Michigan Vaults Up To #12 In The AP Poll

Earlier today, much to the shock of football fans, Michigan was reported to have jumped all the way to #11 in the coaches' poll and #12 in the AP poll. Michigan was ranked #19 last week in the USA Today poll, but after a huge 58-0 blowout victory in the Little Brown Jug game and losses by teams above Michigan in the rankings, they jumped 8 spots.

Last week I ran an article analyzing why Michigan was #19, but had a great shot to move up in the rankings (article: here). Obviously, this was proven correct when several teams sitting above Michigan in the polls including USF, Baylor, and Texas A & M lost.

Although I personally think Michigan is probably a bit overrated based on a schedule consisting of 2 MAC teams and Minnesota (1-4, 0-0), I see no reason to complain about the rankings love. For example, if Michigan were to theoretically lose 1 of the next 2 games, they would probably still remain in the rankings, which didn't happen last season when Michigan fell to Michigan State (Michigan did appear as #25 in the coaches poll, but this was after a bye week and only lasted 1 week).

Michigan has not been ranked this high in over 4 years since the season opener in 2007. Quite astonishing for Michigan's tradition, but also surprising considering the team's recent past (4-0 in 2009 and 5-0 in 2010) of late-season collapses. Regardless, it's a very exciting time to root for Michigan and Go Blue!

Michigan Adds UMass To Its 2012 Football Schedule

After waiting a significant amount of time to solidify its 2012 schedule, Michigan has announced that it officially added UMass as the final game of the season (September 15, 2012).

Though this is probably not an exciting game for most fans, it completes what could be the most difficult schedule for Michigan in recent memory. Here's a glimpse at the 2012 schedule:

Sept 1 - Alabama (Dallas, TX)

Sept 8 - Air Force

Sept 15 - UMass

Sept 22 - @ Notre Dame

Oct 6 - @ Purdue

Oct 13 - Illinois

Oct 20 - Michigan State

Oct 27 - @ Nebraska

Nov 3 - @ Minnesota

Nov 10 - Northwestern

Nov 17 - Iowa

Nov 24 - @ Ohio State

Frankly, with away trips to Norte Dame, Nebraska, and Ohio State accompanied by a neutral site game against Alabama, one can't help but thinking that 2012 will be an uphill battle. Along with this, the home schedule presents challenges of its own. Air Force has risen to prominence and has been ranked for significant stretches over the last several years, UMass nearly beat Michigan in 2010 and has moved into the MAC, and teams like Michigan State, Illinois, and Iowa can always be challenging.

Although scheduling tough non-conference opponents in 2012 may not have been the best idea with Michigan's road schedule, most speculate it was simply a move to spur ticket sales. Before Air Force and UMass were added to the schedule (assuming 2 random MAC or FCS teams would have filled their slots), Michigan probably only had 1 truly exciting game on the home schedule (Michigan State) and 3 relatively interesting games depending on the circumstances (Iowa, Illinois, and Northwestern).

The move may have been revenue-based, but Michigan should be able to 'avenge' its near loss in 2012 to UMass and give fans the chance to enjoy one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation in 2012.

Denard Robinson B1G Ten Offensive Player Of The Week...Again

After piling up 293 total yards of offense last Saturday against the then undefeated San Diego State Azteks, Denard Robinson has been named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. Denard earned his first Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors after the comeback victory against Notre Dame in the Under the Lights game earlier this month.

Although Denard shared the award this week with Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin, it is quite impressive to be awarded this honor twice in just four weeks of game play. Denard certainly has suffered much criticism (detailed post on Denard as a quarterback: here), but since he has the highest average yards per game (NCAA doesn't count the Western game) he is sure to win some awards.

I anticipate Denard will have a tougher time winning this award down the stretch this season with some tougher defenses on the schedule, but clearly last season's Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year has utilized his talents this season.

Michigan Ranked #19 In AP Poll, But Could Move Up

Several sites including the Detroit Free Press and ESPN have now released the new NCAA Week 5 rankings and have placed Michigan at #19. This is an improvement from last week's #23 ranking. Although some of Michigan's improvement in the rankings is due to other team's failure (West Virginia and Florida State's losses moved them behind Michigan), it is still nice to see Michigan inside the top 20.

