Alright, Denard is starting, now what

Submitted by ijohnb on

What the hell does this mean for Saturday. There are two possibilities, Denard starts, Tate gets the message for whatever rule was violated, and then back to status quo with Forcier taking over mid first quarter. The other possibility, we're rollin w/ Denard. (that being the Michigan football team and not me personally) What does that mean for this game? Not having really seen enough of Robinson to know what he is capable of if given an entire game to work, it is hard to tell what it could mean. Personally, I think Denard gives Michigan a slightly better shot at winning the game if he performs well, as Denard performing well likely means long possessions and Michigan's defense off the field. However, it also increases the chances of Michigan getting trounced significantly if he performs poorly, as Denard's "poorly" as been pretty poor. As such, this post is two-fold. Is it likely that Tate has been benched in the real sense of the word or are we looking at a two possession "violation of team rules" slap on the wrist? And, if Denard is the guy this Saturday, doom and gloom, or a glimmer of hope?

B

November 13th, 2009 at 12:06 PM ^

I thought Forcier played his best game in a long time last week. I personally don't like this move and hope Forcier gets in quickly. This team is way too one dimensional with Denard starting. Also, your thought about longer drives only applies if no turnovers occur.

BaggyPantsDevil

November 13th, 2009 at 4:00 PM ^

was raising the hopes of the Michigan fanbase--anyone remember when Forcier was going win the Heisman and we were all going to Pasadena?--before they were crushed on the cruel, jagged rocks of the reality of having a freshman quarterback. Not to mention a soul-destroying defensive secondary.

He may have to sit out an entire half for that.

ijohnb

November 13th, 2009 at 12:17 PM ^

without speculation, this Blog does not exist. How strange for fans of a team to be discussing their teams chances the day before a game. Man, for the all the posts on this blog taking bullshit and posting it as fact, I thought a little discussion regarding what the move actually means would be welcome. I guess more posts like "Vlad Emililen to Start" are in order.

dex

November 13th, 2009 at 1:28 PM ^

fail.

the blog would certainly exist, just as it did long before you people found it. the blog exists because of the tremendous effort brian puts into his writing and analysis. the board exists to fund this effort. you, and your opinions, and my opinions, are completely irrelevant to the existence of this blog.

ijohnb

November 13th, 2009 at 1:41 PM ^

you must feel vindicated. You sure showed me. Now go back to browsing all posts in order to find the next football conversation that you can interrupt to remind the participants that they don't know anything and are completely irrelevant. That's the spirit.

Blue McMaize

November 13th, 2009 at 12:19 PM ^

Our biggest issue is can our D stop Wisconsin at all. Tate can atleast put points on the board from time to time. Our chances of winning just got a little worse in my opinion. I hope he gets in there very soon.

Erik_in_Dayton

November 13th, 2009 at 12:19 PM ^

I'm not being sarcastic. This season is a very interesting experiment, if nothing else, and Denard seeing the field a little more will make it all the more interesting...Don't get me wrong, though, I hope "interesting" doesn't mean "painful."

Hemlock Philosopher

November 13th, 2009 at 12:23 PM ^

It's better than working, that's for sure. I think we see a whole lot of running plays and short passes when Denard is in; I don't think RR calls a passing play longer than 10 yards. Maybe this will suck the DBs up... I hope he can get to the second level and we see a few long TD runs.

Blue_Bull_Run

November 13th, 2009 at 12:38 PM ^

I think RichRod will stick with Denard as long as he can. But I don't think Tate did anything that merits significant loss of playing time, so if Denard starts turning the ball over, I think Tate comes in pretty quickly.

ijohnb

November 13th, 2009 at 12:47 PM ^

Kind of a strange situation. No question, on the whole, Tate is the better option given the personnel right now and Denard's performance in limited time thus far. But I kind of think that Denard, if at all competent, fits RR's offense better than Tate in terms of a "downhill running" ball control aspect. It is clear that Tate is the "starter" on this team, but a real tricky question will arise if Michigan's offense is sharp with Robinson. Questions galore. Should make for a good watch, notwithstanding Larivee and the three hour Rotel cheese dip commercial that is a Big Ten Netword Telecast.

