CA QB Tate Forcier
Scripps Ranch had a bye week.

TX QB Shavodrick Beaver
Rider loses to Sulphur Springs (on ESPN2) 16-22.
Beaver’s stats: 21-33 (63.6%) for 249 yards (7.55 yds/att) and 2 TDs. 18 rushes, 84 yards (4.67 yds/att).
Video:

MI RB Teric Jones
Cass Tech beats Crockett 26-6.
Jones had over 200 yards, can’t find exactly how many.

OH RB Fitzgerald Toussaint
Liberty defeats Struthers 32-14.
Toussaint rushes 19 times for 258 yards (13.6 ypc) and 4 TDs, of 72, 57, 37, and 35 yards. Take out the TDs and he rushed 15 times for 57 yards (3.8 ypc).

FL RB Vincent Smith
Pahokee beats King’s Academy 40-7.
Smith had “over 100 yards” and a touchdown.

MN WR Bryce McNeal
Breck beats St. Bernard’s 35-33.
McNeal has an 85-yard kickoff return TD, igniting a big comeback.

FL Slot Jeremy Gallon
Apopka beats Freedom 57-21.

IL OL Michael Schofield
Sandburg beats Stagg 20-8.

LA DT DeQuinta Jones
Bastrop beats Dollarway 42-6.
No Jones mention.

NJ DE Anthony LaLota
Hun loses to Wyoming Seminary Prep 0-10.

FL LB Brandin Hawthorne
Pahokee beats King’s Academy 40-7.
No Hawthorne mention.

IN LB Jordan Barnes
Homestead beats Columbia City 28-9.

FL LB/S Mike Jones
Edgewater loses to Tallahassee Lincoln 14-30.

OH S Isaiah Bell
Liberty defeats Struthers 32-14.
No Bell mention in the article.

OH CB Justin Turner
Washington loses 13-23 to Youngstown Ursuline.
Turner had a 13-yard TD reception.

TX CB/WR DeWayne Peace
South Grand Prairie beats Summit 16-7.
Peace had an 85-yard TD reception, consisting of him catching a short pass over the middle shaking a couple defenders, and running a long way.

TX K Anthony Fera
Game canceled due to hurricane.

As always, if you have anything to share, let me know in the comments.

Posted under Recruiting

Princeton, NJ prospect Anthony LaLota has pledged his intentions to become a Michigan Wolverine. LaLota, who attends The Hun School, stands 6-5, 260, and runs a very respectable 4.65-second 40-yard dash. Anthony is the 17th commitment in the class of 2009, and the #1 player in the state of New Jersey.

Recruiting Notes
Early in the process, Notre Dame was thought to be the prohibitive favorite for a verbal commitment from LaLota. With their three New Jersey commitments (including one from LaLota’s high school teammate Tyler Stockton), and nothing but effusive praise for the Irish from LaLota, it seemed his recruitment could have come to an end as early as June. Michigan’s offer came in June, and the Wolverines seemed to be an also-ran for LaLota’s services. Near the end of July, LaLota narrowed his impressive list of suitors to seven, and the Wolverines made the cut, though they were still considered an underdog. Late in August, Sam Webb reported on WTKA that LaLota’s decision would not be coming early, and that perhaps Michigan was stronger with Anthony than had previously been known, especially after the unofficial visit he had taken the previous weekend. LaLota also tentatively scheduled an official visit for the Wisconsin game. Then, this week, LaLota’s recruitment came to a head. Michigan and Penn State emerged as his rumored top 2, with other sources reporting that he would either pick a Big East/ACC school or Michigan. When he scheduled his announcement for Friday night at 8, Michigan fans were cautiously optimistic that he would don a block-M cap. LaLota did indeed pick Michigan, and is the 17th commitment in the class.

Player Notes
LaLota is something of an oddity, in that early on, both recruiting services ranked him at offensive tackle, and both gave him five stars. Despite this ranking, LaLota insisted that nearly every school recruiting him wated him as a defensive end. Eventually, Rivals wised up and switched his position, dropping him to four stars in the process. Scout maintains that he is an offensive tackle, and they still give him five stars (and a #3 position ranking) as an offensive lineman. Rodriguez and company recruited LaLota at end, and that will likely be his final college destination. As a strongside defensive end, LaLota is more of a run-stuffer than elite pass-rusher. However, he is not particularly polished, and will likely add some finesse moves to his repertoire in college. One exciting thing about LaLota is that his game is all based on physical talent at this time. He has only been playing football for a couple years, and is loaded with potential upside.

