Rivals Monday "Conference Call": Biggest Disappointment- Denard?
Rivals is running a new feature this year titled "Conference Call" which is a review of the biggest surprises and disappointments from the previous weekend, conference by conference.
Their biggest disappointment (player) from the Big 10 is..........Denard?
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT, PLAYER: Michigan QB Denard Robinson. The Wolverines won, which is all that really matters. But Robinson had pedestrian numbers against a mediocre MAC defense, throwing for 98 yards and no touchdowns and rushing eight times for 46 yards. True, the game was called with 1:27 left in the third quarter because of bad weather, cutting into his playing time. Still, his numbers weren't close to being on track with last season, when he averaged 130.9 yards rushing and 197.7 yards passing per game en route to being Big Ten MVP.
On a poisitve note, their biggest surprise (team) was Michigan's defense. So we have that going for us......which is nice.
Read more here: http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1260638
September 5th, 2011 at 9:45 AM ^
I want wins more than stats.
September 5th, 2011 at 9:47 AM ^
I'll tell you what. If the end result is going to be similar to that, he can be dissapointing every Saturday for the next 4 months or so, and I'll be just fine with that.
September 5th, 2011 at 9:48 AM ^
Relying solely on denard to win in the non conference means death in the big ten. Maybe unleash him a bit more against ND, but I like what they are trying to do in the non conference. It makes him that much more potent w a developed offense where he can scramble, throw, and run play action from power formations when the box is loaded because they have to respect the RBs.
September 5th, 2011 at 9:50 AM ^
I want Denard to finish games this season and I want Michigan to win. Screw the idiots who have no clue as to what the new offensive game plan will be.
Run him 20 times a game and my guess is that he will eventually break down.
Speaking of Denard, did anyone notice his footwork? It seems like he was throwing off his back foot a lot.
September 5th, 2011 at 9:52 AM ^
for giving 12-year olds a chance to write for them. It's a great way for young people to get on-hands experience in sports journalism.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:32 AM ^
does not appreciate this new siphoning of their talent pool.
September 5th, 2011 at 9:53 AM ^
1) No turn-overs
2) Made good use of his running plays
3) Only had three quarters to work with
4) Defense scored twice limiting his opportunities to be on the field
Give me a break. The series title alone tells you that the writers aren't watching the games. They are flipping through the game summaries to come up with a story line.
I simply see this as more lousy journalism.
September 5th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^
September 5th, 2011 at 9:58 AM ^
September 5th, 2011 at 9:59 AM ^
can cram it, bunch of dickweeds !!
DR executed the game plan to perfection, Hoke is not going to run him to death like RR did last year.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:01 AM ^
Did Denard even get five full drives?
September 5th, 2011 at 10:04 AM ^
September 5th, 2011 at 10:04 AM ^
There will likely be criticism of Denard all year. He won't produce the eye popping numbers, just isn't going to happen. I'm very glad we have coaches that aren't asking him to do everything, that would be a disaster.
All it will take for Denard to be in the spotlight, are respectable numbers and keep on winning.
It would be nice to see him average some combination of 200 yards plus per game and 2 TDs.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:04 AM ^
September 5th, 2011 at 10:05 AM ^
Denard showed a lot of poise in the pocket, use his legs when necessary, and except an over throw, had a perfect game, did what coach asked him to do, no fumble, no interception, command the offense and consume the clock effectively. The first game is tune-up for both offense and defense, I think that this offense is going to be fantastic with Denard under the center. He is a much better pocket passer than most people give him credit for, and even the pocket collapse, he can create play with his legs that nobody else can.
A lot of problem with last three years is that the defense, already weak, never get rest, as the offense either scores in three plays or went three out. To protect our defense, our offense has to be able to run the clock down.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:06 AM ^
The average number of possessions per game in the nfl is 11.5. Assuming a similar number in college (rounded up to 12), and assuming Denard played the whole game, what would that mean for denard's stats? If we had only 6 possessions, then--in 12 possessions--Denard would have thrown for nearly 200 and rushed for nearly 100 yards.
As it was, his yards per carry running, if I recall correctly, was about 7.5.
That alone seems hardly disappointing.
