October 3rd, 2009 at 6:22 PM ^
we see a change in Linebacker coach. I believe Hobson is in charge of two guys on the defense.....and they aren't performing.
I cannot for the life of me figure out why some high school senior can't see there is an opportunity to play NOW at Michigan.
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:26 PM ^
Question-does Hobson coach Brown and Roh? If he does, it may not be all his fault because at least they are playing well.
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:31 PM ^
and Roh's a lineman. Hopson's got Ezeh and Mouton.
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:32 PM ^
Agreed about brown and roh. they played their asses off today, and roh had that great hit that forced the pick. he's only a freshman, and he's already making huge plays. He's gonna be fun to watch for the next few years
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:41 PM ^
I think that Roh needs to teach our secondary how to cover tight ends; did you see that pass break up in the endzone? Totally clutch and amazing athleticism.
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:29 PM ^
They are getting coached by Hobson! He's not even a real coach! (his name is Hopson)
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:31 PM ^
It's Hopson.
Why don't we give him more time... with better players?
EDIT: bouje beat me to it.
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:32 PM ^
First off, Victor Hobson is not the LB coach - JAY HOPSON is. Second of all, Greg Robinson coaches Stevie Brown, and that's it. The D-Line coach coaches Craig Roh.
Noone is going to unseat Ezeh and Mouton. Next year they will be 4 and 3 year starters, respectively. Maybe next year Ezeh moves to Brown's position, but I don't know.
Fitzgerald, Brandon Smith, and Kenny Demens and Leach need seasoning, they should get more situational snaps in 2010 in anticipation of competing for starting spots in 2011.
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:34 PM ^
Victor Hobson for linebacker coach in 2010!
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:36 PM ^
Maybe next year Ezeh moves to Brown's position,please dear god no. ezeh barely has the speed for MLB, let alone a hybrid OLB/SS. Mouton, to me, seems like a guy that shows flashes, and today it seemed like he was gassed in the 2nd half. the problem there, IME, is depth. these guys need to get off the field for a few snaps. this year, no one can do that for them.
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:15 PM ^
For a minute I thought we had an up and coming linebacker named Noone. Thanks for getting my hopes up.
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:38 PM ^
We need to recruit fast linebackers who can play in space. I am pretty sure Hopson does not coach poor angles and shabby tackling.
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:42 PM ^
But my question is, does he coach good angles and great tackling?
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:40 PM ^
Said this before, I'll say it again. Hopson sucks. Good bye and good luck.
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:45 PM ^
Possibly the worst pursuit angle ever...and against a QB. The 40 yard run by Cousins had Mouton look terrible...can't wait to see the UFR and the probable Mouton (-3)tackle(-5) on this one...
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:21 PM ^
Beyond horrible. When i saw the replay and Cousins just casually running past #8, I nearly threw my cup at the TV. Infuriatingly bad
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:46 PM ^
That along with the botched fake punt were the two worst points of the game for me.
I usually defend U of M players who are struggling (see: Cissoko) but on that play I think it showed a lack of effort. No freaking way Mouton doesn't have the athleticism to chase down Steven Three...excuse me Kirk Cousins.
I understand if our defense struggles, and unlike Brian I think we do have the potential to get better this season, but if I am coach I bench Mouton for a few series because of that one play.
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:19 PM ^
He aimed for where homeslice was standing when he took off...
October 3rd, 2009 at 6:49 PM ^
I completely agree that our middle linebacker play has been disappointing this year, and since that's Hopson's only job, he needs to take some of the blame.
I think it's ironic, though, that there was heavy speculation that Hopson was going to be the DC this offseason before they hired Gerg. Most everyone assumed that if the hire would come from in-house that it would be Hopson. Why is this? What's different this year? Even the MSM writers went from projecting him as the new DC in December to suggesting he be the first to be removed after this season.
He does have a very nice jaw line, I should say.
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:07 PM ^
If you guys watch(ed) the highlight of the long scramble by Cousins, Mouton literally runs up to Cousins, goes the wrong way joggingly, and never even tries to tackle their QB. Watching the replay at home with my friends, about 3 of us instantly said it looked like he had money in the game. That, my fellow mgobloggers, is exactly what you DON'T want to look like during a game, that you have money on it. Man, what a terrible play and I'm ashamed for him. Film is gonna show it and he's gonna get eaten alive.
