The Wolverine

2013 Football Preview

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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Follow Michigan Sports Year-Round in THE WOLVERINE! The Wolverine covers all sports at U-M with an emphasis on football, basketball and recruiting. NG PR RI SP n You will receive 11 full-color information-packed issues from August to June. ie THe seAson Only $52.99 Makes a terrific gift for your Michigan Fan! ThewritersofThe Wolverine weighin withtheirtakeonU-Mfootball. • The bad news is, Michigan hasn't stopped anybody on defense since the wind and slop turbo-boosted the Wolverines' effort in West Lafayette. The good news is, nobody has put a serious knock on Denard Robinson in more than a month. As has been the case all season, the latter represents Michigan's best hope against the second MSU on the U-M docket. For the year to end on an upbeat note, Robinson has to be the doit-all force he was in the season's early games. Prediction: Michigan 35, Mississippi State 31 — John Borton EXtRa p INts • Michigan has done well against non-conference opponents in the last two years under Rich Rodriguez, has seen the read option plenty in practice and will play well in its first bowl game in three years. Quarterback Denard Robinson, too, is healthy and will be able to show the same explosion he did in the early part of the year. Mississippi State did a great job slowing Auburn's Cam Newton in a 17-14 loss, but the Wolverines are going to score points. Unfortunately, so will the Bulldogs. Prediction: Mississippi State 38, Michigan 34 — Chris Balas U-M Football injury Report Games Player Injury Missed CB Troy Woolfolk Ankle/Leg 12 S Jared Van Slyke Clavicle 12 LB Mike Jones Leg 10 CB J.T. Floyd Ankle Four TB Teric Jones Knee Four S Mike Williams Head 12 WR Martavious Odoms Foot Six DT Mike Martin Ankle Three DE Craig Roh Head None TB Michael Shaw Head Two OT Taylor Lewan Head One TB Vincent Smith Head None WR Jeremy Gallon Arm One WR Darryl Stonum Ankle None WR Junior Hemingway Head One Gator Bowl? Out for the year Out for the year Out for the year Out for the year Out for the year Out for the year Possible Will play Will play Will play Will play Will play Will play Will play Will play • I'm very interested to see how the offense stacks up against the Bulldog D, one of the best in the SEC. Against some of the best defenses they faced this year — Ohio State, Iowa, Wisconsin — the Wolverines struggled to move the ball early, which, combined with the defensive struggles, put them in a huge hole. Prediction: Mississippi State 35, Michigan 21 — Andy Reid • Under Rich Rodriguez, Michigan has played its best football coming out of fall camp. U-M started with four straight wins in 2009 and five straight wins in 2010. The 30-10 victory over UConn to start 2010 was arguably the Wolverines' most complete win of the season. Like fall camp, the Jan. 1 Gator Bowl has given Michigan five weeks to prepare for one opponent, so expect a better team than the one that took the field against Wisconsin and Ohio State. However, Mississippi State plays strong defense and will bring a balanced offensive attack — traits that have given Michigan problems throughout the season. Michigan will not have the firepower to outlast the Bulldogs in a tight game. Prediction: Mississippi State 31, Michigan 28 — Josh Helmholdt 7th By the Numbers Gator Bowl's rank among the best bowl matchups this season, according to Rivals.com college football editor Mike Huguenin. Years since multiple U-M defenders had 100 tackles or more in the same year — Sam Sword (109), Jarrett Irons (106) and Marcus Ray (104) in 1996 — until safety Jordan Kovacs (112) and linebacker Jonas Mouton (111) accomplished the feat this fall. The Big Ten's bowl record since 2003; the conference posted a losing record from 2003-08 before going 4-3 in Safety Jordan Kovacs and line2009. Current Wolverines backer Jonas Mouton both that have previously topped 100 tackles this season for the Wolverines. traveled to a bowl game, inPHOTO bY ERiC bROnSOn/ bROnSOnPHOTO.COM cluding eight fifth-year seniors. 