Last season, Michigan made it up to #18 before falling to the eventual Big Ten Co-Champion Michigan State team. It is very likely that Michigan will fall at some point, but after being ranked for two consecutive weeks, the analysis of rankings is bound to start.

Michigan has a pretty winnable game this Saturday (Minnesota, 1-3), but many teams above or slightly below Michigan have a tougher task on Saturday. Here are the ranked teams above Michigan with "tough" games on Saturday:

#16 South Florida @ Pitt

#14 Texas A & M @ #18 Arkansas

Northwestern @ #24 Illinois

#15 Baylor @ Kansas State

#13 Clemson @ #11 Virginia Tech

#17 Texas @ Iowa State

Obviously, two of the six games featured two ranked teams, so at least one has to fall, but of the ranked v. non-ranked match-ups listed, 3 of the 4 teams are in the receiving votes categories:

Northwestern - #34 in coach's poll

Kansas State - #31 in AP poll and coach's poll

Iowa State - #29 in AP Poll and #30 in coach's poll

The fact that these teams received votes in the polls does not mean they are going to win any of the above games, but it does seem very likely that at least 1 or 2 of the non-ranked teams in the above match-ups can pull off the upset.

Essentially, for Michigan fans, this could be a VERY good week in the rankings. If Michigan wins, which is very likely, but we don't want to jinx anything, it is quite probable that both teams above or below Michigan will fall. Even if all the ranked teams win in the above match-ups (excluding the 2 games where ranked teams have to lose), Michigan's votes should go up as the quality of non-ranked bids go down.

Obviously rankings are hard to predict, but this could be the week that sets up the season nicely for Michigan. I don't want to speculate too much or get ahead of myself, but we could see a Michigan team that could lose a game in the coming weeks and stay ranked, which is exciting. Plus we know Michigan State or Ohio State has to lose this weekend, so it can't be too bad, right? Haha Go Blue!

Michigan Doesn't Have A Quarterback

If you've been following Michigan's 2011 season or read any newspaper or fan articles, you would probably have realized there is a lot disdain regarding Denard Robinson's throwing abilities. In fact, at Michigan's last home game against San Diego State, I overheard several fans commenting on how Devin Gardner (Michigan's backup quarterback) should be thrust into the game because Michigan "doesn't have a quarterback, just a running back."

Now, I think most fans realize qb controversies and criticisms are nothing new (I actually posted a 3 part series on Denard Robinson as a qb: here), but the amount of negative criticism from both the media and Michigan "fans" (you have to question their "fan" status if they spend 4 quarters criticizing everything Michigan does) has reached a new all-time high against Denard after 4 "lackluster" games.

So, if we believe this criticism what should we think? Well, Denard has good rushing ability, but he can do NOTHING against good competition and has almost no passing ability. He also cannot last the length of a season because the rushing breaks him down physically. Now, I addressed most of these points in my Denard QB series (located here), but that was pre-season, I think that since roughly 1/3 of the season is over and the anti-Denard folks have taken over, it's appropriate to take a new analysis of his performance.

So, first let's take a quick look at his stats for 2011:

Denard Robinson

35 of 72 passes completed

48.6% completion percentage

624 passing yards

8.67 yards per attempt

6 passing tds

6 interceptions

71 rushing attempts

552 rushing yards

7.8 yards per rush

5 rushing tds

At first glance, the rushing statistics are phenomenal, but the passing seems to be a little underwhelming. Completing less than half his passes and turns it over as much as he scores through the air? Wow....that's not a good sign. However, as I noted last summer and will repeat now, going off simple stats like this is NOT the best method for determining success either on the ground or through the air. It doesn't adjust for opponent difficulty, receiver failure, or luck.

Now, it may sound like I'm making excuses, but let's take a quick look at his "horrible" completion percentage. If a quarterback completes less than half his throws he must be doing bad, right? Well....not always. Arguably, the biggest factor this season in Denard's completion percentage has been his low number of passing attempts.

