turtleboy

September 3rd, 2012 at 2:18 PM ^

Fitz and Clark were informed of the suspension around a week before it was announced to the media. They were told so in fairness to them, but they were also told it was in confidence, and a part of Michigans official PR stance would be to announce it later, so if they announced it before the school did they would receive an additional 1 game suspension.

Joined: 04/22/2011

MGoPoints: 35130

cheesheadwolverine

September 3rd, 2012 at 2:12 PM ^

Re Fitz: We are going to score 170 points

Re Clark: Seems strange.  Either it's innocent until proven guilty in which case he shouldn't be suspended at all or it's premeditated home invasion in which case it has to be more than a one-game suspension.  Will he get re-suspended if he is convicted?

Joined: 10/25/2008

MGoPoints: 7515

A Dude

September 3rd, 2012 at 12:46 PM ^

If this has been discussed in one of the many other bama threads, but besides the long td, did Avery make many more mistakes?

I know he isn't the fastest guy, but I'm hoping all of his game experience will be better for the team than playing one of the freshmen.

Joined: 10/10/2011

MGoPoints: 359

robmorren2

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:24 PM ^

It's nice that we don't have to deal with any Micheal Floyd, BJ Cunningham, or Marvin McNutt caliber receivers this year. I can't think of any receivers that really scare me on our schedule. Eifert at ND is good, but he's not Floyd and we survived that.

Joined: 06/04/2011

MGoPoints: 2486

gotohail

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:33 PM ^

Yes... Quite a few actually. He was just lucky enough to only get burned bad a few times but had things gone a little different things would have been much worse. He was lucky a few times when he should have been burned bad. He did make a few good plays and I think that he is better than he played. I'd imagine having to come in and replace a starter unexpectedly while moral was already down in the atmosphere they were in didn't help.

Countess is a better player right now but I hope the extra playing time helps Avery grow as a player.

Joined: 02/26/2012

MGoPoints: 1139

Coldwater

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:04 PM ^

I think that ship has sailed. His future at Michigan and possibly the NFL is at WR. He just isn't a good enough passer. Borgess wants to go downfield and stretch the field vertically. Gardner can't make those throws. I haven't seen enough of Bellomy to know if he can. Morris can, but do you really want a true freshman starting?

Joined: 12/14/2008

MGoPoints: 11234

goblue1213

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:34 PM ^

Shane could be throwing to Treadwell, Gardner, Gallon, Chesson and Darboh. Not to mention Funchess will have had a year to mature physically and Jake Butt is coming in too. The amount of talent that could potentially be there for him to throw to is awesome. Not to mention the kind of o-line we are building. I would love to see Borges throw it around the field the way the Patriots, Saints and Packers do. Imagine a year or 2 of that and the recruits who will want to come here.

Joined: 01/09/2011

MGoPoints: 649

robmorren2

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:20 PM ^

Is anybody else excited to see Frank Clark play? There was a lot of talk about his punishment, but not a lot about his potential. He looked really good in the Sugar Bowl. I think he has Jake Ryan type potential off the edges.

Joined: 06/04/2011

MGoPoints: 2486

OrangeWolverine

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:24 PM ^

I dont think it matters if he's a true freshman, the best players play and we've seen Hoke already prove that. He may have some growing pains but thats what the coaches are there for. We've seen that Morris has the arm strength, and once he's coached up a little bit I think he'll be fine.

Joined: 08/30/2012

MGoPoints: 129

JT4104

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:29 PM ^

If we had more coming back on the Oline next yr in terms of experience in front of shane.

Chad came in to a veteran Oline and WR's to make things easy. Shane would get the benefit of WR's and RB maybe but the Oline would be the downfall.

If Bellomy has made the jump the coaches have said then it might be his job to lose. The bigger problem I see is the lack of depth that wont allow Shane a RS yr to build his muscle and learn the offense without any stress of knowing he could go in at anytime.

Joined: 10/25/2008

MGoPoints: 12328

AmaizeingBlue

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:30 PM ^

Hoke says people want to "gang up on Denard, but they're making a mistake." Says the passing struggles aren't all his fault. Dropped passes, lack of pass-protection.

 

I find this interesting.  I guess the coaches are all really confident in his ability to throw.

Joined: 09/01/2010

MGoPoints: 1957

JT4104

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:41 PM ^

They have to be....Coach Hoke isn't going to throw his senior QB under the bus. The routes weren't crisp but Denard did miss a fair amount of open guys when he didn't really have any pressure either. 

Honestly, I still cringe when he is throwing any ball more than 15 yds because it just seems the accuracy and touch drop a little bit.