Request
If anyone can digitize the CSTV announcement by LaLota, e-mail me and we’ll get it up on VB.

Posted under Recruiting

Posted under Recruiting

The Board lives here. I was going to hold this update a little longer, but the post is filling up, and there is a ton of content to roll out over the next few days. Enjoy.

Moved to Committed:
FL RB Vincent Smith, FL RB Brandin Hawthorne. Commitment article on the pair.
CA QB Tate Forcier. Freep commit article.

Added:
NJ DB Nyshier Oliver. Tennessee decommit now considering Michigan, among others.

New Information:
FL TE Orson Charles. Georgia might not have a spot for him anymore.
VA OL Morgan Moses. He may not qualify out of high school, and could be headed to prep school for a year.
IL DE Craig Drummond. Nursing an ankle injury.
NC LB Hawatha Bell. Plans on taking a Michigan official visit.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Some fluff. Also, he might want to major in sports medicine (and Michigan has a very good program in this).

Removed:
FL LB Frankie Telfort. Michigan is out of his top (final) six.
FL RB Jaamal Berry. He’s finally done what we’ve been waiting for so long and verballed to Ohio State.

Etc.:
FL slot commit Jeremy Gallon. Fluff from the local paper.
First official 2010 offer. Chris Dunkley isn’t the only one that was sent out today, I assume. People like Devin Garndner, Ricardo Miller, and Marvin Robinson almost definitely received them as well. The board isn’t going live soon, but keep this stuff in mind.

Analysis:
Vincent Smith and Brandin Hawthorne had pretty much been penciled in as commits to this class, even before the official announcement. The commitment from Forcier, however, was surprising, if only in the timing. He fills the void left by Kevin Newsome, and Michigan is back to being locked down on the quarterback front. From here, the next possible commit is from a DE (perhaps Craig Roh, who visited this weekend?), and then an OL or two. I’ve emotionally detached myself from Darius Winston, as I don’t think he will select Michigan on Friday (surprise us all, Jay Hopson!).

Posted under Recruiting

Though many believed Kevin Newsome would be the only top-flight quarterback Michigan had a shot at in 2009, California QB Robert “Tate” Forcier has committed to Michigan, filling the void left by the decommitment of Newsome. Forcier (6-1, 190, 4.63) is the younger brother of former UM (now Stanford) QB Jason Forcier. For the most inside of all the information on Tate, check out his family site. Forcier plans to enroll in January at Michigan.

Player Notes
Forcier is a pass-run quarterback who is a much better fit for this UM system than his brother was for the old one. Forcier switched schools entering his sophomore season to avoid starting over his older brother Chris (now at UCLA). Tate is a pass-first dual threat quarterback. For those worrying about a lack of speed, it may be comforting to know that he had more rushing yards than Kevin Newsome as a junior. Tate is a little bit short (around 6-1), and his arm strength is not elite. However, he is fairly fast (faster than his former Wolverine brother), and his arm is very accurate. For the Scouts, Inc. evaluation of Tate, check out his site. One thing to keep in mind about Tate is that he has had a private QB tutor for much of his football-playing career, so his floor is very high, but he may be close to his ceiling as a passer.

Recruiting Notes
Like his older brother before him, Tate Forcier grew up a fan of the Michigan Wolverines. This gave Rich Rodriguez and company a leg up in his recruitment. However, with a family member leaving the program just a couple of years before Tate would enroll, it was unclear whther there would be hard feelings towards the Michigan program. Forcier was offered early in the process, when Russell Shepard and Kevin Newsome were the only other signal-callers holding offers from Rich Rodriguez. Speaking of offers… Tate posted all of his online (and it was really annoying to Google him every day and see that another hack columnist around the country had noticed). However, Tate said he wouldn’t start trimming his list until the Pryor situation was resolved. When Pryor picked against Michigan, many thought Pryor’s other “finalists,” Penn State and Michigan, were among Forcier’s top schools (along with Oregon). Before Kevin Newsome committed, he and Tate talked on Myspace about attending school together. When Shavodrick Beaver also gave his word to become a Wolverine, Tate was not to be dissuaded, still speaking highly of Michigan. When Kevin Newsome decommitted, Forcier was almost immediately in town for an official visit to the Utah game. Shortly after, Forcier made the decision to pull the trigger and commit to Michigan.