Theoretically, this should have no impact on Denard's completion percentage, but as we all know, that doesn't always work in real life. The reason is because there are so many factors impacting just one completion. Offensive blocking, defensive pressure, catching by the receiver, defensive coverage, and finally the quarterback's reads and throw. For example, in the game against San Diego State, Denard made a perfect pass to Koger, but it bounced right off his hands and resulted in an incompletion. Should Denard be blamed for this? Well of course not, he didn't drop the pass, but if you simply look at the stats, you don't realize this statistical problem.

This is even more important this season for Denard beccause he has been attempting such a low number of passes. I'll just use the Notre Dame game, since they are probably Michigan's best non-conference opponent. Denard attempted 24 passes (his only game this season with at least 20 attempts). However, in Michigan State's game against Notre Dame, Kirk Cousins attempted 53 passes. Cousins and Denard are not the best quarterbacks to compare, especially in varying game situations, but Cousins still attempted more than DOUBLE the amount of passes as Denard.

However, an even better comparison is Denard 2010 and Denard 2011 against Notre Dame. In 2010, Denard had his best game of the season against Notre Dame and attempted 40 passes. This means that against the same team a year later, Denard attempted 16 fewer passes. As I said earlier, this shouldn't impact percentage, but there's no doubt that any potential mistake either from Denard or a receiver would be much more significant with fewer passing attempts. An incompletion against Notre Dame last season would have lowered his completion percentage by just 2.5%, but this season an incompletion would have lowered it 4.2%. Clearly, this makes any one mistake much more important statistically.

So Denard's completion percentage isn't a good indicator this season, but what about his touchdown to interception ratio? He has 6 tds and 6 ints, certainly this shows that he doesn't have passing ability. However, as I pointed out last summer, this is not a good stat to use when analyzing Denard. It may work for most quarterbacks, but most quarterbacks typically don't score on the ground. If you've watched Michigan, you know that many times they will opt to run Denard in the red-zone instead of going to the air just because it's more effective.

For instance, Kirk Cousins currently has a +3 ratio, meaning he scored 3 more touchdowns than interceptions. Denard would be at 0, but if you include his rushing touchdowns he ends up at a +5 ratio. Although this is not the best quarterback comparison, it does illustrate that just because Denard uses a different method to score doesn't mean it's ineffective.

So if completion percentage and td/int ratio aren't good indicators, how is Denard doing this season? Well, first, let's not forget the team is 4-0 right now. It's hard to justify switching anything, if everything has gone well to this point. Along with that, let's not forget that against Michigan's toughest non-conference opponent this season, Notre Dame, Denard won Player of the Week honors and led the team to a comeback victory, relying much on the passing game (ended with a 193.3 qb rating for the Notre Dame game).

I can't sit here and claim Denard has NFL talent passing abilities or is the next Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, but what I can say is that the anti-Denard folks have certainly been basing a lot of their claims and solutions (Devin Gardner has NEVER started a collegiate game) on questionable data.

Along with that, there seems to be this perception against rushing quarterbacks. For some reason if Denard had more passing yards than rushing it means he's a good quarterback. As far as I'm concerned, 293 total offensive yards is still 293 total offensive yards. Until it's proven that passing yards counts more than rushing, I don't see the difference.

Denard will need to improve this season, particularly passing, but let's not jump on the anti-Denard bandwagon. He's still the defending Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year who is averaging 294 total yards a game. Along with this, he has yet to leave a game because of injury (hopefully it stays this way...please!) after 4 games when he left for significant periods in almost all the first 4 games last year. I've always enjoyed watching Denard and have learned to never doubt his abilities. I say go get 'em Shoelace.

Full Summer Denard QB Series:

Part I: "Sure He Can Run, But When He Has to Throw He Can't Do Anything"

Part II: "He Can Play Well Until He Hits The Red Zone"

Part III: "You Looked Good For Five Games Against Nobody"

Vincent Smith Starting At Rb? Not Quite...

Over the past several days, I have witnessed the running back speculation from preseason reappear. However, instead of a battle between Michael Shaw and Fitz Toussaint, it has centered around #2, Vincent Smith.

