If you know of an article that can help out, let me know. I’ll fill in the remaining game articles/stats as I find the articles. 2010 updates will come in the form of a year-end wrapup.

CA QB Tate Forcier
This Week: Scripps Ranch v. St. Augustine. Scripps wins 40-36.

With a sprained ankle, sore back, cramps in his legs and a woozy head, Scripps Ranch quarterback extraordinaire Tate Forcier limped off the Serra High football field last night with an amazing 40-36 victory over Eastern League rival St. Augustine…

It doesn’t sound too serious. I hope. The touchdown runs?:

He also rushed 14 times for 121 yards and had touchdown runs of 1, 53 and 47 yards. And he plays cornerback on defense.

Season Totals: Scripps Ranch 5-1.

Season Totals: Pius 4-2.

Posted under Football

Action since last rankings:
10-13-08 Michigan loses commitment of Bryce McNeal.
Rivals also updated its player rankings, though not too many Big Ten commits saw a change. There were a couple minor shakeups in the actual team rankings as a result.

New Rankings:

Down: Simon (from 4)

Up: Bennie Fowler (from 2)

Up: Thomas (from 3)

Up: Ball (from 3)

Up: Jeremy Gainer (from 3), Kenny Watkins (from 2).

Up: Riley (from 1) Paxton (from 2)

Up: Shayon Green (from 2).

Posted under Football

The Board.

Moved to Committed:

Moved from Committed:
MN WR Bryce McNeal. Decommitted Monday night.

Added:
SC S Devonte Holloman. The former Michigan target has decommitted from Clemson. Potential visits include Michigan.
TX S Craig Loston. Also a Clemson decommit. Michigan was in on him early, but they may not be a player anymore. He’ll get a little time on the board until we can figure out if he’s a viable target.

New Information:
MI DT William Campbell. He’s set his visits. Sam Webb reveals what they shall be.
LA DT Commit DeQuinta Jones. He’s looking around a little bit. Might it result in a decommitment?
AZ DE Craig Roh. His game this Friday will be broadcast over the internet. You can find it at aia365.com. Just as a disclaimer, I couldn’t gt this site to work properly during the week, so don’t get your hopes too high.
MD DE Jason Ankrah. Visiting PSU for the Michigan game this weekend.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. He has trimmed to 15; Michigan is in.

Removed:

Etc.:
A sort of state-of-the-recruiting class statement from Josh Helmholdt in the Free Press.
Not on the board because he’s technically still committed to Florida, but Nu’Keese Richardson still intends to visit for the Michigan State game next week.

Analysis:

Posted under Football

Everyone knew Michigan was going to struggle this year. Maybe nobody thought the Wolverines would fall to Toledo, but everyone except the most fanatically-blind Michigan supporters knew that a Big Ten title was likely out of the question, and a bowl game might be a reasonable goal. There was always the future to look forward to. A year of learning under the spread system. A year of Barwis. A good 2009 recruiting class. The future was looking bright, because Michigan fans certainly weren’t planning to bail after one trying year under Rich Rodriguez. The members of that 2009 recruiting class, on the other hand? Some may not stick around to help clean up the carnage.

There are competing schools of thought on the link between winning and success on the recruiting trail. On one hand, you have the fans who hope prospects see the opportunity to come in and compete right away (and, realistically, some recruits do follow this train of thought). On the other side, one can find those who think a recruit will want to stay as far away as possible from anything that could be perceived as a “sinking ship” (again, some recruits think this, as well).

I personally think, from my trials and tribulations in following recruiting, that there is something of a hybrid between these two schools of thought. We’ll start when a recruit is young. If a child grows up watching a program succeed regularly, he might become something of a fan of that program. More likely, however, it may become “familiar” to him, if only on the most shallow name-recognition basis. Actual wins and losses (of course, except in the case where a recruit grows up a diehard fan of a certain program) probably don’t really become a factor until a high schooler becomes something of a potential recruit. Once a young man realizes that he might have an opportunity to play division 1 football (brother), the attention becomes a little more focused on the programs who might be potential destinations. This typically happens around a prospect’s junior year.

Senior year, however, is not likely a time for recruits to radically alter their perceptions of a program. If a team struggles during the 2008 season (this is completely hypothetical, of course), a young quarterback from San Diego or Wichita Falls (again, completely hypothetical, and I randomly selected those cities) will see that as an opportunity to come in and compete for a starting position right away. This is especially true of those hypothetical recruits who intend to hypothetically enroll early hypothetically. Hypothetically. Only the more loosely-committed players, or those who look at depth charts and realize that, although there is playing time up for grabs, it is not at their position, are the ones who might be swayed from the 2009 class.

So, who might fall into the category for this class? Bryce McNeal, Brandin Hawthorne, Anthony Fera, and DeWayne Peace have taken or plan to take visits elsewhere, along with former commitment William Campbell. DeQuinta Jones has been heard from very little since he committed, and his status is a virtual mystery to Michigan fans. As long as Michigan’s coaches continue to do a good job recruiting these players, they should retain those that they want. McNeal seems to be the most likely to decommit at this time.