Tater

November 13th, 2009 at 12:43 PM ^

I would gladly sacrifice the Wisky game if it meant a victory over OSU with a healthier Forcier. If DRob does play the entire game, I see these benefits:

1. Forcier gets to observe the game, coverages, and speed from the sidelines. Most QB's get this benefit their first year or two; Forcier didn't have that luxury.

2. Forcier's injuries get another week to heal, making his percentage (is he 70 percent, 90 percent, etc) higher for OSU.

3. It gives OSU more to prepare for, especially if DRob plays well and RR sandbags on who will start.

4. It gives DRob experience against a HQ Big Ten team.

5. Wisky's achilles heel is speed. If there is any HQ team DRob could do well against, it's Wisky.

6. If they lose and UM appears to have a turbulent QB situation, it gives OSU even more arrogance coming into the Big House. I still think that Pryor is an arrogant baby whose mentality is severely impacted in a negative way by a punch in the mouth: the "higher" he is coming into the game, the lower he will get if things don't go right immediately.

I am a realist, and I do know that the chances of an upset of OSU are slim. But I also know that bigger upsets happen every year, and that a "fat and sassy" OSU could turn out to be a classic situation of letting an underdog "hang around too long." If OSU turns out to have expended too much energy last week and this week, while UM plays a pedestrian game against Wisky, we could be on the good end of an upset. That would be a welcome change for this year.

However, it IS all conjecture at this point. If Forcier is being punished "in house," I agree with the commenter who thinks it will be a short punishment; I would guess one series or one quarter.

Either way, I am a lot more concerned about OSU than Wisky. A win over OSU would change everything for the program. A win over Wisky would just be a "whew." I'll take the paragidgm-shifing victory, please.

Crime Reporter

November 13th, 2009 at 12:57 PM ^

Forcier essentially sat the entire Del. State game, and rightfully so, to get an extra week to heal up and give others a chance. We saw how that worked the following week when Penn State handed us our lunch. I think Forcier gives us the best chance to win, but I'm all for giving Denard a shot as well. I just hope it doesn't come back to bite us.

spacemanspiff231

November 13th, 2009 at 12:48 PM ^

They just said on 97.1 that Denard is starting and taking a couple of snaps but that Tate will play the majority of the game. They didn't say where they got this information but they didn't offer the statement as conjecture, they said it as a matter of fact.

alabluema

November 13th, 2009 at 12:49 PM ^

If Denard starts against Ohio State, I have an idea for how all the fans can show their support. Instead of a "Maize Out," we should have a "shoelace out!" How cool would it be to see 100,000 fans all with their shoes untied in support of Michigan and Denard!

Sgt. Wolverine

November 13th, 2009 at 1:05 PM ^

That's easy: wear your shoes on your hands. Imagine the sound of 107,000 pairs of shoes clapping! It would be...completely bizarre.

Important tip: if you use shoes with metal spikes for this purpose, do not smack anybody on the back -- or anywhere else -- in happiness. Shoe-to-shoe contact only. Unless they're Ohio State fans, then...whatever.

jblaze

November 13th, 2009 at 12:50 PM ^

Tate missed a study session (or so the rumor goes, which seems pretty minor to me) and is benched. This is the 2nd most important game of the season (next week is OSU, after all) and RR is still emphasizing the importance of academics. I really appreciate that and have renewed my respect for him.

I hope parents of HS players (preferably of the 4* and 5* variety) realize that as a coach, RR cares about his players and their academic education at Michigan!

Go Blue!

MGoStoob

November 13th, 2009 at 12:53 PM ^

We have yet to really see what Denard can do. Yes he had some playing time in clutch moments against Iowa, but that is a very limited sample size. Personally I am looking forward to see him passing more and see what dynamic he can bring to the system. Currently when he comes, the D loads up and knows he is going to run. Now he should have a better mix and we can all see what he brings to the table.

Everything said about our team this year, let us not forget that we came back from one of the biggest deficits ever against Wisconsin last year with Threet leading the way. I am confident Denard gives us a better chance than Threet any day.