maizeandgoblue

National Signing Day came and went with Michigan making a huge late-minute splash, adding four-star safety Demar Dorsey from Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. The 6′1″, 175lb. star originally committed to Florida before backing out and eventually choosing the Wolverines, giving Michigan a very solid safety class.

Who are the rest of the high school seniors that round out the class? Here’s a breakdown by position of the defensive side of the ball. Due to the size of the defensive class, this will be broken into four posts: the defensive line, the linebackers, the cornerbacks, and the safeties.

Safeties (4)
Safety/Cornerback Demar Dorsey	DEMAR DORSEY Height: 6-1 Weight: 175 Hometown: Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. (Boyd Anderson) Rivals Rank: #13 S (4-star) Scout Rank: #19 S (4-star) ESPN Rank: #2 S (5-star) Chose Michigan Over: Florida State, USC, Tennessee, Florida, Miami, North Carolina, West Virginia, Wisconsin. How He Fits In: Dorsey was perhaps Michigan’s biggest commitment of the class, going blue on Signing Day. The cousin of current Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson had originally committed to Florida, but whether they backed off of him, or he dropped them is up for debate. Regardless, he was well sought after and is a huge coup for Rodriguez. Dorsey will probably see immediate playing time, either at safety or corner. His size, athleticism, and upside give Michigan an impact defensive player to build around. If he can stay out of trouble (some have questioned his recruitment given his background) he should be a star for the next few years.
Safety Marvin Robinson	MARVIN ROBINSON Height: 6-1 Weight: 190 Hometown: Eagle Lake, Fla. (Lake Region) Rivals Rank: #20 OLB (4-star) Scout Rank: #18 S (4-star) ESPN Rank: #21 OLB (4-star) Chose Michigan Over: Florida, Ohio State, South Florida, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, USC, Tennessee, Boston College, UCLA. How He Fits In: Robinson is a huge addition to Michigan’s secondary, and like Dorsey, should see time immediately. He has great size and good speed for a safety, but needs to develop better cover skills. There is a slight chance he could move to linebacker, but Rodriguez likes his prospects at safety, especially given the lack of talent at the position currently. Inserting him immediately would be an upgrade from walk-on Jordan Kovacs.
Safety Carvin Johnson	CARVIN JOHNSON Height: 6-0 Weight: 185 Hometown: Metairie, La. (Rummel) Rivals Rank: #33 S (3-star) Scout Rank: #79 S (3-star) ESPN Rank: #73 S (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Minnesota, Colorado, Tulane, Utah, Tulsa. How He Fits In: Johnson is a talented safety against both the pass and the run. At this piont, he could stand to gain some strength on his tall and lean frame, and would do well to redshirt in 2010 to improve his footwork and technique. He has good upside and will most likely contribute on special teams for the next couple of years while he develops.
Safety Ray Vinopal	RAY VINOPAL Height: 5-10 Weight: 178 Hometown: Youngstown, Ohio (Cardinal Mooney) Rivals Rank: NR (2-star) Scout Rank: #103 S (3-star) ESPN Rank: #270 Athlete (2-star) Chose Michigan Over: Bowling Green, Kent State, Air Force. How He Fits In: Vinopal is the lowest-rated player in the class and is a definite project, but at this point, any body at the safety position is a welcome one. He has the work ethic and the drive to prove the doubters wrong and is a smart and instinctual player who puts himself in position to make plays. He will definitely redshirt in 2010 and spend a couple of years on special teams.

National Signing Day came and went with Michigan making a huge late-minute splash, adding four-star safety Demar Dorsey from Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. The 6′1″, 175lb. star originally committed to Florida before backing out and eventually choosing the Wolverines, giving Michigan a very solid safety class.

Who are the rest of the high school seniors that round out the class? Here’s a breakdown by position of the defensive side of the ball. Due to the size of the defensive class, this will be broken into four posts: the defensive line, the linebackers, the cornerbacks, and the safeties.

Cornerbacks (3)
Cornerback Cullen Christian	CULLEN CHRISTIAN Height: 6-0 Weight: 180 Hometown: Pittsburgh, Penn. (Penn Hills) Rivals Rank: #8 CB (4-star) Scout Rank: #3 CB (4-star) ESPN Rank: #18 CB (4-star) Chose Michigan Over: West Virginia, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Illinois, Purdue, Cincinnati, Colorado, Minnesota, Boston College. How He Fits In: Christian is an elite cover corner with great hands, good size, and solid fluidity. He has the ability to become Michigan’s next great corner and is exactly what Michigan needs immediately due to the lack of depth at the position. The only thing he lacks is elite speed, but that’s something he can work on, and his lockdown ability can make up for it. He could play right away if the coaches feel he’s ready come fall camp. Probably the best comparison is Marlin Jackson, and if Christian can live up to that comparison, good things are in store for Michigan.
Cornerback Courtney Avery	COURTNEY AVERY Height: 5-10 Weight: 165 Hometown: Lexington, Ohio (Lexington) Rivals Rank: NR (3-star) Scout Rank: #35 CB (3-star) ESPN Rank: #94 CB (2-star) Chose Michigan Over: Stanford, Indiana, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Bowling Green. How He Fits In: Avery is somewhat of a wild card. He is very quick and athletic, but lacks ideal size for a corner, and played mostly quarterback in high school, where he earned first-team all-state honors. He adds depth to the position, but won’t play right away. If he can develop his cover skills, he could see playing time in a couple of years.
Cornerback Terrence Talbot	TERRENCE TALBOTT Height: 5-10 Weight: 172 Hometown: Huber Heights, Ohio (Wayne) Rivals Rank: NR (3-star) Scout Rank: #108 CB (3-star) ESPN Rank: #33 CB (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Cincinnati, Illinois, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Connecticut, North Carolina. How He Fits In: Talbott is the brother of defensive tackle commit Terry Talbott. Like Avery, he lacks ideal size, but he makes up for that with his cover skills and vertical jumping ability. He has goos speed, plays physical for his size, and has fluid hips, which is important for a good corner. A year of redshirting should prepare him well to see the field in a couple of years and he could become a solid contributor.

National Signing Day came and went with Michigan making a huge late-minute splash, adding four-star safety Demar Dorsey from Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. The 6′1″, 175lb. star originally committed to Florida before backing out and eventually choosing the Wolverines, giving Michigan a very solid safety class.

Who are the rest of the high school seniors that round out the class? Here’s a breakdown by position of the defensive side of the ball. Due to the size of the defensive class, this will be broken into four posts: the defensive line, the linebackers, the cornerbacks, and the safeties.

