UM Football Recruiting - by WM Wolverine

[Hannibal]

Does this also mean we'll be able to sign a full class again finally in '16?

Scholarship guys who will graduate in 2016 are:

Bellomy
Hayes
Houma
Norfleet
Funchess
Williams
Bryant
Miller
Pipkins
Heitzman
Ojemudia
Bolden
Ross
RJS
Richardson
Countess
Wilson

So -- 17 guys. Not a ton. Attrition will presumably push it up a little bit.

[Hannibal]

Looking at that list -- some good players, but very few guys who are leaving behind a hole that hasn't been filled with one or two blue-chippers from the 2013 or 2014 classes. I'm expecting really big things from the 2015 and 2016 teams. That's where we'll find out what Hoke's ceiling is.

[Rob F]

An unofficial list of Football Recruits for tomorrow; some already committed :

http://touchthebanner.blogspot.com/2013/09/visitors-michigan-vs-notre-dame.html

...best "free" list I can find, as most others are paywalled.

[WM Wolverine]

Class of '16 should be relatively large; 22+ after attrition as there is lots of time for attrition before that class signs.

[Rocky Bleier]

Cole IS visiting and yes, Cole has mentioned he likes playing CB. Not sure where M is recruiting him for. With two DB's already committed for '15 and an 'elite' WR, he'd be a #2 receiver or the #3 DB. Neither of which are high priorities in a very small recruiting class.

If he's better than the other DBs, pursue him hard. Can't hand over the best player in the state to msu because of numbers.

[hack]

Yes, exactly. Step on d'Antonio's poor heart, again and again and again.

[Da Geezer]

I stayed up to watch USC. They are terrible. Kiffin may have a great reputation, but he surely does not put the product on the field. UM should go after Juju Smith and any other USC leans right away. There is going to be a new coach at USC, and I am just stupid enough to believe recruits value continuity.

UM has problems on the line; both lines. I remember only one sack ( by Beyer) and too little pressure. It is a good thing that M's toughest part of the schedule is the final 5 games.

Hand should have seen an opening for a first rate pass rusher. I hope he has given a silent commit like the "experts" say.

[lineygoblue]

I think we got a total of 3 sacks, but I'll have to check.

Hand got to see in person what kind of effect he can have in a game like this. I don't know what else Michigan can do to convince him that Ann Arbor is the right fit for him.

[WM Wolverine]

Standard 'fluff' about how much recruits enjoyed their visits; re: Hand, McDowell, Cornell, etc. Hopefully more in-depth interviews in a day or two but M insiders are quite confident about the two '14 DL targets...

FWIW the in-state talent in Michigan is going to be much, much better in '16 than in '15. Instead of 2-4 guys M 'might' have interest in for '15, they'll probably target 6-9 in-state recruits which will be nice since it'll be a 'relatively' large class for Hoke.

[Jeff Buchanan]

On the defense against ND.......

I used to post attempts at extensive analysis of games. I was probably wrong in what I said about 97% of the time. I started to realize that with the advent of mgoblog.

Brian started his UFRs. While he lacks game tapes that the coaches use, has to do a lot of guessing at what the play was designed to do (and he is very good at it), he still has decent video and that video, wherever it comes from, gets increasingly better. He also has a knack for detail and the time to go through a game. He does a much better job on that than my meager attempts did so, I just shut up about that now.

That being said, I don't think it is possible for fans to make broad statements about the effectiveness of individual players or definitive statements about the defense as a whole either good or bad. There is so much going on during each play, it is nearly impossible to process it all with one set of eyes.

Moreover, game strategies on offense, defense and special teams that ultimately drive play selection are intimately tied together. What Al does on offense at one point in game time and what Greg does on defense will often depend on what the other does at some point in time. So, neither can be looked at as good or bad independently and,clearly, the play calling is going to be dynamic.

Ok, because I can't keep my trap shut about most things, I think I can make some general observations about the defense:

Our group unanimously viewed the rather meek defense versus ND as a planned strategy that in the end produced a win when combined with what the offense was doing. While there was the appearance that the DL was getting handled by ND's OL, The UFR will probably show they held ther own?

Before the game, I saw as one of the keys to victory a requirement for an aggressive defense that got in Reese's face so that he could not sit back there and fire strikes. Something he does well as we saw. Blitzes did happen but a lot less than I would have liked but when it happened, it was very effective. If Mattison was baiting Reece, he got two turnovers in the process. That is huge in a game where the offense can capitalize and they did.