In fact, in an article posted by the Michigan Daily, they claim that, "Smith emerges as lead back." Although Smith certainly impressed last Saturday with his 112 rushing yards and 13.1 average per attempt, nothing has ever confirmed him as the "lead back" for Michigan.

In fact, Brady Hoke himself simply stated that "Vince has earned [the] right" to be Michigan's lead back. NEVER did he state that Vincent Smith was starting. In fact, in the article by the Michigan Daily, they admitted that the depth chart still had Shaw or Toussaint listed as the starter.

To me, this is just overblown hype from the media attempting to get hits. A story stating that Vincent Smith is in the mix to be Michigan's lead back is much less exciting than a story claiming he is the starting running back. If speculation is correct, it is very likely that Fitz Toussaint will still walk out to start the game on Saturday.

The depth chart could still certainly change, but I think the media and fans are getting a little bit ahead of themselves at this point. Remember, the last game was against Eastern Michigan. Yes, the same Eastern Michigan that was ranked as one of the worst offenses and defenses in 2010. Putting up a lot of rushing yards on the Eastern Michigan defense isn't likely to change too many aspects of the team.

Although I think Vincent Smith has a lot of talent, and may end up as the #2 running back (he already is the featured 3rd down back), I can't see him passing Toussaint anytime soon. I expect Toussaint to have a reasonable game on Saturday and remain as the starter for the foreseeable future.

Let's hope that even if Smith is chosen as the starter, which has not been done at this point, the running backs pick it up over the next several weeks.

Michigan Outranks Ohio State For First Time In Over 4 Years

Reports of the new college football rankings are surfacing and according to reports from the Detroit Free Press, the new AP pool has placed Michigan at #22 in the nation. Michigan State and Ohio State will be unranked.

This is an incredible development because Michigan has not been ranked higher than Ohio State since the pre-season poll from 2007. Along with this, Ohio State has at least by ranked since November 2004. This means that for over 6 full seasons the Buckeyes have at least been considered in the top 25 teams in the nation.

Though Michigan may be a tad overrated, fans can't help but get excited over this breaking news. I think it's very likely that Michigan State will reappear in the rankings, especially if they are able to beat Ohio State in Columbus, but as of now, Michigan is the highest ranked of the 3 schools at #22.

Along with this, the Coach's poll has Michigan at #21, but still leaves Ohio State unranked. With the Buckeye's horrible performance against Miami (Fl) last night, it's no surprise they dropped, but Michigan's massive upsurge was surprising.

Notre Dame Fan's Life Saved At The Big House

For those of you watching Saturday's night's great Under the Lights matchup, you probably felt a good amount of hostility towards Notre Dame and its fans. You may have even spurted out a couple insults when Notre Dame scored that last touchdown with about 30 seconds left in the game. However, several fans at Michigan Stadium truly showed why football is just a game.

As has been recently reported by both the Detroit Free Press and ESPN, Lee Staudacher, a Notre Dame fan, was attending Saturday's game with several of his sons, when suddenly he suffered a heart attack during the second quarter of the game.

In an extremely commendable act, several Michigan fans quickly began CPR and alerted emergency services in time for him to be transported to the nearby hospital. He even ended up being able to watch the end of the 4th quarter of the game and witnessed the Notre Dame collapse (although this seems a little risky for a man who just had a heart attack). However, I'm sure he was much happier to be recovering in the hospital than witness his team win a football game.

Personally, I just think it's fantastic to hear a story regarding a great act like this instead of some violence or hate between fan bases. We all love to beat our rivals and any other team we face, but it's just a game and it's great to witness that there are still fans out there that realize there are more important things in life.

We here at Everything Michigan hope Lee has a speedy recovery.

Note: The fans pictured are NOT those involved

To Rest Or Not To Rest

With the recent announcements regarding injured players Fitz Toussaint, Troy Woolfolk, and Cam Gordon, I got to thinking about injuries in relation to game time played. All three of these players have encountered at least one injury (Troy Woolfolk has suffered 3 just this season, following his season ending injury from last year), but were recently reported to be fit to play this Saturday during Brady Hoke's press conference.

