What happens at the Big House

Chris Wormly dominates in highschool (Exclusive video Everything Michigan and More)

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Big House BBQ Picture from Allen Gant

It was an exciting day in Ann Arbor with the commitment made publicly by Chris Wormley to UofM. It was nice that he picked today to announce. Allen Gant gave permission personally  to our site to post his BBQ picture so please don't steal it! Take a good look at these faces! This will be the future of Michigan football. Thank you Allen and can't wait to come watch you this season at Southview! Go Blue!

Bo Denver,Kyle Kalis,Tom Strobel,Chris Wormley,Ben Braden,Allen Gant,Shane Morris
 future all Big Ten performers and All-Americans

Wormley commits to Michigan!

Chris Wormley from Toledo,Whitmer and my hometown just committed to Michigan! And I am so happy, I have the pleasure of watching him play on friday nights and I would like to tell everyone Chris will be a huge player in the future of Michigan football. Every game that I have had the pleasure of seeing was a Wormley highlight reel in the making. He is very exciting to watch and to those of you that don't know about Chris you're going to soon find out! Toledo Whitmer will be in the news a lot this season! He is the heart of the defense and is a monster on the field. I know some of the Ohio fans are mad now! They thought Chris was a lock for them! I knew better but I let them talk! Well sorry about your luck guys! Congratulations Chris! Go Blue!

UM Basketball gets commit Zak Irvin

Zak Irvin committed to Michigan today! Great news for Michigan basketball fans! With offers from Purdue,Indiana,Baylor,Miami,Xavier and Michigan  He becomes commitment #3 in the Wolverines’ 2013 class.
  • ESPN: No. 74, 4-star, 92/100
  • Rivals: 4-star, No. 97
  • Scout: 3-star, No. 22 SF

Zak Irvin is a HT. 6-6  WT 175lb  Position SG
Class of 2013
From Hamilton Southeastern HS 
          Fishers, Indiana



Congratulations Zak on your decision to GO BLUE! 






Picture from scout.com

Saturday, July 30, 2011

BIG HOUSE BB'Q

Everyone be ready here at the blog for any and all breaking news on any commits at the BIG HOUSE BBQ ...I am on twitter @no1repoman...follow me for breaking news...I have an inside source at the BBQ today and will be tweeting all day long what I hear. GO BLUE!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Big House BBQ this weekend!!

As you may know the Big House BBQ is this weekend. Brady Hoke is continuing the tradition on Sunday July 31st. This is an invite only event and no media should be present! Below is a list of the confirmed visitors.


Uncommitted Targets
2012
  • Bri’onte Dunn RB
  • Monty Madaris WR
  • Chris Wormley DE
  • Danny O’Brien DT
  • Jehu Chesson WR
  • Ondre Pipkins DT
  • Sheldon Day DT
WR Aaron Burbridge  also said he was coming but with the latest announcement to commit at MSU I would say this is very unlikely!

2013
  • Wyatt Shallman – RB
  • Jonny Reschke – RB
  • Steve Elmer – OL
Committed
2012
  • Joe Bolden – LB 
  • Ben Braden - OL
  • Devin Funchess - TE
  • Allen Gant - S
  • Matt Godin - DE/DT
  • Royce Jenkins-Stone - LB
  • Kyle Kalis - OL
  • Mario Ojemudia - DE/LB
  • James Ross - LB
  • Terry Richardson - CB
  • Kaleb Ringer – LB
  • Caleb Stacey – OL
  • Tom Strobel - DE
2013
  • Shane Morris – QB
  • Jeremy Clark – S
 There is also a good chance 2013 RB prospect Dymonte Thomas will also be attending


The barbecue's laid-back atmosphere it allows prospects to talk with U-M coaches under less formal circumstances.They will have a chance to meet other commits/prospects while at the same time get a small taste of the Michigan  football love. 

Past barbecue's featured chicken, burgers and hot dogs. If this years event is like past events due to NCAA rules, Michigan will have to charge the recruits/prospects and their families for the meal.

A couple of the prospects to be on commit watch this weekend are Chris Wormley and Ondre Pipkins I have a very good feeling about these two!

Everyone have a great time and Go Blue!

Gunner Keil and Aaron Burbridge commit elsewhere!!

Well as some of you may know on my birthday July 27th my computer crashed so I am sorry If this news comes late to you! I spent most of the day getting my new laptop in order so I can keep the Michigan news coming! I was in Ann Arbor the 26th and I hope everyone was able to see the latest pictures I took of the construction of the Big House scoreboard and Crisler Arena. If not the video is posted on this blog.
Ok well as you all know I have been following Gunner Kiel all year hoping he would commit to Michigan and well it looks like Gunner has made his decision and has picked Indiana. This information came from one of my best Michigan sources Allen Trieu of Scout.com. This was very disappointing for me because I had him on my Top 3 wishlist. Indiana got a great QB and I am sure he will be one to watch in the future. Well best of l luck to you Gunner I hope everything goes well for you. And I am happy you stayed in the Big 10 so I can watch you play against Michigan someday! Below I posted Allen Tweet
Allen Trieu

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Fans View!

