had a nagging thought that he might just be another Kevin Grady but he destroyed that notion immediately - dude can run. It's also pretty cool to have a guy who looks like Ron Dayne.

Also, the announcer mentioned that we have 81!!! first and second year players on the roster. That is terrifying and exciting at the same time.

This is was the perfect Week 1 win in my opinion. We got the satisfying blowout we all wanted but there's still a lot of things we can improve on. Can't wait for UTL. Bring on the Irish!

Offense:  

-Gardner was too excited at the start.  He just needs to settle down and he will be fine.  

-Interior line was improved, still some busted assignments but I think they will be fine.  

-Passing game was a concern.  Other than Gallon and Dileo didn't seem like anyone was getting open Gardner took off a lot.  

-Morris looked serviceable as a backup.

Defense:  

-Fast Furious and a little reckless.  Missed tackles and over pursuit.  Hopefully can be fixed with some more seasoning.  Has the potential to be absolutely terrifying for the opposition.

-I thought Wilson played really well.  Hopefully he continues to play well.  

Biggest concern I thought was the lack of discipline.  Penalities turnovers and missed tackles.  Overall I think this is the most balanced team in the B1G.  

While I still think he has a ton of potential, he looked like the #4 option to me today. When he got yards it was because the O-line was opening gaping holes for him, and he got brought down on first contact on every one of his runs, and he usually went down right where he was hit (except for the TD, where he got a little extra push).

I liked what I saw from Smith as a runner better, although he had a bit of "Poor Damn Toussaint" syndrome going on, with guys hitting him in the backfield before he had a chance to get going. But he made some nice cuts and kept his legs driving for a few extra yards on every one of his touches.

The guy who surprised me was Rawls. He didn't touch it much, but he showed a quickness to the hole and a little bit of wiggle that had been completely absent in his game up until now. He also ran through an arm tackle or two, which is something he was always supposed to do but never seemed to get down in the past.

Drake Johnson didn't really get a chance to impress, going down with an injury right before what would have likely been his first featured drive, so maybe he deserves to be in the conversation too. But after this game, based on a very small sample size, the "feature back" depth chart looks to me like:

1. Fitz
2. Rawls (!)
3. Smith
4. Green

• Borges, why oh why do you like to torment me by passing the ball inside your own 10?
• RUN DEVIN LESS PLZ
• Derrick Green is like a refrigerator on wheels coming down a steep hill at you.
• The Drake Johnson hype has substance
• Joe Reynolds is the other outside guy
• Yay pass rush!
• NO MOAR PENALITIES!!!@!11
• Fitz is explosive once again
• Dennis Norfleet should not return punts
• Dennis Norfleet should always return kickoffs
• Dennis Norfleet is very fast
• Wolverines will be feasting on irish chicken under the lights on 9/7.

This is the largest margin of victory in a Michigan season opener since September 30, 1905 against Ohio Wesleyan in a 65-0 victory. 

Also, 10 years and one day ago on August 30, 2003, Michigan beat CMU 45-7 in the season opener. Michigan would go 10-3 that season winning the Big Ten Championship outright and going to the Rose Bowl. The 2003 offense was the best Michigan offense of the modern era  

doesn't look good? Christ on a bike.

if nobody had any preconcived notions about this team, and didn't know about any players or what the team was like last year, they would say the following:

That Gardner kid has some serious game, just needs to settle down early.  Nervous start.

That Norfleet guy is fast.

Their WR corps really got the job done, and didn't drop any easy catchs.  That Dileo kid looks good, along with Jackson, and Reylonds, and Gallon. 

These TEs look solid, especially that tall kid Funchess! 

The Running Backs look sold- that Toussaint guy seems like he could be a legit 3 down workhorse back if they need it.  That Green kid looks mighty good; could lower the pad level, but wow, he is going to be great! Must've been a heck of a high school player.  Boy, that Rawls kid, and that Smith kid looked solid.  Michigan has 4 different types of good runners they can throw at people. 

The D line and linebacks looked good.  Cam gordon is a beast!

The CBs looked good, but the safties were ok.  not horribly bad, but could use some work.

I feel like some people have a pre-conceived notion that Green is too fat, and Furman is no good, etc etc.  I think people aren't looking at this objectivly.  My 2 cents. 

Holy Jeebus; pysically, he looks like the redshirt freshman love-child of Mike Martin and Lamarr Woodley.  Let's hope he develops the technique to go along with those two names.  Is there any more startling new presence on Team 134 than Wormley?

Green looked pretty wide himself.  Ron Dayne with more speed as Coach Jackson would say.

Today's game answers the rhetorical question asked a few days ago:  "Why play freshmen backups like Morris in a MAC game and burn their redshirts?  Can't they get just as much experience playing scrimmages in Glick fieldhouse?" 

The answer clearly is "No, you can't get real-game experience just by internal practices."  Today's game illustrated that perfectly.  There is no substitue for real-game experience.  

Players that looked great in scrimmages looked shaky today when faced with a hostile, unpredictable opponent in front of 100,000 people.  You can't emulate this with practice players and loud rock songs in Glick fieldhouse.

All the freshmen that played today will be much better off from playing in today's game in the event they have to come in and replace a starter at a key moment down the road.  

So yes, if there is a player that you may need to count on down the road to replace a starter, you need to burn the redshirt.