Sopwith

August 30th, 2010 at 7:32 AM ^

I'm rooting for him.  He was put in an impossible situation with the system, and on top of that, recall the state of the offensive line in 2008?  Think "secondary, 2010" (or 2009, for that matter).  He was huddling up with true freshmen at key positions, and had no experienced QB to mentor him in practice.  I'm pretty sure there were Christians being thrown to lions in the old days who had a better chance of success.

I never, ever read a word of complaint from Threet.  He played hard and did the best he could.  My tape of the Wisconsin game got me through that offseason.  ST will always be a Michigan Man as far as I'm concerned.  

blueheron

August 30th, 2010 at 8:45 AM ^

His attitude seemed great, and I'll always remember that long Wisconsin run.  I think his own inexperience was the most important factor.  In better times he'd have at least a year on the bench to watch an experienced QB (say, Jason Forcier... d'oh) at work.

Minor (no pun intended) quibble: Aside from Martavious, who was he huddled up with that was completely raw?  I realize that McGuffie got significant minutes, but Minor and Brown were (not by much, maybe) at the top of the depth chart before their injuries.  Similarly, Koger got some minutes at TE, but Butler and Massey were still around.  There were semi-experienced (if not vastly talented) people on the O-line, too.

No -- I think the main problem on the offense that year (no personal disrespect to Threet) was right there: QB.  In a normal year he wouldn't have been thrown in there.

I'll be watching him closely this year.  It will be interesting to see how he does with much more experience and (AFAICS) an offense better-suited to his talents.

Ziff72

August 30th, 2010 at 9:31 AM ^

To say that the offense wasn't in complete disarray in 08 talent and experience wise is a huge stretch.  I'm guessing you are a lawyer.  

We had 1 returning starter, a redshirt sophmore guard, not exactly a lynchpin to the offense. 

We had 1 WR with any experience playing in Matthews.

We had a converted DT switch to Oline and actually play.

The Te's you mentioned got beat out by a Freshmen and Butler was playing DE by the end of the year.

I love Minor but he was hurt much of the year.

People forget that Threet played hurt part of the year...if you watch the Penn St game he was finally getting his feet under him when he got hurt and that game fell apart.  If he doesn't get hurt I think we stay in that game.  It was after that that he couldn't hit anybody with a pass.

blueheron

August 30th, 2010 at 9:49 AM ^

Ha -- definitely not a lawyer.  I was addressing Sopwith's points specifically.  QB aside, I agree that the offense was pretty sorry by the UMich measurements of talent and experience.  I still think the inexperience at the steering wheel was the worst part.  I'll bet Henne or someone of similar ability would've made a big difference.

I'd forgotten that Threet was hurt for part of that season.

mjv

August 30th, 2010 at 10:04 AM ^

The offensive line was terrible.  Absolutely terrible.  A converted DE was starting by about week 3.  There was zero hope that the OL could be workable, let alone good.

Threat was not the problem with that offense.

And Threet was the best at selling the zone read of any of the QBs I've seen in the last two years.

That long run against Wisconsin was entirely set up by Threet selling Minor on the inside zone and having the DE bite hard.  Watch the replay of that run.  Minor got destroyed by the DE, leaving the edge open and Threet ran right to the spot vacated by the DE.

If any of our QBs can be that effective on selling the RB run and then keep it (think Juice Williams or TP ball fakes, not Tate's "ole" lack of effort BS), we will have a very productive offense this year.

blueheron

August 30th, 2010 at 11:08 AM ^

Yes, the O-line was historically bad that year.  (And, yes, I agree that moving a back-up D-line guy to the other side says much by itself.)  But, they got better throughout the year and did some decent run blocking at times.

I also agree that cognitively (if that's the right word) Threet did well with that offense.  That said, I didn't see a good match with his limited physical ability.  Injuries aside, he made lots of bad throws that year, too.  The Hemingway pass was clearly a highlight.

jmblue

August 30th, 2010 at 5:38 PM ^

Minor (no pun intended) quibble: Aside from Martavious, who was he huddled up with that was completely raw?  I realize that McGuffie got significant minutes, but Minor and Brown were (not by much, maybe) at the top of the depth chart before their injuries.  Similarly, Koger got some minutes at TE, but Butler and Massey were still around. There were semi-experienced (if not vastly talented) people on the O-line, too.