Video

Junior year part 1

Junior year part 2

Posted under Recruiting

A weekly look at how Michigan’s football commitments performed in their high school games. Check back throughout the day, as there may be updates. Also, high school news isn’t particularly easy to come by in all cases. If you were there, or have an article/video that can give more insight, I encourage you to share in the comments.

TX QB Shavodrick Beaver Rider’s season hasn’t started yet, but here’s some preseason fluff.
MI RB Teric Jones Cass Tech wins 37-0. Can’t find an article with stats, but have heard Teric Jones was over 100 yards in the first half, and didn’t play in the second.
OH RB Fitzgerald Toussaint Liberty defeats Niles 48-9. Toussaint racks up 209 rush yards and 4 TDs.
FL RB Vincent Smith Pahokee loses to Olive Branch 48-47. Smith ran for 135 yards and 2 TDs on 17 carries. He also was in and out of the game with cramps. More info.
MN WR Bryce McNeal Breck defeats Concordia 27-20. Can’t find any stats for McNeal.
FL Slot Jeremy Gallon Apopka defeats Seabreeze 39-0. Gallon ran for nearly 200 yards in one half.
IL OL Michael Schofield Sandburg wins 17-14. Can’t find any stats for the game.
MI DT William Campbell Cass Tech wins 37-0. Can’t find an article with stats, but DTs rarely rack up big numbers anyway.
LA DT DeQuinta Jones Bastrop dominates a pair of scrimmages. No mention of Jones.
IN LB Jordan Barnes Homestead loses to Warsaw 29-22. No stats article.
FL LB Brandin Hawthorne Pahokee loses to Olive Branch 48-47. No specific mentions of Hawthorne, but “Several defensive players were angry with themselves over missed tackles, the worst of which happened on Olive Branch’s go-ahead touchdown.” Hmm. More articles.
FL S Mike Jones Edgewater’s season starts Friday.
OH S Isaiah Bell Liberty defeats Niles 48-9. No stats given for Bell.
OH CB Justin Turner Washington loses to Jordan (UT) in the Herbstreit Classic. Turner finished with 128 rushing yards. UPDATE: Article here. 17-14 loss (under somewhat sketchy circumstances), Turner had 128 on 23 carries.
TX CB/WR DeWayne Peace South Grand Prairie lost 38-0. Peace had 7 receptions for 78 yards, ad one rush for a loss of 7.
TX K Anthony Fera Pius wins 38-20. Fera kicks a 39-yarder and hits 5 extra points.

Well, that’s what I found. Time to help out, readers. If you happen across an article about any of these guys’ games, drop a link in the comments.

Posted under Recruiting

Pahokee, FL teammates Vincent Smith and Brandin Hawthorne have both announced their intentions to sign letters of intent to Michigan in February. The duo announced their respective decisions today, instead of their original plan, which had them announcing at their team’s game against Olive Branch (MS) tomorrow. Smith is a 5-9, 170-lb running back, and Hawthorne is a 6-0, 185-lb linebacker who boasts a 4.7 40-yard dash.

Recruiting Notes
Michigan fans first became aware of Pahokee High School when slot receiver Martavious Odoms joined the class of 2008 in February. They quickly learned of Odoms’s younger teammates, including WR Nu’Keese Richardson (Florida commit) and Smith and Hawthorne. Smith was the first of the two added to the board, when he reported in March that he was about to receive a Michigan offer. That offer became public in June, and Hawthorne was added to the recruiting board shortly thereafter, when he placed Michigan in his top two, despite not reporting an offer. In early July, Brandin stated that he wouldn’t make a school decision until after he had taken his official visits. However, in the middle of July, both he and Smith stated that they would announce their college decisions on August 30th at their game against Olive Branch. At the end of July, the duo started dropping none-too-subtle hints that Michigan would be the choice for both Blue Devils. Towards the end of August, both Hawthorne and Smith announced that they had set up 5 official visits, though they still planned to announce on August 30th (an announcement that they subsequently moved forward by one day). With the final choice of Michigan, it is unlikely that they will have spots reserved for them in the class if they still intend to take officials to schools other than Michigan. The runners-up for Smith were Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Tennessee. finishing in second for Hawthorne was Louisville.