Living in Ohio, it is only natural that I hear about Ohio State more than any other school…all the more so because I am a Michigan fan. I don’t really mind hearing about another school, but I do mind the hypocrisy I have been hearing a lot lately. When Michigan got caught breaking the NCAA’s workout rules, many OSU fans ribbed Michigan fans...which most of us didn’t mind because we found it as ironic and as funny as everyone else. When the USC scandal broke, everyone, and I mean everyone, was calling for the book to be thrown at them. (Please note, the book being thrown and the “death penalty” are not the same. Southern Methodist still has not recovered from the “death penalty”, and no fan should wish that on any school). When the issues with Newton came up, many claimed SEC bias because, as of yet, he and Auburn got off free and clear. UConn, Texas Tech, and many others had recruiting violations, and I am fairly certain if a microscope was put to every school, some sort of violation would come up. That being said, OSU has taken the preverbal cake on violations. I am not going to rehash the violations, nor am I going to speculate if more will turn up. I am, though, going to ask why is it now that it is THEE Ohio State University that is the rule breaker, many fans are crying foul? The amount of rules broken by OSU makes this one of the, if not the, largest scandal in NCAA history. That is a big deal. SOOOOO, that being said, why wouldn’t there be a punishment fitting of the violations? The same fans that wanted so much more to happen to Michigan for a workout violation, the same fans that make fun of Michigan’s record (p.s. your record is now 0-13 for last year), the same fans that wanted the book thrown at Auburn and USC. Hypocrisy is the only answer I can think of. The NCAA has rules. Some of those rules seem may seem silly, but they are still the rules. The schools that wish to play under the NCAA umbrella must follow those rules, to the letter, or pay the consequences. After all, it is a choice.
Hopefully something good will come out of this, and all the other recent scandals. Schools, such as Oregon, are coming clean with violations without being prompted. Maybe the NCAA will even look into their compliance officer set up (that is an entirely different topic I hope to get into soon in another blog). After all we, the fans of the NCAA, want integrity. Now we should demand it….from the schools, from the players, from the NCAA itself, and even from us, the fans.

Big Ten Media Day


Today was the largest summer event for Big Ten Football. All the coaches were allowed to give a speech and held a question and answer session with the media. Some highlights of Brady Hoke's speech and the question & answer session:

Hoke talked about the special rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State and said you're not human if you aren't hyped for that game.

The coaching staff is smart enough to incorporate some spread features into the offense next season to fully maximize the players and specifically Denard Robinson.

He's looking forward to fall camp and sees it as the best place for developing this team.

Hoke talked about how this is and always will be a senior-lead team.

Michigan is not rebuilding. He feels that Michigan has enough pieces in place to be great.

No decision on Stonum at this point and his status with the team.

On recruiting success, he simply stated that, "We're Michigan." He sees the school's reputation doing as much work as him and his staff, but he admits his staff has been very active.

He says team is looking forward to the Under the Lights showdown with Notre Dame on September 10th, but wants to keep the focus on September 3rd game against Western at this point.

For the full video:

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Michigan number 2 recruiting class according to Rivals


Michigan was ranked number 2 in Rivals recruiting rankings.

Texas was the only school above it in the Rivals ranking. Brady Hoke who is a first year coach has been ripping through recruiting this year. This has been a good surprise to the fans of Michigan.

Other Big 10 rankings in the top 20 are, OSU 18 and Wisconsin 20. Notre Dame is 17th in the Rivals rank.


http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/teamrank/2012/all/all

Construction of New Scoreboard and Crisler Arena

Monday, July 25, 2011

Jordan Taylor and the USA softball team win 2011 World Championship!

Jordan Taylor Michigan softball sensation was the starting pitcher in the USA vs Japan in the World Cup of Softball championship. Jordan was on fire for most of the game pitching through 6 innings before she handed off the ball to USA pitcher Chelsea Thomas the Missouri star. After a rally in the 7th by Japan team USA knocked off Japan in the championship 6-4 to secure the victory. Team USA's only loss was to team Canada in the first game.

Congratulations to all the entire team  for this great victory!

As many of you know, the International Olympic Committee voted to eliminate softball from the Olympics.  They say softball give the USA an unfair advantage because we are so good.  Here is a petition to reinstate softball to the Olympic games.  Please take a moment to sign it.
http://www.petitiononline.com/olysoftb/

FB Sione Houma Commits

Sione Houma a fullback recruit from Salt Lake City,Utah. The Highland running back verbally committed to the University of Michigan this afternoon. He's the 20th member of U-M's 2012 class. Verbal commitments are nonbinding until national letters of intent are signed in February. 

The 6-foot, 210-pound fullback was a late bloomer during his junior season last year, but was instrumental in leading the Rams to the 4A state championship. He finished the year with 1,064 yards rushing and seven TDs, and amazingly 661 of those yards and five TDs came in the final three rounds of the state playoffs.

Good Luck to Sione and Go Blue!!!

Jordan Taylor gets the start in tonights championship!

 The Americans only had to play four innings on Sunday. And after a 10-0 crushing victory over Great Britain team USA advanced to the gold medal round against Japan, The big blow of Team USA’s 10-run explosion  in the fourth was a grand slam by shortstop Stacy May-Johnson. Japan's ace pitcher (Yukiko Ueno) will get the start tonight.

Team USA is expected to start University of Michigan pitcher Jordan Taylor, but coach Ken Eriksen said “the entire staff will be ready to go.” 

The finals tonight (8:30 EDT on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com)

NFL lockout comes to an end!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

2011 High School Finalists for the Butkus Award

Out of the 51 finalists for the 2011 high school Butkus Award five Michigan commits make the cut. Joe Bolden, Royce Jenkins-Stone, Mario Ojemudia, Kaleb Ringer and James Ross. The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker, Dick Butkus

 Traditionally, the award was given only to the top collegiate linebacker. The Butkus Award was expanded in 2008 to include high school and professional winners.