Linebackers (4)
Linebacker Josh Furman	JOSH FURMAN Height: 6-3 Weight: 194 Hometown: Millersville, Md. (Old Mill) Rivals Rank: #38 Athlete (3-star) Scout Rank: #7 S (4-star) ESPN Rank: #38 OLB (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Virginia Tech, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Duke. How He Fits In: Furman could become the best player in the class. His athleticism is proven by his versatility, as Scout ranks him the seventh-best safety in the class, ESPN projects him as an outside linebacker, and he rushed for nearly 2,300 yards and 31 touchdowns during his senior year at Old Mill High School. He ran a 4.37 40-yard dash and as an outside linebacker, can fly to the ball. He should fill Stevie Brown’s spinner position after a redshirt year, unless he can win the spot practice this fall.
Linebacker Antonio Kinard	ANTONIO KINARD Height: 6-4 Weight: 210 Hometown: Youngstown, Ohio (Liberty) Rivals Rank: NR (3-star) Scout Rank: #95 DE (3-star) ESPN Rank: #62 OLB (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Iowa, Michigan State. How He Fits In: Kinard committed to Michigan very early in the process and is a good athlete with range and versatility. He’s still pretty thin, so will need a year or two to bulk up. He’s a guaranteed redshirt in 2010, but fills a need of depth at the position.
Linebacker Davion Rogers	DAVION ROGERS Height: 6-6 Weight: 210 Hometown: Warren, Ohio (Harding) Rivals Rank: #28 OLB (3-star) Scout Rank: #102 OLB (3-star) ESPN Rank: #29 OLB (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: West Virginia, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Toledo. How He Fits In: Perhaps the best comparison to Rogers among recent Michigan players is Shawn Crable. He’s very long and thin at this point, but has great athleticism and could become a rush end if he puts on more weight. He was one of the last commits of the class and could become a standout player a couple of years from now. If he becomes the type of player Crable was, this is a very solid commitment for Rodriguez.
Linebacker Jake Ryan	JAKE RYAN Height: 6-3 Weight: 220 Hometown: Westlake, Ohio (St. Ignatius) Rivals Rank: #30 ILB (3-star) Scout Rank: #81 OLB (3-star) ESPN Rank: #58 OLB (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Bowling Green, Toledo, Central Michigan, Ball State, Eastern Michigan. How He Fits In: Some might question the recruitment of Ryan, since all of his other offers are MAC schools, but he could be a huge sleeper. Perhaps his biggest weakness is strength, but that’s something that he can add under Barwis. Most importantly, his instincts and football sense gives Michigan a linebacker reminiscent of those that rival Ohio State has fielded for years. He represents a change from the typical safety-turned-linebacker that Michigan has featured the past decade, and a couple of years from now could compare to Mike Vrabel, A.J. Hawk, or James Laurinaitis. And as much as we dislike those guys, that’s a good thing.

National Signing Day came and went with Michigan making a huge late-minute splash, adding four-star safety Demar Dorsey from Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. The 6′1″, 175lb. star originally committed to Florida before backing out and eventually choosing the Wolverines, giving Michigan a very solid safety class.

Who are the rest of the high school seniors that round out the class? Here’s a breakdown by position of the defensive side of the ball. Due to the size of the defensive class, this will be broken into four posts: the defensive line, the linebackers, the cornerbacks, and the safeties.

Defensive End (3)
Defensive End Jibreel Black	JIBREEL BLACK Height: 6-2 Weight: 253 Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio (Wyoming) Rivals Ranking: #25 DE (3-star) Scout Ranking: #15 DT (4-star) ESPN Ranking: #45 DE (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Cincinnati, Indiana, Michigan State, Kentucky, West Virginia, Minnesota. How He Fits In: Michigan was the third school to receive a commitment from Black during the recruiting process, but the only one that counts. He could be the biggest sleeper of the class as a guy who didn’t have many major offers, but has a great body type and good upside. He’s comparable to LaMarr Woodley or Brandon Graham at a very early stage, and given time to work on technique, strength, and quickness, could develop into Michigan’s next great rush end. That won’t happen for another couple of years, however, and his impact in 2010 will be virtually nonexistent as a redshirt is likely.
Defensive End Jordan Paskorz	JORDAN PASKORZ Height: 6-3 Weight: 225 Hometown: Allison Park, Penn. (Hampton) Rivals Rank: #41 DE (3-star) Scout Rank: #74 DE (3-star) ESPN Rank: #52 DE (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Virginia, Bowling Green. How He Fits In: Paskorz provides depth on the defensive line and is certain to redshirt in 2010. He’s a traditional defensive end, but could move to outside linebacker before his time in the maize and blue is over. There’s nothing overly special about Paskorz and he’ll need a couple of years to develop before he’ll see the field.
Defensive End Ken Wilkins	KEN WILKINS Height: 6-3 Weight: 244 Hometown: Washington, Penn. (Trinity) Rivals Rank: #15 DE (4-star) Scout Rank: #67 DE (3-star) ESPN Rank: #42 OLB (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Rutgers. How He Fits In: Wilkins has a bigger body than Black and Paskorz and may also redshirt. ESPN projects him as a linebacker, but he will most likely fill the strongside defensive end position for Michigan. He’s a high-motor guy with a nose for the ball and could be a solid contributor in a couple of years.
Defensive Tackles (2)
Defensive Tackle Richard Ash	RICHARD ASH Height: 6-4 Weight: 263 Hometown: Pahokee, Fla. (Pahokee) Rivals Rank: #25 DT (4-star) Scout Rank: #52 DT (3-star) ESPN Rank: #54 DT (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: West Virginia, S. Florida, Rutgers, USC, UCLA, Tennessee, Colorado State, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma State, LSU. How He Fits In: Ash originally committed to West Virginia, but decided to follow fellow Pahokee graduates Martavious Odoms, Vincent Smith, and Brandin Hawthorne to Ann Arbor. He was recruited by Florida and USC until he showed up at Florida’s camp overweight. Once he gets in Mike Barwis’ strength and conditioning program, that should change, and after a couple of years, Ash could be a monster in the middle.
Defensive Tackle Terry Talbott	TERRY TALBOT Height: 6-4 Weight: 255 Hometown: Huber Heights, Ohio (Wayne) Rivals Rank: #61 DT (3-star) Scout Rank: #41 DT (3-star) ESPN Rank: #95 DT (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Wisconsin, UCLA, Cincinnati, Michigan State, N.C. State, Arkansas, North Carolina. How He Fits In: Talbot is a bit of a ‘tweener at this point, as his body is small for a tackle, but that’s most likely where he’ll play at Michigan. He’ll need some time to bulk up and add weight, but he has good athleticism and intensity. He needs a redshirt, but Michigan might not be afforded the luxury, given the lack of depth at the position.

National Signing Day came and went with Michigan making a huge late-minute splash, adding four-star safety Demar Dorsey from Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. The 6′1″, 175lb. star originally committed to Florida before backing out and eventually choosing the Wolverines, giving Michigan a very solid safety class.

Who are the rest of the high school seniors that round out the class? Here’s a breakdown by position, starting with the offense (defense to follow soon):

