Michigan Wolverines: 2011 Season Preview

It only took three years for Rich Rodriguez to get fired at Michigan, and whether you hated him or not, he only appeared in one Bowl and had an awful record at his stay. He went 15-22 with a Big Ten record of 6-18 which is not Michigan material.

Enter the Brady Hoke era. During his tenures at Ball State and San Diego State he went 47-50, but went 12-1 at Ball State in 2008 and was 9-4 with the Aztecs last season.

Hoke grew up as a Michigan fan and even coached the defensive line from 1995- 2002. He served as coach of DE, DL, and Associate Head Coach. His teams are similar to Jim Harbaugh (many who wanted at Michigan) where he gets the most out of his front four and his offensive line.

Shameful Secondary

Greg Mattison is the new DC, and his 4-3 scheme is expected to change things for the best in Ann Arbor.

Mattison was the Baltimore Ravens DC since 2008, as he was for the Irish (‘97-‘01) and was once with Michigan (’95-‘96).

The Wolverines defense was putrid a season ago, ranking 95th in the nation against the run giving up 189 per game. It does not stop there as it actually got worse.

The secondary got lit up weekly giving up 261 yards per game ranking 112th out of the 120 Division I FBS teams. But, wait it does not stop there either. The defense finished 110th in the entire nation among defenses as far as yards allowed per game (450).

They do not have bad players by any means as JT Floyd is back from an ankle injury that sidelined him for the final four games and Troy Woolfork is coming back in a season in which he did not play one down (redshirted). They have few youngsters (Avery & Talbott) who are competing for playing time, but it is the play of safety Jordan Kovacs that could make this secondary an asset this season. 

Still, giving up 450 yards in the Big Ten is shameful, especially considering that they somehow made a bowl game with that defense. It just tells you how good the offense was to be a .500 team. 

I Wanna Be Like Mike

Look for improvement is a given, but it all starts up front with nose tackle Mike Martin. He put on some weight, as he is now well over 300 entering the fall. He is fairly quick and athletic, and is easily the leader of the team on defense.

Ryan Van Bergen is a solid pass rushing defensive end that is expected to have a solid senior campaign despite being moved over to tackle.  However, the linebacker corps must step their games up.

Craig Roh (DE now), Cam Gordon, Mike Jones, Kenny Demens will all be receiving extensive playing time, and they all need to explode into the backfield at a much higher rate.

They all have solid size, but they need to become better tacklers in open space which is ultimately what makes or breaks defenses. There were way too many missed tackles that led to big gains from the opposition a season ago. This unit is still the worst of them all outside of perhaps the kicking game.

The secondary just had blown coverage after blown coverage, even in the Gator Bowl against Mississippi State who drubbed them 52-14. Michigan needs to get back to their old ways where Lloyd Carr and Jim Herrmann had their defenses producing All-Americans every year.

Shoelace Improving Is a Scary Thought

Denard Robinson is coming off an All-American type of season and is arguably the most explosive player in the nation. He is quicker and flat out scoots faster than anybody in the nation. Despite being less than 6 foot (5’10 more like), it has not hurt his ability to throw the ball either.  

He has the making of being one of those all-time greats, if he can win continue to develop into a passer. While most will say he has no shot at playing in a BCS Bowl, relax.

They will improve a ton with Brady Hoke now in charge. If the defense can play anywhere it did in the Lloyd Carr era, they will be competing to play in Pasadena by the 2012 season.

Nobody is saying he can be an NFL great, because that debate is pretty much worthless in only his third year as a student athlete coming this fall. 

Best Corps in Big Ten?

Robinson started to build a rapport with his receiving core, led by Roy Roundtree, who is coming off a 72 catch, 935 yard and 7 TD sophomore campaign.

He has blazing speed and a quick wiggle to get open in the slot or out wide. Watch for him to break out onto the national scene as one of the elite targets in the Big Ten.

He will not be the only guy torching the opposition though. Junior Hemingway, Martavious Odoms, and Darryl Stonum (suspended in May) are all capable of putting on a clinic on any given day.

Stonum has since been redshirted and will have to wait a full season. Tight end and team captain Kevin Kroger will fill that need as should Kelvin Grady.

Hemingway is your typical big, physical receiver who can get open with the great size he has. He can take a big hit on a slant and get back up, and let you know about it.  He is coming off a 4 TD season and will be playing in his final games wearing Maize and Blue.

Odoms is another senior who is a quick, shifty receiver that came out of Pahokee, Florida. Standing low to the turf at only 5’9”, he is a difficult cover as the team’s third receiver. He is coming off a broken foot in which he missed six games and despite coming back in time for the Gator Bowl, he was not near 100, let alone 75 percent.

Locked and Loaded

The backfield will be crowded as always with a bevy of playmakers, though the one who should receive the most playing time in my eyes will be Vincent Smith. Its just a hunch, since he has the most experience, but he was able to block and catch the ball out of the backfield a season ago.

This clearly will be a committee approach so since Smith is not the guy by himself. Look for a slew of others such as Michael Cox, Stephen Hopkins and Michael Shaw. All three are fairly undersized backs that do not get looked at very often when talking about the better units in the Big Ten. (Shaw is expected starter according to Hoke)

Cox busted loose a 71 yard TD scamper during the spring game as he broke one tackle at the line of scrimmage, before he then went on to just gash the secondary of the Wolverines as he reached paydirt.

This backfield is solid because of who can come in and take the thunder away from Vincent Smith. They will be running bonkers if the offensive line quietly improves in their first five games (all at home). David Molk is one of finer centers in America. He has been there done that for the past three years in Ann Arbor.

Despite being a bit undersized, he has great technique, lateral quickness, and extremely quick feet.

Both tackles return which enables Denard to plant his feet more instead of being forced outside of the pocket. “Shoelace” can now wander around the pocket without feeling relentless pressure from the edge rushers which should make the world of differences up as far as the play action pass.

Notes: Announced Starters from Hoke: Huyge, Lewan, Barnum and Omaneh. David Molk is an All-American at center

Drama's Forecast

The schedule is favorable as the first five games are all at home. They have eight home games!

Are you kidding me? Outside of the Irish four of the first five are winnable. Trips to Evanston and East Lansing follow and mixed in are games against Purdue, Iowa and Illinois.

If the Wolverines can find a way to come away with at least eight victories, there would be a chance that they can be playing in a New Year’s Day Bowl.

I know you can’t expect huge things in year under Hoke, but there is no reason why they cannot win at least eight or nine games this season. The schedule is not easy, but all of their toughest games will be at home.

Look for an upset or two against the likes of Nebraska, Ohio State or Notre Dame and for year one to be a good one. If they can knock off one or perhaps two of those teams this season, fans in Ann Arbor will be singing and praising this Michigan man named Brady.

RETURNING STARTERS: 9* Offense/ 7* Defense

PROJECTED RECORD: 10-3, 5-3

PROJECTED FINISH: Second in Legends, Fifth Overall

PROJECTED BOWL: Gator Bowl 

(Remember this is just one man's opinion and it is far from gospel.)