We're half way through the season, so we have a pretty good idea of just how much progress some teams have made (Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin) and how far back others have gone (Ohio State, Minnesota, Indiana). This obviously has an effect on recruiting, and from Michigan's perspective, one guy in particular. Brionte Dunn.
I know he visited Penn State, but in reality it's a UM-OSU battle for the four star running back. The starts made by both these teams could be more different, as Michigan has clearly improved to become a more balanced football team, whereas Ohio State has serious offensive concerns; which have been alarming Dunn.
Ohio State are a very talented team, yet they are 3-3 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten, all but ending their chances of getting to Indianapolis. Plus, if you look at their schedule, they are probably only going to be favored in 2, maybe three games. So if we assume OSU gets to 6-6, what happens to Luke Fickell? He'll be fired.
Going back to Michigan, Dunn can see a team clearly improving, a team that has a shot at the Big Ten title, and a team with no impending NCAA hearings. Ohh, and his cousin is a 2013 commit; who doesn't want to play with family? :D
For these reasons, I'm fairly confident at the moment that Dunn will end up in Ann Arbor, firstly for an official visit, and then for the long run.
Looking at the rest of the projected class, I'm leaving it mostly the same; although it is getting harder to predict. Here's a few quick notes on the other three spaces.
- Zach Banner will decide his college destination after his last official visit, which will be in around a month's time. However, he won't announce his decision until after Christmas. If he were deciding today, I'd be pretty confident, but he has at least 3 visits scheduled over the next 30 days, so we'll just have to wait and see. This space will go to an OL, because Michigan still has a chance with Josh Garnett (visiting for OSU game), and UM recently offered OG Alex Kozan.
- WR Spot 1: This should go to Jordan Payton unless Notre Dame pulls something special out the bag for his visit to them next weekend. Pretty simple.
- WR Spot 2: I've still got Amara Darboh in the projected class, because he has shown a lot of interest and he should visit Michigan for the Ohio State game, which is obviously a great weekend to visit, especially if he witnesses a UM victory. However! WR Darius Powe has just named Michigan in his top five with a bunch of really weak PAC12 schools, and he'll also take an official to Michigan. He's from California, so probably knows Hoke quite well, this one could be interesting.
Wildcard Spot: I think the combination above (RB, OL, WR, WR) is what Michigan would like to close out the class with, but if a guy of exceptional talent wants in, they will probably have to adjust. The most likely candidate for that is Yuri Wright, the nation's #3 CB. He should take an official to Michigan late on in the season, hopefully for the OSU game which will give Michigan a chance at least.
That all sounds right to me. Logical, and concordant with all known facts.
ReplyDeleteI think we should all anticipate at least one decommit. Maybe a LB. That will open a spot for a "bonus" prospect.
Heading into this weekend, I never expected a 6-0 record. I was hoping for 5-1, thinking that either ND or NW would get away from them.
Now, with he way things are developing, the MI schedule is looking better than ever.
I'm not even going to say it.....I'm superstitious.
But, they can get there from here.
Continued improvement, favorable treatment from the injury God, and a few bounces the right way and this could end up being a storybook season, heading into a top 3 recruiting class.
Go Blue!
Wild card could be Yuri Wright. Nice to see that all these possibilities are 4 stars!!
ReplyDelete@bluemarrow
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you think we should expect a decommit? Just a gut feeling or do you know something the rest of us don't?
I know this did not happen but. If RR offered a 2013 kid does Hoke have to honor it. I am sure Hoke has the class to honor it.
ReplyDeleteOffering a 2013 kid would actually imply that RichRod actually did some recruiting ahead of time...I though schools could withdraw offers from kids or am I wrong? But if he did recruit someone from the 2013 class I bet he'd be between the 5'6" to 5'8" range and play WR...just sayin...
ReplyDelete*thought
ReplyDeleteDear Refs,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to thank you for the one-sided calling on big plays that allowed us to win.
Regards,
MSU Football Team
MSU tried their best to give us the game and we failed to take it. That 4th and 1 play call was asinine and the wheels fell off after that. God I hate that F#*%in team.
ReplyDeleteRefs saved us! We had soo many drives continue because of a pentalty. The play calling all game was horrible! Denard is a runner and we only ran him 14 times? Love what hoke Mattison are doing but Al not so much. Weather didnt help but overall bad bad play calling... Sad day because we had every chance to win this game!