Quarterbacks (2)
Quarterback Devin Gardner	DEVIN GARDNER Height: 6-4 Weight: 195 Hometown: Detroit, Mich. (Inkster) Rivals Ranking: #1 dual-threat QB (4-star) Scout Ranking: #5 overall QB (5-star) ESPN Ranking: #5 overall QB (4-star) Chose Michigan Over: Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Purdue, Oregon, Nebraska, Michigan State, West Virginia, Iowa, Cincinnati. How He Fits In: Gardner is the ideal quarterback for Rich Rodriguez’s system. He’s a big, strong, fast, and athletic dual-threat quarterback that has a chance to be an absolute star in Ann Arbor by the time his career is over. The biggest improvement needed is his passing game. He has a strong arm, but needs to develop the stamina to last a full season. A red-shirt is almost guaranteed for Gardner, and with a year of practice and strength and conditioning under his belt, should factor into the starting quarterback race in 2011. Gardner enrolled at Michigan in January and will participate in spring ball, giving Michigan three solid quarterbacks on the roster to push each other.
Quarterback Conelius Jones	CONELIUS JONES Height: 6-2 Weight: 197 Hometown: Spartanburg, SC (Spartanburg) Rivals Rank: NR (3-star) Scout Rank: #60 QB (3-star) ESPN Rank: #92 Athlete (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Wake Forest, Duke, Stanford, Syracuse How He Fits In: Jones gives Rodriguez a second dual-threat quarterback in the class, though he could move to defensive back because of the three quarterbacks ahead of him (Tate Forcier, Denard Robsinon, and Gardner). He’s an athletic guy with a great body frame for both quarterback and defensive back. Ideally, he’ll start out as Michigan’s fourth quarterback until Gardner is up-to-speed, and then look for a change of position to utilize his athleticism.
Running Backs (2)
Running Back Stephen Hopkins	STEPHEN HOPKINS Height: 6-0 Weight: 235 Hometown: Flower Mound, Texas (Marcus) Rivals Ranking: NR (3-star) Scout Ranking: #52 RB (3-star) ESPN Ranking: #50 RB (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Texas A&M, Kansas, Stanford, Kansas State, SMU How He Fits In: Hopkins is a big back that isn’t the typical scat back preferred by Rodriguez, but fits the mold of departing tailback Brandon Minor. Hopkins will join the stable of backs competing for the starting job and in time could give Rodriguez a solid power back to complement the smaller guys. He probably will never be the go-to guy, but gives Rodriguez a short-yardage bruiser. He also enrolled at Michigan in January and will have a semester of workouts under his belt when fall camp begins.
Running Back Austin White	AUSTIN WHITE Height: 6-0 Weight: 186 Hometown: Livonia, Mich. (Stevenson) Rivals Ranking: #10 All-purpose back (3-star) Scout Ranking: #15 RB (4-star) ESPN Ranking: #77 RB (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Michigan State, Illinois, LSU, Wisconsin, Iowa, Purdue How He Fits In: White also enrolled at Michigan in January and fits into a position group in which Michigan has plenty of, thus a redshirt is virtually guaranteed. He’s the type of back that Rodriguez likes — versatile and quick — and can catch the ball out of the backfield. He’s kind of a Reggie Bush type of player (not saying he’ll have the type of career Bush did at USC) who can line up in the backfield, in the slot, catch passes out of the backfield, etc.
Wide Receivers (4)
Wide Receiver Jeremy Jackson	JEREMY JACKSON Height: 6-3 Weight: 194 Hometown: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Huron) Rivals Ranking: NR (3-star) Scout Ranking: #79 WR (3-star) ESPN Ranking: #39 WR (4-star) Chose Michigan Over: Florida, LSU, Minnesota, Louisville, Iowa, Nebraska, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas How He Fits In: Jackson is the son of long-time Michigan running backs coach Fred Jackson. He has great size for an outside receiver and his solid hands and route running more than make up for his lack of elite speed. Jackson should be a reliable possession receiver for Michigan in the years to come. Like Gardner, Hopkins, and White, Jackson enrolled at Michigan in January to get a semester of weights and practice under his belt.
Wide Receiver Ricardo Miller	RICARDO MILLER Height: 6-2 Weight: 208 Hometown: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Pioneer) Rivals Ranking: #66 WR (3-star) Scout Ranking: #27 WR (4-star) ESPN Ranking: #27 WR (4-star) Chose Michigan Over: Florida, South Florida, Tennessee, Stanford, Central Florida, Miami, LSU How He Fits In: Miller is a big wide receiver with great versatility. Originally from Florida, Miller moved to Ann Arbor prior to last season in order to finish his high school career near the U of M. His combination of size and speed could make Miller a No. 1 receiver at Michigan in a couple of years. Also enrolling at Michigan in January, Miller has a chance to see the field next season as Michigan’s fourth or fifth receiver while he continues to develop his route running and hands.
Wide Receiver Jerald Robinson	JERALD ROBINSON Height: 6-2 Weight: 175 Hometown: Canton, Ohio (Canton South) Rivals Ranking: #48 WR (3-star) Scout Ranking: #41 WR (3-star) ESPN Ranking: #99 WR (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Cincinnati, Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue, Pittsburgh How He Fits In: Robinson is a great athlete with a very lanky frame, great hands, and superb route running. The Ohio native was offered a scholarship from Ohio State late, but he was alredy committed to Michigan. Also enrolling at Michigan in January, Robsinon has a shot at seeing the field next season. He would do well to add some muscle, but his quickness and ability to go up and get the ball in space should earn him some playing time.
Wide Receiver D.J. Williamson	D.J. WILLIAMSON Height: 6-1 Weight: 172 Hometown: Warren, Ohio (Harding) Rivals Ranking: NR (3-star) Scout Ranking: NR (2-star) ESPN Ranking: #54 WR (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Illinois, West Virginia, Kansas, Indiana How He Fits In: Williamson is the flier of the class. He hails from the school that produced former Wolverines Mario Manningham, Prescott Burgess, and Desmond Howard. His blazing speed (he won the Ohio state track championship with a 10.82 in the 100-meters during his junior year) complement the rest of Michigans receiver class. He’s a converted running back and is still working to develop his pure receiving skills, but his speed and athleticism make him an intriguing prospect. He’s the only receiver in the class not enrolling early, so he’ll have some catching up to do and will most certainly redshirt.
Slot Receivers (1)
Slot Receiver Drew Dileo	DREW DILEO Height: 5-10 Weight: 175 Hometown: Greenwell Springs, La. (Parkview Baptist) Rivals Ranking: #73 Athlete (3-stars) Scout Ranking: #101 WR (3-stars) ESPN Ranking: #138 Athlete (3-stars) Chose Michigan Over: Stanford, Virginia, Northwestern, Tulane How He Fits In: Dileo is small and reminiscent of former Michigan running back Sam McGuffie, who played one season and then transferred to Rice. His quickness and ability to return kicks will allow him to challenge for playing time in Michigan’s return game, especially if he proves he can catch the ball. He won’t factor into the offense for a year or two, playing behind Martaveous Odoms, Kelvin Grady, and Terrence Robinson while he learns the offense, but the hope is that he turns into a Wes Welker-type player.
Offensive Linemen (1)
Offensive Lineman Christian Pace	CHRISTIAN PACE Height: 6-3 Weight: 262 Hometown: Avon Lake, Ohio (Avon Lake) Rivals Ranking: #7 C (3-star) Scout Ranking: ESPN Ranking: #13 Offensive Guard (3-star) Chose Michigan Over: Pittsburgh, Michigan State, Louisville, Florida State, NC State How He Fits In: Pace will undoubtedly redshirt next season, as most offensive linemen do to bulk up and get acclimated to college football. A very strong lineman for his small stature, Pace excels at run blocking, which is nice for Rodriguez’s system. He should have a few years to bulk up and learn the system before seeing the field when current starting center David Molk graduates.

Overview

Although Rodriguez signed just 10 players on the offensive side of the ball in this class, those who signed filled needs and complement one another well. The biggest commit was definitely Gardner, who will be Michigan’s quarterback of the future—the only question is when.

Rodriguez does not want to start a true freshman quarterback again, so Gardner will most likely redshirt, allowing Forcier to man the position for a second straight year. In 2011, Gardner will compete for the starting job and could supplant Forcier, since he’s bigger and more athletic.

The addition of Hopkins adds a big back to go along with Michigan’s wealth of small guys and replace Minor and Kevin Grady.

The four outside receivers were probably a bit much for one class, but will provide depth at the position to help stretch the field for the slot ninjas. Dileo is one of the slot ninjas and will give Michigan a true return man, which it has lacked in the past couple of years.

The only position that suffered in this class was the offensive line. Rodriguez signed just three offensive linemen in 2009 and runs the danger of a ridiculously thin position group in a couple of years. The current junior and senior classes are fairly solid, but Rodriguez really needed more than one commit in 2010.

There’s still the tiniest sliver of hope out there for Seantrel Henderson, the nation’s top recruit, who verbally committed to USC, but won’t sign until he finds out about the impending NCAA penalties the program faces. But Henderson reportedly isn’t even considering Michigan (his top five outside of USC were Miami, Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Minnesota). Unless Rodriguez can replicate the magic he used on Dorsey, Henderson isn’t coming anywhere near Ann Arbor.

Overall, it’s a small offensive class, but solid nonetheless. If Rodriguez had gotten more offensive linemen to provide depth at the position, it would have been a good one. Because of that, I’m giving the class a C+.

With the one-game suspension of Manny Harris on Saturday, Michigan head coach John Beilein essentially waved the white flag on Michigan’s season.

