Hoke: If game was today, Shane would start; Gibbons era officially over
Welp, looks like it's time for Shane. Hope he's ready.
My interpretations of Hokespeak tell me that "if game was played today" is usually code for this player will be the starter.
Hoke at BWW welcome presser says Gardner saw doctor Friday. If had to play today...Shane Morris the starter
— angelique (@chengelis) December 23, 2013
EDIT:
Hoke also said Gibbons will not make the trip and has a family issue at home in Florida
Thank you for all you did for this program, Brendan. A BCS bowl win and being THE THREAT. Brunette girls forever.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:39 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:41 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:44 PM ^
Isn't he a freshman until the season actually ends?
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:25 PM ^
He'll be a freshman through spring practice.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:46 PM ^
Comparing every freshman QB to 2004 Henne is like comparing every point guard to Trey Burke.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:49 PM ^
And a much better offensive line.
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:07 PM ^
And Mike MF'ing Hart
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:11 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:19 PM ^
Rose Bowl that year...lost to Texas
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:24 PM ^
Ugh.
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:08 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 5:21 PM ^
...or anything even close.
December 23rd, 2013 at 10:28 PM ^
I'm not going to compare Gallon to Braylon, but I think it's very unfair to say he's not anything close to Braylon. Gallon has more reliable hands and has proven he can be very productive. No he's not the deep threat Braylon was, so I'm not trying to say that, but Gallon has produced in some of the biggest games this year. He also played great in the SC game last year as well. WIth a good bowl game he'll pass Braylon's senior year numbers with a better YPC. And he had 360 yards for 21 YPC against ND and OSU, which are normally two of the toughest opponents Michigan faces.
December 23rd, 2013 at 10:42 PM ^
The difference isn't so much skillset as size. Gallon is 5'8/185. Braylon was 6'3/210 his senior year. While Braylon indeed struggled with the easy stuff more often than he should have, his ability came from the fact that he was a freakish athlete with the body to outsize and overmatch secondaries. Gallon doesn't have that.
And let's face it, when you have one game where you catch nearly 400 yards worth of passes, alongside a fairly productive and consistent season of fairly good numbers in most/all games, you're going to break a single-season record.
December 23rd, 2013 at 11:41 PM ^
Yeah that was more or less what I was getting at. Braylon was a freak, but it's not like Gallon "isn't anything close." And yes I realize the whole ton of yards in one game thing, but that's why I made it a point to show he had good games against other teams too. It's not like he just had one fantastic game and was mediocre. SC/OSU/ND he had 150+ yards in all of those games. Even against the best defense in the country he had 13 YPC, which is what Braylon averaged for his career and in his best year.
I understand Gallon is not Braylon. But it's not like Gallon + Funchess is pathetic. To say Gallon + Funchess isn't anything close to Braylon his senior year is kind of insulting to Gallon. He's not an All-American, but he's productive and dare I say more reliable in times.
Also looking back, I think I'd take Gallon + Funchess this year over Braylon + whoever from that year. Funchess and Gallon have been more productive than Braylon + anyone on that team in that year. So, my point is it's not fair to say they're not anything close.
Also, I understand the whole, take that one great game out yadda yadda. But, the game did happen. That's like saying take out the OSU game for Woodson or take out Manziel's performance vs. Bama last year. Yes, take out the best thing someone has done and people will obviously think less of them.
Again, not comparing Gallon against the pathetic IU defense to Woodson or Manziel's performance. But, if you take away a guys best game sure he'll look worse. But 350+ yards receiving in a single game against a Big Ten defense, even IU, is still ridiculously good.
Not to mention if you take away Braylon's best game of that season(190 yards in 3OT), then Gallon(if you take away the IU game) would still probably get really close with a decent bowl game. Braylon also had 3 OTs to help him get those stats. I just think people are under-appreciating Gallon + Funchess.
December 24th, 2013 at 1:47 AM ^
Gallon+Funchess over Braylon+Avant+Breaston? (Those are the guys who get the "whoever else that year" treatment?
Really?