1991 - Erick Anderson, Michigan won the collegiate award

For a look of the rest of the finalist please click the following link



Jordan Taylor Gets Saturday Save for Team USA

Jordan brought in at bottom of the 6th as third US pitcher in game over Japan, a must-win game for the US after losing to Canada earlier in the day.  US up 8-4, but first reliever in trouble.  Jordan strikes out batter to end the inning, then strikes out all three batters she faces in the 7th, the first being a 10-pitch outing.  Commentator: "Great battle won by Jordan Taylor."

Team USA Just crushed Great Britain today 10-0 in 4 innings to advance to the championship on Monday night on ESPN 2! Not much of a game here. Hope the Championship is a much better game!


Way to go Jordan and Team USA

The Freshmen get numbers!

Kellen Jones not listed: No official word yet but if the rumors are true we will not be seeing Mr. Jones this season. As soon as we get official word we will post something!
Christian Pace not listed: Medical rumors could be the reason?

Your Football Freshmen, Now With Digits:

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. State
3 Russell Bellomy QB 6'3 178 TX
5 Justice Hayes RB 5'10 175 MI
8 Blake Countess DB 5'10 175 MD
20 Tamani Carter DB 5'11 175 OH
21 Raymon Taylor DB 5'10 170 MI
24 Delonte Hollowell DB 5'9 170 MI
35 Greg Brown CB 5'10 180 OH
36 Joe Kerridge# FB 6'0 239 MI
38 Thomas Rawls RB 5'10 220 MI
40 Antonio Poole LB 6'2 210 OH
44 Desmond Morgan LB 6'1 225 MI
45 Matt Wile K 6'2 210 CA
57 Frank Clark LB 6'2 210 OH
58 Chris Bryant OL 6'4 330 IL
60 Jack Miller OL 6'4 268 OH
61 Graham Glasgow# OL 6'6 316 IL
62 Dallas Williams# OL 6'3 312 MI
71 Gary Yerden# OL 6'5 328 MI
79 Tony Posada OL 6'4 330 FL
82 Chris Barnett TE 6'5 250 TX
92 Keith Heitzman DE 6'3 237 OH
95 Chris Rock DE 6'5 250 OH
97 Brennen Beyer DE 6'3 225 MI                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Friday, July 22, 2011

Fan Day at Michigan

Fan Day Slated for Sunday, August 14, at Michigan Stadium
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan football program will hold its annual Fan Day on Sunday, Aug. 14, at Michigan Stadium. The autograph session and opportunity to meet the 2011 Wolverines team will run approximately from 2-3:30 p.m. EDT.
The event is free and open to the public. All gates at the Big House will open starting at 1 p.m. Parking will be available in the lots adjacent to Michigan Stadium and Pioneer High School. In order to expedite the autograph process and accommodate as many fans as possible, players and Head Coach Brady Hoke will autograph one item per person.
Hoke will sign autographs on the Michigan Stadium field.  Michigan players will be signing autographs along the north and south concourses at the concession stands by position groups. The offensive players will be located along the north side of the Big House between sections 29 and 38, with the defensive players residing on the south side between sections 8 and 18.
This is a Great time for all Michigan fans hope to see you all there! Go Blue!

Former Wolverine Pitcher Gets 1st Start Tonight

Former Michigan Softball player Jordan Taylor gets her first start tonight for the USA National Team at the World Cup of Softball being played in Oklahoma City, Ok. Jordan will be on the mound tonight as Team USA takes on Australia at 8PM EST on ESPN. Jordan holds several career records at UM including appearances (162) starts (124) innings pitched (853.2) winning percentage (.863) strikeouts (1220) and no-hitters (8). She also holds the career marks for wins (107) and saves (17) which is a very rare combo. Jordan is coming off a senior season at UM where she had a 31-5 record with an ERA of 1.51 which garnered her 2010 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. Good Luck Jordan I know I'll be watching and rooting you on!!!!!!! GOBLUE!!!!!!!!!

"He Can Play Well Until He Hits the Red Zone"


Part II

Well, I rambled a bit in the last post, so I'm going to try and keep Part II of my analysis of Denard Robinson's quarterbacking a bit more concise. Since I think analyzing the quarterback on any team is a difficult task, I'm dividing this into three pieces. Part I focused on his throwing ability, Part II will focus on his ability to score in the red zone, and Part III is an analysis of Denard's success against "good" teams.

So when determing Denard's ability to score in the red zone it would make sense to look at Michigan's offensive stats from last season. Michigan had the most offensive yards of any Big Ten last year, but seemed dropped off a little in actual scoring. Michigan had the 3rd best scoring offense and the worst red zone success rate in the Big Ten. So with a quick glance, anybody looking at these stats can see Michigan could move the ball, but they seemed to have quite a bit of trouble in actually putting points on the board when it counted.

So Michigan's 2010 red zone offense seemed to leave much to be desired, but before we place all the blame on Denard, let's take a look at the team's scheme. Is this failure to convert in the red zone something that can be linked to Rich Rodriguez's offenses, or is this more correlated with Denard Robinson? Well, with a look at West Virginia's offensive statistics, it can be seen that Michigan's poor red zone scoring offense cannot be linked to Rich Rod's schemes. Rich Rod's teams at West Virginia boasted red zone success rates near 90%, much higher than Michigan's 78% in 2010.

So what was the difference between Michigan's 2010 offense and Rich Rodriguez's West Virginia teams? What could possibly have caused a 12% drop in red zone success when players are using the same schemes? The easiest way to explain this drop seems to be to point at the quarterback, Denard Robinson. If you look at Denard's stats, he only passed for 7 more touchdowns than interceptions and seemed to struggle at points in the red zone. Denard's inability to throw these touchdowns seems the most obvious cause of the drop off from Rich Rod's earlier teams.

