About Last Night: Recap Brady Hoke's Former Team

"I'm sorry I left for my dream job in the middle of the night, but I am pointing so it's OKAY!"

The Big House... How you've changed and how you've managed to stay the same, I hadn't been back to A2 for football since, EMU 2009.  During the first half, I was trying to pinpoint why Seven Nation Army became the new ballad of Michigan football. Why wasn't "The Victors" ringing through the air on repeat, what has happened here? It wasn't until San Diego State's 2nd drive of the 3rd quarter that I realized how much the Big House was still the same... "Hey, down in front..."

Michigan had just recovered a San Diego State fumble, the stadium had gone into a commercial break and Pop Evil's atrocious Michigan song was playing. There was no action to be seen on the field. My eyes curled slowly around to peep over my shoulder, trying to mask my disdain, to see two elderly gentleman who glared at me as if I was stepping on their oxygen tank. Pondering what at all they could possibly want to see going down the field, I obliged their request and briefly smiled. This, was the Big House I remembered...

Two years of 4-0 starts that ended abruptly in league play have brought skepticism upon this 2011 team... For all of the things that are different, there are many things the same.

The highway to success this season, same as last, will be paved by Denard Robinson's legs. That's the same. The difference? Michigan's defense has showed itself this year to be, dare I say, reliable? A not great but supposedly good SDSU offense was held for the most part in check.

Offense:
Denard's legs. That will be the key. His passing has continually been inconsistent and shotty the whole season. The 300 yd passing performance against ND is definitely the exception and will never be the norm this season, unless drastic improvement has happens. But, man, oh man, do those legs move. Chalk another point up to Al Borges. He has shown adaptability once again. Was that speed option we saw? Yes, yes it was. If Borges can find a way to keep the running game interesting for opposing defense while Robinson, finds whatever it is he's looking for in the passing game than I really like our chances heading into, B1G play.

The RB situation isn't resolved yet. I still like what Fitz brings to the table as an every down back, But, just like it has taken me a while to come around on Jordan Kovacs being undeniable, one can not simply deny Vincent Smith. The kid plays bigger than he is and is also able to squeeze through holes that no other back could squeeze through. With Denard's legs opening up plays for both backs I am quite okay with having 2 viable options.

The offensive line is really hard to talk about as well, Denard... He runs they look good. They didn't really allow much pressure getting to Robinson and MANball is becoming less and less a part of the offense so that's good.

Any and all WR performances can be extrapolated strictly from the ND game. If they've shown anything this past week it's that, they block and stay engaged in the offense even when the ball isn't coming there way. That's a good thing because from the looks of it all we are going to need them doing as much of that as possible this season.

Defense:
SDSU came into this game averaging 38 ppg and 428 yds a game. Michigan held the Aztecs to just 7 points and jsut 368 yds of offense. The surprisingly good thing about this feat is that the D was able to hold SDSU when many of their possessions started in or near Michigan territory. The D was also able to continue their streak of timely turnovers, forcing 3, all from inside Michigan territory. Michigan defenses of the past 3 seasons would not be able to do such things, considering SDSU has an NFL prospect QB and one of the nations top rushers this is a well recognized feat. Can the defense continue to causing these timely turnovers consistently into league play? No... it won't happen. Yes this is a bummer but there are other things to hang your hat on.

CB depth!? We has it? I won't go that far, but it's better than I can ever recall it being. As soon as Floyd followed Woolfolk to the sideline, I was waiting for the ball to drop and for Ryan Lnidley to have his way with  the secondary. Highly recruited freshman Blake Countess came in and seemingly picked up right where the defense left off.

There are you are D-line, there you are. In my season previews I said, Michigan's best unit on the field defensively would be the D-line. 4 games into the season, I finally look kinda smart for say that. Mike Martin, was blasting into the backfield causing pressure on Lindley all afternoon. If it wasn't Martin, it seemed like it was VanBergen, if it wasn't VanBergen it was definitely Roh, who inched closer to my 12 sack prediction with another one. If William Campbell can continue to improve which, from my opinion is happening, this unit should be able to keep building momentum into B1G play and be a stronghold for the defense this season.

