Scouting the Wolverines
11/20/2009
To begin the 2009 season, the team up north showed dramatic improvements from last year. After its first two games, Michigan was scoring an average of 14.1 more points per game, completing 19.1 percent more passes, and throwing for an average of 66.3 more yards per game compared to the 2008 season. Granted, with nine losses, last season was the worst in 129 years of Michigan football and the first season without a bowl game in 33 years. Though still one game off of bowl-eligibility, 2009 has been much better.
The first game against Western Michigan saw the first start of true freshman Tate Forcier. One of only five true freshmen starting at quarterback in college football, Forcier went 13-20 for 179 yards and three touchdowns. Michigan is the only team in the country with two true freshmen listed as the top two quarterbacks and backup Denard Robinson actually led the team in rushing with 74 yards. The Wolverines won, 31-7.
Against Notre Dame, Michigan racked up 430 yards of offense. Forcier's arm threw 240 of them and another 70 came from his legs. He completed 23 passes on 33 attempts for two touchdowns and his 13 rushes included a fourth-down-and-three run up the middle for a 32-yard score. Forcier then hit six of seven passes on a 55-yard late-fourth-quarter drive capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass to Greg Mathews with 11 seconds left. Michigan wins in prime time, 38-34.
Another standout against the Fighting Irish was return man Darryl Stonum. A 94-yard kickoff returned for a touchdown against Notre Dame was just one of Stonum's team-leading 26 plays over 20 yards in 2009, which includes two receptions. Stonum's 218 return yards against Indiana was a Michigan Stadium record and his career average of 26.0 yards per return is third best in Wolverine history. With 938 return yards on the year, this Michigan squad already has the program's all-time single-season record.
In a 45-17 route of Eastern Michigan, running back Carlos Brown's 90-yard touchdown run contributed to Michigan's 380 rushing yards on the day. Against Indiana, Forcier passed for 184 yards and two touchdowns, including a 26-yard game-winner to Martavious Odoms with 2:26 remaining. The Wolverines win, 36-33, and move to 4-0.
Though they have since dropped to 5-6, Michigan has led in every game this year except one. That one was in East Lansing against Michigan State, where the Wolverines tied things up at the end of regulation before losing in overtime, 20-26. In his first five games, Forcier had nine touchdown passes, just three interceptions, two game-winning drives and one game-tying drive. Not too shabby.
Next, Michigan let Iowa come from behind to win, 30-28, in Iowa City. The Wolverines rebounded by putting up a ridiculous 727 offensive yards, including an equally ridiculous 461 on the ground, to beat Delaware State 63-6.
A loss to Penn State the next week was followed by a 13-38 loss at Illinois. It was the first time Illinois had beaten Michigan in consecutive seasons since 1957 and 1958. The Wolverines led 24-10 against Purdue before letting the Boilermakers score 28 points. Michigan missed the extra point after their fourth touchdown and so when they scored a fifth one late, they had to go for the two-point conversion to tie. They couldn't convert and lost a heartbreaker, 36-38.
After last week's loss at Wisconsin, Coach Rich Rodriquez needs a win Saturday to avoid becoming the first coach in Michigan history to start off with back-to-back losing seasons. He is 13-18 against ranked opponents but he's won five of the last nine such games. At home, Rodriquez is 9-8 against ranked teams but this will be the first time he's hosted the Buckeyes in his new, very large, very demanding home.
Go Bucks!
By Ben Brown, an OSU senior majoring in journalism