Michigan Football: End of Season Report Card for the Wolverines

The measure of a good sports team is if you can win when not playing your best.

The Michigan Wolverines (11-2, 6-2) found a way to close the season with victories over Ohio State and Virginia Tech.

Michigan's defensive performance against the Buckeyes was suspect at best. And in this week's Sugar Bowl, it was the offense which struggled.

Calling the team overachievers would not be a stretch. This was basically the same group that threw in the towel in Columbus and at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.

The Wolverines appeared to make an about-face after Brady Hoke and his staff took over last January.

Until the last few games, the defense gradually improved throughout the season, while the offense tried to transition to more of a power offense. The team settled on a three-pronged offensive attack, using the running and passing of quarterback Denard Robinson, and the late-season emergence of running back Fitz Toussaint.

Not to be overlooked was the team's never-say-die attitude. The Wolverines actually trailed in seven of its 11 wins.

Michigan also adopted a motto of sorts. Robinson was one of the first to use it after the exciting win over Notre Dame: "Every time you see the University of Michigan," Robinson said, "you're going to see a team that's going to play together and fight until the end—until there's two zeros on the clock."

Here are the season's report card grades, position by position.

Quarterbacks

On some days, the quarterback discussion centered around Denard Robinson's standing in the Heisman Trophy race. On others, fans wondered if he could be moved to the slot.

Brady Hoke and offensive coordinator Al Borges struggled all season to transition the offense from a spread option to more of a traditional power look. 

How much that affected Robinson is a good question, but the junior signal-caller rushed for 97 yards per game and passed for 171.

His 56 percent completion rate is still respectable, considering he must improve both his throwing mechanics and his decision-making ability in the offseason.

Going into spring practice, the quarterback position is Robinson's to lose, while Devin Gardner and Russell Bellomy compete for the backup job.

Grade: B

Running Backs

Fitzgerald Toussaint became the feature running back midway through the season, gaining at least 100 yards in four of the last six games. His explosiveness took the pressure off Robinson and helped the Wolverines finish the season with a four-game winning streak. He finished the regular season with 1,011 yards on 174 carries.

Surprisingly, no other Michigan running back surpassed 50 carries. Vincent Smith became more of a threat in the passing game, and Michael Shaw scored three touchdowns on only 31 carries.

Stephen Hopkins and John McColgan played sparingly at fullback, while freshman Thomas Rawls appears to have a bright future.

Grade: B+/B

Receivers

The receiving corps was hit with some troubling news this week. 

Darryl Stonum, who was redshirted this season because of a battle with alcohol, was stopped Thursday morning for driving on a revoked license. It's not yet known if he will be charged with a parole violation.

Hoke said at Thursday's press conference that all the facts need to be known if the incident will affect Stonum's status with the team. Stonum, who caught 49 passes in 2011, could return for his senior year.

(Note: ESPN reported Friday that Stonum was sentenced to 10 days in jail). 

Another disappointment this season was the play of redshirt junior Roy Roundtree, who had only 18 receptions. Last year, if you recall, Roundtree caught 72 passes. 

Two of this season's top three receivers were seniors. Junior Hemingway with 32 and tight end Kevin Koger with 22, will be missing this fall.

Another loss to graduation will be Martavious Odoms, who played well down the stretch.

Grade: B-/C+

Offensive Line

At times this season, Michigan's offensive line looked like one of the top groups in the country. That is, until they met the country's better defenses.

Michigan had a tough time running the football against Notre Dame, Michigan State, Iowa and, of course, Virginia Tech. Except for Notre Dame, all of the squads are reputed to be superb run-stoppers. 

Center David Molk was not only the line's leader, he won the Rimington Trophy, which is given to the nation's top center. Left tackle Taylor Lewan keeps improving, and he might be on a watch list or two next season. 

Depth was a huge problem for Michigan's offensive line. For most of the season there were only three legitimate backups. It was certainly apparent against the Hokies when Molk injured his foot in the pregame warmup. Rocko Khoury, made a valiant attempt as a sub, but Molk was back in the game for Michigan's second offensive series.

Molk and right tackle Mark Huyge graduate this spring, but help is on the way. Michigan already has six offensive line commitments for the 2012 class.

Grade: C+

Defensive Line

During the first few games, Michigan was unable to sustain a significant pass rush. Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison finally resorted to a few blitz packages brought with him from the National Football League.

Eventually senior Ryan Van Bergen moved to end from tackle and Craig Roh really stepped up his game. By the time the season was over, Roh had four sacks and 29 tackles while Van Bergen had a great year with five sacks, 12 tackles for loss and 41 tackles.

