Sorry, it’s on Insider, so you won’t be able to see it unless you subscribe.

Link.

Posted under Coaching

Teaming up with fello0w Saginaw native Clifton Ryan (MSU Defensive Tackle), Wolverine Lamarr Woodley is giving back to his hometown.

Read about it here.

Posted under Misc.

September 23

Wisconsin

Offensive Starters Returning: 3 (QB, OT, OG)

Defensive Starters Returning: 8 (2DE, DT, LB, 2CB, FS, SS)

Specialists Returning: 2 (P,K)

Offense: This unit was good last year, but other than two key players (and one other random dude), nobody is back. Quarterback John Stocco, who suffers from reverse-Brady Quinn syndrome (read: is severely underrated) is back, and should be the biggest contributor on offense. However, who will he throw to? Wisconsin didn’t have any outstanding receivers last year, and there’s reason this year’s crop wasn’t starting over them. The Badgers also lose the man who was their MVP by a country mile, RB Brian Calhoun (I think he deserves to at least be mentioned as last years Big 10 Player of the Year). Wisconsin is a school that never is short on running backs, but the replacement definitely won’t be as good. Other than Stocco, the only proven talent on the offense is OT Joe Thomas, who is great. The rest of the line, however, probably won’t be. If Thomas is healthy after blowing out his knee in the bowl game, expect our Des to not be flattening Stocco as often as we’d like.

Defense: If defensive end Matt Shaugnessy and Jamal Cooper are healthy, this should be a decent line for the Badgers. They should be good but not exceptional at stopping the run. Two linebackers graduate, and the talent behind them isn’t that deep. All four secondary players return, but that may not necessarily be a good thing. While the safeties are fairly good, the corners simply don’t have the athletic talent to play with our Wrs, and the only thing keeping them from falling on their faces last year was Coach Ron Lee (now Michigan’s CB coach). They can still create turnovers, so the passing should be good, but if Henne is having a bad accuracy day, that could spell trouble.

Special Teams: Brian Calhoun was great in the rturn game last year, but there should be capable replacements.

Other: This, like too many other games this year, will be revenge time for Michigan. will probably be down after graduating so many players and losing coach Barry Alvarez to retirement. However, Bret Bielema will be an unknown commodity. This game is between San Diego State and Indiana for the Badgers, which is a little easier than our Notre Dame-Minnesota sandwich.

Conclusion: I see this as a should-be win, but most of our games were like that last year as well (and we all know how that turned out). The home crowd (or lack of a Wisconsin home crowd), should propel Michigan to victory.

Posted under Analysis

September 16

at Notre Dame

Offensive Starters Returning: 7 (QB, RB, FB, WR, OT, OG, OC)

Defensive Starters Returning: 9 (2DE, 2DT, LB, 2CB, SS, FS)

Specialists Returning: 0

Offense: All hail Lord Jabba! He is an offensive genius, this unit cannot be stopped! This unit was indeed good last year, but let’s give credit for that to Weis, rather than Brady Quinn (who I see as one of the most overrated players in a very very long time). Despite losing a starter in Maurice Stovall, the Wrs will still be good with Rhema McKnight returning from a medical redshirt season last year. That’s right, before you give Weis credit for finding a diamond in the rough in Jeff Samardzija, a player that Ty Willingham refused to start, keep in mind that he wasn’t supposed to start last year, either! I think he is a great player, though not a burner, and he will be a legitimate threat opposite McKnight. RB Darius Walker is still just a slightly quicker Hart-lite. The offensive line will probably be the weak point, with Weis’s recruits unable to step in right away. Also, Quinn loses his safety valve (and one of his favorite receivers) in TE Anthony Fasano.

Defense: This was a big weakness for the Irish last year, and I expect that trend to continue. Had our offense not sucked last year, we could have put up 30 points on the Notre Dame defense. (Even as poorly as we played, a missed read for an easy Touchdown, and goalline-gate took away 14 points that we should have had). The secondary and the line both return all their starters, with Tom Zbikowski being the highlight of the backfield, and DE Victor Abiamiri being the supposed stud up front. The Irish lose probably their best defensive player in LB Corey Mays. The line is weak aside from Abiamiri (who I see as overrated), and we should be able to run the ball against the new linebackers. The secondary, despite all returning, was pitiful against the pass last year.

Special Teams: P/K DJ Fitzpatrick is gone, so the Irish will be looking for a new leg. Tom Zbikowski will probably handle return and boxing duties for the Irish again. I didn’t see Zbikoski as much of a threat last year, but he did manage to take two all the way back, so be wary.

Other: This will be a big-time game for us. Although Michigan (unlike, say, an Ohio State) famously does not circle dates on their calendar, I see this as the biggest game of the year (yes, even bigger than the third weekend in November). Going against a team that will probably be ranked at or near #1, with a revenge/chip-on-shoulder attitude, this game will tell the tale of the whole season. The game is also sandwiched between a Penn State home game and a Michigan State road game for the Irish, so it’s questionable whether they can afford to circle this date as much as we can. Our schedule, with this game flanked by home contests with Central Michigan and a down Wisconsin team, is decidedly easier. The home-field advantage of all the fairweather ND fans may be a factor in this contest.