McGuffie began the season as our starting TB.  Brown was injured almost the entire season (the only game he saw significant action in was Northwestern, in week 11) and Minor had a serious wrist injury that caused him to play limited minutes the first half of the season.  Michael Shaw, another freshman, also saw a fair amount of time (and scored the first TD of the Rodriguez era). 

As for TEs, I believe Koger was the starter by midseason.  Butler was permanently in the doghouse after taking a swipe at a ND player (just one of many infractions he committed) and Massey wasn't a big factor.

 At WR, besides Odoms we also had Stonum - another true freshman.  Mathews was around, so we did have one upperclassman in the lineup, but Odoms was the leading receiver.

 On the OL, we had one returning starter (Schilling).  No one else had significant experience.  Depth was also horrendous.  Ferrara was switched from DT to OG in fall camp and was starting by midseason. 

bronxblue

August 30th, 2010 at 7:53 AM ^

Good luck to him.  Hopefully he'll just be asked to sit in the pocket and throw the ball to receivers, as that was something he seemed capable of doing far easier than the offenses at GT and UM.

bacon1431

August 30th, 2010 at 8:10 AM ^

Worked hard and didn't complain while he was year, didn't say anything on the way out. He's ran into some tough luck in his career, hopefully he'll start catching breaks.

megalomanick

August 30th, 2010 at 8:24 AM ^

Threet will get a chance to go 2/2 against Wisconsin on Sept. 18th. It's in Madison and a 3:30 start time. I'm guessing that will be a nationally televised game. Should be a good one to watch. I hope he does well this year.

jamiemac

August 30th, 2010 at 9:09 AM ^

Good luck, to him. Here's hoping he keeps his ownership of Wisco going in their game next month.

Also, point of order, Threet transferred away from Ga Tech well before Paul Johnson was hired and they moved to the option.

Threet transferred to MICH in Aug/Sept 07. Paul Johnson was not hired at GT until December 07.  Threet did not get 'screwed over' by two different coaching shifts. He bailed from Athlant before GT's change was ever made.

Regardless, he played bold in 2008 for MICH so I hope he does well for ASU

Crentski

August 30th, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^

that if Denard starts then there will be four D1 QBs that have started a game for us currently in the league. Best of luck to Threet, he has ability to play well in a system like ASU. I couldn't imagine playing at three different schools under all different systems, but he deserves all the success that may/should come his way.

Boshdelightful

August 30th, 2010 at 10:09 AM ^

Threet sucks. He almost gave me a heart attack two years ago. I will never have sympathy for him. The Wisconsin game was great, but it doesn't make up for the other 9 games in which he totally sucked. Our only big win came at Minnesota and that was the Nicky Sheridan show. The fucking Toledo game? Threet can eat shit and die for all I care. 

Ernis

August 30th, 2010 at 10:18 AM ^

Glad to hear it. If the man succeeds there, he could go far in life. Not only NFL-wise, but heck he could even charter his own bank ... a Booty Bank, that is

artds

August 30th, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^

The spread offense aside, I've never been a fan of handing the offense over to the moderately-talented passer who just happens to be tall. At best, it tends to be a recipie for moderate success (win more games than you lose, finish 2nd in your division, then lose a bowl game). You don't usually see teams compete for division/national championships starting guys like that at QB.

I wish him luck, but I'm glad he's no longer in our bullpen.

cutter

August 30th, 2010 at 11:22 AM ^

I was at the Arizona State spring game and watched Threet throw five interceptions that afternoon and have a horrible time moving the offense.  Mind you,  the ASU defensive personnel are pretty good, but all of Threet's shortcomings that existed at Michigan were present on that day too.

ASU was running a pass-centric spread offense on that day with lost of four- and five-WR sets, inside handoff to QBs, etc.  I had to laugh on one play because Threet faked the handoff to the RB and ran around end for a good gain--shades of Rich Rodriguez's offense.

In truth though, Arizona State was running sets like Missouri and Texas Tech do and the quarterback is mainly a passer in those offenses.  Threet's throwing motion wasn't improved, nor was the speed of his decision making.  Medium to long routes were okay for him, but he still had problems on the shorter pass routes.  In sum, he stunk that day, but his main competition didn't look much better.

I do hope for the best with Threet, but I really don't know how effective he would be at quarterback in any system.  Perhaps with a strong running game that set up play action, but not in a pass- or run-oriented spread.