Michigan Football: Why Wolverines and Brady Hoke Will Step Back in 2012

Brady Hoke led the Michigan Wolverines to a wonderful outing in his first year as head coach. They posted an 11-2 record en route to a 23-20 overtime BCS Sugar Bowl victory over Virginia Tech.

It was Michigan’s first 10-win season since 2006 and first BCS bowl victory since the 2000 Orange Bowl. Oh, and they bested the hated Ohio State Buckeyes. It was the Wolverines first win over their archrival since 2003. 

But 2012 won’t be as celebrated. 

Maybe it is because the Wolverines finished better than expected in 2011, but this next season will not live up to its predecessor. 

Ann Arbor erupted in joyous celebration as their beloved university finally made a splash on the national circuit again. Maybe, Michigan should go back to the kiddie pool. 

2012 won’t be awful, but it certainly won’t duplicate this previous season. 

The Wolverines are all set at quarterback with Denard Robinson lighting up the Great Lakes. The senior will return for one more season of dynamic runs. But a quarterback has to throw and Robinson has absolutely no one to throw to. 

Wide receivers Junior Hemingway, Martavious Odoms and Kelvin Grady all left for the brighter pastures of the NFL. Hemmingway reeled in 699 yards on 34 receptions for four touchdowns in 2011. Odoms and Grady added three more touchdowns. 

Tight Ends Kevin Koger and Steve Watson were also instrumental to the passing game. Combined, they added five touchdowns and were important blockers. Losing this passing game makes the Wolverines more vulnerable than before.

Essentially, they are a one-trick pony. 

The “Legends” have been given a couple seasons to deal with the electrifying Robinson. 2012 will be the year the Big Ten finally controls him. Don’t tell me that Michigan State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Penn Sate and Ohio State will let Robinson run wild once again. 

Defenses will finally figure out how to control him; almost every Michigan play will be a run. The Maize and Blue won’t be able to sneak up on teams and thrill the world with jaw-dropping runs. 

College football knows what’s coming as soon as Denard Robinson screams “hikeee”. That element of surprise is gone, and Michigan becomes much more beatable. 

But it is not only the offense that will suffer a blow. The defense will begin to crumble as well. All-Conference defensive tackle Mike Martin is gone and that giant hole he leaves will sting like a big Wisconsin play. The huge defensive turnaround in Ann Arbor was on the shoulders of this defensive line that now loses three starters. 

In addition to Mike Martin, Michigan will be without defensive tackle Will Heininger and defensive end Ryan Van Bergen. 

Heininger and Van Bergen were essential to a solid defense and will be heavily missed by Brady Hoke. 

The Michigan defense more than doubled their production from 2010 to 2011, but don't expect the next jump to be so hefty. The tremendous losses on the defensive line, which paved the way for the improvements, could have a negative ripple effect. This ripple could carry over to a mammoth wave and sink Michigan. 

The defense is what brought back a Sugar Bowl victory to The Mitten and now it is heavily wounded. 

New faces will try to duplicate this great defensive line and come up short. Michigan has a chance at posting a good season in 2012, but if anyone is expecting 2011 numbers from this squad, they should take a dose of reality. 

The Michigan 2012 roster looks good, but not great. There is huge number of concerns with this new squad. The Wolverines are missing one of the all-time great centers, David Molk. Molk was incredibly important to the success of Denard Robinson. Don’t be surprised if he takes a steep back with the loss of Molk.

In front of every great quarterback is a great center.

With just an average center in from of him, how will Robinson be great?

In addition, there does not seem to be a dominating pass catcher and the defensive line's success will be hard to duplicate with the newbies. 

Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin will all be back in full force and ready to take down the Blue and Maize. 

Urban Meyer comes to Columbus with a goal of taking down Brady Hoke. He will do it with his defense. Every single player in the defensive backfield returns from the nation's 15th ranked pass defense. The stingy defense continues as the front line also boasts the return of every single player. This Ohio Sate team will win on its defense, and win it can. 

Sparty loses beloved Kirk Cousins, but its defense is just as good. It will be able to stop the Michigan game plan. Eight starters are back from a defense that finished ranked as the best in the Big Ten. Six of those retiring were named to the All-Big Ten team. Robinson should be in for a rough day. 

Over in Wisconsin, things are looking up. 

Montee Ball is a Heisman Finalist and will run wild in the Big Ten. The linebacker corps also looks good for the Badgers. Wisconsin is a tough team that is always ready to challenge in the Big Ten. The Great Lakes State should watch out. 

In 2012, America is going to be ready for Michigan but Michigan will not be ready for America.