Harris, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 19.2 points per game, was suspended for Michigan’s game against Purdue as a result of “unsportsmanlike conduct during practice” on Friday.

“Manny has made great strides both on and off the court over the last three years,” said Beilein in a release issued Saturday morning. “Unfortunately he used poor judgment on Friday. It is best for Manny’s future if he stays home and sits out this Purdue game.”

Details on the act of unsportsmanlike conduct have not been released, so we have to trust the coach’s judgment without criticizing his decision.

Regardless of whether the act merited a one-game suspension or not, Beilein decided that suspending Harris and sacrificing a game would pay off in the long run.

Of course, Beilein would never say that. He, as probably every other coach in America, would say he expected the team to beat Purdue even without Harris. But that’s like expecting the Colts to beat the Jets without Peyton Manning.

Don’t be mistaken by the 10-point margin of victory. It wasn’t that close. Purdue built a 27-point lead midway through the second half before Purdue coach Matt Painter started emptying his bench and Purdue’s defensive intensity dropped off.

DeShawn Sims filled Harris’ void early on, but unfortunately, no one else did. Michigan didn’t get a second scorer until Zach Novak hit a three with 7:38 remaining in the first half.

By that time, Michigan was all but out of the game.

The loss drops Michigan to 10-9 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten with a matchup with rival Michigan State looming.

At this point, anything short of running the table or winning the conference tournament assures Michigan of a postseason date in the National Invitational Tournament at best.  

So, in such a critical game, was Beilein’s decision to suspend Harris the right one?

It depends on what happened, and we may never know, but one thing is for certain: Beilein is a coach that stands on his convictions as much as any other coach. Win or lose, he does things the right way by caring as much about the growth and development of young men than solely wins and losses.

Consider some recent examples from other college coaches for comparison.

In Florida’s football game against Georgia on Oct. 31, linebacker Brandon Spikes, the leader of the team’s defense, viciously dug his fingers through the facemask of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey.

The attempted eye gouge was caught on camera and was a clear act of unsportsmanlike conduct, to say the least. It was an attempt to injure another player that could have significantly impacted Ealey’s life beyond football.

Florida head coach Urban Meyer responded by handing down a half-game suspension of Florida’s next game against Vanderbilt.

Half of a game against one of the worst opponents on the schedule for attempting to maim another player in an act completely outside of the normal course of the game.

Spikes later responded to the backlash from the fans and media by suspending himself for the rest of that game.

Meyer apparently thought standing Spikes on the sidelines for the first 30 minutes of a pretty much meaningless game was justice for blatantly trying to injure another player.

In other words, Meyer cared more about winning a game than teaching a 20-year old kid a lesson.

At Michigan State, running back Glenn Winston spent four months in jail during the offseason for putting a hockey player in the hospital with severe head injuries.

This wasn’t a black eye. This was a fractured skull and a subdural hematoma, or bleeding of the brain.

According to reports, the hockey player, A.J. Sturges wasn’t even involved in the fight. He was just blindsided by Winston. As a result, he missed the rest of the hockey season, and memory loss caused him to drop classes.

Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio immediately reinstated Winston to the football team when fall practice resumed, and Winston began the season as the starting running back before injuring his knee.

Did he learn his lesson? Apparently jail time wasn’t enough. Winston was involved in another off-the-field incident last November, when he and some teammates stormed into a dorm and assaulted a group of students at a potluck dinner. Only then was Winston dismissed from the team.

Was Harris’ act of unsportsmanlike conduct on Friday as bad as either of those two scenarios? It’s probably safe to say that he didn’t put someone in the hospital with a severe head injury, and it most likely wasn’t as severe as attempting to gouge out another player’s eyes.

Yet Beilein made the tough decision to suspend his best player for a must-win game. He sent a message that no player is bigger than the team, and if a player’s actions undermined the coach or disrespected his teammates, he was going to be penalized for it, regardless of whether he was the star player or the last man off the bench.

If that means losing a game because of it, then so be it, because Harris and the rest of the team will learn from it. Or at least Beilein hopes.

“We will meet with Manny and the team again when we return to determine if he has learned enough from this suspension to rejoin the team for Tuesday’s game,” Beilein said. “I am confident that this learning experience will be valuable in the future to both Manny and our basketball program.”

Now the question is whether Harris will respond as a better teammate and role model, or whether he will harbor resentment towards Beilein for sitting him out of an important game and possibly hurting his chances for Big Ten Player of the Year.

We’ll find out on Tuesday when Michigan hopes to hand seventh-ranked Michigan State its first Big Ten loss of the season.

Michigan (9-7, 3-2 Big Ten) hosts Connecticut on Sunday looking for a much-needed signature win to enhance its NCAA tournament resume.

That Michigan is still in the running for the NCAA tournament is a bit optimistic at this point, given that Michigan’s biggest win so far was a nine point home win over then-15th ranked Ohio State.

But with the Big Ten race wide open, a team that gets hot down the stretch could very well play its way into the NCAA tournament.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying Michigan is as good a team as Michigan State, Wisconsin or Purdue, but if the shots are falling, beating those teams is certainly not out of the question.

Michigan’s main problems this season have been shooting woes and lack of leadership – two things that carried the team into the second round of the NCAA tournament last season.

The leadership issue was lost when senior guards C.J. Lee and David Merritt graduated, and John Beilein’s team has struggled to fill that role.

“We’re better than this,” said Beilein following Michigan’s loss to Northwestern last Sunday – a game in which Michigan led by 17 at halftime.  ”But it’s just a big thing right now, a chemistry we’ve got to develop on this team.”

Perhaps that chemistry was found in the second half of Thursday night’s win over Indiana after Michigan played what was probably its worst half of the season, when it committed 11 turnovers in the first half.

Junior star guard Manny Harris went the first 20 minutes without a made field goal, scoring just four points, all on free throws. His shots were forced and his play was lackadaisical..

The second half began much the same way until Beilein went to perhaps his best coaching move of the season last year – putting Harris on the bench for an extended period of time.

Last year, Beilein sat Harris for the entire overtime period at Iowa. Michigan was out-scored 14-4 in that period and fell to 7-8 in Big Ten play. Fans were outraged at the move as it seemingly hurt Michigan’s NCAA tournament chances.

But four days later, Harris exploded for 27 points in an upset of 16thranked Purdue, and Michigan would win three of its final five games to earn a spot in the tournament.  

This time, Harris emerged from the bench after a few minutes, with Indiana within four, and poured in 17 points the final 12 minutes of the game. Michigan won by 24, outscoring Indiana 21-2 in the final six minutes.

Shots were falling and Michigan looked like it was having as much fun as it has had since the season started. Can it carry that confidence into the rest of the season?

Make no mistake about it; Indiana is not a good team, so to say that this was a big win is an exaggeration. But it was a win that Michigan needed and hopes to build upon.

Enter Connecticut (11-5, 2-3 Big East). The nation’s 15th-ranked team began the season 9-2, but has dropped three of its last five since entering the arduous Big East schedule.

Just looking at the rosters, it seems as if Connecticut has a major advantage: size. Five guys stand 6’9” or taller that see minutes for the Huskies, compared to just one – Zach Gibson – for Michigan, and Gibson only averages just under 10 minutes per game.

UConn had the same advantage last season, along with Hasheem Thabeet, the second pick in last year’s NBA Draft, and Michigan hung with the Huskies in Storrs.

This year’s Connecticut team isn’t quite as good and turns the ball over nearly 14 times per game, which plays right into Michigan’s hands. Michigan forces 15.2 turnovers per game.

If Michigan can carry over the momentum from Thursday’s second half and feed off a frenzied “maize out” home crowd, much like during last year’s upset of Duke, it can earn that signature win for its resume.