14 19-31 23 tHE WoLVERINE ketbal l recrui tinG iSS MA i WAV E MADNz e e Five- St ar Zak irv in Shoo ting Guar d heads up talen ted incoming clas s ue ss Big Ten Pl Trey Bu ayer Of The Ye rk ar To Make e And U- M Look A Run In March mIcHIGAn vs. IoWA QuARTeR-By-QuARTeR comPARIson Air Force Michigan 25 31 26 19 290 214 127 208 10/19 14/25 Massachusetts Michigan 0 1 0 1 fumbles Penalties no./Lost no./yards 0/0 8/99 1/1 7/55 attendance 90,413 Cowboys Stadium 2/0 0/0 5/35 5/45 112,522 Home 110,708 Home 13 63 15 27 112 294 147 291 15/30 16/25 4/1 2/0 10/69 5/40 Michigan Notre Dame 6 13 19 14 161 94 138 145 13/25 11/19 5 2 2/1 0/0 5/38 5/49 Michigan Purdue 44 13 19 15 304 56 105 157 8/16 23/35 0 2 1/1 3/2 4/36 3/30 50,105 Away Illinois Michigan 0 45 7 21 105 353 29 174 7/16 9/15 1 0 1/1 2/1 5/45 5/45 110,922 Home Michigan State Michigan 10 12 16 16 112 163 192 163 21/34 14/30 1 1 2/0 0/0 7/50 6/55 113,833 Home Michigan Nebraska 9 23 18 20 95 160 93 166 9/27 14/24 3 1 1/0 1/1 3/44 8/104 86,160 Away Michigan Minnesota 35 13 18 21 155 128 234 147 12/18 14/31 1 0 1/0 2/1 7/69 9/68 48,801 Away Iowa Michigan 17 42 17 23 128 199 181 314 19/26 18/23 0 1 1/0 1/0 3/21 3/35 113,016 Home 80,795 Away Vide o En han ced Michigan 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. Time of Possession 6:25 8:14 12:01 3:43 3rd-Down Conversions 3-3 3-4 3-4 0-1 4th-Down Conversions 0-0 1-1 1-1 0-0 Avg. Field Position MICH-25 MICH-19 MICH-27 MICH-21 Iowa 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. Time of Possession 8:35 6:46 2:59 11:17 3rd-Down Conversions 1-3 1-3 0-2 4-6 4th-Down Conversions 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-2 Avg. Field Position IOWA-25 IOWA-30 IOWA-31 IOWA-37 Rushing yards 73 32 Plays 19 11 U-M IOWA 3rd &1 M/a Pct. 1/2 50.0 1/1 100.0 fIRST anD Ten Passing Plays yards avg. Plays 10 191 19.1 29 264 13 79 6.1 24 111 THIRD-DOWn effICIenCy 3rd & 2-5 3rd & 6-9 3rd & 10+ M/a Pct. M/a Pct. M/a Pct. 5/6 83.3 1/2 50.0 2/2 100.0 4/8 50.0 1/3 33.3 0/2 0.0 ReD Zone eFFIcIency (InsIDe 20-yARD lIne) What is the best Big Ten bowl matchup? TCU vs. Wisconsin (Rose) 40% vIDeo: click play to watch on the interactive edition 27% Michigan State vs. Alabama (Capital One) 13% Michigan vs. Mississippi State (Gator) 17% Total 30:23 9-12 2-2 MICH-23 final 29:37 6-14 1-3 IOWA-31 Poss. 4 4 TDs 4 2 fGs 0 1 THe wolVerIne Totals yards 9.1 4.6 avg. Totals M/a Pct. 9/12 75.0 6/14 42.9 BIG PlAys (25 yARDs oR moRe) no Score 0 1 yards ...................................................u-M (- ) Yards...............................................................2 0-5 Yards.............................................................35 6-9 Yards..............................................................9 10-19 Yards.........................................................9 20-29 Yards.........................................................2 30-39 Yards.........................................................3 40-49 Yards.........................................................1 50 or more Yards ..............................................1 thEWoLVErinE.Com 2nd Half 15:44 3-5 1-1 MICH-25 2nd Half 14:16 4-8 0-2 IOWA-35 avg. 3.8 2.9 PlAy cHART (no. oF PlAys) gamE WEEk poLL 1st Half 14:39 6-7 1-1 MICH-22 1st Half 15:21 2-6 1-1 IOWA-28 sITuATIon TABles U-M IOWA U-M Iowa Arkansas vs. Ohio State (Sugar) 2013 baS nE xt IOWa 8 29 10 11 1 1 0 0 MICHIGan •3-1 U-M30 Robinson rush for 40 yards to the IOWA30 •3-17 IOWA37 Gardner pass complete to Roundtree for 37 yards to the IOWA0 •1-10 U-M39 Gardner pass complete to Gallon for 51 yards to the IOWA10 •2-4 U-M34 Gardner pass complete to Gallon for 31 yards to the IOWA35 •1-10 IOWA43 Gardner pass complete to Gallon for 31 yards to the IOWA12 •1-10 IOWA29 Gardner pass complete to Funchess for 29 yards to the IOWA0 IOWa •3-2 IOWA20 Vandenberg pass complete to Fiedorowicz for 37 yards to the U-M43 TH e fu TuR e I s ThewOLve RIne.cOM | APRIL 2013 | $3.9 B R IG H 5 T Junior Qb devin Ga Stepped rdner Up in thewo Final mlverin the Season's on e.c Sh jun Grea t Pr th, om |owe/july 2013 | $3.9 omise Fo ing 5 r 2013 • Page 9 331 votes Top four responses shown nov. 18, 2012 Michigan Vs. Notre Dame all-time head to head in Winning percentage thewolve rine.com School G W L T Pct. U-M 1,227 884 307 36 .7351 ND 1,181 844 295 42 .7324 * Both Michigan and Notre Dame went 7-5 this season. 