Moreoover, recall how Woodson's Heisman-winning-season stats were far less than expected in many games---merely because nobody would throw in his direction. Clearly, defenses now are geared toward stopping Denard. That should open up other players--and I think the offense showed that as the game wore on---even though they had to do so in a driving rain, which would have stopped most offenses in their tracks.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:30 AM ^
Not even 6 ypc - 8 carries 46 yards. The national media sees the most electrifying player in college football who was a heisman candidate last year barely being used and to them that is a disappointment. Reality is this offense is going to be a downgrade and we'll have to rely on the D to step it up. Can they do enough?
The scary part is the D got pushed around, but fortunately came away with two defensive TDs. If WMU scores a TD instead of Herron running it back 94 yards we may not be so happy right now.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
Diversifying the offense =/= downgrade except for an individuals stats.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:14 AM ^
September 5th, 2011 at 10:55 AM ^
Yeah, Denard ought to be pissed at Shaw, Fitz and Herron. They screwed him!
I'd leave the part out about the long pass before the game being called. It counted in the stats and so it seems to be irrelevant.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:18 AM ^
Because if this trend continues and Denard keeps completing 69% of his passes and picking up almost 6 ypc, and our defense continues to be competent, this is going to be one hell of a good year!!!
September 5th, 2011 at 10:19 AM ^
I'll take team dilithium over individual dilithium anyday!
September 5th, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^
that your biggest disappointment would be a qb that leads your team to a dominating victory over a team that the "experts" said could beat Michigan. I remember the "experts" saying WMU was a great pick at + 14,
Denard completed 69% of his passes with no picks and ran for 46 yards for a 5.8 ypc.
The obvious pick for disappointing player is running back Marcus Coker who was picked to be Iowa's number one running back, and break out in the mold of Shonn Greene. He ran up against a weak defense in Tennessee Tech and was only able to muster 35 yards on 11 carries with a 3.2 ypc and no TD's. Now Iowa will have to lean heaviy on him with the loss of Mika'il McCall for the season.
No doubt ... biggest B1G dissapointment is Marcus Coker
September 5th, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^
Did these Rivals experts graduate high school level math?
September 5th, 2011 at 10:59 AM ^
Okay, so lets extrapolate up to M having the ball near 30 minutes. Denard ends up with ~150 yds passing and ~75 running. Still not awe inspriring, but even so, who cares?
September 5th, 2011 at 10:22 AM ^
When your defense scores twice and the game is cut to less than 45 minutes I wouldn't really expect him to have huge numbers. Additionally, I like being able to hand it off in the redzone.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:26 AM ^
Last year against UConn, M ran 83 offensive plays, Saturday against Western, M ran 39
Against UConn 61 rushing attempts; against Western 26 attempts
Denard had 29 carries alone against UConn; 8 against Western
Shaw and Smith combined for 29 rushing attempts against UConn
Shaw, Smith, and Toussaint combined for 17 against Western
September 5th, 2011 at 10:27 AM ^
They are trying to get us to pay attention to them.
September 5th, 2011 at 11:01 AM ^
Apparently, their strategy is working.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:32 AM ^
All anyone has to do is watch and listen to the post game press conference to understand that Denard was not and is not a disappointment. Wonderful attitude and love for the game. He will do whatever it takes to win games this year. His leadership and "disappointing" stats will win us two games more than our talent level probably should. Denard is a special player, person, and leader.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:33 AM ^
I think outsiders are disappointed that he wont be breaking off 50-70+ td runs. It's exciting to watch on SportsCenter.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:34 AM ^
I actually find this to be a compliment. If Rivals believes 69% and 3 TDS of 5 drives and 5+ YPC to be "disappointing", it's just because Denard is that explosive and feared that anything less than a 60+ yard ESPN highlight run is "not cool, man".
Don't let Rivals piss in your coffee. This is a compliment.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:35 AM ^
yea im loving these idiots.....I mean who wrote this a buckeye fan.....
September 5th, 2011 at 10:37 AM ^
I was only disappointed from the standpoint of them not going deep more. However, I do believe it was by design as to try to run the ball down WMU's throats and control the clock.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:39 AM ^
Maybe these ass clowns should actually watch the games
September 5th, 2011 at 10:42 AM ^
the team, the team, the team.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
After reading this article online, the Free Press has just published a new article on their website titled: " Denard hates playing football, is content with bad stats"
September 5th, 2011 at 10:51 AM ^
Biggest disappointment is taking it way, way too far, but i was a little discouraged by denard's accuracy. I'll wait for UFR, but it looked like at least 3 of the completions weren't really that on target. Didn't matter yesterday, but could be an issue going forward.