For a team so in need of a resume boost, this week is do-or-die.

Following Sunday’s game, Michigan travels to No. 13 Wisconsin on Wednesday and No. 6 Purdue on Saturday before returning to Ann Arbor to host No. 7 Michigan State the following Tuesday.

While a win over Connecticut won’t help in the Big Ten race, it would give Michigan confidence heading into those three key conference match-ups.

Michigan has shown some signs of progress the past couple of weeks, but has yet to put a full 40 minutes together.

A poor first half last week at Penn State preceded a dominant second half comeback in which Michigan outscored Penn State 38-13 during one stretch en route to a nine-point win.

The following game, Michigan raced out to a 17-point lead against Northwestern, but couldn’t hold on in the second half, falling 68-62.

Then on Thursday, Michigan played a poor first half, but exploded in the second to thump Indiana by 24.

 Senior DeShawn Sims is playing the best basketball of his career as of late, carrying Michigan even when Harris is in a funk.

The versatile forward has averaged 20.3 points per game since being held to just 10 against Utah on Dec. 9, and 22.5 points per game in the last four.

His ability to step outside and hit the mid-range jumper and the occasional three has kept Michigan afloat while the guards struggled from the outside.

For Michigan to win on Sunday, it will need another big performance from Sims, and with both he and Harris leading the way, Michigan’s NCAA tournament chances aren’t dead yet.

After two straight losses in the Old Spice Classic and a four-point loss to Boston College in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, is it time for Michigan fans to recalibrate their expectations for this season?

Michigan entered the season ranked 15th in the nation, fresh off its first trip to the NCAA tournament in 10 years, and looking to make a run at the Big Ten title.

Seven games later, Michigan is out of the Top 25 and needed a good second half on Saturday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff to move its record back above .500.

Is it too early to write off the season? Absolutely not. John Beilein is a great coach who can turn things around.

But, although these early-season struggles raise some concerns, they aren’t as surprising as they seem.

This is still a very young team. Yes, it’s led by senior DeShawn Sims and junior Manny Harris, but 75 percent of the team is underclassmen.

Aside from Sims and Harris, only redshirt senior Zack Gibson and redshirt junior Anthony Wright have more than a year of playing experience, and the two combine for just 20 minutes of playing time per game.

So it should come as no surprise that the team’s main problem is its shooting so far this season. Michigan seems to be struggling with its confidence.

Through seven games, Michigan is shooting just 29 percent from three-point range, though even that number is inflated from the first three games against weak competition.

Against Northern Michigan, Houston Baptist and Creighton, Michigan shot 36.2 percent from long range.

In the three subsequent losses, Michigan shot just 21.8 percent from downtown, including a miserable 3-for-20 outing against Marquette and 9-for-34 against Boston College.

Talk about living and dying by the three.

No one has looked comfortable shooting the ball the past four games (including Saturday’s 67-53 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff).

Michigan’s best three-point shooter so far this season (percentage-wise) is true freshman Matt Vogrich, though he is just 6-for-11.

Sharp-shooting sophomores Zach Novak and Stu Douglass are just 31 and 22.6 percent, respectively, while Harris has made just 7-of-33 attempts from long range.

For a team that relies heavily on guard play and three-point shooting, that’s certainly not a recipe for success.

But that’s also why I’m hopeful that the season is not lost. Surely the team will gain its confidence and the shooting will improve.

Douglass, Novak and Harris each shot about 34 percent last season from three-point range and will eventually find their shot this year. And when that happens, Michigan will be a dangerous team capable of beating anybody.

So far, Harris has been every bit of the pre-season co-Big Ten player of the year, averaging 21.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, despite his poor shooting.

He had just the second triple-double in school history in Michigan’s season-opening win over Northern Michigan, and was a rebound away from another against Creighton.

Sims has also played well, averaging 15.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and had his best game of the season on Saturday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. He scored 15 points in the first half on his way to a 19-point, 10-rebound performance.

The surrounding cast hasn’t given Harris and Sims much help and Michigan needs a third scoring threat to emerge in order to live up to the preseason expectations.

It makes me wonder if the losses of guards David Merritt and C.J. Lee to graduation really did affect this team more than I thought it would.

Merritt and Lee averaged just 4.7 points per game combined, but they were the leaders. They played tough defense, dove for loose balls, and held the team together.

Early this season, Michigan has lacked those qualities. Novak vowed to fill that role, but hasn’t been a consistent scoring option so far.

True freshman Darius Morris took over the point guard duties, but has just as many turnovers as assists and doesn’t look to shoot enough.

Douglass is a defensive liability when he’s on the court, which is acceptable when he’s hitting threes, but he hasn’t found his shot yet this year.

As the season progresses, Michigan will grow to fill that void, but it’s running out of time.

With non-conference games at Utah and Kansas remaining, as well as a January match-up with Connecticut, Michigan probably has to win two of those three to have a shot at postseason play.

Utah certainly looks beatable, having losses to Idaho, Seattle, and Weber State on its resume, but it did beat Illinois, and the game is in Salt Lake, so it’s not a given.

Michigan ended its three game losing streak by beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday and seemed to find its rhythm in the second half.

If it can carry over that confidence into Wednesday’s game at Utah, Michigan will be on track to enter the Big Ten schedule.

It’s not time to panic yet, but Utah could be the game that makes or breaks the season. A loss will probably mean Michigan needs to beat Kansas and UConn or fare far better in the Big Ten than expected.

I expect the shooting will turn around, but it better do so on Wednesday in Salt Lake City.

With another losing season in the books, the Michigan football program appears to be in disarray to many outsiders, as well as a fraction of the Michigan fan-base.

But is everything doom and gloom for this squad, or is there help on the way? Is head coach Rich Rodriguez in over his head in the Big Ten, or has he already laid the groundwork for success?

On this Thanksgiving day, as we visit with loved ones, stuff our faces with turkey and pumpkin pie, and watch the Cowboys and Lions, let’s take an early look at what the 2010 version of Michigan football will look like.

Certainly a lot of questions have to be answered, and I believe it starts with the players Rodriguez already has in the program.

Freshman quarterback Tate Forcier played the entire season and at times looked like a confident veteran, but at times looked every bit the 18-year old freshman he was.

He enrolled early at Michigan last January, a move that greatly helped earn him the starting job over last year’s returning starter, walk-on junior Nick Sheridan.

Forcier led comeback wins over Notre Dame and Indiana, brought the team back from 14 points down to force overtime at Michigan State, and performed well in late-season conference games against Illinois, Purdue, and Wisconsin.

But he was also prone to throwing the ball up for grabs, not securing the ball when scrambling, and making the wrong reads on zone option running plays.

These mistakes speak more toward his youth and inexperience than his true talent level. His solid performances showed he has the talent to be Michigan’s quarterback for the next three years.

The good thing is that the mistakes are correctable and will be cured by more time spent on the practice field, in the film room, and in the weight room. In short, we have a bright future ahead at the quarterback position.

Another off-season under strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis will help Forcier add muscle to his slight frame and help avoid injuries. Many forget that Forcier played most of the season with a sprained AC join in his shoulder – the same injury Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford suffered, albeit to a lesser degree.

As Forcier gets more practice time and learns more of the playbook, his understanding of Rodriguez’s complicated “spread-n-shred” offense will grow.

Many of those misreads when he kept the ball instead of handing it off, or when he handed it off and should have kept it, will be fixed next year and in the years that follow.

In addition, he will improve with his passing reads, as he gets more comfortable in the system. This season, he tended to pull it down and scramble the instant he sniffed pressure. His creativity and ability to throw on the run covered up some of these problems, but it also led to turnovers or a failure to throw the ball away.