Special Teams:
Any kicker can miss a 40 yarder on any given Saturday. It just sucks that it happened to be Michigan's kicker, again not relieving any stress out of that position. One more miss and I'll be screaming for a switch to Wile or student body tryouts part 2. Jeremy Gallon is the best punt-return option we've had in quite some time and he's proved it. Now obviously with all special teams my emotions are week to week with them. Right now we've got a good thing going lets keep it that way.

Good Feeling To Take Home With You:
Through non-conference play the team is 4-0. I don't care how they got here or what the last 2 seasons say, I'd rather be here with this team than have any losses in our record. There's something about this team that I'm vibing with. The defense isn't perfect, but they are better and every guy is saying the right thing and it just feels like their minds and approach this year are in a better state than the previous undefeated starts. Every starter on this team has seen and undefeated start and they've all seen how badly they've gone. That experience I believe carries this team through this season and the B1G collapse that has plagued this team previous years won't happen again this go-round.

Preview: Notre Dame

Finally...Also, did I just sell out to Adidas? Damnit...

Who, What, When, Where, Weather
Who: Notre Dame: Line ND (-3)
What: FIRST EVER NIGHT GAME AT THE BIG HOUSE!
When: 8:00 p.m. Eastern
Where: Ann Arbor, MI
Weather: Hi 72, 40% chance of Thunderstorms <--- jokes right?

Offense vs. Notre Dame:
So, South Florida's offense last year came in nestled right between Purdue and Ball State in the national rankings at 105th nationally in yds/gm.  This year they came into South Bend minus their leading rusher and leading receiver from a year ago. They also play in the Big East, which ties with the MAC and C-USA in conferences that are good... Well, probably behind the MAC.  They did bring with them a somewhat experienced line and a returning quarterback who came in with a stunning 1685 yds passing from last season. That was the offense ND held last week in a monsoon to 254 total/yds. Forgive me if I am not superdy-duper impressed.

This ND defense is the same defense that got torched last year by Navy and Tulsa and then had a stretch of success toward the end of the season. Well was it really success? 3 points given up to Army. But seriously, is Army (no shots here towards service men) still D-1? ND held USC to only 16 points in another monsoon vs. the Trojan back-up QB, who couldn't compete with Mallett at Arkansas and transfered to USC. Lastly, Miami looked about as interested in playing in the Sun-Bowl, as I am toward watching a 7 year-old girls ballet instead of Michigan football on Saturdays, when they threw up only 17 on the scoreboard in the their bowl game last year. They finished 51st nationally, so that's something... but again... I dunno, call me a homer but, I'm not impressed. Michigan's Defense got torched by everybody because of every reason under the sun, mainly talent and scheme. ND's defense is stacked with 4-5* talent and got torched by Tulsa and Navy. This game, just like for Michigan in all aspects is going to be a huge barometer of where both teams are in all aspects of their team.

I'm not sure if only running 39 plays last week is a good thing or a bad thing. Both? Michigan obviously didn't show much last week, but they also didn't get to run much against somebody who's not themselves. I don't think they would have shown much on offense either way so, damn you rain... damn you. So we'll go off what we know. Last year, this happened and it'll never get old, so yah...

I remember the gentleman sitting in front of me last year at ND, repeating himself stop Denard and you stop them. Well sir you didn't stop Denard. I think ND's coaching staff will maybe take that note to heart to this year.Denard Robinson alone compiled 502 yds of total offense against the Irish defense last year but you already knew that. The team as a whole had 532. ND will be keying on #16. But how?

I don't think Borges will hold anything back this week offensively and you will see a heavy dose of Denard. However other than a play here or there I don't think Denard packages will be deployed early in the game unless we get down quickly. Michigan will hold the element of surprise in this one as Michigan didn't run much, if anything from under center last year against the Irish, save the Hopkins goal line touchdown.