ReplyDeleteThey blew 2 calls on plays that led to scores. The one where Baker stepped out of bounds on the 20 but they marked him out on the 7 and then the no-call on the taunting that would have taken the TD away on the pick 6. Not to mention State's D was throwing DR to the ground continuously after the ball was away...
ReplyDeleteCan't really put blame on play-calling. Was very windy. Turning point was the pick-six. Look like V. Smith was to run a slant but didn't hence the pick. Very good game. Let them have there 4 years.
ReplyDeleteThe play that killed us was the HORRIBLE 4th down play... We'd been tied 21-21 with all things clicking. We get ball back we wouldnt have to go 5 wide... But o well learn and move on! We can still win out if we improve but they either need to get better and sorry if people disagree but run denard more! If he gets hurt devin isnt a bad back up plan
ReplyDelete#44 MSU pretty much ran over Taylor Lewan during the second to last play giving up the sack on a 3-MAN FRONT!!!
ReplyDeleteWeren't we inside the 10?? If so they should of kicked a field go (Don't give a fuck how windy it is). We have kickers on scholly, so I'm assuming they should kick ANY FG withIN 32 yards. If I am wrong you guys are more than welcome to scold me. I guess thats what one of you fellas was saying:. . . PLAY-CALLING
ReplyDeleteNo i agree with you case! And if they decide to go for it why that play? Put him in shotgun and run him... Denard should have ran atleast 20 times. Not throw as much as he did. Just bad play calling and will see a fired up team next game! Go blue keep fighting
ReplyDeleteThis loss comes down to how we played in the trenches. Our o-line got its butt handed to it today. Denard was rushed all day long and we can agree that he's not the most adept passer as it is. He is, however, our only capable runner, and today we really needed a strong running game, given the weather. I was happy with what I saw from DG today.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting that alot of those busted plays, caused by MSU d-line, were run plays. How can we run the ball when the O-line can't create a hole? Our longest run of the day, which resulted in a touchdown, was the result of a busted pass play that we got lucky on.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that they should have kicked the field goal. Nobody could do anything against the wind and it was pretty much a given that they would get the ball back after a short MSU drive with a chance to put together a game winning drive. I didn't mind going for it either even though it's not what I would have done.....but I sure as hell wouldn't have called for a play action pass when all they needed was 2 inches. Ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteakmed... your forgetting about the "forward pass" earlier in the game.. clearly was a backwards pass.
ReplyDeleteA combination of play calling, some questionable calls by the referees and Denard not showing up was what blew the game. The weather definetly on MSU's side, we couldn't stop the one running back. he ran for 173 yards. We're not there yet.. but we will be soon. I still have full faith in Hoke and Co.
Yea plus our kickers are horrible but we had wind with us and it was a 18 yard kick. Just real dissapointed in the play action call that wasnt even a true play fake with running back spliting out. Just sad day bdcause we had to many chances to score and win the game
ReplyDeleteI agree that there are things we could have done better, no question. However, time and time again our o-line got pushed back and didn't give Denard any time at all. Our line was our biggest weakness today. Not play calling, not weather not the kickers. These all contributed to our loss, but the o-lines play is what gave MSU the chance to win. As much as I hate to say it, MSU was the better team today. If it wasn't for William Gholston and the rest of MSU's undisciplined play, we would have gotten beaten worse.
ReplyDeleteO i agree 100% bkue but how do you beat aggressive d line? Screen plays and i dont remember any which is coaching... Denards rushing looks alot worse when he gets sacked 10 times but yes o line was bad but we should have ran more screens imo
ReplyDeleteThank you Hail!
ReplyDeleteSucks we are right id rather argue devin vs denard and be 7-0 than agree at 6-1... Lets just win out and i can do atleast 11 win season i guess
ReplyDeleteThis game was just a complete screw up. from the players, coaches and the play calling. the only thing that worked for UM was the refs. Now we will find out what kind of players UM has. Will they fold like the past or pull together and win out? I believe they will pull together.
ReplyDeleteGo Blue!!!!