So the question becomes, if these players are "fit to play," should they still receive decent playing time in this weeks match-up with Eastern Michigan? Michigan was picked by Vegas as more than a 30 point favorite when it takes to the field on Saturday, but there seems to still be an incentive to place these recently injured players back into the line-up immediately.

Some point to momentum and consistently as the reason to throw these players straight back into the lineup. This is certainly a major issue for most teams. Does the coaching staff want to risk re-injuring, or injuring, a starter in a game against a mind-boggling underdog?

To me, I think Michigan needs to find a nice balance. Because of the team's schedule in the upcoming weeks (Eastern Michigan, San Diego State, Minnesota, and Northwestern), I think there is much less risk for trouble than typical of most teams. For instance, Michigan is a heavy favorite against Eastern Michigan, but the ratio is sure to decrease in the following weeks (although Michigan should still be a decent favorite over at least San Diego State and Minnesota).

With this in mind, Eastern Michigan is probably the only game where Michigan could probably sit a good portion of its starters for an extended period and still win by a decent margin. However, if any particular starter did happen to get injured against Eastern Michigan this Saturday, the loss would not be devestating because they would very likely return by the end of this four game stretch, or before the Michigan State match-up on October 15th.

So when the starters stay in for perhaps a big too long on Saturday, or Hoke rushes some of these recently injured players back into the lineup, don't stress out too much, the potential loss to the team is relatively low considering the schedule, since starters will probably have to play for extended periods during the following weeks, but the team still maintaining a great chance at victory.

Also for great Michigan gameday updates, follow this Twitter:

@EverythingMich

Denard Robinson B1G Ten Offensive Player Of The Week

Although Denard Robinson threw 3 interceptions in Saturday's Under the Lights game against Notre Dame and completed only 11 passes, he was selected as the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week reports the Detroit Free Press this morning.

Though Robinson's statistics may not look superb, his fourth quarter play was very impressive. He led Michigan to 28 points in the fourth quarter for the second-biggest comeback in stadium history (17 points).

Denard ended up accounting for 446 total offensive yards (338 passing and 108 rushing), meaning that Denard was involved in almost 98.7% of all the offensive yardage. Along with this Denard ended up with 5 total touchdowns (4 passing and 1 rushing) which was Michigan's total touchdowns for the night.

Even although Denard's overall stats were not that impressive, his ability to contribute to every Michigan touchdown and 98.7% of the team's offensive yards allowed him to receive this distinct honor this week.

This is Denard's 4th Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week award and the team's first since November 8th, 2010 when Roy Roundree won the award after the team's amazing win against Illinois in triple overtime.

Denard and Michigan both still need to improve to have a chance at larger goals for this season, but it's nice to have two Big Ten players of the week after the first 2 weeks of the season (Brandon Herron was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week last week. Read: here).

10 Years Later

Today marks the 10th anniversary of September 11th, the day when the United States suffered a series of terrorist attacks that took the lives of almost 3,000 Americans. Although most the Michigan faithful will likely be celebrating an amazing win over the Irish in the Big House's first ever night game, please take a moment to look back and remember.

The terrorists 10 years ago certainly shook the nation and its citizens, but we can hardly say they shook the bedrock of democracy and freedom in America. It has now been 10 years and the United States and our nation's hearts may have been blemished, but they certainly couldn't blemish our endurance and courage for the future.

Take a moment away from the enthusiasm about Michigan and remember the values September 11th showed the nation. We may have to endure horrible events, but as long as the citizens continue to pursue freedom, the nation can never fail. So enjoy the victory, but remember the significance of today and the toll it took on our country. If you live near campus, there will be a Vigil taking place tonight at 8pm.

We Have a new commitment!

RB Dymonte Thomas

They sure didn't waste any time! After the AMAZING finish to tonight's Under the Lights game against Notre Dame, prospect Dymonte Thomas committed to Michigan. Dymonte is from Ohio and played several positions in high school including running back. However, Hoke's staff has opted to recruit him as a defensive back for the 2013 recruiting class.

