Sugar Bowl 2012: 5 Things Michigan Needs to Improve on in 2012

The 2011 Michigan team obviously did a lot of things right en route to a BCS appearance, but they had flaws as well.

As with any team, there are areas they need to improve on.

Here's a look at five areas, in no particular order, that Michigan needs to improve on if they want to have the same kind of success in 2012.

Denard's Passing Ability

Even though Denard picked up on his throws throughout the year, it still has to be better next season.

Way too many balls were thrown up for grabs this year, and honestly, Michigan got lucky on a lot of them.

Jump-ball specialist Junior Hemingway won't be around next year to bring those balls in anymore, so there likely won't be anyone to bail Denard out on those lobbed passes.

Either way, Denard doesn't have to be great throwing the ball, just respectable.

If he can return to his 2010 throwing form, Michigan's offense would likely be extremely successful.

Run Defense

Even though Michigan's run defense improved tremendously as the year went on, it has to be better as a whole next season.

Michigan finished 36th in the country in rushing defense, which obviously isn't great, but it's not terrible either.

Hoke and Mattison would certainly prefer the rush defense to be ranked at least in the top 25, preferably even top 15.

If Michigan's new defensive line starters perform well, there's no reason they can't be.

Losing Heininger, Martin and Van Bergen hurts immensely, but guys like Will Campbell, Jibreel Black and Frank Clark are just bursting with potential.

In my opinion, the linebacking core isn't a concern, and the success of next year's rush defense (and overall defense) will rely on how well the defensive line plays.

Kick Returns

Michigan's kick returners weren't very good this past year.  You just never got the feeling that they were going to break a big one.

Inserting Tay Odoms late in the year was a boost, but he won't be around next year.

Darryl Stonum will likely return from a year-long suspension, and that seemingly will be a huge upgrade. However, there will still be question marks surrounding him, seeing as how he's been away from football for over a year.

Gallon is a guy that will likely be returning kicks again, and hopefully he'll improve even more as a junior.

Drew Dileo is a guy that we could potentially see back there, as he has had experience on special teams in the past.

Kickoff Coverage

The kickoff coverage unit was certainly a weakness in 2011, and it has to get better next season.

There were some great young return men in the Big Ten this past year, and they will only get better next season. Venric Mark of Northwestern comes to mind right away, as does Ameer Abdullah of Nebraska.

Some of the guys that made big plays on special teams for Michigan this past year will be back, including Josh Furman and Terrence Robinson. Those two forced their share of big fumbles in 2011 (most notably the Nebraska game), and it would really help if they play well again in 2012.

Limit Turnovers

This one really only comes down to Denard.

The running backs did an amazing job of holding onto the ball this past year. We almost never saw a fumble from any of them.

Denard was a turnover machine early in the year, and he just has to protect the ball much better next year. The way he stepped up in late November in the final two games, though, was heroic, mainly because he protected the ball amazingly well. He knew he couldn't afford to turn the ball over in those games, and he rarely did.

If Michigan's offense can limit turnovers next season, this team will be hard to beat.