Michigan football team winning games, not statistical races
The Michigan football team has more points than every team in the Big Ten, but the Wolverines don’t have a player in the top five in any major statistical category.
“Particularly in our offense, you like to be able to spread the wealth,” Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said on Tuesday’s Big Ten coaches teleconference. “We’re fortunate that we’ve had a variety of guys being able to take different roles and some of those stats in particular have been due to injuries.”
Both Carlos Brown (sixth) and Brandon Minor (eighth) rank in the top 10 in rushing average, and both have missed one game and parts of others due to injuries. Brown, who averages 56.0 yards per game, sat out Saturday’s game at Iowa with a concussion. Minor (54.8 ypg) has been hobbled all year by a high ankle sprain.Both are expected to play this weekend against Delaware State.
Quarterback Tate Forcier ranks ninth in the Big Ten in passing (164.7 ypg), and no Michigan receivers are in the top 10 in yards or receptions.
“It’s been a little more difficult for continuity from (the injury) standpoint,” Rodriguez said. “But ideally for us, if we can get a whole lot of guys producing and we can spread it around a little bit, that’s a good thing.”
More notes from Tuesday’s teleconference:
• Rodriguez said Saturday he was going to take a more active role on special teams considering Michigan’s recent problems in that area, including a dropped punt by return man Greg Mathews against Iowa and a botched fake by Zoltan Mesko against Michigan State. He expanded on his plans Tuesday:“What I meant by that was probably look at more personnel and seeing what we can do personnel wise,” Rodriguez said. “We are looking at our return guys, and not just those but the other guys that are on there. Even though we’ve been solid, I’d like to see us take the next step and be outstanding on every unit.”
• Rodriguez said he likes the concept of a full round-robin Big Ten schedule, but said it’s unrealistic to play 10 conference games.
“The only issue would be again, like for us, if you play Notre Dame every year, there’ll be years where you don’t have seven home games and that seventh home game is obviously a big revenue source,” Rodriguez said. “That would be the only drawback, I think, of seeing that.”
• On whether Michigan (4-2) has been involved in so many close games this year - four of the Wolverines’ six games have come down to the final possession - because of its relative youth: "I think that’s something that somebody would go over and look and see if young teams, particularly younger quarterbacks or skill-position guys, have a tendency to do that. But I don’t really know the answer to that other than the fact that the last couple games we didn’t quite execute early enough. We execute better late than early for some reason."
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
djuninho
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 9:57 a.m.
Also, Saban's Bama team was the only SEC defense to shut down Ryan Mallett so far, and held Ole Miss to 3 points last week... very impressive... that's what RichRod should be striving for
djuninho
Thu, Oct 15, 2009 : 9:47 a.m.
The SEC is a defense-first conference, just look at the size AND speed of those defenders... look at what Saban has done at Bama: they have a conservative, run-first offense, but their defense is big AND fast, and IS the reason they are a top-5 team... RichRod said last year he'd be Nick Saban in year 2, but that ain't the case (Saban was undefeated till game 12 last year)... we ain't making much progress on defense which is not a good sign at all...
DaveQ
Wed, Oct 14, 2009 : 2:47 p.m.
"Technically" Michigan will share the same record in the Big Ten as Indiana or Illinois in the next edition of the Sunday paper. Playing close games makes for exciting football. But you have to win those games to be considered the better team.
DaveQ
Wed, Oct 14, 2009 : 8:50 a.m.
You certainly can't ignore how important the defense was to the 97 Co-National Championship Team. But points scored is really quite insignificant in the grand scheme of things. You could go glass half empty and note that Michigan is 9th in Points Against. Run the numbers again after this weekend and see what you come up with.
saginaw
Wed, Oct 14, 2009 : 8:49 a.m.
In the old days, if you scored 21 or 24 points in a Big Ten game you probably won. Defense is still the key. Look at USC -- it is there defense that really wins the games. We'll see how ND performs against the USC defense on Saturday.
uminks
Wed, Oct 14, 2009 : 12:48 a.m.
Before we get big name defensive blue chippers to want to attend UM, we'll probably have to explode offensively for a few years. No BCS championships, but an explosive offense and 9 or 10 win seasons will help to attract top talent to the defense. Once we get the defensive talent in the next two to three years, we should be true BCS NC contenders!
azwolverine
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 9:12 p.m.
It is great that we are leading the B10 in scoring, although if you notice, the two teams at the top are the two that are allowing the fewest points in conference by far. Defense wins championships, period. Check the last 10 years, heck probably 20, or 50 or 100 years, and you'll see that the teams that play defense win. USC is a defensive powerhouse and has been since Carrol has been there. Urban Meyer is known for his offense, but his teams are always dominant on defense. The one year they weren't, they didn't win the title (lost 4 times, in fact). The SEC is recognized by most as the best conference. Why? They play the overall best defense. The Big East is a lame defensive conference, that's why they are not seen as legit. Texas Tech, on the other hand, is the perfect example of a high scoring offensive juggernaut that will never win a championship because they suck on defense. They will occasionally beat a Texas, like last year, but will never win consistently enough to win a title. The way Michigan has played defense the last two seasons, they are falling into the Tech category. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad our offense is scoring points so that at least we can keep up and usually outscore teams, but until we play better defense, this team will not win a championship.