Though he has not officially been rated by groups such as Rivals, he will likely be considered a 4 or 5 star recruit, making this a huge pickup for the Wolverines.

Dymonte also has a very athletic family.
His cousin, Bri'onte Dunn, who is an Ohio State commit (right now), is also rated as a 4 or 5 star recruit. Dunn is being recruited as a running back, and is still rumored to be considering Michigan for college. With the verbal from Thomas, it will be interesting if he can provide the necessary persuasion to bring Dunn to Ann Arbor.

There will very likely be more recruiting developments to come not only from Dymont Thomas and Bri'onte Dunn, but from the numerous other recruits who visted campus for Under the Lights. Stayed tuned for all the updates.

Je'Ron Stokes Finds A Home At Bowling Green

The Toledo Blade has just reported that Je'Ron Stokes has set up his transfer to Bowling Green. We originally reported Stokes had decided to leave Michigan last August and left a hole for Michigan at wide receiver.

Though he only had 1 catch last season, the loss was significant because of Stonum's suspension for all of this year. He originally signed his letter of intent for Rich Rodriguez and had been rated as a 4 star recruit by Rivals.

The transfer to Bowling Green is not a big surprise since Stoke's brother is already a quarterback at Bowling Green. Stokes stated that he felt it would be a "smooth transition" to his new school although he will be required to sit out this season because of his transfer. He will have two years left to play at Bowling Green after sitting out this year.

Though I'm sure most fans would like to still see him in the maize and blue, we can only wish him the best of luck with his new team and family members. Perhaps he can do big things in the MAC and potentially make it to the NFL.

Notre Dame Loses... So What?

Like many of you may have done, I spent the remnants of my Saturday watching Notre Dame in their game against South Florida in South Bend. Though there were some clear similarities to Michigan's Saturday game, (both suffered several rain delays) I still think that most of the nation was surprised at the outcome.

Notre Dame entered as #16 in the country and was hailed by many as a potential BCS or National Championship team. However, what we saw early was the complete opposite. Though Notre Dame's statistics may cloud judgment on their play, there is no question that they looked undisciplined and consistently "shot themselves in the foot."

I guess what I'm trying to say is that South Florida really didn't win Saturday's game, Notre Dame lost the game. Notre Dame ended with 5 turnovers (3 interceptions and 2 lost fumbles) and 8 total penalties that amounted to 73 total yards. Overcoming those deficits in any game is almost impossible. Looking at this game, Notre Dame amassed 391 passing yards and 117 rushing yards, far from a bad day.

The problem was that every time Notre Dame would begin to have success, they would make some mistake that cost them the chance to actually benefit. For instance, you can have a great 99 yard drive, but if you throw a pick 6 on the goal line, it didn't really benefit the team.

So if Notre Dame "shot themselves in the foot," what does this mean for Michigan? Should we celebrate in their immense failure or fear for their potential? Though some are going to call this simply a "bad day" for the Irish or claim the media has just boosted up Notre Dame as usual, I think we should take a more rational route.

Clearly, Notre Dame did not play like the #16 team or as a potential BCS team, but that doesn't mean they are a pushover either. Teams have bad games, and in many ways, that's what occurred on Saturday for Notre Dame. If they had corrected even 1 of those turnovers or a couple penalties, they likely win that game. However, just because they could have done something doesn't mean they will or that any difference would have been made.

For example, if you look at Michigan's season and pick things that could have went right or wrong, Michigan could have ended with 5-9 wins, but we live in reality. Notre Dame seems still incapable of putting together a banner season or winning the "big game." I simply think Michigan fans need to look at the Irish's Saturday game from an outside perspective. Sure, we want them to be thoroughly dominated this Saturday Under the Lights, but that doesn't mean that Michigan should be a huge favorite this Saturday.

Notre Dame ended last season on a hot streak that included a bowl victory and should be given at least a fair amount of respect considering they are virtually the same team. Michigan will certainly be out to win this historic match up, but the victories in 2009 and 2010 does not accurately depict the 2011 game. This will mark the 3rd different coaching match up in just 3 years for the Notre Dame - Michigan rivalry game.

