If you thought off-field incidents for Carson Butler, Chris Richards, Eugene Germany, Adrian Arrington, and rumored incidents for Mario Manningham and Johnny Sears weren’t enough for the Wolverines, you’re in luck! The Ann Arbor News reports that two Michigan players have been spending their time doing something other than bowling.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Obi Ezeh has been charged (and pleaded not guilty) to a charge of driving under the influence. This is the first ever trouble for Ezeh that has gotten to the public in his time as a Wolverine, and he will likely be suspended. Ezeh is the backup to Shawn Crable at the Sam position, as well as a player in the mix to gain some playing time in the middle. If suspended, his loss will be noticed, but (barring injury) not severe.

Redshirt sophomore wideout LaTerryal Savoy has been charged with indecent exposure, also (to my knowledge) his first strike. Depending on circumstances, that charge can be grounds for removal from the team, as it can imply some mental instability with the player. Regardless, Savoy was buried on the depth chart, no higher than the fourth wide receiver, and likely to be passed up by some freshmen as well. If he is suspended, it will probably not be noticed unless there is a slew of injuries.

Posted under Personnel

I apologize for the somewhat random order. If you want a hi-res version of any of these images, post in the comments and I’ll see what I can do for you.

No snarky comments for now.

Posted under Personnel, Photo Album

A couple quick things, and I’ll post a bunch of pictures tomorrow. I took 400, so after paring it down there should still be plenty.

• Brandon Graham lost a bunch of weight this summer. He looks to be in really good shape to play at the defensive end.
• Marques Slocum worked out with various other athletes while he wasn’t eligible to join the team – including Michael Phelps. Slocum is a huge guy, and it seems like he’ll be a major factor on the DL. Also, he said the reason he persisted to become a Wolverine was: “I didn’t give up on them because Coach Carr never gave up on me.”
• Manningham said his knee was fine, and he could have participated in spring drills, but didn’t as a precaution. He spent all spring watching film instead.
• Bryan Wright will kick off, and various players pegged him as the favorite to win the PK job.
• Greg Mathews expects to play a big role in the offense this year, especially with UM losing its leading receiver in Steve Breaston.
• Speaking of Breaston, he speaks to his cousin, incoming freshman Toney Clemons, every day on the phone. He is practicing well, but Arizona is too hot this time of year (hear that, recruits looking at southern schools because of the weather?).

Photo album tomorrow, and maybe some interview clips coming on the next slow news day.

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…per the Free Press. Utah is a mid-major team that is probably better than a lot of low-level BCS teams, so this is a welcome addition, especially since it doesn’t require the promise of a return trip (as Bill Martin demands). That would mean the ’08 schedule is completed as follows:

Sept. 6 MIAMI (OHIO)
Sept. 13 at Notre Dame
Sept. 20 UTAH
Sept. 27 WISCONSIN*
Oct. 4 ILLINOIS* (HC)
Oct. 11 TOLEDO
Oct. 18 at Penn State*
Oct. 25 MICHIGAN STATE*
Nov. 1 at Purdue*
Nov. 8 at Minnesota*
Nov. 15 NORTHWESTERN*
Nov. 22 at Ohio State*

The article also gives confirmation that Carson Butler will rejoin the team, though it’s unclear whether that is based on more than just Lloyd’s vague Big Ten media day(s) statements, with fake sourcing to sound official (yes, real press do that all the time).

Posted under Personnel

The Offensive Depth Chart has been updated to reflect my smoke-fire-etc. information that Carson Butler will be reinstated to the team. The Scholarship Count/Eligibility Chart was already modified to take this into account with the departures of McKinney and Schifano, who have also been removed from the Depth Chart. Rumors have it that Steve Schilling is being looked at as RG, also reflected in the Depth Chart, though it may be the Timeless Lloyd Carr Motivational Tactic being employed in the direction of Alex “Lazy” Mitchell.

