Utah Depth Chart - Funchess, Taylor, Wilson listed as starters

Submitted by BlueKoj on

I know its mostly meaningless, but there it is...also, Morgan listed without the "OR" 2nd and 3rd string.

 

EDIT: essentially this was the same vs. MOH so....probably a lot of "nothing to see here." Delano Hill seems to be the only change.

 

MGoClimb

September 15th, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^

Question for the board: in the case that you got to choose, would you rather have Funchess return on offense, or Taylor and Wilson return on defense?

Obviously having all three back would be ideal. 

alum96

September 15th, 2014 at 12:28 PM ^

Interesting.  I am in the opposite camp.  Funchess is a big loss no doubt but I think we can score some on Utah either way.   Darboh played quite well, Chesson is solid, and Norfleet is a much improved player.  Obviously none are Funchess but I think the WR corps is more dependent on how Gardner plays - obviously having a fallback as Funchess will aid Devin's play but I still think those are good enough WRs to score points.

When the secondary was missing Peppers and Taylor vs a competent team it looked like poop.  The safeties last week (pending UFR) had some mixups from my non coaching eye - not surprising, it was Hill in his 2nd game, Dymonte in his first few games of extended play, and a still raw Clark.  The dropoff in experience between Wilson and any other safety is vast.  

And assuming Taylor is doing "ok" in press that leaves us with only 2 CBs to play it (Lewis/Peppers) so you have to go away from what you want anytime either of those is out or there are more than 2 WRs on the field for Utah.  With those 2 back we'd have the whole defense back save for Morgan and I want to see the defense at full (or near full) strength versus a real offense - the last test went poorly.  Also if you believe Brian's UFR the front 7 played very good vs ND - the safeties were at least average - and the CBs were horridso that is another reason I want to see a full back 4 versus a competent team - to see what we truly have as a full defense.  If those 2 are back and the defense looks "very good" it will bode very well.   If they are back and it looks like ND again, well we know what we have in store as well to the downside.

alum96

September 15th, 2014 at 12:36 PM ^

Utah is averaging 50+ pts vs baby seals so I am assuming they are going to be potent enough to be somewhere in the 20s/low 30s vs UM.  I'd rather it be in the 20s and think that requires our top defensive guys.  That's a boat load of experience with Wilson and Ray.

Last point on this - when Jarrod Wilson makes 50 good plays in a game no one notices.  When Funchess makes 1 good play everyone notices.  Safety is not a position anyone notices until a UFR. 

So yes Funchess is the most glorious player of the 3 by a long shot.  If Devin plays well he can make Darboh Chesson Norfleet Jones/Canteen? useful enough tools to win. 

I also understand the counter that Funchess changes the game more than any other player on this squad, so just an opinion.

alum96

September 15th, 2014 at 12:49 PM ^

haha - the dreaded YAM metric?

Yes I should have wrote that better: "Safety is not a position you notice if it's being played well until a UFR."

Also someone else mentioned Butt below which is a great point - we sort of traded Butt for Funchess; while not a perfect compliment it's a very nice offset.

J.Madrox

September 15th, 2014 at 12:19 PM ^

For this game I might lean Taylor and Wilson, because I think the only real strength Utah has is their passing attack.

I think Michigan can score points with or without Funchess, the key will be slowing down their passing attack, and Taylor and Wilson would help that. But yeah, lets just have them all back, and Morgan too while we are at it.

MGoMitten

September 15th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^

Tough call, but I'm going with Taylor and Wilson. Utah has thrown for 619 yards this season, and over 50% of those yards have come from two receivers (Dres Anderson and Kenneth Scott). Those two guys have also accounted for 5 of Utah's 7 passing TDs this season. If we can limit those two guys, I like our chances to win.

StephenRKass

September 15th, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^

MGoClimb asks an excellent question. And I don't really know the answer. However, I'm going to go with the defense over the offense, i.e., Taylor and Wilson more than Funchess. But here are my thoughts.

  1. I really don't want them to come back early, but when they're ready.
  2. I think we need the defense more than the offense against Utah.
  3. Along with that, I want the rest of the receiving corps to get more game reps. We already know Funchess can play. If he doesn't come back until Minnesota, well, that shouldn't matter that much. Gardner has to learn to use all his receivers more.

Wolverine Devotee

September 15th, 2014 at 12:13 PM ^

Did anyone see Maurice Hurst doing his best Will Carr impression? 

Michigan's goal line TD run had Hurst at fullback. 

victors2000

September 15th, 2014 at 12:17 PM ^

What a coincidence!

I keed, I keed...

The good thing about having Devin F. out of the Miami game was the opportunity it gave Darboh, Chesson, and others some exposure, as well as the Utah D.C. something else to think about. With the running game actually running I look forward to seeing our offense continue to improve against Utah.

 

Indiana Blue

September 15th, 2014 at 12:34 PM ^

when Peppers announed himself as a starter on the MgoTron.  Little did I know at the time he would wait until the 2nd quarter to make that start.  

I tend to agree with some others in that we need our key defensive personnel more than the offesive ones for the Ute's.

Go Blue!

alum96

September 15th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^

I'm not one to throw bouquets out easily and I was in the "keep your expectations in line" crowd all summer but I REALLY liked what I saw of Peppers Saturday.  I loved that Miami OH went after him over and over and he was always stride for stride with the WR. He also used the sideline as a tool very well.  Yes, adjust for opponent but still.  He will make errors as any newbies do but man it was nice to see.  Hoping the UFR confirms this. 

Utah has one Pac 12 all conference type WR so I am very curious who Manning chooses to drape over him.  

Indiana Blue

September 15th, 2014 at 2:12 PM ^

JP played very well ... whether in press coverage or not.  The only "big" play on his side of the field came when he blitzed and the safety poorly played the coverage on his man.  He supported in run defense well too.   I'm guessing he "tweak" something on a punt return in the App. St. game .... so we probably won't see him returning punts for a while.

Go Blue! 

TenThousandThings

September 15th, 2014 at 3:08 PM ^

Listed as 2nd/3rd string

The link is here: Game 4 Notes

EDIT: Note that these lag by a week, as they come out on Monday, before any changes are in place. I'm not sure we know when Morgan got injured -- in the App St game or in practice on the Monday after it, but either way, he still would have been (and was) listed as an OR starter for ND, and his status not changed to the current one until Miami U. 

chewieblue

September 15th, 2014 at 1:01 PM ^

but I thought Thomas ways way more aggressive and involved than either Hill or Clark. Those two definitely have the longer frames and that may be the biggest reason they are in more, but I wonder what the board thinks about the competition between those guys?

CR7

September 15th, 2014 at 1:06 PM ^

I'd rather go without Funch. As much as I love seeing Dymonte get some burn, DG needs more time with the other receivers instead tunnelvisioning on Funch 90% of the time. It's more beneficial overall, I feel.

Bleedmaizeblue

September 15th, 2014 at 7:32 PM ^

As long as DG doesn't revert to old habits when Funch is back. Overall DG has grown and gotten better. But when other aspects are struggling he goes into Superman mode where he tries to save the team and that's when he plays his worst. If the running game shows up and he plays his average game we will be okay Saturday