FreeFallin
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 8:32 p.m.
@michfantex, Exactly my point. The 97 team always deferred and the D would set up great field position. Then when the second half started that team was controlling the game and dictating the momentum and exerting their sheer will. They were champions and executing a championship formula.
MichFanTex
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 8:13 p.m.
Freefallin, I took your post for the sarcasm you intended, I merely seemed to recall that Michigan always defered given the chance. I vividly recall Michigan winning the flip against PSU, defering to the 2nd half, and then completely obliterating the Nittany offense on the opening possesion. http://www.maizenbluenation.com/2009/02/1997-michigan-defense-mix-tape.html This compilation should be required viewing by all Michigan Defenses every day during spring and summer training camps, and weekly during the season.
FreeFallin
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 7:35 p.m.
@michfantex- I hope you didn't take my comments for anything less than the dripping sarcasm. The Defense in 97 was obviously the backbone of the team. It's just mind blowing to read comments that you can ignore the D if the offense is high powered. It's a completely false premise. Championship teams have it going on both sides of the ball. The SEC is a defense first league, while the Big 12 is an offense first league. The SEC is the better league. The U of M game was on at the same time as the UF vs. LSU game, #1 against #4. The final score was 13-3, only 1 TD all game. This idea that RR is building an SEC-style team couldn't be anymore wrong. If he was, he'd be concentrating on the defensive side of the ball. Bringing in fast, big(300+), athletic DL and letting the vertical speed players use their speed from side to side. My point is...U of M's fan base is not knowledgeable, in fact, most are clueless. Maybe it's because I live in Atlanta and up there people don't see enough SEC football but mark my words the league champs are mostly built around defense not offense. Take the blinders off folks and start watching SEC football in order to understand my views. Watch the DL and see how the speed trickles down from the trenches. Watch the open field tackles of the LB's and DB's as they shrink the field from side to side. That is championship football. If you want to watch great offense watch the B12 lose to the SEC in the NC game or... become a Hawaii fan.
DraderOHIO
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 6:40 p.m.
This is Rich Rod first year with his players. Last year he had no one that really got his system. No one that understood what he was trying to do. Michigan is 4-2. I still have this team ending up 9-3 or 8-4. Next year if Michigan is not 10-2 or better then every one can say what they want about Ric Rod.I still dont think he has the QB he wants. He wants Tate with D Rob speed.Go BLUE
MichFanTex
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 6:33 p.m.
Yes, I remember '97, and no, Carr didn't direct the team to take the ball first. I also recall the stellar defense and passable offense. Over the course of 12 games Michigan allowed 9.5 points per game while scoring 26.8 points per game. Michigan's fewest points scored was against OSU, 20-16. Michigan scored their most points against Baylor, 38-3. And the closest point margin was against Iowa, 28-24. An aberation for an otherwise very stingy D.
FreeFallin
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 6:31 p.m.
And another thing....an article about U of M winning games in the midst of a 2 game losing streak. Really???? Birkett how's the recession been affecting the economy up in Michigan? Business is booming right?
FreeFallin
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 6:02 p.m.
What an extremely knowledgeable fan base with an incredible memory U of M has nowadays. Remember that high powered offense back in 97 that won a championship? Man oh man did that offense know how to hold on to the ball so that the weak defense wouldn't get exposed after being on the field too long. Anyone else remember Lloyd game planning around the offense? He always wanted the ball first if they won the coin toss, deferring to the 2nd half was never an option.
MichFanTex
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 6 p.m.
Offense and defense are not mutually exclusive. Get that through your heads "knowledgable" ones.
bluesteel
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 4:31 p.m.
THE BEST DEFENSE IS A GOOD OFFENSE. Get that through your head now djuninho, and you won't be so surprised when the championships start sprouting.
djuninho
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 4:15 p.m.
Offense wins games, DEFENSE wins CHAMPIONSHIPS... get that through your head RichRod... and BTW, NEVER neglect the importance of SPECIAL TEAMS...how bout hiring a special teams coordinator? What are you doing with the millions UM is paying you anyway?
81wolverine
Tue, Oct 13, 2009 : 2:18 p.m.
It's a pleasant surprise we're still leading the Big 10 in scoring. But, the only stat that really matters is the # of W's. So, people shouldn't get too caught up in the numbers, although they can indicate POSSIBLE problem areas to try and improve upon. Glad to hear Coach Rod will take a more active role in special teams. The fumbled punt and kick returns MUST stop. It's hard to figure out Matthews fumble as he's normally very reliable. But, the timing was terrible. Earlier in the season, special teams seemed to be doing OK. Hopefully, we'll see a lot of improvement from here out.