The Recruiting Board has been updated to reflect McGuffie and Cox, their effects on recruiting the position, Fred Smith’s presumed lean-ness, etc. Starting with the next recruiting class, remind me to make a static recruiting board so as to remove the necessity of all this copy-and=paste crap.

I apologize for the fact that this looks like crap. I’ll have Paul fix it later.

Feed Smith announces Sunday at 6, expected to be Blue.

Posted under Personnel, Recruiting

The Kinesiology department is starting a Pat Maloy Scholarship, to be granted to students who have cancer or have been affected by cancer in their families. The scholarship is named in honor of Bernard “Pat” Maloy, a Michigan professor who lost the battle with cancer in 2001.

To fund the scholarship, there will be an online auction, consisting of tons of autographed items, Michigan-related and otherwise. Tons of Braylon, AC, Desmond items, check out the auction for yourself. There’s a good chance you can find something you want, and it goes to a great cause.

Thanks to Jim Stefani for the link.

Posted under Personnel

Per Jim Carty, Lloyd Carr is considering the return of Carson Butler to the Wolverines.

Butler was acquitted of assault charges in the St. Patrick’s Day incident (the other defendant, Chris Richards, was convicted). In light of his legal troubles being cleared, Carr has decided to rethink Butler’s expulsion from the football team.

This will definitely have an effect on the field for Michigan this year, as Butler will be a second option with experience at the TE position to Mike Massey’s perpetually-injured shell of a body. This would allow for both incoming freshmen to likely redshirt.

However, there is a potential negative effect on recruiting, as Michigan recruited two top tight ends to make up for their dearth of bodies at the position. While a bird in hand is worth two in the bush, both Brandon Moore and Kevin Koger are phenomenal athletes, and it would be a shame to lose either of them.

Posted under Personnel, Recruiting

MGoBlue has posted the 2007 football roster.This means we know all the incoming freshman numbers, not just those that were available from the spring game (or able to be guessed).

The freshmen are numbered thusly:

Warren #6
Mallett #15
Clemons #17
Hemmingway #21
Babb #26 (WR)
Woolfork #29
Rogers #30 (DB)
Helmuth #32
Evans #33
Horn #34
Chambers #38
Williams #40
Molk #50
Van Bergen #53
Herron #58
Webb #80
Watson #81
Slocum #91
Sagesse #95

Mallett, Chambers, and Helmuth were already known from the spring game; it had been rumored Warren would be #6 and Clemons #17.

Other item of note: Absent are Schifano, Patilla, and McKinney. Are they off the team? They will remain on the eligibility chart pending further confirmation.

Posted under Personnel

McGuffie’s Myspace page has gone all-out “Go Blue” mode.

Commitment video can be found here:

http://www.click2houston.com/video/index.html
Click “Most popular” in the box on the right, and the video is in there. I’ll see if I can get someone smarter than me to rip it and put it on Youtube.

Don’t forget, McGuffie’s Cy-Fair team takes on rival Cy-Falls October 18th on ESPN2.

Posted under Personnel, Recruiting

Instead of merely regurgitating the watch list announcements from MGoBlue, it’s far more honorable (and worthy a cause) to do a little legwork and come up with them myself.

Though not every postseason award has a watch list (many just start with semifinalist lists, or even just finalists), and some haven’t come out with their watch lists yet, many Michigan players are expected to be great next year. All of the Michigan players on postseason award watch lists are as follows:

Bronko Nagursky Award – Best defensive player – Shawn Crable
Jim Thorpe Award – Best defensive back – Jamar Adams
Ronnie Lott Trophy – Best defensive player/sportsman – Shawn Crable, Jamar Adams
Outland Trophy – Best Offensive Lineman – Jake Long, Adam Kraus
Maxwell Award – Best offensive player – Chad Henne, Michael Hart, Mario Manningham
Chuck Bednarik Award – Best Defensive Player – Shawn Crable, Jamar Adams

Watch lists that have been released with NO Michigan players present:
John Mackey Award – Best Tight End (fair)
Dave Rimington Award – Best Center (Justin Boren may surprise)

Posted under Personnel