Alex Cook: UP: Watching the game live, I thought Chris Wormley stood out to me far more than I'd expected: even with the loss of Bryan Mone, the defensive line was projected to be a strength, but I was surprised to see that Wormley was often leading the charge and anchoring a stout run defense. With Brady Hoke and Greg Mattison's history of coaching up defensive linemen -- as well as their tendency to rotate them in and out of the game -- it was easy to figure that there could be a breakout star in that group. Preseason predictions were often in favor of Willie Henry becoming that guy, but Wormley is definitely a contender to really shine under Durkin this year.
DOWN: A lot of national attention focused on Jake Rudock's three interceptions (and rightfully so, as the pick-six wound up eventually becoming the margin of victory), but the run game was the big disappointment of the evening. Even though the offensive line held up fine in pass protection, Michigan's inability to run the ball was a problem that can't really be pinned on one guy. Maybe Utah's front is really good. In any case, I thought De'Veon Smith didn't play as well as I'd hoped. After seizing the job in practice, he got the lion's share of touches, but didn't make the most of them. It was going to be hard sledding with the OL playing like it did, but Smith didn't help himself out as much as he could've, in my opinion.
[After the jump: everyone agrees with Ace]
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Ace: UP: Wormley is already Alex's answer and is likely the first choice for all of us. I'll flip to the other side of the ball and go with Amara Darboh. He consistently got open, did nice work on those screens—though Utah defended them poorly—and generally looked like a guy you can win with as your top outside receiver. Darboh isn't going to be a game-breaker but if Jake Butt keeps playing like he did against Utah and Jehu Chesson can stretch defenses he's going to catch a lot of passes. While Darboh had a couple less-than-ideal moments, namely the overturned third-down catch and the failure to get a first down on the screen before the stuffed QB sneak, he impressed me more than I thought he would.
DOWN: Ben Braden simply wasn't good. I don't know how else to say it. The failed QB sneak was 100% on him for getting blown back directly into Jake Rudock's leg. He missed blocks in the run game, had a hard time staying engaged with defenders, and allowed more pressure in pass protection than any other O-lineman—that's rare in a bad way for an interior guy. It'll be interesting to see how short a leash he has with David Dawson waiting on the bench; if Braden's performance doesn't improve dramatically, the lack of a lineup change is going to start indicating not-so-good things about Dawson, too.
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Seth: UP: Blake O'Neill! Yes we talked about his shtick at Weber State where he would stand back there until his gunners were ready to fair catch on the 2, but also predicted it wouldn't work versus Power 5 school rushers. It worked:
via Ace
Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
DOWN: Hard to argue Braden but I'm surprised nobody yet mentioned Drake Harris after all the "I want to believe" stuff. We were supposed to be skeptical of flying, functional hamstrings, but I was disappointed to see Harris got zero targets. Usually when the camera caught his route Harris was well-, but single(!)-covered. Brian's made it clear by now he wishes Rudock would start throwing some more "go get that" balls to his receivers, and Drake Harris's scouting report says that's his game. I'd like to see at least one jump ball per half sent his way. Put a few leaping grabs on film and the cornerbacks will start playing him in the parking lot.
Also Logan Tuley-Tillman came out flat when Michigan tried its six-OL thing with LTT at LT. The play immediately before the first interception was an ISO that could have bounced to the backside except...
Whiff! That guy stopped Smith for no gain and rose the crowd noise perceptively, perhaps contributing to the Perry brain fart. Michigan shelved this afterwards and tried to roll with A.J. Williams.
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Adam: UP: Jake Butt, which is a little weird coming from the guy who drafted him a mile ahead of all other TEs in this year's Draftageddon. I forced myself to temper my expectations for the first game; I would have been happy with four or five catches for 50 yards. For Butt to play like a Mackey finalist in week one has bumped up my timeline for heightened expectations by about four weeks. He was open with tantalizing frequency, and when he wasn't he showed he's got the leapt/catchy thing down pat. It seems that the sky's the limit for him.
DOWN: Getting mentioned unprompted by Jim Harbaugh in a press conference means somebody either did something really, really good or really, really bad; for the guards it was the latter. Ace already detailed the numerous problems Ben Braden had, but Kyle Kalis wasn't without fault either. He seemed to have an especially difficult time blocking Power. Harbaugh talked about how the guards need to improve their pad level and then mentioned a time where one was lifted off the ground.
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| Peppers merely looked like an All American. When will the Heisman version appear? [Fuller] |
To be fair, it's hard for your pads not to be too high when your feet are no longer touching the earth. After a fall camp where the starting five seemed to be a lock, this is a group that will need to improve quickly to avoid lineup shuffling.
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Dave: If you read TWO last week, it did not go so well for me...so:
DOWN: Jabrill Peppers. Yeah, yeah, he blew up a number of screens and had a few nice hits. Wooo. And a nice kick return, too, I suppose. But it only went like 36 yards. And that was out of the endzone. Michigan has had good kick returns before, right? This guy was one of the top recruits in the country two years ago. And he's in his second year now. Redshirt, yeah, yeah, yeah...still! I was expecting some really big things like actually intercepting the ball. Or like flying through the air to make plays. He got burned on a couple of routes and committed a pass interference penalty! Sure, sure, he made a couple of all right sticks on Booker, etc. Whatever, I guess I was just expecting more. Also, Jourdan Lewis dropping an interception? C'mon!
UP: ALL OF OHIO STATE. Count me for #TeamTHEACEhioState They are so good! The Buckeyes can line up four different guys in the shotgun and all of them can take it to the house on almost every play! Cardale got hit, threw the ball, and then threw the blitzer off of him. Holy crap! Also, they're getting multiple starters back from suspension, so they'll only get deeper at the weakest positions...like they have any! And did you see the %chance to win graphic posted during the game? OSU should win every game super easily. Will anyone even touch them? Maybe one of the team from the state of Michigan? I don't know, man. I'd bet they give up very few points for the rest of the season and score tons! Possibly even send two...no, three! guys to New York for the Heisman Presentation!