Player Notes
Both players may be considered slightly undersized for their positions, though Rich Rodriguez has focused on adding speed to the team first, and will likely worry about size and speed in future classes. Smith projects as yet another RB/Slot combo, with his diminutive stature and decent quickness. Hawthorne is probably going to end up as a weakside linebacker unless he has a pretty significant growth spurt. He will have to add a ton of mass to play linebacker, and hopefully he won’t lose too much speed doing so in Mike Barwis’s program.

Video

Pahokee’s spring game, courtesy of our friends at SoFLAFootball.com. Unfortunately, the video quality is a little too low to get any great detail.

The Vincent Smith Story from PrepTicket.

Etc.
With a pipeline to Pahokee High School now firmly established, Michigan is likely to go after Doral Willis, a top defensive tackle/offensive line prospect in the class of 2010. In addition, Nu’Keese Richardson, who liked Michigan early in the process but is a Florida commit, has expressed interest in visiting Ann Arbor with Smith and Hawthorne this year. Both Smith and Hawthorne have stated that plan to enroll at Michigan in January.

Posted under Recruiting

A weekly look at Michigan commits’ performances in their high school games.

TX QB Shavodrick Beaver No game, but 2 TDs accounted for in a scrimmage.
OH RB Fitzgerald Toussaint W 55-21 19 Carries, 115 Yds. Also his dad did not stab a guy.
MI RB Teric Jones No game
MN WR Bryce McNeal No game
FL Slot Jeremy Gallon No game
IL OL Michael Schofield No game
MI DT William Campbell No game
LA DT DeQuinta Jones No game
IN LB Jordan Barnes W 55-21 No stats given
FL S Mike Jones No game
OH S Isaiah Bell No stats given (played RB on offense)
OH CB Justin Turner W 45-29 22 Carries, 140 Yds
TX CB DeWayne Peace No Game

Posted under Recruiting

Texas kicker Anthony Fera has given his word to become a Michigan Wolverine. The 6-2, 215-lber from Houston (St. Pius X) becomes the 15th commit in the class of 2009.

Player Notes
Fera took a Michigan visit over the summer, though he missed Michigan’s kicking camp, hosted by former UM kicker Brandon Kornblue. During his performance at the regular Michigan camp, however, Michigan fans were unnerved by reports that his leg was strong but not accurate. However, that is something that Michigan’s coaches were not overly concerned about, or that their special teams coaches will have to concentrate on fixing. He is rated by Chris Sailer Kicking as the #2 overall kicker in the class of 2009, and the #1 kicker left uncommitted. He has a strong, (maybe) accurate leg, and could see time kicking or punting in the future.

Recruiting Notes
Though Fera was unable to attend Michigan’s kicking camp, the individual focus on him may have paid off in the long run. While the rumored inaccuracies in his kicking likely delayed the tendering of a scholarship offer, they did not prevent him from receiving one. Ohio State and Penn State were the primary competition for Fera, though each was unwilling to offer him a scholarship for the class of 2009. Each was giving a greyshirt offer. However, once Penn State offered a full scholarship, Rich Rodriguez liked what he saw and made a full scholarship offer of his own to Fera, which he accepted almost immediately.

Video
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he5R6-pKagc&hl=en&fs=1]

Posted under Recruiting

Orlando safety Mike Jones has pledged his word to become a Michigan Wolverine. Jones (6-2, 197) hails from Orlando Edgewater high school. He projects as a strong safety, or perhaps even a weakside linebacker.

Recruiting Notes
Jones hails from the same high school as junior WR Greg Mathews, which gave him something of a familiarity with the Wolverines (of course, former Edgewater players litter the rosters of such programs as Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame, UCF, and so on). Though he grew up a Miami of Florida fan, the Canes never played a large role for Mike. From early in his recruitment, Jones indicated that not only was he open to leaving home, but also was favoring a few schools in the midwest. Michigan offered Jones in late spring, and the Wolverines joined Notre Dame at the top of his list. Jones took a late June visit to the campuses of both schools, and at this time, Michigan may have moved to the front of his mind. Without a solid scholarship offer from the Irish, Jones picked Michigan on August 1st.

Player Notes
Jones was injured during his junior season, but was impressive in the five games he managed to get in. Jones has very good height and weight for the strong safety position, and if he adds a bit more weight may be a candidate to move to weakside linebacker. He is very explosive for his size, though he may be someone who “plays quick” rather than actually being fast (this is not a bad thing in Scott Shafer’s defensive concepts). He is a big hitter as well.

Posted under Recruiting