However, with a little more analysis, this doesn't seem to add up. In fact, in 2006, Pat White's stats ended up being almost identical to Denard's passing stats. Pat White threw just 6 more touchdowns than interceptions (5 fewer total touchdowns than Denard), had a 65.9% completion percentage (3.4% higher than Denard), and had 1655 yards (about 900 less than Denard).

So what this tells us is that Pat White was not that much better of a passer than Denard in 2006. So if Denard performed near the same level as West Virginia's quarterback, then what caused the 12% drop off? I point, not to Denard Robinson as the cause of Michigan's poor red zone success last season, though some is surely his fault, but to Michigan's running backs.

Although Denard made a significant impact as a runner as well as a passer, this cannot discount Michigan's poor performance at running back. This is because Pat White was almost, or just as good or a runner as Denard. In 2006, the season where West Virginia had an almost 90% red zone success rate, Pat White ended up with 18 touchdowns (4 more than Denard) and over 1200 yards (500 less than Denard).

However, West Virginia's 2006 offense had another rushing threat to complement White which Michigan lacked in 2010. Not only did Pat White put up amazing numbers as a quarterback, but Steve Slaton did some great things as a running back. He scored 16 touchdowns (9 more than the highest Michigan running back) and ran for over 1700 yards (almost 1100 more than Michigan's highest running back).

So what we can say based on this data is that Slaton had much more success than any single Michigan running back. However, anyone who watched last season knows that Michigan used several running backs. So what I did was add together the top 3 running backs on both West Virginia and Michigan for touchdowns and yards. West Virginia top 3 running backs ended up with 8 more touchdowns and over 1100 more yards than the top 3 running backs from Michigan.

Bottom line, West Virginia's performance from its running backs was far superior to the performance of Michigan's running backs. Though running backs shouldn't be accountable for all the offensive production, they are vitally important in the red zone. With a strong running back attack like that West Virginia, Michigan's red zone numbers would surely have improved. Since Michigan already scored more passing touchdowns than West Virginia, closing the gap for rushing would have been an enormous improvement.

So the data seems to show that Denard shouldn't be blamed for most of Michigan's red zone woes, but let's take a look at his turnover margin. Since red zone success is determined by scoring, let's take a glance at Denard's scoring numbers. Denard ended up with 18 passing touchdowns, but threw 11 interceptions. Though this was a massive improvement from 2009 (See Part I on Denard), this still appears to be a place for improvement. A +7 td/int ratio is not anything to brag about seeing that almost all the other Big Ten quarterbacks had a higher ratio.

However, there's one glaring omission from this ratio. Denard Robinson had almost as many rushing touchdowns as passing touchdowns. For example, Kirk Cousins had a +10 td/int ratio, but only had 1 rushing touchdown. If you add this, he ends up with a +11 td/int ratio. However, if you add Denard's rushing touchdowns to his ratio, he ends up having a +21 td/int ratio. Though this isn't exactly a perfect statistic, it's important to realize that his passing touchdowns numbers most likely were decreased from his frequent use of his legs to score.

Is Denard a perfect red zone quarterback? Of course not, but simply blaming Michigan's poor red zone success on him is not right either. In fact, Michigan's red zone success actually IMPROVED in 2010 with Denard Robinson in the quarterback position. With an analysis of West Virginia's offensive numbers, it can be seen that Michigan's poor running back success most likely had much more to do with Michigan's poor red zone success than anything Denard did or didn't do last season. Along with this, simply pointing at his +7 td/int ratio can't be seen a proof he "can't" play well in the red zone because it ignores his success as a runner.

I can't wait for Part III and make sure to follow me on Twitter:

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

"Under the Lights" Simulation


For those of you searching for anything related to Michigan and specifically in relation to this fall's "Under the Lights" game against Notre Dame, look no further. In a recent simulation done by MrLux in the game NCAA Football 2012, Michigan was set to face Notre Dame.

However, this is not the interesting part. What is interesting is that MrLux created almost perfect replicas of Michigan and Notre Dame's throwback jerseys and set the location at night in the Big House.

Though the real game will probably look and unfold much differently, it's a pretty neat set-up and may let people have a sneak peek at what this epic game might look like.

For the video click this link:


And for more updates follow me on Twitter:

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Michigan 2010-2011 Photo Contest


The University of Michigan's athletic site created a bracket where fans can vote for their favorite picture from the last season. Pictures rang from Denard being lifted during the Notre Dame game to a swim cap sitting poolside.

To vote for your favorite picture, click the following link:


Also follow me on Twitter for more updates:

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Desmond Howard 1 of 16 into the College Football Hall of Fame

It's been 20 years since he won the Heisman Trophy and now Michigan star receiver Desmond Howard gets into the College Hall of Fame.

"You got to understand I won the Heisman within the rhythm of our offense. ... We had guys who could tote the pill and we toted it, we just didn't throw the ball to 21. We tried to run the ball, that was still our primary goal."

Congratulations to Desmond for a great accomplishment !!! GO BLUE!

Also enshrined Saturday night were: Dennis Byrd (North Carolina State, DT, 1965-67); Ronnie Caveness (Arkansas, LB, 1962-64); Ray Childress (Texas A&M, DL, 1981-84); Dexter Coakley (Appalachian State, LB, 1993-96); Randy Cross (UCLA, OG, 1973-75); Sam Cunningham (Southern California, RB, 1970-72); Michael Favor (North Dakota State, C, 1985-88); Charles Haley (James Madison, DE, 1982-85); Mark Herrmann (Purdue, QB, 1977-80); Clarkston Hines (Duke, WR, 1986-89); Howard (Michigan, WR, 1989-91); Mickey Kobrosky (Trinity College, Back, 1933-36); Chet Moeller (Navy, DB, 1973-75); Jerry Stovall (LSU, HB, 1960-62); Pat Tillman (Arizona St., LB, 1994-97); Alfred Williams (Colorado, LB, 1987-90).; coach Barry Alvarez (Wisconsin, 1990-2005); coach Mike Kelly (Dayton, 1981-2007); coach Bill Manlove (Widener, 1969-91; Delaware Valley, 1992-95; La Salle, 1997-2001); coach Gene Stallings (Texas A&M, 1965-71; Alabama, 1990-96).