Joined: 10/25/2008

MGoPoints: 12328

PurpleStuff

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:49 PM ^

Tyler Wilson is the best QB they faced a season ago.  Against Bama he was 22-35 for 185 with a pick and 2 TDs.  Denard threw for more yards (on fewer opportunities) and accounted for just as many TDs. 

LSU didn't score a touchdown in two games against Bama last year.  Denard ran for one and threw for one in one game.  Their defense held opponents under 200 ypg, Denard topped that with his arm.  They held an undefeated LSU team to under 100 yards in the national title game.  Even if they aren't as good as last year, until proven otherwise it looks like Denard did as well or better than anybody else against those guys.

And Denard's performance came without his top RB and with a starting wideout playing the position for the first time in his life.

Joined: 04/21/2009

MGoPoints: 15969

D.C. Dave

September 3rd, 2012 at 2:26 PM ^

I'm a little tired of all these SEC teams flattering themselves by talking about how great Alabama is, as if that makes all the SEC teams great.

Alabama is a great team, but in my view there is a large gap between Alabama and the rest of the SEC. What Bama did to Michigan, they did to virtually every SEC opponent last year. Indeed, as this poster points out, LSU did not get in the end zone against the Tide in EIGHT quarters of play.

We got dominated, no doubt. But I have watched Bama for years. I'm from Alabama, graduated from Michigan. In several games last year, the Tide did the same -- to Arkansas, Florida, Auburn and LSU. LSU? Less than 100 yards of offense in a national title game? This is the other 'unbeatable' SEC team? Don't think so.

Alabama is a cut above the rest of the league. The departed seniors on defense meant very little. The team had its QB back, veteran lines and returning LBs. The losses were easily plugged. Plus, Saban has handed out like 163 scholarships over the past six seasons. That's an average of 27 guys, every year, with some of those replacing players who were basically cut or run off.

In fact, this Bama team might be better than last year's simply because McCarron is experienced now. Last year, he was trying to nail down the job.

After Bama, I see a bunch of SEC teams that are distant seconds. Does anyone really think John L. Smith is going to lead Arkansas to victory over Bama this year? Not happening. And I think Bama will beat LSU if the game is played in Miles' backyard. It's a coaching mismatch and Saban has increased the talent gap between his team and the rest of the league.

If we had faced any other SEC team on Saturday, it would have been a different game. Who knows if we would've won. But we definitely would've been better able to hang with the other teams in the league. We played the best team in the country. That does not make every other team in their league as good as them, as much as SEC fans want to portray it that way. Their allegedly superior SEC teams have been getting killed by Bama and it will happen again this season.

 

Joined: 09/02/2010

MGoPoints: 353

RadioMuse

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:37 PM ^

He apparently tore one or more ligaments in his knee.  He should be out of the year and even when he's back he might not be quite the same again...  That's the sad nature of that kind of knee injury.

I hope he shows great patience and grace and recovers fully and gets back up to his full speed or better.  It can be done.

Joined: 03/20/2012

MGoPoints: 311

RadioMuse

September 3rd, 2012 at 1:34 PM ^

I can deal with that.  From what we've seen of both it seems like it's possibly a wise a move.  Especially since Borges seems determined to shift us away from running the QB.  If we're not calling Gardner's number in the rushing game I'd rather see him at reciever where he has the physical tools to be truly elite.

More importantly THANK YOU HOLY BABY JESUS that Lewan is okay.

Frank Clark will be nice to have back.  Particularly since I think we'll be going to the "fast package" D-line against Air Force, it's good to have someone who can rotate into that without any loss of athleticism.

The glorious return of Toussaint combined with not NFL factory defence should see a solid rushing game return to our Wolverines starting Saturday and continuing throughout the season. 

No more crimes or injuries, please and thank you?

Joined: 03/20/2012

MGoPoints: 311

M-Dog

September 3rd, 2012 at 10:46 PM ^

This^^^.  People keep talking about DG's move to WR as some kind of demotion, as if he could not cut it at QB and they had to find a place to stick him.

He's at WR because he's a stud and it's a posiiton of need.  He helps us there the most.  We saw glimpses of this at the Alabama game.

Bellomy's emergence at QB allows this to happen.  It does not cause this to happen.

 

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257517

PurpleStuff

September 3rd, 2012 at 2:17 PM ^

12 guys got into the Bama game at the 5 DL+SLB spots and a number of guys jumped around and played multiple positions.  We posted 5 TFL and 2 sacks.  Bama posted 5 TFL and 1 sack.  Brink and Ojemudia (who I didn't expect anything from) contributed 2 TFL between them.  BWC had 5 tackles and a sack.  If Pipkins is seeing the field that gives us 4 blue-chip 300+ pounders who can rotate at the tackle spots.

Adding Clark to this mix and not going against the best offensive line in the country is going to yield some very positive results.

Joined: 04/21/2009

MGoPoints: 15969