As I said, get hyped for this Saturday as it marks a historic game for the Big House and Michigan football history, but remember this is no pushover opponent. They make some mistakes, but we can hardly act as if they're not talented or well coached. Let's hope they are truly outplayed and don't need to "shoot themselves in the foot" on Saturday to give Michigan a win.

Brandon Herron Named B1G Ten Defensive Player of the Week

The Detroit Free Press just reported that Brandon Herron was announced as the B1G Ten Defensive Player of the week. This comes after Herron returned an interception 94 yards for a touchdown and recovered a fumble and returned it 29 yards for another touchdown.

In fact, Herron's performance was so great that he ended up scoring more points himself than the entire Western team. Though Herron's touchdowns was largely due to help from other players (the interception was tipped and the fumble was caused by Jordan Kovacs) he still did a great job in his touchdown returns.

Herron will become the first Michigan player to win this honor since Brandon Graham earned it almost 3 years ago in September 2008. Though having a great performance in Western does not always show great things for the season, there has obviously been some change in the "feel" of this defense, as they've already scored more defensive touchdowns than all of last season and Herron received a reward that was not awarded to any Michigan player last season.

Hopefully this is a sign of the future and Greg Mattison's new defense.

Everything Michigan's Season Predictions

Not everybody can predict the future,
especially us at Everything Michigan and More. However, knowing that is not going
to stop us from trying...haha

In honor of the tens of thousands of preseason predictions, I have compiled a list of predictions from the Everything Michigan and More staff.

Just a side-note, the stated records do NOT include potential bowl games. For instance, if someone predicts 8 wins, this could move up to 9 if Michigan won its bowl game.

Joshua Henschke @JoshuaHenschke

Josh is pretty new to our staff, but has done a great job so far and is a student at the University of Michigan's Flint campus. He sees Michigan stumbling at first with losses to Notre Dame, Michigan State, Iowa, and Nebraska, but "Brady Hoke will not allow his team to lose to Ohio." This leaves Michigan at 8-4 headed to a pretty good bowl game.

Brett Willard @brettwillard

The next Everything Michigan writers seems to be following Josh's trend of 8-4 finishes. Brett has Michigan at 8-4 with losses to Notre Dame, Michigan State, Nebraska, and Ohio State. This is hardly what most Michigan fans would want, but it could be viewed as an improvement in some ways.

Scott Gromnicki @scotlarock727

Scott also predicts 8-4, and thinks we will lose against Notre Dame, Michigan State, Nebraska, and "ohio", "Which I have no doubt would not sit well with the fan base". This would possibly be the worst way the team could finish 8-4, unless of course the Nebraska loss was substituted for Eastern or Western Michigan perhaps. He points out he could make a better determination after he watches the Michigan vs Notre Dame game. Regardless, the team should still be able to go to a nice bowl game and compete for a victory.

Jeff Matthews @1maizeandblufan

Jeff predicted another 8-4 year with wins against Notre Dame and Ohio State. A fourth straight loss against Michigan

State would sting, but ending the streak against Ohio State and winning Under the Lights would probably make up for that in any fan's mind. Plus, the chance to win a decent bowl game will thrill most of the fanbase.

Thomas Beindit @sitdown248

Well, I saved the best for last...haha I think Michigan ends the season at 9-3. Brady Hoke really revitalizes this Michigan team, but he benefits more from other team's problems than Michigan's improvement. Michigan loses against Notre Dame after coming down from a halftime deficit, but ends up winning in East Lansing and shocking the nation with a win over Ohio State. Michigan also most likely loses to Nebraska and Iowa or Northwestern, but probably Iowa.

To me, I think Michigan's offense with Denard Robinson and Michael Shaw will just have too much firepower to contain for almost everyone. Along with this, I expect a big pickup on defense with more mature players, better schemes, and better skills. Finally, the special teams improvement, particularly with Matt Wile, should help the team get over the edge against many opponents.