I'd like to think we will see more toward that 70% shotgun distribution we saw last week before the hurricane rolled through. Look for a good dose of Fitz running power out of the gun with quick dump offs to the receivers. ND has experience all over on defense and there's no need to take risky shots early here.

What To Watch For:
ND's experience vs. Al Borges' mind. Pretty much everybody who will be strapping up for the Irish on Saturday was a witness to the Denard Robinson show last year. One would suspect that this will help them in their endeavor this year. However, Michigan has a new mad genius at offense who will be trying to add some new acts to the show this year. I like the idea of Michigan trying to establish the run early and saving Denard for later. Michigan's offense was able to torch this defense last year and I don't see any glaring reason why they shouldn't be able to emulate much of the same success.

If you come at me with, "but, scheme change", stop it. Just... stop it.

Defense vs. Notre Dame
For all the success that Michigan's offense had last year in this game. ND's offense had 3 more total yds (535). That was last year and this is, this year, which means Notre Dame should put up yards. However, last season the Irish looked much better when led by Dayne Crist and I still place the non Denard Robinson portion of last years victory to Crist's injury. Crist threw for 277 yds on 13-25 passing in limited action for 2 TD's. Nate Montana and tomorrows starter Tommy Rees combined to go 8-19 for 104 yds and 2 INT's.

Rees and Crist had a heated QB battle through spring and fall camp after Rees impressed the second half of last season for ND.That battle ended early in the South Florida game last week with Brian Kelly's head exploding.

Crist was yanked after going 7-15 for 95 yds and 1 INT. Rees came in and promptly went 24-34 for 296 yds 2 TD's and 2 INT's. Rees proved himself last year at the end of the season and I wouldn't look for seeing Crist on the field this year. Brian Kelly will roll with Rees. Flip-Flopping QB's in what many consider a must win isn't ideal. All three interceptions thrown last week were terrible passes. Two of them were late and way behind the receiver and 1 doinked off a recievers head who wasn't looking for the ball. These QB's do have one of the top 3 receivers, in my mind, to throw the ball to in Michael Floyd.

Michigan was getting picked apart by Alex Carder last week until Greg Mattison went blitz happy. Brian Kelly's spread is definitely leaned towards a passing spread and this will be exploited on Saturday truly testing Michigan's revamped defensive scheme. Personal feelings aside, Floyd is a stud and scares the willies right out of me. Michigan's front four will need to apply pressure, something they weren't able to do last week, this will allow the defense to drop more into coverage hopefully, and I do mean hopefully, stopping Rees to Floyd happening on the regular and making Rees turnover prone like he was last week. Avery/Floyd and Woolfolk will have their work cut out for them. I would think with Woolfolk's speed and experience he will be the guy matched up over Floyd mostly.

Notre Dame's rushing offense was 87th last season. Cierre Wood will lead the attack this season.  The season on the ground started out respectable this year with 117 yds on the ground for 4 ypc. The running game did add to the turnover fest that took place with a fumble that resulted in 6 points for the Bulls. Notre Dame hasn't been a smash mouth running team since before the days of Weis (man I miss that guy), so don't expect them to pound the rock when Michigan's secondary is what it is, unless ND can find success on the edge. Here's to hoping that Craig Roh and whomever lines up opposite Roh at DE can keep contain.

What To Watch For:
Pay attention to 2 things. First Michigan's front four applying pressure vs. Tommy Rees. It will only be a good thing if Mike Martin and gang can apply pressure so that Kovacs and the like don't have to come down into the box. This is most likely not going to happen as ND has an experienced line and it didn't get done last week against JuCo transfers against Western. If they can apply pressure look for Rees to make a bad decision or two resulting in a couple takeaways for the defense.