So, let’s bring this back to the 2010 recruiting class. If high school juniors see a program lose, and form their perception from that, it means Michigan’s 2010 class could be pretty bad, right? Well, yes and no. Michigan already has 2 commits, both of whom are likely to be 4-star or 5-star prospects. A third is presumably on the way, another 4-star or better player. All three of these players have Michigan ties from long before their junior years of high school, and their perception of the Wolverines isn’t bound to change radically. Joining a class of highly-ranked prospects is one of the antidotes to a less-than-stellar year. Jeremy Jackson, Ricardo Miller, and hopefully Marvin Robinson all will be an incentive for other good recruits to join the class.

This may be one of the factors in some of the more inexplicably-good recruiting classes in recent memory. Notre Dame can sell its tradition, but one would think a 3-9 year would deter top prospects from joining the class of 2008 in South Bend. At the end of the day, however, the Irish finished with the #2 class in the nation. The only team that finished ahead of the Irish? Alabama, a team that had a recent history of mediocrity, despite its history. Nick Saban, in his second year in Tuscaloosa, and coming off a 7-6 record that didn’t exactly scream “WOO PROGRAM ON THE RISE” pulled in a stellar group of players to help turn the Tide’s fortunes around.

So, can Michigan, with its young, exciting coach pull in top classes in 2009 and 2010, despite a 2008 season that will likely end well below .500? The recruits aren’t stuck with Michigan, but we fans are hoping that Rich Rod can keep the snake oil flowing.

Posted under Coaching, Recruiting

If you know of an article that can help out, let me know. I’ll fill in the remaining game articles/stats as I find the articles. The 2010 commits will not be included in FNL (unless there is substantial demand for it), but I will include a junior season wrap at the end of this year. No info found yet for the Cass game, but I’ll update when I come across it. I assume Thomas Gordon did not play following last week’s shoulder injury.

CA QB Tate Forcier
This Week: Scripps Ranch v. University City. Scripps wins 44-34.
Season Totals: Scripps Ranch: 4-1.

Season Totals: Pius 4-1.

Posted under Recruiting

Action since last rankings:
10-5-08 Iowa gains commitment from Scott Covert.
10-6-08 Wisconsin gains commitment from Conor O’Neill. Purdue gains commitment from Eric McDaniel.
10-7-08 Michigan State gains commitment from Denicos Allen 3*LB
10-9-08 Notre Dame gains commitment from Zeke Motta.

New Rankings:

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Posted under Recruiting

The Board lives here. Going against the requests of commenters, I’m going to split up 2009 and 2010 updates for now. I think the main fear was that I would be giving less information as a result, but I think it will allow me to give more information on each class.

New Information:
MD RB Tavon Austin. Sets the state rushing record.
MN WR Commit Bryce McNeal. Planning to take visits elsewhere. This includes Florida (info in headers). His commitment appears to be soft, so keep an eye on him.
OH OL Marcus Hall. Selected for the Army Game. Michigan is likely on the outside looking in at his recruitment, however.
MD DE Jason Ankrah. Enjoyed Michigan visit.
MD LB Jelani Jenkins. Fluff relating to the ESPN2 game last week.
GA S/QB Donavan Tate. Plans on officially visiting Michigan. Odds of his choosing football over baseball are still pretty slim.
MD CB Travis Hawkins. Standard post-visit positivity towards Michigan (info in header). Similar vibes here (link same as above).
FL CB Angelo Hadley. Michigan is in his final four.

Removed:
VA DE Will Hill. He is down to a final group that does not include Michigan, after canceling a UM visit last weekend.

Etc.:
Is that a potential walk-on I’m sensing?

Analysis:
Very Maryland-centric update today. Hawkins and Ankrah both seemed to really dig the Ann Arbor experience. Bryce McNeal’s softening of commit status is somewhat troubling, though I still expect that he ends up in blue.

Posted under Recruiting

Moved to Committed:

Posted under Recruiting

Matt Vogrich, a 6-3 shooting guard from Illinois, has pledged his word to become a Michigan Wolverines. Vogrich is Scout’s #100 player in the class of 2009. Vogrich joins Darius Morris and Jordan Morgan in MIchigan’s 2009 recruiting haul.

Vogrich visited Michigan this weekend, and enjoyed himself enough to offer a commitment to John Beilein and the Michigan Wolverines. For more information on Vogrich (and much better basketball coverage than I could ever provide), head over to UMHoops.com.

Posted under Basketball

If you know of an article that can help out, let me know. I’ll fill in the remaining game articles/stats as I find the articles. The 2010 commits will not be included in FNL (unless there is substantial demand for it), but I will include a junior season wrap at the end of this year.

UPDATE: Monday, 11:00 AM Article linked for Apopka-Edgewater game, added a pre-game video fluff deal on Gallon and Jones.

CA QB Tate Forcier
This Week: Scripps Ranch v. Serra. Scripps wins 42-35.

Season Totals: Pius 2-1

Posted under Recruiting