September 5th, 2011 at 11:06 AM ^
I think it is always hard to tell, whether the throws were errant, the receiver didn't run a precise route or maybe the receiver didn't adjust to the ball in the air. Regardless of who is to blame, it is something to watch.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^
who completes close to 70% of his passes, has 0 turnovers, and has the game well in hand by the end of the third quarter. Over Denard who rolls up over 400 yards on the opponent, turns the ball over 3 times, and has to put together a miracle drive to pull out the game on the last drive. ...but that's just me.
September 5th, 2011 at 10:58 AM ^
So, why are people who obviously don't understand football allowed to be "professional football writers?" Everybody with even superficial knowledge of Michigan football expected Denard to get less stats and the defense to be better.
Don't they pay these guys enough to do their bleeping homework?
September 5th, 2011 at 11:12 AM ^
I hope Ann Arbor Pitchfork and Torch Co. is having a sale. Looks like we'll be needing to stock up.
September 5th, 2011 at 11:13 AM ^
of offensive firepower and Denard I did miss the explosiveness of last year . As has been said, this was by design, and wins are all that matters, and Denard by no means was a disappointment. HOWEVA, I admit I do miss Denard going for 200 yards on fools, And I don't think we'll see much of that this year, by design. Again, i'll trade wins for that anyday, but ...
September 5th, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^
The coaches are not trying not to score. They are not limiting Denard's touches in any instance where him running the ball might help us win the game. We had 3.5 real extended drives yesterday. Denard had 4 designed runs on the first one. We faced 3rd and medium three times on the drive. Twice Denard ran for the first down. On the third one he didn't (threw a pass to Dileo) and we had to convert on fourth down. He had designed runs on both of the 3-and-out drives. On the second scoring drive we only faced one third down. And the third scoring drive only lasted three plays (and should have lasted two). With the team easily moving the ball, the game decided, and both backs gashing the defense, the last play of the game was a designed run by Denard.
To quote Al Borges: "We want to score on every play."
September 5th, 2011 at 3:40 PM ^
Of course everyone would love to score on every play if it were possible. But IME the design of this offense, despite the fact that we clearly have retained several key spread plays from last year's playbook, will allow Denard fewer opportunities, in fact by design, to score. That is what more RB focus, less Denard running, incorporating pro style priniciples, more time of possesion etc are all about. Changing the design of the offense. Now that is perfectly legitimate and I'm not arguing it. But I think its very clear that if we had last year's offense and coordinator (ahem) we would be seeing several games of 150-200 yard rushing days from Denard. That is the only thing I miss--nothing else. I'm very happy with how things are but I just doubt we will see a series of Denard performances like last year because of it.
September 5th, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^
September 5th, 2011 at 11:28 AM ^
Who cares what they say. Anyone who watched the game knows that if Denard was given the amount touches he got last year he would have put up God-like numbers. The thing I care about is the fact that we won a game by 24 points and Denard only had 21 touches and half of our total offensive yards. If anyone can find me a game where that happened last year, I'd be very surprised. We won a game where the RBs carried most of the offensive brunt, and we did so convicningly. Our offense was moving the ball at will for the most part, and our defense looked miles better. We know we can win an offensive shootout, we proved that last year, and if we can win games like this consistently now too, I'd be very happy. That's all I care about.
September 5th, 2011 at 11:31 AM ^
will be sorely disappointed if Brandon Herron comes away with less than two TD returns next week, and if he doesn't have one for MORE than 94 yds, he'll have obviously taken a step backward.
Article written by stat-readers/highlight-reel searchers. How can one possibly be disappointed in Denard, who is adjusting to a new system even though it won't showcase him as prominently as in the past, carefully managing the game as he learns, and working for the betterment of his team, supporting them, and is still smiling?
September 5th, 2011 at 12:01 PM ^
Someone should explain to these guys that we only had 5 possessions. And Denard's roll in those possessions was huge. The only reason most of those TDs were TDs was because of their fear of Denard.