2010 FootbaLL sChEDuLE Date Sept. 4 Sept. 11 Sept. 18 Sept. 25 Oct. 2 Oct. 9 Oct. 16 Oct. 30 Nov. 6 Nov. 13 Nov. 20 Nov. 27 Jan.1 Opponent Time/TV By John Borton Connecticut W, 30-10 ichigan entered November hoping at Notre Dame W, 28-24 it had a quarterback ready for the Massachusetts W, 42-37 stretch run. Bowling Green W, 65-21 Now it features two. at Indiana W, 42-35 Iowa hasn't witnessed a more devastatMichigan State L, 34-17 ing combination than senior quarterback Iowa L, 38-28 Denard Robinson and junior QB Devin at Penn State L, 41-31 Gardner since blight and locusts blew into Illinois W, 67-65 at the same time. town at Purdue W, 27-16 scintillating duo — highlighted by The Wisconsin L, 48-28 Robinson's triumphant return from injury at Ohio State L, 37-7 at quarterback and running back — simMississippiState1:30p.m. devastated the Hawkeyes in a 42-17 ply • pagE 13 The Wolverine Now, our Internet-based newsletter, is published every Sunday (game reports) and Wednesday (scouting reports) during football season on TheWolverineOnDemand.com. | decem ber 201 2 | $3.9 5 Plowed Pain For Iowa, 42-17 Under Dual QBs Double The M scorched-earth finale at Michigan Stadium. Robinson drew thunderous cheers just for getting on the field, but this wasn't a fleeting appearance. He rushed 13 times for 98 yards, caught two passes for 24 more and immediately gave Ohio State's defensive staff a week-long migraine. Meanwhile, Gardner experienced his finest day yet behind center. He tore the Hawkeyes up with three touchdown tosses and three more scores on the ground, connecting on 18 of 23 attempts for 314 yards and adding 37 rushing yards on nine carries. The Wolverines scored touchdowns the first six times they touched the football. Any thoughts Kirk Ferentz's squad harbored about road feistiness was washed away in a tsunami of offensive effectiveness by the home team. "He is elusive back there, tough to bring down and tough to contain first of all," Ferentz said of Gardner. "You think you have got him and he buys time. They have very good skilled players, and they have had that traditionally. "It looks to me that they have it again. I think they have three very good receivers, not including if Robinson goes out there. 42 17 That quarterback has really done a nice job." Robinson did go out there, and the combination proved devastating, the Wolverines piling up 513 total yards to Iowa's 309. It wasn't all sunshine on Senior Day. Michigan experienced both ends of the emotional spectrum on the very first drive. Robinson, to turf-rattling cheers, got the ball at tailback on the opening two plays of the game. He later moved to quarterback then back to tailback, taking a Gardner handoff and pitching to Fitzgerald Toussaint. The redshirt junior tailback broke off a 10-yard gain, but it proved to be Michigan's loss. He wound up carted off with a serious leg injury and taken away for surgery, casting a huge shadow over the Wolverines' 12-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, capped by Gardner's one-yard TD sneak. Junior quarterback Devin Gardner went 18-of-23 passing for 314 yards, with three touchdowns and just one interception, in leading U-M to the rout over the hawkeyes. photo by per kjeldsen "He's in the hospital now and had surgery," Hoke said. "We'll leave it at that for now. His mother wasn't here, he had two brothers here. I want to make sure his mother knows first." Iowa (4-7 overall record) demonstrated it hadn't just showed up for Robinson's going-away party, answering with a 14play, 75-yard drive of its own. Quarterback James Vandenberg (19-of-26, 181 yards, Send to: The Wolverine • Circulation Dept. • P.O. Box 2331 • Durham, NC 27702 Please send the following subscription: qOne-year subscription for me at $52.99 q One year gift subscription for the recipient listed to the right. TOTAL $_________________ Please call 919-688-0218 for delivery options outside the U.S. q y check or money order payable to The Wolverine is enclosed. 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Game-By-Game first yards yards Passes Had Summary Score Downs Rush Pass Com./att. Int. Michigan 14 11 69 200 11/27 3 Alabama 41 20 232 199 11/21 0 FO n In July you will receive The Wolverine Football Preview, a glossy, full-color, action-packed magazine full of great information about the upcoming season.

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