Michigan football team trying to prevent Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd from having 'just another game'
The last time star Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd played at Michigan Stadium, only a cut on his leg could keep him from shredding the Wolverines' defense.
Surely, he won’t be intimidated coming back to Ann Arbor -- night game or otherwise.
Michael Floyd, a 6-foot-3 Notre Dame receiver, poses a challenge to the Michigan secondary, which doesn't have a starter taller than 6-foot.
AP Photo
"It's not too much (different). It's just a regular game, just the sky's darker, nothing too big, and it's on a different channel."
Floyd terrorized Michigan in Michigan Stadium two years ago, grabbing seven catches for 131 yards and one touchdown despite missing the final 6 minutes due to a laceration on his leg. Michigan won the game, 38-34, in the final minute.
This time, though, Floyd is healthy. He showed that last week, hauling in 12 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns in Notre Dame’s 23-20 loss to South Florida.
Floyd, who is 6-foot-3, 224 pounds, poses a unique challenge because of his size. No starter in Michigan’s secondary is taller than 6-foot, and only backup safety Marvin Robinson is as tall as 6-foot-2.
So, how will Michigan attack Floyd?
"You better make sure, No. 1, that you're playing with great technique on him," Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said. "If you don't play with perfect technique, or great technique, you're going to get exposed.
“I think the second thing is you can't allow the quarterback all day to throw to him, and I think you have to give him a number of different coverages so he doesn't know all the time what you're getting."
Floyd had 79 catches for 1,025 yards and 12 scores last year, and already is Notre Dame’s all-time leader in receptions, touchdown receptions and receiving yards per game.
Mattison said he won't assign one cornerback to cover him. That onus will fall on various players throughout the game.
To prepare for the task, Michigan has receivers Darryl Stonum and Jerald Robinson wearing Floyd’s No. 3 on the scout team.
It is a bit ironic Stonum is imitating Floyd while redshirting this season after being arrested in the summer for his second career DUI. Floyd also was arrested for a DUI this year -- the third alcohol-related offense of his career, following two MIPs -- although he was reinstated and did not miss a game.
"It is a huge help for us," junior safety Jordan Kovacs said of having a player such as Stonum, who was Michigan's third-leading receiver last year, available for the scout team. "At the same time, I don't think you can put a guy out there and say that he is Michael Floyd.
"That guy is huge, he makes big plays and he's going to be tough to stop."
Kovacs also said he's impressed by Floyd's blocking ability.
"I was watching that South Florida tape and not only will he make plays down the field catching the ball, but he'll come off and hit you under the chin to make some plays for the running game," he said.
Although Notre Dame’s quarterback change this week — coach Brian Kelly announced he would supplant Week 1 starter Dayne Crist with sophomore Tommy Rees — has things in flux, Floyd already has established a rapport with his new quarterback.
Rees started the Fighting Irish’s final four games of last year, and went 4-0. During that stretch, Floyd had 24 catches for 297 yards and four touchdowns.
What does Mattison think of Notre Dame's quarterbacks?
"I think they both have good arms," he said. "I think they both appear to be very intelligent and they both have a great wide receiver.
"I think that makes your quarterback."
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
Mybalzerirish
Sat, Sep 10, 2011 : 12:04 a.m.
Chiro19, Michigan has some great players, especially the most explosive player in the country in Denard Shoelace Robinson. They have some good receivers and backs, and an experienced offense. They just don't have a good defense. They are small and do not have depth. If MU cannot consistently cause turnovers they will look a lot like their defense from last year. Robinson will also not be able to make as much of an impact in Brady Hoke's pro-style offense. He will make some plays when he is scrambling, but he will not be able to produce like he did in Rich Rod's offense. Now lets talk about ND. If you ask me they are a much improved team. Their offensive line manhandled USF. They may have only rushed for around 115 yards, but that is because they only really rushed in the first half. There were only around 5 rushing plays in the second half. ND's defense looks great only allowing USF to score 1 offensive touchdown, even when USF was starting their drives in some great field position. The reason ND lost the game against USF was because they made so many mental mistakes. 5 turnovers, 3 inside the red zone and 1 returned 96 yards for a TD. ND ran all over USF. ND will also have a different QB for the Michigan game. In 1 half Tommy Rees threw for almost 300 yards when everyone in the stadium knew that they were going to pass the ball. Now, you also call USF a terrible team, yet it seems every coach and commentator thinks USF is better, seeing as they are ranked, and MU is not. I expect much more than 6 or 7 wins, maybe even a Big-East Championship. And you also compare Michael Floyd's DUI to Stonum's 2nd DUI. There is a big difference between getting 1 DUI and a second. And Floyds other 2 alcohol related incidents were for under age drinking, and I'm sure no other college students have ever done that. It'll be a close game as most MU ND games are, but I think ND will win, especially after their abysmal play last week. GO IRISH!!!!