Fans were left with the impression that it was giving up first down after first down both through the air and on the ground. Something I did notice, though, is that there was never any YAC. Also interestingly, M's D gave up something less than 100 yards rushing after sack yardage is subtracted and only 23 points from inside the red zone. It never felt like that from the stands. I thought M was getting gashed. In the big scheme of things, they weren't.

My view is that as long as the offense was racking up points and ultimately controlling the game, there was no need to throw the kitchen sink at Reese, blitzing him continuously while potentially allowing multiple big plays over the heads of the defense.

As well, as long as the defense appeared to be able to keep ND's offense out of the end zone, the offense could be a little bolder and I think it was and again our group had a lot praise for the work of Gardner/Borges. About as much, if not more, than I have heard here.

In contrast, Diaco's D got burned a whole lot more than Mattison's for some big first downs and especially in the red zone. Gardner was very effective from inside the 20 against it. Michigan was 4-4 in the red zone continuing their excellent job there; ND was 2-5. I attribute M's advantage there to Diaco's mad blitzing v. Mattison's patient and selective pressure.

All in all, Hoke put Kelley in a position where he had to call the game from behind. That is a strategy that both Hoke and Borges have stressed. That dictated more aggressive play calling on both defense and offense for ND. While ND did put a scare in us a few times when it looked like the Domers would mount a come back, in the end it worked perfectly.

Speaking of play calling, the only bitch I had with Borges is, given Diaco's penchant to blitz, putting Gardner in the gun inside m's own 20 nearly doomed the overall game strategy. The offense got in more trouble doing that than at any point in the game. You put the ball 8 yards behind the line of scrimmage when you do that and risk a costly sack or turnover on a well timed blitz. Just run the play from under center please. If you want to pass, dink and dunk it out of there. I didn't see that and was disappointed.

[geo weidl]

Something I did notice, though, is that there was never any YAC.

One thing that I had noticed, as good as reese was, his receivers made some great catches. But the DBs were on these receivers many times. The one player that seemed to have trouble covering was Taylor, but in the end he made two key plays in the last quarter- 1. solo tackle down in the red zone stopping nd from a first down and 2. deflecting that pass in the end for the interception by Countess.

[Da Geezer]

I too watched the game again on tape.

ND had two TDs on tipped balls, one on which their own man tipped it. That idiot Shinkle said that UMs tip at the end of the game was an equalizer, but DBs are told to tip the ball, not WRs! I think UM's strategy was to make Reese beat us, which is why UM did not blitz or get a great deal of pressure on the ND QB. I have trouble believing that Hoke thought we would score 41 points; I doubt he thought we would give up 30. I think that both Reese and ol' 98 had better games than expected. But NDs defense was not as good as last year, and that was the difference.

I really like the new offense in the red zone. ND had the same problems in a compressed field that UM always had with Robinson. Spread teams seem to be much less effective near the goal line.

[hack]

I think confidence in the safties was a factor. You blitz differently when you have Kovacs back there.

I agree about red zone and shotgun. I hated the call from the 2 where Gardner looped back to the 10.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I think confidence in the safties was a factor. You blitz differently when you have Kovacs back there.

I agree about red zone and shotgun. I hated the call from the 2 where Gardner looped back to the 10.

On blitzing ..... I agree with that to an extent but I think we've seen solid play out of everyone who has played SS and FS, especially tackling.

Moreover, when Mattison blitzes, as I understand it, he relies more on excellent man coverage from his CBs than he does on rolling a S over. The Ss in Mattison's D, when he blitzes, appear to play center field to cut off a receiver that gets open down field and then makes a catch.

So far, Countess and Taylor have been much better than expected in terms of man coverage.

I do agree with previous points made that Hoke wanted to see if Reese could beat M's D by himself. Given that he had 53 pass attempts out of 72 plays indicates that both he and Kelley saw an M defense that encouraged a pass call.

That Reese had a completion rate near or below .50 proved he couldn't. Hokeattison were right I'd guess although I sure cringed on every pass Reese completed and, from the stands, it felt like he was picking M's nickle D apart. On further review, he wasn't.

[Hannibal]

You probably couldn't blitz Rees anyways. He's a highly experienced guy being coached by an offensive-minded coach. I expect to see a lot more blitzes against guys like Hackenberg and whatever sorry sap is playing QB for MSU.