Michigan Moves Up To #11 In AP Poll

With today's announcement of the new rankings, Michigan has risen up to #11 in the AP Poll and #10 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll after its defeat of Northwestern 42-24.

Michigan has not been this high since pre-season 2007 and has steadily advanced in the rankings since Week 1. Although some of this has been due to some questionable opponents (Minnesota and Eastern Michigan) and losses from ranked teams (Texas, Florida State), this is still a significant event for the Michigan team to be ranked this high.

Michigan State (Michigan's next opponent) moved back into the rankings coming in at #23 in the AP Poll and #19 in the Coaches' Poll. Though MSU had a bye week last week, they still appear to be at least a rank-able team and should be a tough match-up for Michigan next week in East Lansing. Odds for the game have not yet been released, but it is sure to be a tight spread with both teams ranked and MSU playing at home.

Other notes from the poll:

This is the first time no Florida school has appeared in the rankings since 1982.

Ohio State still remains un ranked and received 0 votes this week

Notre Dame has not returned to the rankings, but has been increasing its vote totals (#28 in AP)

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 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"

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

Michigan State Releases Nike Pro Combat Jerseys For Michigan Game

Well, many of us thought there was a strong, negative reaction to Michigan's throwback jerseys for the Under the Lights game against Notre Dame, but the reaction to Michigan State's jerseys for the October 15th game against Michigan seems to have topped it.

The design is supposed to combine bronze in order to represent the Spartans from Ancient Greece. Though this certainly is a unique idea, these types of concepts do not always transition

well into a game jersey. For instance, at the beginning of the season, Maryland attempted to create a jersey that took elements of its state flag, but received much criticism for the "poor" design.

ESPN's Big Ten blog has even responded, stating that the new jerseys "get too far away from the traditional Michigan State look." Certainly this is true as one of Michigan State's primary school colors, white, is almost completely omitted from the uniform and replaced with bronze.

These jerseys will likely do nothing to change the elements of the Michigan v. MSU

game, but Michigan fans can certianly be thankful for the throwback jerseys in the Notre Dame game. Many fans criticized the design and wished to remain with the traditional jerseys, but Michigan State's jerseys completely abandon the school's traditional look and replace it with elements largely reminiscent of Oregon's jersey, except without the good aspects...

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.

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.

AD Announces College Gameday Location

Well, the announcement everybody's been excited to hear came out today. Though fans and the media knew College Gameday, an ESPN broadcast, would be appearing on Michigan's campus for the game against Notre Dame, commonly referred to as Under the Lights, an exact location had yet to be named.

The official announcement, here, stated that the broadcast will take place on Ingalls Mall on the Central Campus. For those of you unfamiliar with campus, this is located right by the "Diag" which is considered the center of campus. Here's a link to the Google Map location of Ingalls Mall.

The location was recently used by SportsNation when they broadcast from Ann Arbor in the fall of 2010. The site features a scenic view of campus and stables such as Burton Tower (the Bell

Tower), the Michigan League (first woman's dorm on campus), the Graduate Library, Angell Hall, and Rackham.

For those of you planning on attending this broadcast, or simply viewing from home, make sure to check out the scenery (not just the fans haha) because you are sure to get some beautiful views of central campus. Many people often forget about the university's academic and scenic values because of its intense national athletic presence.

For more information on the game and the events leading up to the face off with Notre Dame, click here:

Under The Lights

Under the Lights, Let's Do This Right

This September, a special event dubbed "Under the Lights" will occur in Michigan Stadium filled with anticipation. Not only will this be the first night game in the Big House's 84 year history, but also offers an exciting match up against a ranked Notre Dame team. Both teams will sport throwback jerseys. Michigan's jerseys encompass many aspects from team uniforms of the past. Along with these historic events, the media has fully embraced the game's significant. College Gameday, ESPN's Saturday morning college football broadcast, has already been scheduled to arrive on campus to hype up students, fans, and the nation for a spectacular game.

Although this seems to be quite a filled day for fans, the team, and the media, there are more historical aspects for September 10th. The first night game in stadium history signals a step forward, but Dave Brandon and the athletic department have also taken a moment aside to honor the past. Desmond Howard, former Michigan Heisman trophy winner, was named a 2010 inductee to the College Football Hall of Fame along with 14 other individuals and is in the process of releasing a book titled "I Wore 21" which will be released the day before Under the Lights. Desmond will also be doing a book signing on Friday, September 9th at the M Den located on State Street.

Hype has built to such extremes that some have even resorted to video games to pass the time. In a recent post, I talked about a great simulation created on the NCAA 2012 Football game of the match up between Notre Dame and Michigan including accurate replica jerseys and the nighttime atmosphere. Here's the post:

Under the Lights Simulation

Along with the hype of video game users, ticket brokers have also shown the amount of interest in game tickets. The lowest tickets on StubHub are already up to $275 a piece and the season has yet to begin.

Student groups have also begun organizing special events to commemorate the occasion. The Michigan Student Assembly has created an "Under the Lights" Tailgate event on Facebook which includes all sorts of free giveaways for students all day.

So not only can fans enjoy special pre-game festivities from ESPN's College Gameday and the Michigan Student Assembly, the first night game at Michigan Stadium in 84 years, witness one of the Michigan's three Hesiman trophy winners honored during the game, and one of the most valuable tickets on the market, but fans can also sport new gear to the events. The M DEN has created an entire line of clothing to honor the event with phrases such as "It's Better Under the Lights.

Most Michigan fans can get hyped for almost any Michigan football game, but before we watch this special game "Under the Lights," I think we should take a moment to realize the historical significance of the events in Michigan football history. Things such as high ticket prices and student tailgates may seem quite common, but things such as College Gameday's appearance, the first night game and Desmond Howard's recognition are far more unique.

For those of you unfamiliar with College Gameday, it is a Saturday broadcast on ESPN that rotates across campuses for the football "game of the week." Though some would assume it hits Ann Arbor quite often, the show has only been to Ann Arbor once (excluding its planned September 10th appearance) since 2003.

The athletic department stated that College Gameday will be appearing at Ingalls Mall, which is located between Burton Tower and the Michigan League on Central Campus. This is a great location because it will have a scenic view of Michigan's "Diag" and have plenty of space for the numerous fans sure to show up for the event.

The night game aspect is also quite unique. For instance, Michigan may opt to add a night game every couple of years, or perhaps more often, but there will only be one "first" night game. On a similar note, there may be more honors for Desmond in the future (a jersey retirement has often been rumored), but this type of on-field recognition will likely only occur once, especially considering his recent induction to the College Football Hall of Fame.

So, as I said, enjoy the game thoroughly (hopefully a victory), but don't forget to appreciate the historical significance of this moment because for the majority of the day these things won't happen again. I've included a list of special events of aspects to the game against Notre Dame:

Under the Lights:

• Desmond Howard Book Signing (MDEN) - Friday, September 10th

• College Gameday (ESPN & Ingalls Mall) - 10am

• Parking Lots Open - 12pm
  

• MSA Tailgate - 12pm


• M DEN Gear Sale (throwback jerseys) - Preorder now


• Collector's Game Program - Preorder Now


• Desmond Howard Recognized - Game time

• Under the Lights (ESPN) - 8pm

Video Credit: AdamEvensVideos

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:

Big Ten Media Day

"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:

Under the Lights

And for more updates follow me on Twitter:

Tom