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

"Sure, he can run, but when he has to throw, he can't do anything"


Part I

Last weekend, when speaking with several friends, I was astounded by the lack of faith in Denard Robinson's abilities at the quarterback position. Though it's quite common for a quarterback to receive scrutiny from fans, it baffled me that people would blame one of the few players with a productive 2010 season.

The biggest criticisms of Denard seemed to rest upon his "inability" to throw accurate passes, "failure" to convert in the red-zone, and inability to compete against "good" teams. Though there is probably some elements of truth in each one of these criticisms, I'd like to analyze whether these criticisms actually hold real significance. I'm dividing my analysis into 3 sections, with the first focusing on his passing abilities.

"Sure, he can run, but when he has to throw, he can't do anything"

Since Denard took his first snap against Western, we've all heard the rants against his passing abilities. Everyone recognized Denard's instant ability to run and move the ball, but many criticized his accuracy and throwing. Though there's some truth to these claims, with further analysis, his passing abilities seem far more established than believed by many.

During the 2009 season, I don't think anybody would claim that Denard was even an average passer. Denard not only routinely missed open receivers and reads, but he almost constantly seemed to be pressured and in a panic-mode. Though he only attempted 31 passes in 2009, he completed just 14 passes, making his completion percentage 45.2%.

However, what's horrifying about Denard's 2009 debut was that in just 31 passes he threw 4 interceptions. That means almost 13% of his passes were intercepted. For example, Denard threw 291 passes in 2010. If he had held the same interception ratio from 2009 he would have thrown 37.55 interceptions. Just contemplating those statistics can make one realize how bad Denard was as a passer in 2009.

So after after the 2009 season, there was almost a unanimous agreement that Denard's passing was FAR behind his rushing abilities (if you even wanted to compare them at all). Denard did outstanding as a runner, 351 yards and 5 touchdowns, but performed horribly as a passer, throwing an interception in almost 13% of his passes. Although Denard seemed destined to be moved to another position on the field, though a lot of this was due to Tate Forcier's success as quarterback, he made a massive improvement over the off-season.

Denard went from completing just 45.2% of his passes to a much improved 62.5% in 2010. He ended up passing for 2570 yards and 18 touchdowns. However, his interception numbers still remained high at 11, but with 291 passes, this means that he brought his interception rate down from almost 13% to just 3.7% over one off-season.

So what does this mean? Denard's passing went through a major improvement, but this alone doesn't make Denard a solid passer. I mean Denard was so horrifying as a passer in 2009 that simply improving isn't saying much. It's like Eastern Michigan doubling their win total, they will be better, but still a losing team (sorry Eastern fans). So what makes Denard a legitimate passing quaterback? Well, let's look at his stats for a second.

The first thing that strikes out is Denard's 62.5% completion rate. Is this the top rate in the Big Ten? No, but that doesn't mean that Denard is a poor passer. In fact, look at the stats, out of the 5 quarterbacks with a higher completion percentage (Stanzi, Tolzien, and Pryor are no longer in the Big Ten) only Persa and Tolzien are more than 5% higher than Denard. Plus, Denard had less pass attempts than all of the Big Ten quarterbacks with a higher completion percentage. Granted, you cannot assume Denard's completion percentage would have improved, but I think it's fair to say that a quarterback that is less than 5% behind others who have almost 50 more pass attempts cannot be called a significantly weaker passer than the others.

An even deeper look was done by MGoBlog last season. Instead of using raw numbers for completion percentage, they actually went through and analyzed every pass. For example, if a pass is dropped, the numbers are not counted against Denard. If you recall, there were a number of dropped passes last season, which hurt Denard's stats. For instance, Denard had a 58% completion rate against Michigan State last year, but if you used the adjusted statistic, Denard's rate jumps to 68%. This implies that there is far more going on than Denard "missing passes."

So, passed on this information, it's safe to say that Denard is just about as good all the quarterbacks in the Big Ten in terms of completion percentage aside from Tolzien and Persa. So let's look at yards. Denard was 7th in passing yards in the Big Ten. Not very impressive, but let us remember that he only attempted 291 passes. When you calculate the average yards per pass, Denard averages 8.83 yards per pass which is actually 2nd in the Big Ten only behind Tolzien. This alone is quite impressive. Though yards alone make Denard seem to be a below-average passer, he seems to be much more productive when he actually passes than the majority of the Big Ten.

Next, I would move on to turnover ratio, but I think that is most relevant to Part II, which I hope to post very soon, regarding Denard's success in the Red Zone. So for now, ignore the turnover ratio until the next part.

The finals stats that relate to Denard's passing ability and pocket presence are passing efficiency and number of sacks allowed. In terms of pass efficiency, Denard was 6th best in the Big Ten, less than 1 point behind Kirk Cousins. Then in number of sacks allowed, Michigan was tied with Penn State for the fewest allowed last season, though this probably has a lot to do with Denard's rushing abilities.