On the inside, senior nose tackle Mike Martin completed his final season with 41 tackles and senior Will Heininger registered 23. 

The 16 total sacks by the defensive line were only two shy of the entire 2011 team.

2012 will see a totally rebuilt defensive line as Martin, Van Bergen and Heininger graduate,

Grade: B+    

Linebackers

Michigan linebacker Brandon Herron became a national celebrity during the storm-shortened opener with Western Michigan. Herron first returned an intereception 94 yards for a touchdown, then scampered 29 yards with a fumble for another. 

He was the first Wolverine to score on two returns since Tom Harmon did it in 1940.

Unfortunately, Herron would only play occasionally the remainder of the season due to a knee injury.

Freshman Jordan Morgan and Brandin Hawthorne battled over Herron's WILL position for a few weeks before Morgan took the job for good. Morgan became a solid outside linebacker and finished with 53 tackles.  

The SAM linebacker spot was manned by redshirt freshman Jake Ryan all season. Ryan's play throughout spring practice illustrated why he'd be a regular contributor. He may have played his best game at the Sugar Bowl, where he had four TFL's and was all over the field.

Redshirt junior Kenny Demens was steady, if not spectacular, at middle linebacker. After leading the team with 86 tackles, look for Demens to have an even better 2012.

Grade: A- 

Defensive Backs

If there is a weak link in the Michigan defense, it's the secondary. From day one, the better quarterbacks have had their way with the Michigan defenders.

There wasn't a lot of optimism coming into fall practice. Safety Troy Woolfolk missed all of last season and cornerback J.T. Floyd missed part of last season with severe ankle injuries. Sophomore Courtney Avery was penciled in one cornerback slot, while walk-on senior Tony Anderson was in another. Jordan Kovacs was the only experienced safety.

True freshman Blake Countess found himself in the lineup when both Woolfolk and Floyd were injured in the San Diego victory.

Countess played well as the remainder of the secondary stabilized.

The injuries to Floyd and Woolfolk were minor. Floyd became a fixture at the the cornerback slot, so Avery could play more at nickel back. Woolfolk moved back to safety to push Thomas Gordon and Josh Furman added depth behind Kovacs.

After several solid games the secondary seemed to unravel against Ohio State and Virginia Tech. 

The good news is that only Woolfolk graduates. Look for freshman Raymon Taylor and possibly incoming freshman Terry Richardson to battle for playing time this coming fall.

Grade: C

Special Teams

After hitting just one of five field goals as a backup last season, Brendan Gibbons made 13 of 17 this time around, including the game-winner at the Sugar Bowl.

Freshman Matt Wile, who was expected to win the placekicking job, still wound up with double duty. He handled all the kickoffs and also wrestled back the punting job from Will Hagerup.

Kickoff and punt returns were rather uneventful. Michigan's longest punt or kickoff return was 33 yards, while the opposition's was 38.

Jeremy Gallon handled Michigan's punt returns, while Martavious Odoms and Vincent Smith shared the bulk of the kickoff returns.

Grade: B

Intangibles

Naysayers complained that neither Michigan nor Virginia Tech deserved to be in the Sugar Bowl.

What they failed to realize is that invitations are handed out based on criteria other than your won-loss record. Teams who travel well, have a recognizable brand and tend to produce good television ratings have a slight advantage.

Michigan's brand speaks for itself. The Wolverines led the nation in attendance in 2011 with an average of 111,825 per game.

In one of the most exciting non-conference games of the season, Michigan and Notre Dame squared off before an NCAA record crowd of 114,804 plus a prime time national television audience.

A night like that doesn't hurt merchandise sales, either.

You can even add the Michigan Marching Band, the iconic helmet and even the sporty uniforms.

All of this counts toward the total package. And Michigan's record on the field wasn't too shabby either.

Grade: A

Overall

Most of the preseason predictions had the Wolverines in the neighborhood of 8-4.

Offensively, Michigan would score roughly the same amount of points, while cutting into the 35 points allowed per game.

But no one expected such an improvement by the defense. Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison's crew nearly cut the points allowed in half, bringing it down to 17.2.

The defense played a huge role in wins over Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois and Nebraska. Even against Virginia Tech, there were moments of brilliance. 

The real concern is about the offense, which didn't quite complete its transition away from the spread option.

You tend to wonder if next season's offense veers further into Denard Robinson's comfort zone.

Grade: B+