Michigan football team's below-average season earns below-average grades
Michigan football beat writer Dave Birkett hands out his final grades for the Wolverines' 5-7 season. As expected, there's not much to be happy about.
Offense
Defense Michigan finished last in the Big Ten in rushing, scoring and total defense in conference games, and, worst of all, appeared to regress as the season wore on. In losses to Penn State, Purdue, Illinois and Wisconsin, the Wolverines gave up 99 second-half points, and just once (on a disputed Donovan Warren interception against Indiana) did they get a stop when it mattered. The biggest problem was up the middle, where Michigan juggled starters at safety and middle linebacker without finding a solution. Defensive end Brandon Graham, the NCAA leader in tackles for loss, was one of the few bright spots, and Warren finished with 4 picks, most by a Wolverine since Leon Hall in 2005. Grade: F
Special teams Punter Zoltan Mesko was one of the best in the nation, Darryl Stonum set a school record for kick return yardage and Graham blocked two punts, but there were more glaring breakdowns than good spots. The on-side kick and missed extra point against Purdue, Greg Mathews’ muffed punt against Iowa, an ill-conceived fake punt at Michigan State, and Brandon Smith’s roughing-the-punter penalty against Wisconsin. Take out any of those plays and maybe Michigan wins one more game and gets to a bowl. Grade: D-plus
Coaching Rich Rodriguez and his staff deserve credit for rallying players together amid so much turmoil at the start of the season, and they deserve just as much blame for the total collapse the last two months. Michigan melted mentally at the first sign of adversity against Illinois, the Wolverines were badly outcoached by Purdue, and it was a mistake to play Denard Robinson on the final drive against Iowa. Beyond that, defensive coordinator Greg Robinson had a disastrous year implementing his 3-4 defense, and Forcier showed minimal improvement after his hot start. Michigan may have been hamstrung by talent, but there’s no excuse for 5-7. Grade: D-plus
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
rightmind250
Thu, Nov 26, 2009 : 10:23 p.m.
Below average season? I think last in the B10 is a little below average. Thats awful kind. No wonder RR is the coach.
kerch65
Thu, Nov 26, 2009 : 8:15 a.m.
offense gets a D- the offense was pathetic through the entire big 10 season to many 3 and outs no improvements on qb play or line play. running backs couldnt find an open hole to save their as* coaching over all is a F if you cant win 2 games after going 4-0 you failed as a coach
BornInA2
Wed, Nov 25, 2009 : 6:42 p.m.
@tomhagan- yep, and we never heard Bo complain about lack of talent or the players that Elliott recruited or injuries or lack of upper classmen on the team or any other lame thing. NO EXCUSES. He just went out and did his job.
tomhagan
Wed, Nov 25, 2009 : 6:07 p.m.
"Everyone's talking about how much Iowa has improved at 5-6 last year. Hell, if I went 5-6 they'd run me out of town!" Bo Schembechler at the 1980 Big Ten Winter Meeting. submitted without comment....
azwolverine
Wed, Nov 25, 2009 : 5:07 p.m.
Fair article, although I disagree with the grade for the offense. They couldn't score in big games or key situations (10 points PSU, 13 Illinois including stuffed on 1 yd line, 10 OSU, 56 minutes of futility against MSU) and ranked 114th in the nation in the red zone...not to mention a weekly sea of turnovers. O played well at beginning, regressed as badly as defense as the season wore on.
BornInA2
Wed, Nov 25, 2009 : 4:56 p.m.
"Michigan may have been hamstrung by talent, but theres no excuse for 5-7." Actually, I believe Mr. Unaccountable (aka RR) has a truckload of excuses, none of which are related to him. Good coaches inspire their players to achieve beyond their perceived abilities. Bad coaches blame other for failing.
FloridaBuckeye
Wed, Nov 25, 2009 : 4:25 p.m.
I completely disagree. I would like to officially award the Wolverines an A+, on behalf of The Ohio State University.