So to sum Part I of my analysis of Denard's quarterback abilities, I think it's safe to assume that Denard is AT LEAST an average or above average passer in the Big Ten. His completion percentage is near or above most of the Big Ten, especially considering 3 of the quarterbacks above Denard's completion percentage have now left college football. His yardage also seems to show weakness, but when adjusted for his number of pass attempts, he had the 2nd highest yards per pass in the Big Ten, only trailing Tolzien, who graduated. Denard's efficiency rating was about average, but he was spectacular in number of sacks allowed, although this is not only controlled by him.

Look for Part II, where I'm going to break-down Denard in the end-zone and his turnover margin. Follow me on Twitter here:


Sunday, July 10, 2011

Six scholarships left for 2012

5-star OL Andrus Peat
Who will be the next commit? With Kyle Kalis committing today it will most likely speed up the process of the other prospects. It is safe to assume Michigan will only take one more OL and if I had to guess I would say 5-star OL Andrus Peat is the lucky choice to fill the final spot. I would love also to add Jordan Diamond into the mix but as it stands there may not be any room for him now! It is a shame that this class filled up so quickly with all the great talent still available  but I guess if you really want to play for Michigan there is no time to waste. You have to make you commitment quick or else you loose out! I have been thinking this over and who should be the next to commit?  My choice has to be Chris Wormley with out a doubt. Ondre Pipkins is right there also. He could make his announcement any time soon. I feel once these two make there decision Michigan should vault into the #1 for the 2012 recruiting class if they have not already with the pickup of Kalis today. My hat off to coach Hoke he is a monster at recruiting!! 2012 is turning into a great year for the maize and blue for sure! Go Blue Forever!

Kyle Kalis Commits to Michigan


Kyle Kalis has just committed to Michigan. It was earlier stated by Scout, then confirmed by TomVH (Michigan recruiting analyst). He is a 5 star OT from Lakewood, Ohio who was deeply dedicated to OSU until the Tressel meltdown. He is clearly a HUGE pickup for the 2012 football class and the first 5 star recruit to verbally commit. Though his success is not confirmed, he is ranked as the #4 OT in the 2012 class by Rivals and is expected to accomplish big things.

I'm looking forward to big things from Kalis and the rest of the class.

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Friday, July 8, 2011

Rich Rod gets a win from Tressel.


Today Friday July 8th 2011, Ex head coach Rich Rod gets win versus OSU. He got this win for the 2010 Michigan – OSU game after he lost his job for not beating OSU. This is ironic in many ways. It also happened on the same Day Rich Rod got busted for actions at WVU, so it’s a bittersweet day. He can now wave his finger at Tressel and say, I won versus you the last time we met. We both got fired and your record versus me is going backwards. In the 3 years we played, you only beat me 2 times now. With the NCAA looking into more problems I may in the end win all 3. That would be a slap to the face of Tressel who made it known he was 9-1 when he left OSU. Well now that he left, its 8-2, and it could very well fall back to 7-3 or 6-4 or even 5-5. This would really kick the pig if when this whole thing is said and done that Rich Rod never lost to Tressel. What would the OSU fans say then?

I have been told it was a pipe dream when I said that OSU would have to vacate wins. I was told OSU didn’t cheat, didn’t do anything wrong, and Tressel was the greatest thing sense Woody. Well Woody got fired also, but at least he never had to vacate wins. So maybe Tressel will live high on the horse in Ohio State fans memory, but his win totals are falling by the wayside. With the 12 losses now, OSU will fall behind Penn State for most wins all time in football. OSU will also fall behind Oklahoma for highest winning percentage in college football. Now that has to sting your pride. Now that is only with self imposed losses, the NCAA can take more wins away, which would possibly put them farther back on the winning road. Which I do have to say number 1 in both categories is Michigan with 877 wins and a 736 winning percentage. OSU fans, you can always dream of being the best, but you are not Michigan Fans..

If you cheat to win, you didn't win in the first place, so it is just returning what you stole. So don't think your handing something you earned back, it isn't like that.

OSU Self Sanctions Over Cheating!


OSU has self imposed its “Storied” Football program with losses for all 12 of its games in 2010 including the Bowl Game. This is a huge blow to the OSU program. This is the first step in THEE Ohio State Football team self regulating itself so the NCAA doesn’t step in. The University says its making a vast effort to improve its self monitoring of student athletes and compliance departments. The program is doing this before it meets with the NCAA on August 12th. Under Coach Jim Tressel many wins happened, and now we know many recruiting violations happened. Tressel who resigned as head coach earlier this year played many ineligible players, which the school has acknowledged with this action. OSU has not self imposed any scholarships with this self imposed penalty. They feel that the loss of 12 games, and suspension for 5 games of the players is enough. OSU has stated that only Coach Tressel knew of the violations that happened, and he solely is to blame for not informing them or the NCAA.

So now that THEE Ohio State University has admitted that it cheated and played ineligible players for every game last year which includes the bowl game, they have to realize that the SI story might have nailed them for even more. I would think that this being the 2nd time in 5 years that THEE Ohio State University has been nailed for Major violations of NCAA Rules that the NCAA will do something more then what OSU self regulated. The fact that OSU didn’t remove scholarships will not help the case (this writer’s opinion here). I mean look at what happened to USC with less proof? Does Ohio State think that the NCAA will give it a free pass for the rest of the violations it has done? I honestly think OSU is doing this to try to stop more recruits from bolting to other programs. They have lost plenty of top players that were looking to commit to OSU.