You can’t fault the kid for trying too hard. Some of the ill advised throws were a result of just trying to make something happen, but will be fixed with experience. Some of the plays he made in the comeback against Notre Dame were the same type of plays that resulted in turnovers down the stretch, as was glaringly evident against the great defense of Ohio State.

Forcier’s background leads me to believe he’ll be a fantastic quarterback. He was groomed to play the position, trained under Marv Marinovich, and has two older brothers that play quarterback as well. The mechanics are there, as is the quarterback mentality. Now, he just needs to develop in Rodriguez’s offense and he’ll be fine.

Michigan’s other quarterback, fellow freshman Denard Robinson has a lot further to go in his development, but is also a great fit for Rodriguez’s offense.

Robinson didn’t enroll early, so he had only about a month of practice prior to Michigan’s opening game against Western Michigan. The majority of the action Robinson saw was designed runs to utilize his athletic ability.

Early in the season it worked. He scored four rushing touchdowns in Michigan’s first seven games. As the season progressed and the meat of the schedule was reached, opposing defenses caught on and stacked up to stop the run whenever he entered the game.

It was frustrating at times to see Robinson come in, knowing he was going to run, and get stuffed for little gain. Yet, we have to remember that he had very little practice time and doesn’t yet possess the passing ability needed to be a quarterback for a major Division 1 quarterback.

Unlike Forcier, who already possesses the mechanical skills, Robinson will take more work to develop. But his upside is his athletic ability, which is much greater than Forcier’s.

His touchdown run against Western Michigan left Michigan fans salivating for him to be used in a Percy Harvin-type role.

Late in the season we saw more plays in which Robinson lined up in the backfield next to Forcier or spread out wide running a fly pattern. Against Ohio State, he was thrown to deep a couple of times, although neither was completed, and one was intercepted.

I think we were all a bit impatient throughout the season, assuming that it would be easy to thrust him into plays at running back or receiver. However, with the dire need of quarterback depth in case of a Forcier injury, and merely the fact that Robinson was a true freshman, time spent practicing plays at other positions meant time spent not developing at quarterback.

In the future, when Rodriguez adds to the quarterback depth, he will have more flexibility in using Robinson in other roles. But during the course of this season, I think we overlooked the need to keep him where he was.

Next year, that depth will be added to by Inkster, Mich. quarterback Devin Gardner. The dual-threat quarterback fits the mold of Rodriguez’s ideal quarterback perfectly and his arrival in Ann Arbor is highly anticipated.

In his senior season at Inkster High School, Gardner has thrown for 1,472 yards and 14 touchdowns to just three interceptions, and rushed for over 700 yards and 15 touchdowns. He has led his team to the state championship game against Lowell on Friday.

Scouts compare him to Penn State’s Darryl Clark former Auburn (and current Washington Redskins) quarterback Jason Campbell. They are high on his size and strength, as well as his arm strength and running ability.

An ideal situation would be to redshirt him next season and allow him to develop and learn the system until Forcier and Robinson graduate and then take over for his junior and senior seasons.

But with his talent, will he be patient enough to wait in the wings for three years? In order for Rodriguez’s system to succeed, I hope he’s unselfish enough to do so.

Granted, there’s always the possibility of Gardner coming in and beating out Forcier and Robinson for the starting job next season or the year after, and if that’s the case, then by all means, the guy that gives Michigan the best chance to win should play.

Whatever the case, the centerpiece of Rodriguez’s system is in place and the future looks bright at the quarterback position.

The backfield is where Michigan loses the most talent, but due to the nature of Rodriguez’s system and the injuries that Michigan suffered this season, the stable is not empty.

Seniors Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown will be big losses, and certainly their absences in many of the games hurt Michigan’s chances for success, but it also allowed young guys to gain experience.

The most impressive runner late in the season was freshman Vincent Smith. His performance in Michigan’s spring game last April gave Michigan fans a glimpse of what he is capable of, but he didn’t see much action through the first half of the season.

But in Michigan’s final two games, against Wisconsin and Ohio State, Smith emerged as Michigan’s go-to back, displaying quickness and pass-catching ability.

He figures to enter 2010 as Michigan’s starting tailback.

Sophomore Michael Shaw has also shown some ability and as his vision for the field improves, could develop into a nice complement to Smith.

His main problem has been that he doesn’t cut through the gaps quick enough, instead always relying on getting around the outside.

Redshirt freshman Michael Cox got some playing time as Michigan’s fifth running back and still has some time to grow. He’ll certainly get a chance to prove himself and earn some more playing time with the graduation of Minor and Brown.

True freshman Fitzgerald Toussaint is a guy that many Michigan fans were excited about coming out of high school. He redshirted this season and will also get a chance in the off-season to earn a role in the offense.

Incoming freshmen Tony Drake, Stephen Hopkins, and Austin White (all three-stars) should give Michigan plenty of options in the backfield.

Receiver is a position that Michigan certainly isn’t lacking talent. A go-to guy emerged in the second half of the season, in redshirt freshman Roy Roundtree. He caught 30 passes for 390 yards and two touchdowns in the final four games of the season.

Though he lacks elite speed, Roundtree showed great hands and a willingness to go across the middle. He should enter 2010 as Michigan’s number one receiver, but it will be interesting to see if he stays in the slot or moves to the outside to replace senior Greg Mathews.

By the time next season rolls around, Michigan will have a lot of experience with sophomore Martavious Odoms in the slot. Odoms started as a true freshman in 2008 and was one of Michigan’s lone bright spots, leading the team in receiving with 49 catches for 443 yards.

Injuries forced him to miss a couple of games late in the season this year, but that could be a blessing in disguise as it opened the door for Roundtree’s emergence.

Also in the slot, sophomore Kelvin Grady showed good speed early in the season, but dropped balls caused him to lose playing time. The former Michigan basketball player definitely has the athleticism to be effective; he just needs to work on catching the ball and he could develop into a weapon in the next couple of years.

A freshman that redshirted this season, Jeremy Gallon could factor into the equation as well. He was highly regarded coming out of high school last year, and a year learning the system should allow him to see some playing time next season.

A wild card in the slot could be incoming freshman Drew Dileo. A 5’9” 170 pound white guy, Dileo committed to Michigan over Tulane, Stanford, and Rice. I mention “white guy” only because of the inevitable Wes Welker comparison. If he can fit that mold, Michigan has itself a steal, but if his low rankings hold true, he could get lost in the mix.

On the outside, redshirt sophomore Junior Hemingway and sophomore Darryl Stonum bring a couple years of experience to the table and have at times shown considerable promise.

Hemingway started 2008 with a bang, catching a 33-yard touchdown pass in Michigan’s game against Utah, but an injury caused him to miss the remainder of the season.

This season, he came out hot again, catching five passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener against Western Michigan. But he didn’t catch a touchdown pass the rest of the season, and barely matched the yardage output in the rest of the games combined, finishing with just 16 catches for 268 yards.

Stonum started 10 games as a freshman in 2008 and had his best game against Purdue, scoring on a 51-yard catch and run.

This season, he hauled in only 13 receptions for 199 yards and a touchdown, though the touchdown was a thrilling 60-yard play to ignite Michigan’s comeback in the fourth quarter against Michigan State.

Je’Ron Stokes is a freshman that played primarily on special teams this season and could have an impact in 2010. The 6-0 181 pound speedster out of Philadelphia was a top-100 recruit and was rated the eighth-best wide receiver in the nation last season according to Scouts, Inc.

Stokes caught two passes for 16 yards against Delaware State in the only real action he saw this season.

Four-star receivers Ricardo Miller and Jerald Robinson and three-stars Jeremy Jackson and D.J. Williamson make up a solid group of incoming freshmen will help bolster the ranks of what should be the deepest position on the team.

On the offensive line, Michigan returns nearly everybody and should get a big boost from a group of redshirt freshmen that fit Rodriguez’s system.

