Rich Rodriguez: J.T. Floyd will start at cornerback, Tate Forcier still sore but will play
Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said on his radio show Thursday night that redshirt freshman J.T. Floyd will start at right cornerback Saturday against Michigan State in place of Boubacar Cissoko.
Cissoko, a sophomore, was benched late in the first quarter of last week's win over Indiana after he was beat on several pass plays. Floyd made four tackles in his place.
"Right now as of today it’ll be J.T. Floyd," Rodriguez said. "Boubacar had a good week of practice. He’s really come back and battled for that thing and that competition is ongoing."
Rodriguez also reiterated that quarterback Tate Forcier will play against the Spartans despite a sore shoulder.
Forcier was limited in practice earlier this week, but returned without limitation on Wednesday. He was hurt in the fourth quarter against Indiana, but returned to throw the game-winning touchdown pass to Martavious Odoms.
"I don't know if he's 100 percent without soreness," Rodriguez said. "But there's no limitations and there's no damages there. He's good."
Comments
Theo212
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 : 4:09 p.m.
Richagain, Thanks for your acknowledgement of the great Theo212 (namely, me). Yes, Carlos is great and should win the Heisman. But this place is still a little empty without my co-legend Willievrine. Come back, Will! We're havin' fun And the trolls are done! -Theo L Smith '09
michboy40
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 : 11:45 a.m.
Great move. We need a change at the corner opposite DW. Nothing worse than watching BC celebrate an incomplete pass, only to get beat for 6 on the next play. Dude, you are not that good.
darock4everUM
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 : 10:55 a.m.
Worse case scenario if JT wins the position outright is moving Cissoko to special team as a punt returner after Matthews graduate. I'm sure he's working his arses off as a corner.
blue
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 : 9:06 a.m.
I hope this is just a temporary issue with Boubacar. I remember last year his teammates were raving about how nasty and full of fight he was in practice. He should definitely quit trying to give himself credit for receiver drops.
81wolverine
Fri, Oct 2, 2009 : 8:55 a.m.
I think Cissoko has a lot of talent, but his size is really a detriment. He's listed as 5-9, but probably 5-8 or smaller is more the truth. When he's going up against 6-2, 6-3, or taller receivers, it's quite a mismatch to begin with. Floyd is 6' and Turner 6-2, so I think they'd match up better. But, given all that, Cissoko can improve quite a bit by playing tougher and more aggressive. He needs to hit the receiver coming off the line to slow him down a little. He'll probably get a few flags, but I'd rather see that at this point than the receiver running into the end zone for a TD. Either way we go, there's still a low amount of experience that will just take time to get better.
azwolverine
Thu, Oct 1, 2009 : 10:50 p.m.
hurd, Good, and true, article. UM wouldn't think of MSU nearly as much if MSU would just stop yapping in our ears. Maybe that's why they do it. As for starting Turner, I think it's a good move. It can't get any worse for the defense than it's been, and hopefully this move will ignite something in the D. Equally, or even more importantly, we need Tate to play the whole game up to his capabilities because we're going to need to keep pace with MSU putting some points on the board. I think this game will tell us a lot about how good Michigan truly is this season because, despite the record, I think MSU is the best team we've played thus far and it will definitely be hostile there.
richagain
Thu, Oct 1, 2009 : 9:23 p.m.
Cissoko had 1 good game, 3 bad ones. I'll take my chances here. I would play JT Turner, it couldn't be no worse. Cissoko plays 14_20 yards off the ball and still gets beat? Maybe Dennard can play CB, or maybe Carlos? That was for you Theo Way to go Rich, Theo always told me how good you are. Richagain 2009, and beyond.
tater
Thu, Oct 1, 2009 : 9:11 p.m.
It will be interesting to see how Forcier plays on Saturday. I wouldn't put a little "reverse transparency" past RR during game week.
BillMK
Thu, Oct 1, 2009 : 7:45 p.m.
Yow! These are both kids but SO green.