Conclusion: To be honest, we should have won this game last year, and I feel the same way about it again. With a good but not great offense, and a still weak defense (but watch out when Weis’s recruits start hitting the field), this game should be winnable. I see it as pretty much a tossup, and hope it is the game that derails ND’s presumed National Championship train.

Posted under Analysis

I’m going to be beyond lazy and not even format this.

September 9

Central Michigan

Offensive Starters Returning: 7

Defensive Starters Returning: 6

Specialists Returning: 2 (P,K)

Offense: Central Michigan is in desperate need of a replacement for their quarterback, Kent Smith. He was just a decent MAC talent, but he did a whole lot for this offense. Expect this team to mostly run the ball, will RB Ontario Sneed returning, and a running QB threat if Duane Brooks starts over Dan LeFevour. The talent on this team is nothing above MAC-level, however, but two of the best players on the unit are WR Damien Linson and another decent tackle for the Des to go up against.

Defense: The key player on the CMU D is DE Dan Bazuin. This guy is an All-American contender, and likely the best player Michigan will face OOC (except against Notre Dame). If he doesn’t have a good game, the Chippewas will struggle. If he can be stopped without double teams, I will feel quite comfortable at our tackle situation, despite the impending presence of Ruben Riley (who inexplicably seems to have his only good games against the best talent he faces). Linebacker Thomas Keith is good, but second-team All-MAC is not quite on par with Big 10 talent. The secondary should be pitiful, so expect Henne to throw the ball all over the place if the line can keep Bazuin out of the backfield. In this game, the offense will probably be able to work on finding that tough receiver to go over the middle (my leading candidate: future badass Adrian Arrington), and maybe getting Steve Breaston some touches in space, getting the ball to him like he should be used, instead of running the fly route.

Special Teams: Punting and Kicking are going to be handled by returning players, though I wouldn’t expect them to happen at a high level. WR Damien Linson willl handle return duties.

Other: The Wolverines will probably be looking forward to Notre Dame, but this team probably isn’t anywhere near good enough to pull off an upset despite that fact. This is probably CMU’s circled game on the calendar, but that won’t be enough either.

Conclusion: Another probable win for the Blue, with another game that they should use to experience the game at full speed, and against real opponents.

Posted under Analysis

September 2 Vanderbilt

Offensive Starters Returning: 7 (RB, FB, 2WR, 2OT, OG)

Defensive Starters Returning: 6 (DE, DT, 2LB, CB, SS)

Specialists Returning: 2 (P,K)

Offense: Vanderbilt is expected to be a primarily passing team, despite losing demigod Jay Cutler. Their aerial attack will be headlined by sophomore WR Earl Bennett, and with QB transferring in from Arizona, they will have a signal caller who is a veteran, even if he is not experienced in the Vandy offense. Under a new NCAA rule, since he is a grad student, there is no one-year period that he will have to sit out before playing. Bennett will be a good early test for Leon Hall at the corner position. Though he isn’t as good as some other Wrs that Hall will face, he should serve as a good measuring stick. Vanderbilt’s tackles, who both return after starting last year, are also decent, and should be an indicator of what our Des will be able to do in terrorizing quarterbacks. Obviously, with most of the rest of the line new, and the level of talent that Vanderbilt is expected to have, I don’t see them having much of a successful game running the ball on us.

Defense: Vanderbilt’s defense last year wasn’t any good, and they shouldn’t be any better this year, especially after losing their only All-SEC player in LB Moses Osemwgie. Their D-line is fairly thin, and again, at a school like Vanderbilt, the possibility of sleepers being stars is very low. The running game should click on this day. Their secondary is also weak, returning one corner and the strong safety. It should also be a successful passing game for the Wolverines.

Special Teams: Bryant Hannfeldt returns after pulling double-duty as kicker and punter last year. Earl Bennett will serve as a fairly dangerous return man.

Other factors: none

Conclusion: If Michigan doesn’t score a lot of points or hold Vanderbilt close to scoreless, it could be a grim sign for the rest of this season. However, the Commodores shouldn’t be too much of a challenge, and it should be a good first game in front of the home fans.

Posted under Analysis

TE Steve Watson has become Michigan’s ninth commit for the 2007 recruiting class. His dad, Steven Sr., played in the NFL, so he’s got the pedigree.

A four-star TE from Denver, some believe he may actually be underrated. He is the second tight end in the class for Michigan. This means that other top TE prospects, like Kyle Hubbard, will be left out in the cold for waiting too long.

I promise that I’ll start posting my game-by-game season preview sometime soon, but I’ve just been really lazy lately.

Posted under Recruiting

MGoBlue.com reports that redshirt junior OT Jake Long has been named to the preseason watch list for the Outland Trophy, an award given anually to the nation’s best interior lineman.

Posted under Misc., Personnel

Use Steve Breaston like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_nCxx4xzy0&search=michigan%20sports

Not like this:

http://iblogforcookies.com/iblog/C1947790811/E1248343416/index.html

(thanks to ibloogforcookies for providing video s in link #2)

Posted under Analysis

Northwestern Head Coach Randy Walker has died of an apparent heart attack. He was a good coach who consistently took bottom-level talent to the middle of the pack (or better). Our condolences go out to the Northwestern football family.

Posted under Misc.