RWBill
Fri, Sep 9, 2011 : 5:35 p.m.
If the D is not in Rees's face by the count of 3 it's going to be a long afternoon.
chiro19
Fri, Sep 9, 2011 : 3:07 p.m.
It reminds me a lot of Brady Quinn and all of the hype behind him and how he could start for any NFL team when he was at ND. What happened? They got smashed by michigan! What happened when the second coming of Quinn, Smushed face Clausen was QB. They got Smashed by Michigan! If ND loses this game Kelly will be fired before the end of the year. Their schedule is tough for their lack of speed. Losses to USF, Mich (hopefully), MSU, Navy, USC, Maryland, BC, and Stanford. Looking at that picture of Kelly with his head turning purple reminds me of 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' when that girl turns into a blueberry!
BlueGator
Fri, Sep 9, 2011 : 2:32 p.m.
I hope UM doesn't get so preoccupied with Floyd that they ignore Cierre Wood. I worry too much. Mattison no doubt has this covered. GO BLUE!!
Blu n Tpa
Fri, Sep 9, 2011 : 1:28 p.m.
tim He is the leading receiver all time at ND, so yeah he's pretty good. That being said he didn't get ND in the Victory Circle last week and if Michigan can keep his number reasonable, 8 and 110 with 1-2 TDs, Michigan wins. Why would I say that? Because WMU had a similar set up last weekend. Good to very good QB to WR matchup that was productive but couldn't win the game for WM, and that was a senior QB with tons of experience. Also tim, while I don't condone underage drinking, if every college age kid who drank before they were 21 were arrested and suspended from school, then there would be a lot of unemployed college professors. c19 Nice tongue in cheek post. You do have to wonder if in hindsight BK should have sat Floyd the first game since ND lost anyway. Now he can't claim, or is it reclaim, the moral high ground. If ND loses this weekend he will be in the market for an asbestos chair cushion, don't you think? TiM Go Blue!
tim
Fri, Sep 9, 2011 : 12:54 p.m.
He must be good----- any kid with that many alcohol related " incidents" would be kicked off the team at most D1 schools.
chiro19
Fri, Sep 9, 2011 : 12:52 p.m.
Thank god they play this game! Especially the last 2 years because michigan would have lost by a combined 500 points including this year! The greatest team that has every played on this planet, ND, is just unstoppable on paper and would crush every NFL team! There is no question even Chuck Norris is afraid of ND! Prediction ND-125 Mich-3 ND doesnt go for the last extra point because they feel bad! They bring in St. Mary's womens team in the forth quarter to make it fair. The reporting that has been going on the last week makes me want to puke! All it has been is Michigans D looks horrible, the offense is nothing, ND and their QB's are so good that One might stay in the entire game for once, ND's d is so improved no one can score on them, etc... Floyd is unstoppable! Michigans D looked much improved. They held Carder to 183 yards on 33 attempts and 1 pick no touchdowns. What specifically do you want the D to do besides those numbers? 0 yards on 33 attempts with 33 picks? Ya, WMU had two good drives resulting in some points. So did UNLV vs. Wisc., So did Tulsa vs OU. So did USF vs. ND! ND looked like garbage against a bad team in USF! This michigan team has improved from the last two years that they have beat ND (and remember last year they should have beat them by 17) and ND looks the exact same. There is a good chance USF loses 6 or 7 games this year as well as ND. So if Mich beats ND (the Chuck Norris of College Football) this weekend soundly then Mich will deserve the #1 spot in college football? How bout a top 20? On a lighter note, I do find it comical that a guy who has a DUI (2 and got punished appropriately) is acting as another guy who has a DUI (and did not get punished). Go Blue!