What we might look like

Submitted by steve sharik on
Just a little vid for those wondering what the 2010 Wolverines might look like. Coach Rod is the Head Coach of this team, and in this old video you get to see a team whose offensive skill players are very young but talented, and a very suspect (but opportunistic) defense. This team was at the jumping off point of future greater success.

blueblueblue

August 22nd, 2010 at 8:05 PM ^

Dude - your avatar is disturbing - it looks like Tate has been decapitated. Perhaps if his eyes weren't shut and his mouth wasn't hanging open, like he is, well, asleep or unconscious, it would look good.  But those factors and the bodiless head make for a disturbing pic. Just sayin'.

nedved963

August 22nd, 2010 at 4:06 AM ^

While I don't think Michigan's defenders will necessarily be as wily as that team's, the comparison seems pretty apt. The question with those teams was always when the wins and offensive success would let them recruit enough defense for a championship. They had that in 2007 but even so, that video even shows off the ridiculous lapses in the secondary to go with what we'd hope would be second half hang-ons this year instead of collapses. When RR gets to a bowl this year hopefully his late-WVU bowl form shows up. Nothing like 3 straight underdog victories to keep your hopes up for the possibilities.

Good video find.

ironman4579

August 22nd, 2010 at 4:37 AM ^

Good to see, but I wouldn't call their defense "very suspect."  I hate to question our resident defensive expert Steve, but they were a top 25 defense in the nation that year.  No question they had mental lapses in the secondary at times.  But hell, even in that game Georgia didn't get across midfield for the first time until a minute into the second quarter.  I'd be happy if our defense could keep a team from crossing midfield two drives in a row.

#13 scoring D (17.8 PPG allowed)

#19 rush D (109.67 YPG allowed)

#35 pass D (201.1 YPG allowed)

#15 total D (310.8 YPG allowed)

#9 takeaways (31 turnovers forced)

Now I suppose you could make the case that the turnovers helped the other numbers, but there's no way it turned them from suspect to top 25.  The D was just good.  I agree about the offensive potential however.

steve sharik

August 22nd, 2010 at 10:50 AM ^

However, here are the offenses WVU faced before the Sugar Bowl:

  1. Syracuse #115
  2. Maryland #56
  3. ECU #47
  4. Va. Tech #57
  5. Rutgers #44
  6. Louisville #9 (gee, 44 points allowed that game)
  7. USF #79
  8. UConn #94
  9. Cincinnati #93 (yeah Dantonio!)
  10. Pitt #85
  11. USF #79

So, hopefully we can create 31 TOs and play an average opponent with the #69th ranked offense.  Last year the 69th ranked offense was (drum roll...wait for it) Western Michigan, to whom we allowed 7 points.

ironman4579

August 22nd, 2010 at 11:52 AM ^

I assume you used total offense.  Unfortunately, last year we played teams with an average rank of #56 and gave up an average of 27.5 PPG (33.25 in the Big Ten).  What was the #56 ranked team in total offense last year?  According to cfbstats.com, UConn.

ironman4579

August 22nd, 2010 at 12:35 PM ^

It doesn't really.  Simply pointing out that Michigan didn't exactly play a murderers row of offenses last year either and still managed to have a bad defense.  WVU may have played slightly worse offenses, but they still managed to finish top 20 in the nation in a bunch of categories. 

While the numbers are inflated by the poor offenses they played, I still think they had to be at least an average defense, which was far better than ours.  I just don't think we're suddenly going to see this team give up ten less PPG, although it has happened before.

Don

August 22nd, 2010 at 8:53 AM ^

were as exciting to watch as any college team I can remember. When you've got a QB and a RB who both have the ability to hit the home run on the ground at any time, on top of a competent passing game, it's a tough thing to contain. Time will tell whether Denard can approach White's abilities, and we certainly don't appear to have a Steve Slaton-quality guy yet.

Pea-Tear Gryphon

August 22nd, 2010 at 9:07 AM ^

I was watching the game against Florida, and focusing on the D in particular. I know it's been said that we played a lot of 3-3-5 in that game, so I wanted to look at it myself. Our defense got after it that game and were flying to the ball. There were multiple blitzes from different players (Adams, Harrison, C. Graham, Ezeh, Crable) from different places on the field. It was really fun to watch. We gave up a lot of points in that bowl game, but that Florida team had some huge talent on O. I hope it all clicks for the team this year and UM surprises the hell out of people.

Edit: Thanks for the video Steve. I love watching what RR's offense is built to do with the right personnel with experience running it.

Heisman212

August 22nd, 2010 at 9:41 AM ^

Happy like that here. I give that man credit if he can survive another season. Every time I check this site there is something negative spreading around. I wish him and the team all the luck this year. I can't wait for the season to get here so we all have something else to talk about, maybe something positive. Go Blue!

The Man Down T…

August 22nd, 2010 at 7:24 PM ^

Kind of like our game against Florida.  We can hope we have that much fun this year.  I did like the looks of the Georgia fans early on.  Much like the Notre Dame fans last year but not nearly as cute as the Irish blonde girl.