December 24th, 2013 at 12:22 PM ^
Well in fairness, you're saying 3 people vs. 2. If you want to add a third guy then I'll take Butt. Oh and if you just take Braylon and Avant or Breaston against Funchess and Gallon? Here's your stats:
Braylon: 1330 yards, 13 YPC, 15 TDs. Avant(who was second best): 447 yards, 12 YPC, 3 TDs.
Gallon: 1284 yards, 16 YPC, 9 TDs. Funchess: 727 yards, 15.5 YPC, 6 TDs.
Let's combine them. 2004 Braylon and Avant: 1777 yards, 12.5 YPC, 18 TDs.
This year Gallon and Funchess: 2011 yards, 15.8 YPC, 15 TDs.
This is including the bowl game for Braylon and Avant, and obviously not the bowl game for Gallon and Funchess. Now please tell me how it can be fair to say it isn't even close for what Morris would be throwing to? I'm not talking about RB, OL, or anything like that. I'm specifically talking about who each QB would be throwing to.
December 24th, 2013 at 12:32 PM ^
I don't want that other post to get too long, but I wanted to show you Braylon + Avant + Breastons numbers.
Those 3 combined numbers: 2068 yards, 11 YPC, 21 TDs. That means in an extra game for three guys, they barely have more yards, they have 5 less YPC, and 6 more TDs. If Funchess and Gallon both only got 50 yards and 1 TD between them, they would finish with more yards, still a higher YPC by at minimum 3 yards, and only 5 less TDs. That's against 3 guys. Let's take a more fair look and I'll add Michigan's third guy this year. That would be Jake Butt, in m opinion, who has come on late.
Braylon + Avant + Breaston(2004): 2068 yards, 11 YPC, 21 TDs
Gallon + Funchess + Butt(2013): 2213 yards, 14.5 YPC, 17 TDs
So without a bowl game the group this year has more yards, more yards per catch, and 4 less TDs. I would imagine between the 3 of them, they'll get at minimum 2 TDs total. Which would obviously put them only 2 TDs behind, with a lot more yards and a better YPC by 3. So yes, I'm saying Gallon and company aren't "not that close" to the 2004 WRs corps. I'm not talking an entire career, I'm not talking how freak of an athlete Braylon was, I'm talking how they produced and what each respective freshman has/had to throw to.
If you've got Butt, Funchess, and Gallon, you've got a reliable go to guy, a deep threat who's bigger than Braylon was, and a big body target who catches anything near him in Butt. I won't say what WR corps I'm taking because that's not what I'm here to argue. I'm just saying that calling this group nothing close to 2004 is under-selling them.
December 24th, 2013 at 4:17 PM ^
And Tacopants
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:54 PM ^
I remember Henne's first start. He was named the starter literally the night before the game since Gutierrez went down with an injury.
I was young, but I remember it like it was yesterday. There was a lot of mumbling and buzz in the stadium when everyone saw #7 trot out onto the field.
Ugly first half but Michigan turned it up in the second half.
Henne had ASTOUNDING numbers for a freshman QB, looking back on it.
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:57 PM ^
Henne was one of the biggest recruits Lloyd ever landed. He was a known quantity by many, but was expected to wait his turn. It wasn't like throwing Nick Sheridan out there.
The real problem wasn't at quarterback, but RB. It took a few games of David Underwood for the Hart phenomenon to take hold.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:35 PM ^
I was at his breakout game as well against San Diego State.
That was like the 2004 version of Akron.
And I remember Chad taking a cheap shot when he was taking a knee in that game.
December 23rd, 2013 at 10:56 PM ^
December 24th, 2013 at 1:43 AM ^
Oh yeah, I forgot about Jackson. Those first few games in '04 were a rollercoaster of emotions.
People forget that when Hart was recruited, there was this grainy RealPlayer video circulating of unbelievable high school highlights. This little kid playing nobody teams in New York looking like a world-beater. Doing shit that looked like a video game. Yet he wasn't just undersized, he was comically undersized, and the competition wasn't that great. It was fully expected it just wouldn't translate to the B1G game.
Took a half season too long to figure out how wrong we all were.
December 25th, 2013 at 1:33 AM ^
Hart and Trey Burke were two I got right. Hart's moves were Barry Sanders-esque, with the understanding that there is only one Barry Sanders. Burke was so clearly a stone-cold killer. I was pretty certain both would be awesome very soon after stepping on campus. Of course, I also bought into the McGuffie-madness, so maybe that was just a more hope-filled period of my life.