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:17 PM ^
should be grounds for banning.
October 4th, 2009 at 1:03 AM ^
I think it was more of a metaphor for just how terrible he looked on that particular play.
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:30 PM ^
I felt one of the weakest players today was Woolfolk. This guy could not tackle or provide proper help to the corners. But tackling was for sure his demise throughout the game and it showed again on the last play of the game...just dissapointing
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:44 PM ^
He was also beyond bad.
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:49 PM ^
I understand what you're saying in terms of disappointment. From what I could tell, Woolfolk appeared to playing with a shoulder injury.
IIRC, early in the game there was a personal foul called on Foreman of MSU when he hit Woolfolk high on his shoulder from behind. Details fuzzy but I believe Woolfolk left the field for a play in obvious discomfort. Does someone have more input/knowledge about this?
I'm not excusing the last play when he didn't take down Capers, but I think Woolfolk played through pain.
October 4th, 2009 at 1:04 AM ^
And you can also see him on the ground in significant pain on the Warren pick. Him and Warren collided and he was definitely hurting from it.
October 4th, 2009 at 9:59 AM ^
Yea he made one hell of a tackle on Warren too. Talk about always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lacks that football "sense" that Tate has.
October 4th, 2009 at 10:38 AM ^
Wrong place at the wrong time? He probably would have made that pick if Warren didn't. He should have been right where he was. That kind of stuff happens to the best of players.
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:04 PM ^
I don't think it is too far off to think that Marvin Robinson can come in and play Stevie Brown's position just as well. He is incredibly strong and fast, he should be perfect there.
October 4th, 2009 at 2:01 AM ^
then we need even more safeties!
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:28 PM ^
...the Defensive UFR shows for Mouton. Just casually watching the game (well, tensely watching, but not charting plays or anything) Mouton looked like he may have had the worst game a Michigan linebacker has had all year. It seems like there were 5-10 plays (maybe more) where he badly overran the play, or took a bad angle, or generally just looked flatfooted and lost, etc. Maybe he did some less noticeable things well, but it sure looked ugly from where I was sitting. Ezeh's performance didn't stand out as much to me. And most of the rest of the D actually played pretty well, I thought (all things considered). Graham, Roh, Brown, etc. came up with a lot of big plays, especially in the second half.
October 3rd, 2009 at 8:40 PM ^
Well at least we have someone new this year to blame on defense, the Stevie Brown meme was getting pretty old.
Though Stevie Brown played like a boss today. Anytime some MSU player was running by bad angles and through bad tackles, I felt I always saw good ol' #3 come in and deliver a sure tackle.
October 4th, 2009 at 1:25 AM ^
Stevie has actually always been a pretty good tackler.
October 4th, 2009 at 10:37 AM ^
He's a solid tackler when he gets ahold of the runner. He wasn't a great tackler in open space, which is partly why they moved him closer to the line.
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:22 PM ^
This is my first season following M on a Blog and frankly I am disheartened at the need to rip the players on OUR team. We keep bringing up question of "who sucks more". Is this a product of last years losing season, or does this type of drivel permeate every season.
There are M fans bragging on the Blog about how correct they were about so and so sucking and they new it first. When you need to shout to the world that you were right about one of the Players on your favorite team sucking it up in a game, your priorities are whacked
October 3rd, 2009 at 10:11 PM ^
Why doesn't GERG become the linebacker coach all together? Would be too much extra work for the DC to pick up a position to coach.
October 4th, 2009 at 12:36 AM ^
Because we're paying a guy hundreds of thousands of dollars to do that job. Though I guess if he's not actually getting the job done he's getting paid for doing nothing (results wise) anyway so might as well have GERG take them too.
October 4th, 2009 at 10:39 AM ^
I believe Greg Robinson coaches Steve Brown and Craig Roh (i.e. the SAM and the Quick). I think Hopson's only two charges are MIKE and WILL.