Left tackle Mark Ortmann and right guard-turned center David Moosman both graduate, but neither is a huge loss. Ortmann was serviceable and Moosman was a solid guard, but struggled at the center position when David Molk went down with an injury.

Getting Molk back next season will provide Michigan a solid, experienced center who started every game in his redshirt freshman season in 2008 and would have this season if not for a broken foot. He was rated the No. 1 center in the nation coming out of high school.

Redshirt junior Steven Schilling will probably be Michigan’s best offensive lineman in 2010. Schilling was ranked as the second-best guard in the nation coming out of high school and has started for three seasons, counting this one.

Perhaps the most surprising player is redshirt freshman Patrick Omameh, who earned a starting spot towards the end of the season and played pretty well. Omameh is a Rodriguez recruit who was just a two-star, mostly due to a lack of size compared to the typical offensive line recruit.

His performance has earned him strong consideration to start next season, probably at either right guard or right tackle.

Redshirt sophomore Mark Huyge started much of the season at right guard and figures to start next season either there or right tackle.

True freshman and highly regarded recruit Taylor Lewan is perfect for Rodriguez’s offense, rated as one of the most athletic and versatile linemen in the nation as a senior. He should get a chance to start at left tackle next season.

Another freshman that could get some action next season is Quinton Washington. He was a four-star recruit and the sixth-rated offensive guard as a senior.

Redshirt junior Perry Dorrestein, who has seen some action, should battle for the left tackle spot, while redshirt freshmen Ricky Barnum and Elliott Mealer will have a chance to earn a spot as well.

Incoming freshmen won’t help next season, as offensive line is a position in which recruits need time in a college strength and conditioning program to develop, but the future looks pretty good with last year’s haul. Only one offensive line commitment is secured for this year’s class unless Rodriguez is able to snag the nation’s top recruit, Seantrel Henderson, but that seems unlikely at this point.

At tight end, Michigan is stacked with experience in sophomores Kevin Koger and Martell Webb.

Koger finished fifth on the team in receiving this season, catching 16 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns. He caught an important touchdown pass against Notre Dame, but had some problems with drops midway through the season and didn’t see as many balls thrown his way in the last few games.

Webb caught just four passes for 44 yards and a touchdown, but got a lot of playing time and was a fairly effective run blocker.

Webb was a junior this season and Koger just a sophomore, so the tight end position should be a strength for Michigan next season.

Overall, the Michigan offense made some strides this year, averaging nine more points per game and 95 more yards of total offense per game than last season.

In addition, the offense showed that it could sustain drives this year, and although turnovers were a problem, those are mistakes that are fixable.

We didn’t see all the negative yardage plays that we saw last year when the offense just completely bogged down.

Next year we can expect even more improvement as the Rodriguez system enters its third year. The losses of Minor, Brown, Mathews, Ortmann, and Moosman should not slow this team down very much, since their replacements all got a lot of experience this year.

Most importantly, the core is in place, and there won’t be fresh blood needing to play a crucial role, as there was this season.

So on this Thanksgiving, let’s be thankful for the seniors that stuck out the coaching change and put forth their best efforts. Let’s also be thankful for the young guys that got their feet wet this year and will pioneer our maize and blue back to prominence in the years to come.

And let’s be thankful for an offensive innovator as our head coach – someone who is a proven winner and cares as much about getting the Michigan football program back on track as anyone else does. He will take Michigan to a place far beyond what we have seen if we afford him the time to do so.

The offense is certainly on track. Stay tuned for my defensive preview in the next few days.

As the 130th season of Michigan football comes to an end, it’s time to reflect on what we saw and look forward to next year and beyond.

2009 yielded some highlights and some lowlights, some controversy and some challenged loyalty. A legend was made and some buds blossomed. Records fell, both good and bad, and a system started to show some promise.

No one knew what to expect from this year’s version of Michigan football in Rich Rodriguez’s second year at the helm.

The overly optimistic among us predicted a breakout season of nine or ten wins.

Realistic optimists pointed to Rodriguez’s penchant for second-year turnarounds and predicted a record of 7-5 or maybe, if luck goes the way of the maize and blue, 8-4.

Realists pointed to the true freshmen quarterbacks and lack of overall talent on the squad and predicted a 5-7 or 6-6 finish.

As it turns out, the realists were right, but the realistic optimists weren’t too far off.

The fact of the matter is, Michigan fans were so shell-shocked from the worst record in 46 years in 2008 that we were looking anywhere we could for hope.

We ignored comments that Rodriguez made in the preseason such as, “There’s still going to be some transition. We’re going to play a lot more freshmen and redshirt freshmen than we would like to.”

We thought, sure there will be a lot of freshmen playing, but Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson are surely better options than Steven Threet and Nick Sheridan. Or, yeah, but it can’t get any worse than last season.

In this space, I offered some words of caution: “Coming off a season that resulted in the most losses in school history, and pinning all hopes on a true freshman quarterback, this seems to be the window of opportunity before Rodriguez’s system begins to take hold and terrorize the Big Ten.”

But then I followed it up with an overly ambitious response: “However, I think we’re going to see a very fast, well-conditioned and much-improved Michigan team playing with a chip on its shoulder to avoid being put to rest again.”

While that may have held true for a while, reality eventually sunk in that this team was indeed loaded with youth and razor-thin on the depth chart.

What began in August as optimism and eagerness to forget the epic disaster of 2008, quickly turned to scorn as the Detroit Free Press brought into question allegations of NCAA infractions on the part of Rodriguez and his coaching staff.

The opening game against Western Michigan couldn’t come soon enough. We cursed Michael Rosenberg and Mark Snyder for the timing of their article and the witch-hunt that ensued and we promised to get revenge on Justin Boren, who transferred to Ohio State, for his comments that seemed to be the centerpiece of that article.

And then the season began and practice time was forgotten and the story of Shoelace became one we would hear every game the entire season (as my wife would roll her eyes every time the announcers felt compelled to tell the story of why Denard Robinson doesn’t tie his shoes…every…single…game).

Robinson thrilled us with a 43-yard touchdown run, Tate Forcier showed promise in his first game by throwing for three touchdowns, Junior Hemingway caught nearly half his season total in receiving yards (103) and all of his touchdowns (two), and the defense shut down what many thought would be a high-powered offense.

We saw a show of solidarity for Rodriguez, Michigan won easily, and the season started off with a bang.

The came Notre Dame, fresh off of throttling Nevada, and riding preseason BCS bowl (or national championship game) predictions.

This will go down as the game that raised all of our expectations, mostly because no one knew at that time how mediocre Notre Dame really was.

It appeared to be Rodriguez’s signature win, as Michigan matched Notre Dame score-for-score and Forcier stunned the 18th-ranked Irish with 11 seconds left.

Forcier looked as veteran and composed as ND junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen, completing 23-of-33 for 240 yards and three touchdowns (one rushing). It’s hard to imagine that that would be the high point of his season, in just his second collegiate game.

Of course, there was the Armando Allen out-of-bounds play, which, despite the evidence , Notre Dame fans will carry to their graves in contempt.

The win over Notre Dame vaulted Michigan into the Top 25 heading into week three against Eastern Michigan. Former Michigan defensive coordinator Ron English brought his Eagles to Ann Arbor and didn’t provide much of a test.

Michigan showed off its running game this time, going for 380 yards on the ground, and getting 163 yards and two touchdowns on just eight carries from Carlos Brown in the first half alone.

Robinson scored two more touchdowns to enhance the unrealistic expectations for a guy that arrived on campus less than two months earlier.

Michigan then opened the Big Ten slate with Indiana in what would eventually be the battle for last place. At the time, though, Michigan was hoping to get to 4-0 heading into its intrastate rivalry battle in East Lansing.

