Ball security a big focus for Michigan quarterbacks in spring practice
Coming off two straight losing seasons, Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said Tuesday he expects to have a better football team this year.
“But we’re not going to have a good enough team to beat ourselves with turnovers and negative yardage plays,” Rodriguez said.
The Wolverines finished last in the Big Ten with a minus-12 turnover margin last year, losing 13 fumbles and throwing 15 interceptions.
Ball security, particularly at the quarterback position, has been an emphasis of practice this spring.
“Normally, about this stage in the spring, your top couple quarterbacks you’d put them in a different colored jersey and have them hands off,” Rodriguez said. “We have not done that yet. I’ve been ready. I’ve brought the shirts out to practice, but I’ve not put it on them yet because we wanted to make sure that the ball security was clearly understood because … it was a major issue for us last year all year.”
Starting quarterback Tate Forcier threw 10 interceptions and lost four fumbles last year. All but two of his turnovers came in Michigan losses, and he finished the season on an especially sour note, committing five turnovers (four picks and a fumble) in a 21-10 loss to Ohio State.
Backup Denard Robinson was even more turnover prone, tossing four interceptions in 31 pass attempts and losing three fumbles. Rodriguez said true freshman Devin Gardner, taking part in his first spring practice, has some bad habits he’s trying to break, too.
“He carries it out there a little bit like he’s running around the sandlot,” Rodriguez said. “Sometimes when you’re a young guy and you’re in the open field you feel the freedom to carry the ball out there. When you get to this level, the guys chasing you are a little bit faster so somebody may creep up on you and you didn’t know it. Most fumbles occur from a hit that’s not seen.”
For that reason, Rodriguez wants his young quarterbacks, all still teenagers, to practice live as much as possible.
“If the only time you get tackled is in the game, then you worry about do they truly grasp it?” Rodriguez said. “I told them as they get better - and they have gotten better in practice, and they’ve done a lot better job of ball security - we’ll start to maybe ease off on a few hits.
“Our guys aren’t taking free shots at the quarterback or something like that. But when they’re running down the field in our live situations, we’ve allowed them to be tackled. And we’ll continue to do that maybe another couple days until we’re sure of that.”
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
OSUbeBetter
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 6:53 p.m.
I wonder if Barwis has specific exercises for making Tates hands big enough to hold a football. maybe the medical school did a little "Break and stretch" of his fingers over the summer.
MTR
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 3:51 p.m.
hey what's up guys new to the site. I don't want to male excuses for Tate, but a lot of the turnovers he had were keys and games, but he was an unexperienced freshmen who got thrown in to started for the university of michigan. I think his turnovers will go down and his game will continue to go up. Some people need to realize he's just now a sophmore. Yet don't be shocked when he leads U of M to a BSC bowl. Hear my words.
Terry Star21
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 12:22 p.m.
Freemind42... much thanks, sponsorship sounds good that way, included Mott's Children - that's a win-win. Can handle this, just don't want to see banners/signs, scoreboard - anything in the stadium with ads.
Freemind42
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 10:30 a.m.
Mgoblog.com has a posting about the sponsorship issue. http://mgoblog.com/diaries/spring-game-presented-pnc-bank
mgobluegold
Wed, Apr 7, 2010 : 12:48 p.m.
@ Terry... just heard that on the radio PMC bank, went to internet it is actually PNC Bank, radio makes bad static/reception, probably hear more from annarbor.com when they get all the facts, hope that doesn't mean in real games, our scoreboard, stadium, etc.... stay tuned.
mgobluegold
Wed, Apr 7, 2010 : 11:43 a.m.
Yes... it seemed once he got sacked really hard a few times, lost confidence, composure, etc. - once he stayed down really long, scary. It is good that he and others are taking some hits in practice, but with some caution. Interesting and with hope that another year, more muscle, experience will make huge difference. truebluefan, yea, good idea not to go there, specially with our team... another team....maybe. Karch said at the spring practice yesterday that he felt Denard was the #3 best.... yea, one practice, one spring, we'll see in september when he gets chances.
lugemachine
Wed, Apr 7, 2010 : 11:03 a.m.
-4 against both Iowa and the Buckeyes. Ball security is vital. It seems that Tate is being largely overlooked. He may well emerge this season as a veteran leader.. durable, fast, agile and accurate. Last year he was a true freshman who "never gets nervous". Well, we saw him get plenty nervous as the season wore on. Hopefully he's learned and matured (and maybe put on 10 lbs. of muscle).
truebluefan
Wed, Apr 7, 2010 : 11 a.m.
I could make a really crude joke about the headline. But I'll refrain because I don't want my post to be deleted. I'm glad to hear that the QB's are live in practice. This will pay off big time in games. Not only will it improve ball security but they also need to learn about how to take hits.
Terry Star21
Wed, Apr 7, 2010 : 10:47 a.m.
The PMC Bank is not a joke, UM Football is officially using a sponser for the Spring Game - first time using a sponser in football - love to hear more details on the specifics, who this bank is, etc.
Terry Star21
Wed, Apr 7, 2010 : 10:43 a.m.
Great article Mr. Birkett, this is one of the issues I really wanted to hear addressed. Minus-12 turnover ration, last in the Big Ten - this was one of the very frustrating things from last year. We had some very good games (at Iowa, where we driving for a winning score - whoops interception), and the Ohio State game to name a few. I'm not a wouda, shouda, couda person, but really - a fumble on the OSU goal line to start the game and four interceptions, one on the 10 yard line and we lose by 11 - really. I love to read that these issues are being addressed, corrected and are already - did you see the video of Devin scoring a touchdown in practice... nearing the goal line he protects the ball like its a carton of eggs - good stuff. Protect the ball like it's family - 14-0...... PMC Bank being UM FB's first advertiser in a game - 0