To all the Ohio State fans who have been trying to live in a delusional state, your team cheated. Your school knows it cheated, and OSU didn’t beat Michigan last year. The W now is in the books for Michigan. It may not be how I want to win, but I will definitely take this, so I can rub your noses in it. I just now can’t wait until the 12th of August so I can play audio of OSU officials admitting that it cheated. It will actually feel good knowing that you have to eat crow. I don’t expect OSU fans to acknowledge or admit they were wrong, The NCAA doesn’t have to accept these self imposed penalties at all, or they can, we won’t know until the NCAA is finished. The NCAA has no consistency in how it does things. I think personally that they will hit OSU with 2 years all wins vacated, 10 scholarships for 3 years, and no bowl games for 3 years. That is if the NCAA follows what it set with Miami University and Alabama and USC in the past. This doesn’t mean it will do this. I don’t want OSU to get the death Penalty because that would hurt the Big 10, and Michigan directly, but I want them to get busted hard for what they did. Just to shut the fans up.

Official Jarrod Wilson commits today!!

Jarrod Wilson Picks Michigan over Notre Dame and Penn State... Way to go Jarrod Go Blue!!!! Up next Kyle Kalis and Chris Wormley remember all three visited the same weekend!!!

SportsNation Poll is up

Michigan fans place your vote now for the best tradition. After something like 83 million votes crashed the final, Sports Nation moved the poll to facebook.  Michigan vs. FSU for hundreds of copies of their game.  Do it for the students. You can vote here by clicking the following link FSU is up now!!! Time to close the gap! Well were already losing. We cant lose now!!!     http://apps.facebook.com/fanappz/poll/vote?id=29536

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Kenton (Ohio) QB Maty Mauk commits

Scratch another QB from the the Michigan list. Kenton (Ohio) QB Maty Mauk commits to .
Allen Trieu Tweeted Mauk committed today to Missouri! Our QB options are getting very slim.
Devin Fuller looks like the next target. And don't forget Gunner Kiel is still out there. Missouri was one of his choices but with Mauk committing today they may be out of the mix. Michigan may benefit from this we will have to wait and see.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Former Wolverine Soccer Player Soony Saad To Play In MLS!!!





Former UM soccer player Soony Saad has signed with Major League Soccer (MLS) this season. Since he signed after MLS has their Superdraft he had to go through a weighted lottery to see what team he would be playing for. The lottery is the way MLS dispurses its players if they sign after the regular Superdraft. Its the equivalent of a supplemental draft like the NFL uses. Sporting Kansas City won the lottery and gained Soonys services. He will be joining in former teammate Justin Meram in the MLS. Justin was drafted by the Columbus Crew in the Superdraft. Soony played his high school soccer at Dearborn High School where he was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year after his senior season. Last season was his freshman year at Michigan where he lead the Wolverines with a team record 19 goals and an to their first appearance in the College Cup, the Final Four of NCAA soccer. He was also named Freshman of the Year by Soccer America.

UM Scores First Victory over Nebraska!!!

Just days after Nebraska officially joined the Big Ten, UM gets its first victory over the huskers. Thanks to a furious comeback, the "GO BLUE BANNER" beat the Husker "TUNNEL WALK" in the College Football Tradition online competition through ESPN SportsNation. Now we get to face Florida State's "Chief Osceola and Renegade" in the final vote. You can vote at www.espn.go.com/sportsnation . Dont let the Seminole fans beat us. Lets show the world who has the best tradition in College Football. So cast your vote now!!!!!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Happy Independence day America!


As the 4th of July gets closer we all go to parties, host them, have a few drinks. please be responsible. The heat is on in most parts of the USA so drink plenty of water, and or gatorade. Keep hydrated! If you feel light headded, sweat profusely, or skin becomes cold and clammy get inside, relax, get plenty of fluids in you and relax. Most emergency room visits in these hot days can be avoided. and remember.....HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Things that make you go Hmmmm!


Well, this should not come to a surprise to anyone these days. I am surprised more schools have not gotten cought. Alabama has self-reported 44 secondary NCAA violations, 16 of which were committed by the football program.

Most of the violations, occurring from July 1, 2009 through July 1, 2011, were minor and were handled by the university through rules education. The newspapers of al.com obtained the reports through an open records request and Alabama has published the violations on its website, RollTide.com.

Marcell Dareus missed the first two games of the 2010 season for benefits he received during two trips in May 2010 to Miami. (AP Photo)
Names of student-athletes and coaches, and specific dates, were not included.

Two of the football violations resulted in a player being suspended for two regular season games. One of the violations was “impermissible transportation, entertainment, meals and lodging during two trips.” The other was for a player receiving impermissible benefits from an agent and “preferential treatment based on (his) status as a student-athlete.”

Last summer, defensive end Marcell Dareus was suspended two games for benefits he received during two trips in May to Miami.

Another football violation involved a player selling complimentary tickets provided to players on scholarship. The consequence was two-fold: the player had to repay the benefit to a charity and he was forced to sit out of a game. The entire team received rules education on that issue, as it did after a player gave a ride off campus to a recruit on an unofficial visit. I feel that since that school south of us got into big time trouble, the NCAA will be on the lookout for other schools as well. Stand by for more nuclear fallout from schools in the next few months. Remember Michigan fans sept 1 2012 in Arlington, Tx we play The Crimson Tide.

thanks to sporting news for the info.

you can follow me on twitter @no1repoman

Friday, July 1, 2011

UM fan and the trials of living in supposedly enemy territory, Ohio.