The latter is dependent on if the first happens or not. If the front four can't apply pressure watch to see how Mattison can adjust his gameplan. Figuring out a way to apply pressure without leaving Floyd and the other receivers painstakingly open will be clutch.

Special Teams:
Just hold onto the ball. A field goal or two would be nice.

What to Watch For:
Kickoff coverage vs. big plays. Last week was scary, lets not do that again K? Thnx.

Prediction:
First ever night game at the Big House, around 115k going bonkers...  if the Wolverines have ever had a home field advantage due to the game time atmosphere tomorrow is it. Notre Dame has scared me for the past 2 years and this year is no different and I don't know why. They should've blown USF out but turned the ball over 5 times and didn't. Notre Dame also wasn't able to defeat Michigan for the past 2 years when M was ummm, subpar to say the least.

Denard Robinson, I believe, is going to get his probably not 502 yds of getting his, but will be very effective. You don't tear someone up for 502 come back the next year against the same guys and get shut down. I said it in my preseason prediction that this game was a toss-up to me and it still is. After the last 2 seasons, until ND beats Michigan, I don't think it will happen. Michigan is going to squeak out another thriller. Michigan Wins: 31-27

Quickies: The D-Line

This, We'll See Tons of This (Fingers Crossed)

The Low Down:

In 2009, Brandon Graham got held on every single play and last year our undersized d-line only brought three and the defense gave up 4.5yds a rush (insert a knock on the 3-3-5 followed by some rabble, rabble). Craig Roh, who showed promise as a true freshman being a rush end was moved to more of a hybrid-esque linebacker position. Mike Martin at NT and Ryan VanBergen at SDE (Strong Defensive End) were the staples in the line. At DT we had platoon between Greg Banks, Renaldo Sagesse, and Adam Patterson. William Campbell was on the D-Line and then he wasn't, after an uninspiring freshman campaign and a not so awesome start to the season, that saw him basically only see the field in a goal line run package as a blocker. Quinton Washington essentially flopped spots with Campbell mid season, but to my recollection didn't see the field on the D-Line.

The team alone only had 18 sacks coming in for a not so solid 93rd in the country. VanBergen and Martin are our 2 returning sack leaders with 6.5 between the 2 of them. Greg Banks (2) and Adam Patterson (1) were the only other lineman to register a sack. I'm not counting Roh's (0.5) because as far as I'm concerned he was a LB. If you're searching for a moral victory defensively after last season, Michigan did have more TFL's (Tackles For Loss) than little bro last year. Michigan came in 73rd while Sparty came in 86th nationally. Again, outside Roh, VB (8.5) and Martin (6.0) are the only players along the line that returning with stats in this category.  

I've said it once, and I'll say it again, that 3-3-5 thing, whatever it was, wasn't conducive to our defense (any aspect of it) at being good. With the 3 down lineman trying to plow through these big manball offenses in the Big Ten, pressure isn't going to be applied and more often than not your best player (Martin) will be getting double teamed and taken out of the play. This also as mentioned allows the lineman to get to the second level easier making it much more difficult for LB's to step up and make a play. 

1 Year Later:

Brady Hoke and Greg Mattison are both former D-Line coaches, so you know they will coach the group especially hard and expect much from this group. This is evident by the constant coaching and expectations on Martin, who has taken notice and been one of the teams key leaders this off season and early into camp. 

In hindsight I am pleased I couldn't get to this post last week, as my thoughts and opinions would most likely have turned out to be pretty inaccurate. A week or two ago, I say the 2-deep ends up something like this...

WDE	DT	NT	SDE
Roh	Campbell	Martin	Vanbergen
Black	Ash	Q. Washington	Heininger

Now one week later, there's some rumors out there that this might be the case...

WDE	DT	NT	SDE
Roh	Vanbergen	Martin	Brink
Black	Campbell	Q. Washington	Heininger

Damn you internets... Damn you...