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:20 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:24 PM ^
Chad Henne was not your typical freshamn QB
Does anyone remember what Ryan Mallet looked like his first game vs PSU? Or even later that season vs Illionois? He was awful.
If Shane looks half as good as Henne did I will be satisfied.
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:32 PM ^
Not to mention Navarre, Henson, Brady (threw a pick-six on his first attempt), Denard, and well, pretty much every other QB who saw the field as a freshman (RS or otherwise) here. Tate Forcier was probably one of the better frosh QBs we've had, and he still was a turnover machine.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:11 PM ^
well in his first two starts, beating BG and Rice by big scores. It was that trip out west to play UCLA which proved his being a freshman.
December 23rd, 2013 at 6:47 PM ^
That was the trip to play Oregon and not UCLA you are thinking about. And we were in that game with a shot to win.
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:07 PM ^
Michigan played at Oregon when Navarre was a senior. The UCLA game was in 2000, when Navarre was a freshman and Henson was hurt.
December 23rd, 2013 at 10:34 PM ^
This is very true. Can't compare frosh QBs to Henne. I will say that Navarre actually was never the good and really is one of the reasons the program began to decline. We were kind of stuck with him for four long years. That's how I remember it . . . .
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:43 PM ^
as a handoff QB.
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:32 PM ^
to compare Shane Morris, who hasn't started a game since...what, his HS junior year, to Chad Henne who by the time the Rose Bowl rolled around had started 11 collegiate games?
BTW, Henne lost to Texas in the Rose Bowl.
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:37 PM ^
If any unit should have the 2005 Rose Bowl loss pinned on them, it's the defense.
I mean, WTF.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:28 PM ^
Hell, they even blocked the winning field goal and it still went through.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:38 PM ^
My post was more of a defense of Henne and the offense than a slight against the defense.
They put up 37 points. Breaston also had a ridiculous amount of return yards that game and still ranks as #1 atop the single game list.
Chad did all he could do.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:01 PM ^
Henne played basically the whole year as the starting QB, and he had a much better team around him than Shane will be stepping into. I know people want to keep chirping about "standard of a starting QB", but by that logic and recent memory it means either running for a billion yards or throwing a bunch of INTs. UM hasn't trotted out a Brady, hell a Navarre, in years. Putting Morris out there and expecting him to a field general despite not playing all year is blatant homerism and counterproductive IME.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:48 PM ^
Shane is still a freshman until next year. He wasn't here in the spring, so he has really only been on the team for 5 months now. Sounds like a freshman to me!
Henne had a Senior Braylon Edwards and a good offensive line and a good running back in Mike Hart. None of which Shane would have luxury of. Also the first game Henne started was a home game against Miami Ohio. If Shane starts then he will be playing a good Kansas State team in a bowl game. Two incomparable situations.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:41 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:43 PM ^
Agreed. I think Hoke is bluffing big time. I think Shane might even get the start, but Devin will be in shortly after. Might as well make KSU gameplan for both QBs.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^
This doesn't even have to be a bluff. Gardner didn't practice last week so of course he wouldn't play if the game were today. But he may practice this week.
December 23rd, 2013 at 3:17 PM ^
Devin Gardner in boot on crutches coming of plane in Phoenix pic.twitter.com/7AAgBSshnI
— angelique (@chengelis) December 23, 2013
December 23rd, 2013 at 7:47 PM ^
Because compared to Hoke and me, Fitz is a young guy.
Still, that seems rather extreme for the Buffalo Wild Wings bowl.
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:42 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:45 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:46 PM ^
FWIW, 247sports shows that he had an offer from Auburn and Alabama.
December 23rd, 2013 at 4:14 PM ^
December 23rd, 2013 at 2:47 PM ^
1. He is a Farve style gun slinger. He is going to make mistakes that we might not have seen in the past because he has the arm to make those throws.
2. His offer list wasnt too great because everyone knew he was as Blue as Blue can get. Im not going to waste my time on a kid where I know he is going to Michigan.
With that being said, Give em hell Shane! Im exited for the kid. This has been one of our biggest recruiters and this has been his dream.