Regardless of the predictions, we're all excited for the real thing this fall! Be sure to follow us on Twitter and let us know your picks or tweet our official twitter:

Everything Michigan and More

Big Ten Network Previews Legends Division

For those of you interested in getting one last blast of preseason hype, tune in tonight @ 7pm on the Big Ten Network to see their preview of the Legends Division.

Though these predictions are not always the most accurate, if you've missed some of the speculation on Michigan or the remaining 5 teams, this is a great way to catch up. For instance, teams such as Purdue have suffered an injury to their quarterback that will have a huge impact on their 2011 Big Ten hopes.

With Wisconsin's season opener on Thursday starting the season for Big Ten teams, this is the last chance to get your predictions for the coming season. Everything Michigan and More will be posting some of our predictions during the broadcast so we can see how the predictions stack up against the Big Ten Network's analysts, specifically in regards to Michigan.

We Have A Starter....Maybe...

In the past few days, Brady Hoke and the Michigan staff have revealed almost all of the depth chart. Some of the positions had already been solidified weeks ago, but others remained a mystery, such as corner back (Troy Woolfolk already was confirmed as a starter), the defensive line, place-kicker and most notably, running back.

With Ann Arbor.com's newest depth chart, everyone thought that almost everything had been set. However, reports have surfaced today from both the Detroit Free Press and tweeter mspeedkills that Fitz Toussaint has been receiving the first snaps during practice. This comes as a surprise since just days ago Michael Shaw seemed to have the starting running back position locked up.

This seems to show that media predictions don't always show the real events of training camp and practice. Shaw may appear to be the most capable back, but Hoke and Borges have obviously not settled on one guy and Toussaint must be doing some impressive things for them to keep him in the running for the starting position.

The Detroit Free Press has also reported, much to the shock of the public, that J.T. Floyd may actually start at cornerback. Many from the media and other groups had made it seem as if Avery was a sure lock for the position, but obviously this has not been confirmed either.

The positions that do appear "locked up" at this point seem to be the defensive line and place-kicker. From the statements from the coaching staff and media reports, it appears that Roh, Black, Martin, and Van Bergen will be on the line. This is discouraging for Will Campbell, a former 5 star recruit who is a junior at Michigan.

Matt Wile appears to be locked in for punting and kickoff duties, but it looks like Brendan Gibbons will be attempting any place kicks. Though I am not excited for Gibbons to return as the starting kicker for Michigan, you can clearly see in our exclusive kicking practice video that Gibbons has become much better.

University of Michigan Announces 2011/2012 Team Captains!

Mike Martin, #68 Featured Right.

It's official, football season is ALMOST here! Michigan has announced their team captains for the 2011/2012 season voted by their fellow teammates.

• TE Kevin Koger
• C David Molk
• DL Mike Martin

This is a huge honor for these three awesome seniors, who will be missed very much after the season is over. Let's hope they can lead our boys in blue to a successful season on and off the field!

Shoelace Ranked #1 Most Explosive Player in Nation By Rivals!!

Rivals released their top-ten list of what they believe are the most explosive players in the nation. Guess who was number one? A kid we like to call Shoelace in Ann Arbor!

Rivals described Denard as follows:

"Robinson is like a time bomb: Sooner or later, he's going to explode. Each time Robinson tucks the football, opposing fans hold their breath because he always seems one step away from making a big play. Last season, his first as a full-time starter in former coach Rich Rodriguez's spread offense, Robinson had 16 runs that covered at least 20 yards and seven that exceeded 30 yards. He had at least one 20-yard gain in nine of the Wolverines' 13 games last season. He scored touchdowns on runs of 87, 72, 47, 32 and 32 yards. He also had 12 pass completions of more than 40 yards. That's more than Stanford's Andrew Luck. A big question with Robinson is how the new Michigan staff will make use of his talents."

This is a huge honor for Denard, being on top of a list that features awesome talent with the likes of Trent Richardson (RB, Alabama, #10 on list), LaMichael James (RB, Oregon, #3 on list) and Justin Blackmon (WR, Oklahoma State, #2 on list).

Let's hope Denard can live up to all the hype!