Michigan announces two starters, two reserves won't dress for football opener against Western Michigan
The Michigan football program announced less than an hour before its 2011 season kicked off that four players will not dress against Western Michigan — including two starters.
Brady Hoke, shown pregame Saturday, will discuss the players not dressed after the game.
A Michigan spokesman said Gordon is suffering from a bad back, while the others will not play due to “team issues.” The spokesman said coach Brady Hoke will address the matter after the game.
Sophomore Michael Schofield will start for Barnum at left guard. He played in every game last year, mostly on special teams.
It's a little more unclear who will start for Gordon at strong-side linebacker, where freshmen Jake Ryan and Brennen Beyer are second and third on the depth chart, respectively. Ryan was with the first unit during warm-ups.
Sophomore Fitz Tousssaint is the starter at running back and junior Kenny Demens is at middle linebacker.
New projected starting lineup:
Offense
Quarterback—Denard Robinson;
Fullback—John McColgan;
Running back—Fitz Toussaint;
Receiver—Roy Roundtree, Junior Hemingway;
Left tackle—Taylor Lewan;
Left guard—Michael Schofield;
Center—David Molk;
Right guard—Patrick Omameh;
Right tackle—Mark Huyge;
Tight end—Keving Koger, Brandon Moore.
Defense Defensive end—Craig Roh, Will Heininger; Defensive tackle—Mike Martin, Ryan Van Bergen ; Strong-side linebacker— Jake Ryan*; Middle linebacker—Kenny Demens; Weak-side linebacker—Mike Jones; Cornerback—Troy Woolfolk, J.T. Floyd; Strong safety—Jordan Kovacs; Free safety—Thomas Gordon.
Special teams Placekicker—Brendan Gibbons (within 43 yards), Matt Wile (44 yards and longer); Kickoffs—Wile; Punter—Wile; Punt return— Hemingway, Drew Dileo, Jeremy Gallon, Martavious Odoms; Kick return—Gallon, Kelvin Grady.
Kyle Meinke covers Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2588, by email at kylemeinke@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @kmeinke.
Comments
umgoblue47
Sat, Sep 3, 2011 : 10:26 p.m.
ryan and herron and kovacs OH MY! fitz and shaw OH BABY! GO BLUE!!!
DonAZ
Sat, Sep 3, 2011 : 10:23 p.m.
Near end of 3rd ... still +50% shotgun. Defense rising to the challenge. Yes, I understand it's "only" Western Michigan. Still ... disciplined, controlled, tough football. Long live Hoke. Let's forget the prior coaching trickery.
DonAZ
Sat, Sep 3, 2011 : 9 p.m.
I'm charting the offensive series. First half -- 18 plays out of the shotgun; 11 plays under center. Offense playing disciplined ball ... no major mistakes. Defense showing same weaknesses from last year, but stiffening.
missionbrazil
Sun, Sep 4, 2011 : 12:30 a.m.
The D definitely came on strong in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and they started making the WM O look confused and out of sink ... it's great to see an attacking style D, and good coaching that obviously made some good adjustments as the game went on. After the 1st drive they only scored 3 points. The O looked fairly good, especially considering that we implemented a new system this year. NO turnovers and only 1 penalty are good signs also. Overall a 34-10 win is a good start. Go Blue !
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sun, Sep 4, 2011 : 12:04 a.m.
Yes, the D showed the same weaknesses as last year. They are, after all, the same players with the same talents. What is different is that the D-Coord took some risks, camouflaged his coverages, did all he could to confuse the other team's QB. Early in the 1st Qtr the QB could see what was coming at him and was making adjustments at the LOS. By mid-way in the second, he was completely confused. Good coaching can make up for talent deficit. Today was a prime example. A good first game, but a real test next week. Good Night and Good Luck