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Episode 2:

Posted under Recruiting, Video

Those who follow Michigan recruiting are likely aware that top quarterback commit Kevin Newsome is an elite track athlete. Newsome was an indoor All-American in the 60m hurdles, and now he is a state champ in outdoor track as well.

Newsome’s Western Branch team won the state title, thanks in part to Newsome’s victory in the 100m hurdle event. If simply reading about Newsome’s track exploits isn’t gratifying enough for you, take the time to indulge yourself in video of his championship performance:

Newsome is in the 5th lane, wearing dark blue with white compression shorts. Note the fact that he’s twice the size of most of the kids he’s running against.

Newsome also gave an interview to Milestat.com, available here. He doesn’t say anything that could be considered directly relevant to football, but it’s always nice to hear from Michigan commits to get an idea of what they are like as people.

Congratulations to Kevin, and we look forward to seeing him in Ann Arbor… though if he plans to enroll early, it does mean he’ll have to forgo track his senior year.

In news on other commits…
Newsome’s QB counterpart was named City Athlete of the Year. Fitzgerald Toussaint has missed most of track season with an injury. Free update on 2008 JT Floyd from Scout’s SC site.

Posted under Recruiting, Video

In case you were worried about Kevin Newsome’s speed, check out this video of his 4×100 team winning the large school division at the Penn Relays.

Newsome is the anchor leg in lane 2(? second from nearest at the finish line, the guy who wins). He brings his team the victory.

Also, according to Sam Webb on today’s edition of the Michigan Insider on WTKA, there may be other good QB news this week. Tate Forcier or Shavodrick Beaver may announce for Michigan this week.

Thanks to frequent commenter RJ for the tip.

Posted under Recruiting, Video

Since Michigan’s offense will call the zone-read option its bread-and-butter play for the next few years, fans are probably interested in how the play works. Slightly more interesting than “run left,” I assure you.

Most important to the smooth operation of the zone-read is not a quarterback who is blazing fast, but a signal caller who can make the right decision with the ball, and can at least do a little damage with his feet.

The play operates out of the shotgun, with either one back to the QB’s side or one split to either side of him. The running back for whom the play is called will start lined up on what will eventually be the backside of the play, since he crosses in front of the quarterback (this is not always the case in RR’s offense, but for the sake of the basic play, we will start with that). The offensive line will block down to the playside, leaving the backside defensive end unblocked. This is the player that the QB will read (hence the name “zone-read”).

The quarterback takes the snap, and the running back crosses in front of him. The QB puts the ball in his stomach, but does not hand it off. This is called the “mesh point” where either the QB or the running back can end up with the ball. It is at this point that the quarterback must be able to make a good decision with the ball, and read the defensive end. If the defensive end stays at home and holds contain, the quarterback simply hands off the ball to the RB. The offensive line is expected to outnumber the defenders, and block everyone for a good gain (or excellent depending on execution and the running back’s vision).

If the defensive end gets greedy, and decides to try to chase down the running back from behind, the quarterback pulls the ball out from the mesh point, and runs back past the end, and gets a decent gain (if the offensive line blocks well, the QB should be able to get to the second level without facing a defender). The quarterback makes this read if the defensive end turns his shoulders toward the running back, rather than keeping them parallel with the line of scrimmage, as he would if keeping contain.

For those who are visually oriented:

This is obviously the very basic play, so there are lots of other variations on it. For example, backs can be motioned into or out of the backfield, slot receivers can be used as pitchmen, the play can be designed to go towards the direction that the RB is lined up, rather than the opposite direction, etc. The option-pass can also be effective, with the play run the exact same way, but if the DE crashes, the quarterback, instead of trying to gain yards, rolls out for a pass, using the zone-read as a play-action.

If my explanation was confusing (and I hope it wasn’t), have Rodriguez explain it to you himself:

Posted under Coaching, Video

Here are VB’s videos from the spring game:

Offense
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPGhsM2KPjQ&hl=en]

Enjoy

Posted under Coaching, Spring Coverage, Video

More on the spring game coming up later today.

Posted under Spring Coverage, Video

Video piece based on Coach Rod’s press conference yesterday. Only covers the most entertaining part of the presser.

Coach Rod also talked about a lot of other stuff, but this was the funniest part. Full audio tomorrow AM.

Posted under Coaching, Video

Get your enjoy on.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uux0EP5a0ps&hl=en]

Posted under Spring Coverage, Video

Tonight, Michigan kicks off its 2008 NCAA tournament quest, taking on the #16-overall seed in Niagara. For a full preview of the tournament, check out the Blog that Yost Built.

Don’t forget to vote for Kevin Porter in the Hobey Baker balloting, though he is in a pretty deep hole.

Finally, to get hyped up for the game tonight (and tomorrow if Michigan wins), accept my offering of the highlights from every game that was on WOLV this year:
Western Ontario
Alaska
Bowling Green
NTDP
Western Michigan
Northern Michigan
Nebraska-Omaha

Oooooooooooooooooooooh, see ya.

Posted under Hockey, Video

Highlight.

Also, “sideline” reporter Charles Clinton’s now-famous work at the game.

Charlie’s work prompted this reaction from a UNO message board:

I don’t think Patrick Roy or Dominik Hasek in their prime could have saved UNO tonight. In fact, I think the Weasels could have pulled Sauer at the start, gone 6-on-5 the whole night and won 18-5. UNO’s only hope was that Sauer would have switched places with Charles, the WOLV-TV “sideline” reporter. Sauer probably would have been more informative on the webcast, and UNO might have scored enough goals against the reporter to make the game a little more competitive.

The Blog that Yost Built offered the following reaction:

Poor Charles. He did kind of have “Boom goes the dynamite” potential though. At one point, I believe his report was, “Eric Elmblad is playing in his first game tonight. He had a nice hip check, though a penalty was called on the play. He really hasn’t done anything else. Back to you.”

Poor Charles, indeed. If you want to see better examples of his work, check out his blog.

Posted under Hockey, Video