No Freshman on the 2-deep quite yet, but keep an eye out for Frank Clark, who basically traded spots with  other freshman Brennan Beyer. Clark has been generating a substantial amount of buzz through fall camp. I would expect to see him in pass rushing situations only as size wise it'll be hard for him to hold the line and play the run effectively.

Let me butter you up with the good stuff, Mike Martin and Ryan VanBergen return to anchor the line. These two guys, past Brandon Graham, have been the 2 most consistent players on the defense I can recall over the past 3 seasons. Both have added some weight and appear to be primed for great seasons. Martin is set up for another All Big-Ten Caliber season, with a huge chance to improve his draft stock. Rittenberg gives him his #10 spot in his preseason top-25 player rankings. Craig Roh is getting moved back to where he belongs, on the line with his hand in the dirt. Roh also got jacked up over the summer bumping his weight up from 251 to 269. There hasn't been much hype about Roh since the inception of fall camp, let us for now attribute that to the illness rumors floating around Roh. PLZ DON'T BE MONO.

The elephant in the room... Will Campbell...  It was reported shortly after Brady Hoke's hire that Campbell was moving back to defense and that Hoke and Mattison were going to make a point out of developing the 5-star recruit. It appeared early in the fall that Will was on his way to doing what the coaches asked of him to be a major factor in this front 4. He was even praised by Hoke for his commitment to the team by meeting his weight goals.

“Will Campbell left spring at 342 pounds and came in at 316, 319,” he said. “Just watching him move around and do those things, you can see that. That’s a commitment. A commitment is always important - he showed his teammates he’s made a commitment."

Then this gritty, hard working walk-on, named Nathan Brink popped up, and Campbell's consistency has been a cause for concern. At first it seemed like your typical fall camp overachieving all-star like hype, but sounds like kids' got game. Mattison on Brink.

"He has come out every day as tough as he can. He listens to [defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery] on every word. When he tells him to step a certain way, he tries to step a certain way. And he's really, really physical." …

"In the spring it was mentioned a number of times because his toughness stuck out like crazy," Mattison said.

Nothing is set in stone and I am a huge proponent of the best players on the field, but how disappointing would it be to see Big Will not being able to beat out an under-sized walk on for the starting role. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed and that, the coaches are just toying around with different options and the rumors of Will barely hanging out with the 2's are just of the motivational type fluff.

With Terry Talbott off the team with a medical exemption, the depth on the line is thin and it's vital that Will and/or Q. Washington really step up their game. This team desperately needs a player at the DT position to take the pressure off of Mike Martin. If teams are allowed to double team Martin because he gets no help in the middle we could have some serious concerns.

Expectations: What is them?

3 things in my mind are cut and dry. Martin, VanBergen, and Roh. That 4th spot will be a mystery until either Sept 3rd or when Brady Hoke releases the depth chart. If Will Campbell isn't there at the beginning of the season, I will be worried about the production of this unit and more importantly if Campbell will ever amount to a productive member of this team. VanBergen is big enough to move inside but what does that do to the SDE position? Hello Brink or Heininger? Maybe Jibreel Black but most reports have him somewhere in the doghouse.

So with all the uncertainty, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and make a highly and most likely inaccurate and very flimsy prediction. Will Campbell, will take a hint and will be consistent enough by seasons start to secure the starting role at DT. VanBergen, like never leaves the field so, when Will goes off expect VanBergen to move inside bringing Nathan Brink, the defensive line's Jordan Kovacs  on the field at the SDE position.
To take my flimsy uneducated prediction further, VanBergen and Martin will both be All Big-Ten, and Roh will be right on the cusp of All Big-Ten. This unit, as long as someone can step up to take double teams off Martin, should be able to apply more pressure to the backfield than what was seen last year. This as stated before should help the secondary and free up the LB's to read/react and make plays. Improvement, my friends improvement.

Up next: Now instead of talking about how crappy the 3-3-5 kind was, I get to over speculate on if this offense will take a step back under Borges or not. I'll get it out of the way and start with the QB's. As always, Go Blue.