Agree jer89... I think they teach the kids and not scream at them in years past... Either way i know i have to remember its his first year at u of m and had a lot of changes to make from past years. Im pleased with where we are and where we are heading if we pull together
ReplyDeleteI just read this on Big House Blog and thought this just about said it all.
ReplyDeleteMichigan Blows it
The wind blew
Borges game plan blew
Passes blew over the head of Michigan WR's
The kickoff to start the second half blew
The 4th and 1 in the 4th quarter blew chunks.
Some Michigan defenders tackles got nothing but air.
True statements: Michigan State played better and deserved to win the game. Michigan State is a DIRTY team. No doubt about it. Gholsten should have been thrown out twice and is likely to get suspended from the Big Ten. How many personal foul penalties did they get? With that said, they made the plays and won the game as Michigan continued to shoot itself in the foot.
I thought the Michigan defense kept the Wolverines in the game. The MSU offensive line played very well. Michigan didn't have any sacks. Cousins made the throws he needed to and didn't make any bad decisions.
Borges got way out coached by MSU's DC. Was it the wind? Was it Denard's missed throws? It was like Borges didn't have a game plan. Michigan had plenty of opportunities to score a ton of points in this game and they didn't. Some of that was good defense but a lot of it was terrible play calls.
There is 4:00 left and your down by 1 touchdown and you have a RB at WR? Are you freaking kidding me? He knows what a hot read is? Come on Borges, that is just terrible.
BTW: The QB rotation was just wasting downs. We are all in with Denard win or lose. Let him manage the game. Do that sh*t against Minnesota and MAC teams not against MSU.
Borges isn't alone on bad coaching decisions. That 2nd half kickoff, what was the point of that?
How about a couple of reviews guys? The MSU backwards pass. I don't buy that Michigan didn't recover it right away. The 3rd down pass to Gallon, I thought was a terrible spot. Review it! Hoke get a headset on, talk to the guys upstairs and make a decision!
State was aggressive on defense, which gave Michigan problems but that was known going in. The WR routes I saw on TV were too far down field. There was never a quick outlet for Denard to throw. Where were the plays designed for an aggressive defense like screens and draws?
Borges lost this game and should take most of the blame in my mind. MSU didn't do anything that wasn't expected and Michigan didn't do anything about it. Terrible game plan, just awful.
I am not disappointed that Michigan lost, I am upset on how they lost. MSU did what MSU does (get penalties, turn the ball over and play good D) and Michigan didn't do one damn thing about it. What a waste. Take that damn countdown clock down because Borges didn't notice it was there.
I also thought it was a bad call by ESPN to have Urban Meyer calling the game. Just in case he goes to OSU. And Spielmen inter buckeye came out early as well.
ReplyDeleteAbout the screen passes, it seemed to me like when we had to WR's on one side, the outside corner would play on the outside receiver and the inside receiver had nobody within ten yards of him covering. I think we should have took a page out of NU book and ran a few WR screens.
ReplyDeleteAgree100% with you on everything except i like a devin package but dont run gimick plays. The sweep with denard is ok but the kid would start anywhere else let him actually play qb znd not run tripld reverse and cute plays. Use denard and devins abilities. Dont get cute and im sorry but everyone knew msu d was aggressivd and we didnt run one screen to the running backs. Horrible called game on offense. Denard should have ran 30 times not throsn 25 times. 3 and 6 let him scramble. The kid is a runner and with conditions why force it with the wind run and run somd more. We have a great back up if needed
ReplyDeleteIt was a tough day today. State fans threw beers, water, and dirt on me and my friends because we were reppin our Michigan gear. Tired of their thug players and trash fans !
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis speaks for itself when you watch it
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/8T_VsOFe0ek
I agree. Dirty Dirty Dirty. And what about frickin Marcus Rush, throwing down Denard after the play. Ridiculous. Dantonio needs to control his team. One thing I can say for U of M, they don't get a lot of stupid penalties, which is the sign of a disciplined team. We're on the rise Blue. We got punched in the mouth today (literally) and I hope the taste of blood in the mouth serves as a wake-up to everyone on the team, coaches and players. But make no mistake, we are on the rise! GO BLUE!
ReplyDeleteall I can say is AAAAAAAA-MEN Blue-beri... word for word
ReplyDeleteThe future is looking brighter and brighter everyday. It is good to be a UM fan Go Blue.
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ReplyDelete