Should Devin start against Purdue?

But the question is, WHEN will his passing improve, because it's not.

If Denard is injured, give him a chance to rest up against Purdue.  Otherwise, no way.

Denard needs to be 100%. We really need to focus on our base running game (running backs) and blocking. Denard can get us 125 yards on broken plays. Imagine how many yards throwing he can get if (insert back here) can get 125-150. He needs to be healthy, the line and coaching staff need to be discipline in their techniques and the WRs need to catch the easy/semi-easy balls. I would take Devin starting if it means Denard is healthy for ILL, NE and ohio.

Gardner didn't play well at all. He completely overlooked Hopkins who was wide open for a walk-in TD. He hasn't done anything to indicate that he would be an effective starter at this point. Robinson has at least had some good games, even if this obviously was not one of them.

Understatement of the century. Even IF it was a good idea to start Devin, well, people don't turn on their idols easily. There are people who are still convinced if Michael Jordan came back at 48 years old he'd be an All NBA player.

I think it is a valid discussion to have...Devin seems like the better passer, but Denard playing will single handedly give us a win vs Purdue. Devin can't do that. 

Overall, we need to ride this roller coaster this year with Denard, and hope he works hard on his footwork, as this seems to be the only problem

YES. This. ^^^

And, if the opponent has a bruising d-line, maybe, just maybe, Toussaint should get more carries between the tackles than Vincent Smith.

With Denard under center it is pulling the whole defense in to stop him and its all clogged up for the RBs as a result. The benefit in this is with defenses cheating to stop the run, UM should have an advantage in the passing game but unfortunately we dont have the ability to capitalize on it due to Denards shortcomings in that area. The running game with RBs is really hampered by DR in the backfield. The lack of discretion and interceptions cannot be ignored.

Im not a very emotional person and would never hastily call for a change but im 100% for giving Devin a few series a game at least.

Gotta agree with Purple Stuff here.  Denard and the Oline didn't execute this game but he could have been decent today with better playcalling.  It was pretty atrocious outside of that first drive.  Borges decided to go with the pass way too early.  Why not give a few more carries to Fitz and Smith?  This was the first game where I feel that Borges failed the team as a coordinator.  I hope he adjusts during the bye week because we will not beat a good team with playcalling resembling what we saw today.

doesn't improve his passing by the end of this year, I don't see any reason as to why they shouldn't open up the job for next season. I love Denard, but I don't think they can win the B1G with him passing like this.

I agree - benching Denard would be the biggest mistake we could make.  Not happening. But, so your specific points:

1.  "Denard has the potential to be a much  better passer than what we have seen at times this year."

Disagree.  He can be accurate on short stuff at times, but his long ball is not good, he underthrows consistently and his reads are terrible.  He is not improving - if anything, his passing is regressing.  He is also still interception prone.  He is not going to get much better.

2.  "[Denard] was under pressure all day."

Bingo.  DEnard had zero running room, zero time to throw and was constantly escaping pressure.  He was being eaten alive.  The o-line totally did not hold up.

3.  "and Borges terrible playcalling did not help the situation."

Again, spot on.  With heavy wind, stop with the long ball.  Stop trying to run inside when it is not there.  Stop running V. Smith altogether when he is getting NOTHING.  How about a screen?  How about Shaw on the edge?  How about more designed QB runs? Terrible play calling.

4.  "the coaches have to make more of an effort to get the RB's involved"

Disagree. Sadly, our RBs are great guys, and have certain skills (SMith can block), but none are really very good RBs.  They can get their yards against average to below average teams, but have never shown the ability to do much against better Ds.  Each RB has gotten ample opportunities, and none has really shined.  Hopefully next year, Justice Hayes or Rawls will be able to take over the starting job.  Or, Brionte Dunn.  

They scored 10 points against Ohio State. I will be extremely disappointed if our offense looks like and  produces like Michigan State's offense in a few years. I just don't think that should be our benchmark.

I vote that welook like Stanford's offense, Alabama's defense, and Virginia Tech's special teams. A man can dream dangit.

This. There's a reason we're recruiting so hard on the o-line.

Do I agree with the OP? No. But to be fair, Denard had 7 games to become an effective passer and has not improved at all. What makes everyone think that game 8 will be any different? Ya Purdue is not MSU, I get that, but lets be realistic. Denard cant throw. If Devin at qb and Denard at a slot or rb gives us a better chabce of winning, then Im all for it.

You can't have a real running game if you don't ever attempt to run the ball.

UPDATE: To illustrate the point, through 7 games now our running backs have gained 824 yards on 139 carries, good for 5.9 ypc and 8 TD.  We don't have a problem running the ball.  We have a coaching staff that, all preseason claims aside, doesn't call running plays.

Way too conservative? Seriously? Throwing on 4th and inches. RBs who hardly touched the ball. A dozen tacopants heaves.



The problem was that Michigan wasn't conservative enough. No running game. No short passes. Too many silly gimmick plays. Gimme a break.

I am willing to bet you a large amount of money that Denard will not play at all next week.