Questions for the MGoExperts

1.  No idea but I keep waiting for more misdirection or end arounds with the slot receivers

2.  Most likely to improve?  It's humming along pretty good right now, it's hard to imagine where it can get better.  I'll go with less penalties.

3.  If this team has any hope of competing fully in the BIg Ten one of those two is going to have to make an impact.

but I'm curious as to what part of the offense you think needs improvement.  I suppose the RB's could be a little more consistent, but that is really nitpicking.  It's like telling Salma Hayek to lose 5 lbs.

1. I think you will see some more passing routes unveiled, as well as the "Speed Option" as NCAA likes to call it, and possibly some triple option.

2. I would think that Big10 defenses will work to keep Denard from running as much and you will see the RBs get a lot more carries for a lot more yards.

3. I would expect somethings to get shaken up on defense. Players getting moved around, new blitzes and coverage patterns, etc. It's kind of hard to tell who will be a stud until we see what happens with the defense. I do think that both the young guys at Spur have looked good so far.

I know one thing for sure, our I-back/short yardage/run-out-the-clock offense is ineffective, to say the least.  It's the "prevent defense" of offense.

1.) No one really knows for sure, because this offense is fundamentally different than anything he's run in the past. It has more similarity to Florida under Urban Meyer than it does to West Virignia under Rich Rodriguez with the running game. He's going to keep thinking of ways to feed Denard the ball, and then how to counter off of those plays (See: Roundtree uncovered for the first TD against Notre Dame). He might start using more run packages for the runningbacks now that Shaw appears to be able to actually gain yardage (remains to be seen against good teams). But it will probably just be counter and trap plays for them, because he doesn't trust their speed enough to run what he did at WVU with Slaton. The passing game will continue to just be an obligation for Rich to call, he usually only has about 10 passing packages. 'Speed/Quick/Veer/Whatever option' would be a good way to get the backs involved, because I'm pretty sure they'd crash on Denard every time. Although that would mean more hits for him.

1.  A whole lot.  I think we've been pretty bland in the running game so far.  The staff has been good about introducing new wrinkles there as the season goes on, even if they don't look like much to casual observers (think, Minor RAGE in the middle of 2008).  With a QB that looks like he can run, throw, and make run-game reads consistently, the sky is the limit as far as what we could see from this offense in terms of variety.

2.  Scary as it sounds, the offensive line and quarterback play are only going to get better as young players like Robinson, Lewan, and Omameh gain experience.

3.  I think Avery will play a lot in nickle type situations and hopefully he and Christian can begin to push the starters.  Cam Gordon is really the key guy in my view though.  If he can limit mistakes and big plays, the defense has a chance to keep things in front of them and force mistakes/turnovers.  If we give up big plays, we'll have to outscore a couple of folks.

1. I can't see a whole lot else, I can see Michigan usuing their screen game to go deep more.

2. Improve is a bit hard when Michigan is #1 in total yards. I would say Denard running out of bounds to avoid clean hits.

3. As poor as the defense is playing, I am more concerned about the special teams. Defense can't really do much more, numbers are too low and youth is being served like crazy.

4-man front seemed to work well against BGSU.  I hope we'll see more of that in the Big Ten.

triple pass.

/s

One thing I'm surprised we haven't seen is the bubble screen off of the zone read.  I'm not sure they'll run it, because they seem to be countering the various scrape exchange schemes with frightening efficiency.  But keep it in the back of your mind. 

1) a rare quadruple reverse. DROB to Shaw to Grady to Roundtree back to DROB for a TD. Seriously though I have to say a little more to the TEs.

2) Penalties and RB blocking for DROBs QB draws

3) Hopefully we get Herron and Carvin back soon. Demens might get an extended look

1.  I think the general concept and play distribution is where the staff wants it, but you'll see some subtle changes based on team strengths.  I'm really interested to see what happens when a decent team loads up to stop Denard from running.

2.  70%+ completion percentage with one interception and the number 2 rushing offense?  I think you'll see a regression in the overall rankings as the competition gets tougher.  The offense can move the ball really well and has a ton of big play capability, but it has to make a lot of long touchdown drives.  Real improvement would likely come from defensive improvements that result in a shorter field for the offense to work with.

3.  The freshman DBs will definitely get more time as the season progresses.

1) More play action passes to the RB's... LB's and S's are going to have to start getting in the box to load up on DRob, so that means that wheel & flat routes for our RB's are going to start opening up unless the S's cheating go man or short zones on the RB's / TE's which means Stonum/Hemingway/Roundtree open deeeeeeep or one on one.

2) Most improved will be middle of field passing game. Right now we're running a lot fo fake sweeps / bootlegs to make DRob's reads easy. As a result we're throwing a lot of out routes, go routes, or hooks, all to the sideline. As he gets more experienced, another option receiver will be added (TE or RB coming on the crossing routes / middle hooks), so that as the S's or LB's start trolling toward the sideline looking for a DRob run or pass to the outside- ZIP- goes the ball to a middle cutting receiver a la Tony Moeaki against us last year. I'm waiting for the MSU game to see Greg Jones get sucked into following DRob on a sweep and seeing Koger or Odoms zip behind him for a huge gain.

3) Continued maturation of JT Floyd and Carvin Johnson (once he gets healthy) into competent B10 defenders.

1.  Probably more use of the TEs, plus I expect a couple of wrinkles like multiple RBs in the backfield, end-arounds, multiple QBs on the field, etc.  The bread-and-butter will remain, but I do expect some new formations.

2.  I think the passing will regress a bit and there will be fewer 80+ yard TD drives, but outside of Iowa and OSU I do not see a defense on the schedule that can really slow it down.  Everyone staying healthy, of course, will be key.  I do think with the offensive line becoming more solidifed, you will see an uptick in runs being sprung beyond the first level as the OL gets to the linebackers more.

3.  Avery and Robinson will be key, but Cullen Christian will need to make the necessary step forward for UM to really defend against the pass.  I also think Big Will is going to need to show some sign of improvement otherwise the NTs are going to be ground down by some of the bigger teams on the schedule.