Michigan vs. Connecticut Wrap Up
The 2010 college football season is finally here. Now all the questions will finally start to be answered. This was a huge game for Rich Rodriguez and the start of the 2010 season for the Michigan Wolverines. Coming off another bad season not making it to a bowl game, the start to this season was going to be big for them to get on the right track and finally show the progression people have been waiting for. Favored in Vegas by a few points, but with most of the so called experts all picking UCONN to win the game, even our own great Desmond Howard picked UCONN to win on his ESPN show and he has been to many Michigan practices so this made me a little nervous before the game.
The new stadium renovations looked amazing as the old attendance record would be shattered, and the emotions that would be flowing with Brock Mealer leading the Michigan Wolverines out of the tunnel walking on his own followed by his brother, current lineman Elliot Mealer and his mother, the survivors of a deadly accident that left Elliot’s father and girlfriend dead at the scene and Brock paralyzed and told he would never walk again by the doctors. Rich Rodriguez got his weight staff together and after a year of hard work, Brock was now walking. The emotions flowing and the kickoff only a few minutes away, I was starting to get myself pretty excited for this huge game to start the season. The scene couldn’t be any better to start off the college football season in Ann Arbor.
The game started with a horrible kick into the crosswinds, and you knew then that the defense was going to get tested right out of the gate. UCONN came into the game led by Notre Dame transfer quarterback Zach Frazier, and had been the talk of the football community as one of the Big East best offenses. Well luckily that offense didn’t really show up all day and the Michigan defensive line showed on the first series just how much bigger and faster they have gotten in the last year, as defensive end / linebacker Craig Roh was in the backfield on the first series and all of the rest of the day and so was Defensive tackle Mike Martin. Matt Millen proclaimed during the game that Mike Martin is going to be the best defensive tackle in the Big 10. Let’s hope Millen is actually correct about something in his life this one time. The defensive line pushed UCONN back on the first drive and did so most of the day controlling the front line. The secondary did a very good job not giving up any huge plays and the linebackers finally showed the improvement people have been waiting for all year long last year. Obi Ezeh made a couple huge plays and Jonas Mouton was around the ball all game long. This was a great debut by many of the youngsters on defense and will hopefully give them a ton of confidence going forward this season. I was even having a hard time figuring out which youngster was out their, was it Cullen Christian, Marvin Robinson, Carvin Johnson, Cameron Gordon, or James Rogers, all of them played great in their Michigan debuts and should feel great about their effort.
Then the offense led by Denard Robinson put pressure on UCONN all day long as they seemed to run right by them and control the edges most of the day. Denard Robinson starting his first collegiate game showed why he was the starting quarterback as he set all kinds of new records for a Michigan quarterback on his feet. It is expected these records would go down as no Michigan quarterback in history would have ever ran so much. Denard showed great decisions and ball security all game and threw the ball exceptionally. Mostly short passes, as he controlled third downs, and every once in a while would hit the deep ball down the field. It was one of the best games by a quarterback in his debut that I have seen in a long time. Vincent Smith with his speed to the outside made the zone read a little easier on Denard as Vincent made some great runs. The offensive line looked much better and proved why they are in my top 3 in the conference when healthy. The offense was amazing all day and after exploding out to a 21 point lead it looked as they were very comfortable and having a lot more fun. I had never seen Rich Rod smile that much in a first half in his whole career while on the job in Ann Arbor. The second half was played just as well on both sides of the ball and it was a great win for the Maize and blue. Yes, I will say it, if they handed out the Heisman it would be Denards to take home this week, let’s just hope we can consistently see improvement and great decisions all year.
Denard will be seen all over the place now on Espn, and every website you look and you will hear the comparisons to Pat White all year hopefully. His box score was amazing rushing for 197 yards and completing 19/22 for 186 in his debut was something I don’t think people expected. He really chose his receivers well and made the right progressions while dropping back really well and with the line built for pass blocking, he actually had some time to decide. He is a humble kid and I only expect him to keep learning and to not let one game get to his head. If Denard plays this well all season, a person would imagine that the Wolverines will be playing in the post season and somewhere sunny.
The few problems Saturday were the special teams who bobbled a couple returns and the kicking game which I will give a mulligan to with the wind, as they were sporadic at best. Then comes the Tate Forcier situation, as when Denard got banged up Tate went running to the coach and got completely ignored as they put in true freshman Devin Gardner at their own 15 yard line. This showed what I had believed all along and said in my preview that Tate played himself into the third string quarterback roll over this last offseason and to not expect him very often or until the UMASS and Bowling Green games to finally get some snaps behind center. He then proceeded to sit by himself and cover his head in a towel on the sidelines and not cheer at all for his teammates. Hopefully he can become a team player this season and keep the talk positive, or else he will be having people whisper about the separation in the locker room and all that crap is something Coach Rodriguez doesn’t need this season.
The team played great and will lead themselves into a huge game on the road against the golden domers. It looks as if they will be a couple starters down with the injuries to starting safety Carvin Johnson and leading receiver Roy Roundtree both of whom got hurt in week 1. If the offense shows up I expect them to score plenty against the big and slow golden domers, now can they stop the better passing attack of Dayne Crist will be the big question. I expect to see lots of points in a game similar to last years. If Michigan controls the ball and wins the turnover battle, I see them winning.If they don’t it could get interesting. If they win they will be rated going into a couple much easier non conference games. It’s exciting and I already can’t wait for next Saturday. This week a shout out to the hater Dennis Dodd who all year talked about Michigan going to struggle and now put up and article about how explosive and good they looked. Hope they keep making people watch and change their opinion about the spread in the Big 10 and of Coach Rodriguez. GO BLUE!
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