Many people when they find out I am from Ohio and root for the Wolverines in sports, wonder how it is with family. Well its complicated, to say the least. I have had family members delete me from Facebook, friends and family threaten to not talk to me, and other things over me being a Michigan Wolverine fan. It doesn't bug me, because if you can dish it out, you better be able to take it. I think its funny when I get messages or told that I shouldn't put stuff up on Facebook or other media sites because they don't want to read it, or if you bring up sports then don't like what I have to say. I don't rightly care if you like it our not. This is my place to post what I want, or my personal feelings. I don't care if you root for your teams on your wall, or talk about the school/team you like. I will comment and say what I have to say. As I said, if you can dish it out, you better be able to take it. I have had people talk all kinds of talk because I wear my colors proud where ever I go. It just amuses me, when people talk smack then when I tell them facts, they get pissy. Take for instance the other day I got into a discussion with an Ohio State Fan about the car issue. The person tried to tell me that the State of Ohio cleared them of the issue. I was like how did the State of Ohio, tell the NCAA that the Buckeyes didn't break any NCAA rules? I have never read that in any of the newspapers or any credible source like the NCAA  (which is the only credible source on anything NCAA FYI)). So the person I was arguing with got pissed and told me I had no clue what i was talking about. Which only made me chuckle when I pointed out that Pryor got pulled over 3 times with 3 different cars. The response was - well they were loaner cars because his had problems - which again, I have no credible evidence to support this supposed fact. I don't get the mentality of most OSU fans wanting to not understand the difference between NCAA rules and State Laws. It isn't very hard. The state has laws you must follow, and the NCAA has rules you must follow. Speeding breaks a state law, and isn't as far as I can tell against any NCAA rules. Its funny that if you trade tattoos for autographs your not breaking a state law, but you are a NCAA rule. I don't quite know how to explain it any better then that. When a student athlete plays a college sport, they have to abide by the laws of the state, and rules of the school which is usually under the NCAA for sports. If you don't like the rules, don't go to the school. It's very simple. When you chose your school, you must adhere to the rules of the school. If you decide to play sports, you have to abide by the new rules your given just like the other ones. If you take a scholarship, you now have to follow the NCAA rules. I really don't see how its that hard. The NCAA has some strange rules, but you know this going in. The schools compliance officer should know the rules and tell you if it is ok or not. You should know, that trading autographs and memorabilia for tattoos is wrong. You should know taking money from boosters is wrong. You should also know taking cars from dealerships is also wrong. Its not that hard. I am just a construction worker who went into the Army, and I am able to read the NCAA rules, and know what is and isn't allowed. I don't know why some fans (OSU) have a hard time with this. I am sorry for the length of this rant, but it is frustrating living 60 minutes from Ann Arbor and 150 minutes from Columbus, and having to listen to you live in Ohio, you should be an OSU fan. By that logic I should be a fan of the University of Toledo, or for us older Toledo residents Toledo University. No I shouldn't. I should be a fan of the Greatest University in the USA. That University happens to be 60 minutes from Toledo, Ohio. The University of Michigan has great academics, great sports, and great fans. Why would'nt I be a Wolverine fan? The great traditions, the great fan base, the greatest football stadium in the world, the greatest hockey arena in college, and the great city around the school. Would I ever think of switching to any other school? Hell No! . #GoBlue.

Smoking Ban Hits Michigan Campus


If Wolverine nation didn't think Nebraska's entrance into the Big Ten today was relevant to their lives, they should have no doubt at the relevance of the University of Michigan's new campus smoking ban. Today marked the beginning of a campus-wide ban on smoking.

As a non-smoker, this ban has little actual impact on my life, but many have pointed to it as an infringement on personal liberties, which should impact all citizens. Though I'm not going to go into the political aspects of the ban, I would like to point out what is considered to be a major flaw; no enforcement method. In an e-mail to students, Mary Sue Coleman even admitted that the ban functions through "voluntary compliance" from students and faculty.

This could pose a problem because there is no incentive for smokers to avoid "lighting up" on campus since there are no penalties for their actions. However, I'm not sure this is the purpose of the campus ban on smoking.

With the University of Michigan's intense devotion to health and well-being, especially considering that the University has its own hospital and health system, having any endorsement of smoking seems hypocritical. With that in mind, this ban seems to be just more of a public relations move to come out and state "we are against smoking and its harmful health effects," which I think is something most people can get behind.

Regardless of the motive, I'm excited that Michigan is willing to push topics that may be controversial, but are good for the students' and faculty's health status. So next time you're near campus, remember to avoid "lighting up" or you may start getting dirty looks.

It's Great to Be A Michigan Wolverine and follow me on Twitter here:

Nebraska Officially Joins the Big Ten


Approximately a half hour ago Nebraska officially became a member of the Big Ten Conference. They bring a lot to the conference, specifically in football. They are only one of six teams in Division I-A to win at least 800 games. On top of this they claim 5 national championships and 43 conference championships.

Though many, including myself, point to Michigan's program as more historically successful, Nebraska's football and athletic history can't be denied.

Obviously, the biggest change with Nebraska's addition is the new football conference championship game starting at the end of next season with the winners of the Leaders and Legends divisions (yes, I guess we all have to deal with these names now! haha). This is probably the best chance since Big Ten football will now be able to avoid have co-champions on a yearly basis.

As a student, Nebraska's academic standing did provide some concern. They are ranked #96 in the nation in terms of overall academics. No other Big Ten school was ranked below #71 by US News. So bringing in Nebraska did weaken the Big Ten's academic standing, but there is hope of improvement, especially with the addition to the Big Ten. Being academically compared to Michigan and Northwestern is a lot better than with Texas and Oklahoma.

So bottom line, this is a great pick-up for the Big Ten athletically and in national perception, but questionable academically. Luckily, the Big Ten Conference is an athletic conference so academics isn't the most important priority, but I do think it's important to note. Simply adding teams can have negative side-effects (although these are sure to be minimal if present at all).

I look forward to Nebraska and potentially a new rivalry,

It's Great to be Michigan Wolverine and follow me on Twitter here: