October 29th, 2009
Positive Thinking…
REASONS TO BE POSITIVE
- This coaching staff has shown that they can keep a team focused and together through tough losses and time of adversity. It hasn’t shown it’s impact on the field quite yet, but you wait – it will.
- Michigan has truly only been beaten badly in one game out of 8. Can’t quite say the same when considering last year. A wonderful reason to be positive about the future.
- There are 2 seniors on a decimated defense – ANY recruiting should help this.
- Tate Forcier could very easily be one of Michigan’s greatest quarterbacks. He has shown some incredible moxy and for some reason even when he plays bad it’s acceptable.
- One of the best dual threat quarterback recruits in the country – Michigan’s own Devin Gardner has committed to don the maize and blue next year.
- There are solid running backs to step in and take over for Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown next year.
- Offensive perimeter guys are young and talented – and already have an adequate amount of game experience.
This list is going to get longer. And it’s going to be something I post every week. Because losses happen – no way around it and negativity is all over the place. If Michigan is ranked #1 in the country in two years – nobody is going to remember the loss to Iowa – or the beat down by Penn State. Go Blue. Beat Illinois this week.
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The positive I see is Tate Forcier, and his ability to improvise and keep his eyes down the field while improvising. Making positive out of negative.
However, the negatives at this point outweigh the positives:
1. The defense still can not stop anybody (ex: Del St). We have Brandon Graham, and maybe Mike Martin. After that, the talent level/ability drops off significantly, and shows up on the field. And, there is really no good depth at this point, and recruiting so far isn’t getting in the real studs needed for a strong defense.
2. I think we will be OK at RB, but after Minor and Brown, we really have no proven players.
3. Our OL has shown some improvement this year over last, but there still is a long, long way to go. If Tate could not scramble as well as he does, this would be another 2008 season.
4. WRs do not run good patterns, don’t help their QB in scramble situations, and tend to drop the ball when thrown to them. I don’t see a real possession receiver on the team (Koger could, but plays erratic).
5. We still are not recruiting the 5-star studs we need to be a top tier team like USC, Texas, Florida, etc. Everyone likes to say stars don’t mean anything, but these teams get the 5-stars, and they are annually in the top five, vying for the BCS championship game.
This sounds negative, and it may be. But, I’ve followed Michigan football since ‘65, and this is my assessment of where the team is today. Again, JMHO.
I agree with the positives and the negatives. I would say that LB and Safety are the two worst areas of the team. Although we don’t have those needs filled yet in recruiting I still think we can get some help in this class. Also a couple of guys that are being red shirted this year should help next year. We also have several young guys that haven’t made it to the field yet that I think will have an impact before it’s over.
While the O line is not the best line we have seen at UM, it is vastly improved from last year an YOUNG. That will be an area of strength in coming years.
Losing 2 Sr. RB’s to graduation will be a loss but let’s face it. We are deep at RB and we will get deeper next year. While I like Minor and Brown, neither of them can seem to stay on the field for more than a game or two at a time. Everyone thought Minor would be a 1000 yard back this year. We will be better and more consistent at RB next year.
We will be more settled and have more depth at QB next year than we have had in years. Starting next year, we will be the envy of the conf. at the QB position.
WR’s are young and I think they will get better this year and next.
The kickers are doing a fine job and Zoltan will be tough to replace but, RR has already addressed it in recruiting.
The return coverage has been below average and need an upgrade.
All in all I look forward to Michigan being in the thick of things next year. I do hope they get this NCAA thing behind them soon because I worry that it will hurt in recruiting.
I agree with both of the above comments. I think things are looking up. I think one of the main reasons that Turner is red shirting is because they are grooming him to play safety. With him and Vlad back there, I think the safety issue could be addressed for the next few years. But, D recruiting does need to pick up.
I agree with the comments made about the Oline play this season, while it’s better there is still a ton of room for improvement. If the bad snaps alone are negated – it will be a major improvement from last year. I also hope the NCAA allegations amount to exactly nothing. Agree on UM being in the think of things next year.
Reasons for being / thinking positive about the future of MEEEEEEEEEEECHIGAN FOOTBALL.
# 1 The QB position is on solid ground with Tate, Denard and future QB Devin Gardner.
# 2 The DL will be as good as this year or slightly better with Ryan VanBergen, and Mike Martin returning.
# 3 The DC should return, which should help by giving this years players and next years returners a years experience in the same system.
# 4 OL should be solid with D Molk and S Schilling returning, along with TE’s Koger and Webb.
I keep thinking michigan is going to be getting better every week, i have the positive mind set but i cant help notice a few ….
Negative: Ever since last year it seems like everyone on the team has butter fingers. fumbles are happening every other play. do a fumble drill RR! have the defense work on takeaways and the offense work on holding onto the pigskin! possession is everything.
Negative: After watching the Illinois game – there was one turning point. the goal line stance that left us with nothing. 4 run plays and we couldnt get one yard. the oline is as much to blame as every running back. MOVE THE BALL 3 FEET!!! it would of been better to call a roll out and let tate take it. after that stance the illini got some momentum and never looked back.
This season is obviously not turning out to be the 2 year season that RR has been known for turning a team around in but there is a lot of promise and passion on those sidelines. If we can beast osu we will all be singing a different tune about the whole season. believe that.
At this point, UM has about as much chance of beating OSU as placing a man or woman on Mars this year. Time to concede defeat, this program isn’t going anywhere under RR. I WAS a RR proponent until yesterday.
Agree with MgoWasko – what up sko! – I don’t understand how these kids can’t hang on to the ball. Catch a mother f’in punt! WTF. I’m sorry, but Junior Hemingway should not be back there – you drop one and you are done. Hold on to the damn ball!
I wanted to see Minor or Grady or anybody in there trying to get one yard on the goal line. Carlos Brown falls down when defenders look at him. He is the worst UM back that I’ve seen in my lifetime at breaking tackles.