This game provided our first glimpse of what the rest of the season would hold, as Michigan struggled to beat the Hoosiers, needing a 26-yard touchdown pass from Forcier to Martavious Odoms with 2:29 remaining to get the win.

The Indiana victory prompted me to draw a comparison to the New York Jets, who like Michigan, started off hot with a rookie quarterback: “Following Sunday’s Jets-Titans game, Vic Carucci of NFL.com asked Jets safety Kerry Rhodes if he thought the Jets’ style of play was sustainable. Rhodes replied that he thought it was because having such a good defense allows rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez to make some mistakes.

“Unfortunately, that won’t exactly translate to Michigan. While I think Michigan’s offense is further along in its development than Sanchez’s Jets offense, relatively speaking, Michigan hasn’t faced its toughest opponents yet.”

I provided the last part of that quote because I knew we were in for a tough go the rest of the season. I didn’t know, however, that that would be our last win over a FBS team all season. Ironically, Michigan’s fall has mirrored the Jets’ collapse.

At 4-0, a return to a bowl game looked assured, and Michigan entered “Little Brother” week seeking to avenge last season’s 35-21 loss to Michigan State.

It was the first road game of Forcier’s career and we saw the fist true test of the season, as the Michigan offense was shut down much of the game. But Forcier continued his early-season magic, leading a 14-point comeback to force overtime with a touchdown completion to Roy Roundtree with just two seconds left.

In overtime, Forcier was intercepted on a tipped pass that never should have been thrown, and Michigan dropped its second in a row to Michigan State for the first time since 1967.

Michigan Streaks Broken in 2009
First back-to-back losses to Michigan State since 1967
First home loss to Penn State since 1996
First home loss to Purdue in last 17 meetings
First back-to-back losing seasons since 1963-62

This began a run of snapping streaks right and left.

With its first loss of the season under its belt, Michigan traveled to Iowa for a prime-time night game against the nation’s 12th-ranked Hawkeyes.

Brandon Minor had his breakout game of the season, scoring two touchdowns against a defense that hadn’t given up a rushing touchdown in 33 quarters.

The game started out as well as one could ask, as Donovan Warren picked off the first pass of the game and returned it for a touchdown.

Michigan hung around until a muffed punt (hello 2008!) gave Iowa the ball at the Michigan 16. Iowa punched it in and took a 30-21 lead.

Robinson led the offense down the field for a touchdown to narrow the gap, but on the next possession, threw an interception to end the game, beginning the Wolverine-faithful’s love-hate relationship with Denard.

Despite a second-straight loss, Michigan fans were encouraged that the team was able to hang with undefeated Iowa until the last minute of the game, and a return to the Big House to face an FCS school was just what Michigan needed to regroup.

Michigan was able to set numerous school records in the win over Delaware State that week and give many starters a week off.

Five Wolverines scored their first career touchdowns and Robinson was able to get a lot of work at quarterback.

Michigan fans even got the treat of seeing Nick Sheridan on the field without the game on the line.

Many fans didn’t like the idea of playing an FCS school, but following the game, I proclaimed, “I have no problem with Michigan playing Delaware State this year. With a roster comprised of mostly underclassmen, and a complete overhaul in progress, playing an FCS opponent was better than a bye week in my opinion.

Michigan Records Set vs. Delaware State
727 total yards of offense
442 yards in the first half
28 points in the first quarter (ties record)
57 point margin of victory (most since 58-0 win over Indiana on Oct. 14, 2000)
461 rushing yards (most since 480 vs. Iowa on Oct. 3, 1992)
49 first half points (most since 55 vs. Chicago on Oct. 21, 1939)

“I would love to see Michigan start scheduling another tough out-of-conference game every year, but at this point in the development of Rich Rodriguez’s scheme, it’s not time for that just yet.

“Once the team grows up and the spread-n-shred is fully ingrained, I hope the schedule will be strengthened. But when you have Florida, arguably the nation’s top team and reigning national champion, playing Charleston Southern, Troy and Florida International, one must look that way first before pointing fingers at the baby Wolverines.”

I still believe it was okay to play Delaware State this season, but obviously with the way Michigan finished the season the benefits weren’t as great as I thought.

At 5-2, Michigan looked primed to make a bowl game, needing just one more win in its final five games.

Penn State came to town and dominated Michigan, racking up 396 yards of offense, and handing Michigan its first true beating of the season.

For really the first time all season, Forcier looked like a true freshman, completing just 13-of-30 passes for 140 yards. The offense couldn’t get anything going in the cold, rainy conditions.

Michigan wasn’t expected to win this one, and despite the 25-point whooping, I considered this result somewhat of a fluke and still didn’t believe the team was as bad as the final record would eventually indicate.

Following the Penn State game, doomsday headlines abounded, and I cautioned fans not to listen to them.

As it turns out, they were right.

Michigan traveled to Champaign, Ill. for a match-up with 1-6 Illinois, a game that looked like a sure-win.

This one will forever be remembered as the epic collapse, and probably the turning point of the whole season. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bigger turnaround before.

Michigan was firmly in control with a 13-7 lead and first and goal at the Illinois one-yard line in the third quarter. After stuffing Michigan on four straight rushes, Illinois took possession and seized the game.

Six plays later, a 70-yard touchdown run put Illinois ahead 14-13 and Illinois never looked back, out-scoring Michigan 24-0 the rest of the way.

At this point in the season, confidence in a bowl game turned into hoping to squeeze out a win in one of the final three games. The best hope was the following week against Purdue.

Perhaps hope is the wrong word against Purdue, as Boilermaker head coach Danny Hope carried a grudge into the game, blaming Rodriguez for getting one of his players suspended for a game earlier in the season – nevermind that the player deserved to be suspended just as much as Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton did the week before that.

This game was much like the Illinois game, where Michigan was in control and let it get away. Michigan led 24-10 at halftime and pushed it to 30-17 in the third, but a 91-yard touchdown drive, an on-side kick, and a 54-yard touchdown pass later, and Michigan found itself trailing 31-30.

Michigan missed a 43-yard field goal and failed to convert a two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game, and Michigan fell by two.

Michigan traveled to Wisconsin for its final road game of the season, still needing a win to become bowl-eligible.

This game followed the mold of the past couple, as Michigan hung around through three quarters, but faded down the stretch.

Forcier bounced back from some poor outings to complete 20-of-26 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns, but it was the defense that couldn’t hold up against a powerful Wisconsin running game.

Although Michigan knew Wisconsin was going to run it in the second half, it still couldn’t stop the Badgers.

The bowl hopes all came down to the final week of the season against Ohio State, as Michigan looked to end its five game losing streak to the Buckeyes.

Though many around the nation talked of the lack of luster in the rivalry, the game still had plenty of storylines with Michigan needing a win to make a bowl and avoid a second straight losing season, Ohio State needing a win to capture the Big Ten title outright, and Justin Boren playing against his former team in the Big House.

The Michigan defense played inspired and turned in its best performance of the season, holding the Ohio State offense to just 14 points.

However, it was the youth of Michigan’s offensive leader that doomed the Wolverines’ chances of playing through the holidays.

Forcier turned the ball over five times, including a fumble in the end zone on Michigan’s first possession, which Ohio State recovered for a touchdown.

Michigan moved the ball most of the day against an Ohio State defense that ranks as one of the best in the nation. But it was unable to capitalize on trips to the red zone, turning the ball over too many times.

So as Michigan’s season came to an abrupt end for the second year in a row, many want to know where do we go from here?

Indeed, there are many questions that need to be answered, but I’m in the minority who still believes the program is on the right track.

Stay tuned for part two where I will look at the future of the football program, both short-term and long-term, as well as the recruiting class Michigan has coming in and who is still out there that Rodriguez needs to land.