Wolverine247 Board

The curious case of Roy Roundtree continues.. Does Borges not like him or something?? I never see the ball thrown his way.

agree on everything. that's how i seen it. know one on our schedule is any where near the talent that bama has. Gardner looked good, just bad passes from denard. norfleet is a lock to start every game at KR unless he has fumble issues.

Gardner looked solid but I still think he has some ways to go or him and Denard have a ways to go to get on the same page.

I've never been a huge fan of Morgan and I don't think he has the athleticism to play WILL. Demens is what he appears to be. A solid B1G player who can't match up against the better competition. Ross may have the opportunity to dethrone Morgan, but I think Demens is pretty much locked in for the year.

Sorry man. Really not being pessimistic. If you read the rest of my posts from the night you would see that I am in no way panicking or anything.

How many true FR played tonight?

Who are they?

I saw

Richardson
Bolden
Norfleet
Ross
Pipkins
Williams
Wilson
Mario O
Darboh
Funchess I believe

Sam Webb tweeted that Houma and Jenkins Stone played as well

You're right, I read it wrong the first time

I say a lot of things you should agree with

Hard to take away too much from one game...especially a game where we ended up like flies on a windshield.

Nevertheless:

1. Norfleet will dust all of Breaston's Michigan return records by the time he's done. I don't know if he'll ever see a significant role on offense, but he'll be worth it alone as a return guy.

2. James Ross showed off those instincts he's known for. Assuming he doesn't look like a deer in the headlights in the next few weeks, he'll be starting by midseason I think. Morgan isn't "bad," he's just very limited athletically (which is why he was a 3* that we beat Northwestern for, as opposed to Ross being a top 100ish player with offers from MSU, OSU, PSU). I didn't notice as much from Bolden tonight (doesn't mean he didn't do anything), but it wouldn't surprise me if he takes Demens' spot away, too. Bolden and Ross as 3.5 year starters sounds about right.

3. Jesus, Lewan had his head up his ass tonight with the penalties. If he's regressed in that regard, that's going to be a thorn in our side all year. Thought he had put the dumb penalties behind him.

4. Gardner has all the tools to be a really good WR, he's just rough around the edges (obviously), and, sorry to say, he doesn't have a QB that can cover up for any "mistakes" he makes at WR. WRs who get by on physical talent alone (which is what DG is doing until he gets more reps under his belt) perform better when they've got an elite passing QB putting them in good spots. Denard's just not the consistent passer we need him to be.

5. Extension of #4: I'm hoping to chalk it up to Bama's defense...but Denard looked exactly the same as last year. I know there was a lot of griping about Borges tonight, but there was only so much that could be done against an opponent like this. Which leads me to...

6. The overall insanity that I knew would result from tonight. This game was scheduled back by Dave Brandon in 2010 when it was already clear that Rich Rod was a dead man walking, and Brandon KNEW he'd be hitting the reset button on the program. I suppose the argument could be made that a game like this was still good to schedule to see where we're at as a program right now, but for my money, this was an asinine piece of scheduling, and from my vantage point the AD hung the team out to be slaughtered in primetime. This game was well, well above our paygrade right now; I said it when it was scheduled, I said it all throughout the offseason, and it was apparent by the end of the first quarter tonight. This wasn't the meek, fold-in-big-game Virginia Tech team that we barely got past in the Sugar Bowl; this is the premiere program in America right now. A bunch of UM fans pointed at Alabama's losses on defense as reason for optimism. That's not the way it works in Tuscaloosa now. Will they give up more than the 8 PPG they gave up last year? Sure. But they're still in a place where they simply plug in the next guy after the stars leave. We are several years away from being in such a position. Trey DePriest would be the best linebacker on our roster if he was here (which he would've been if RR wasn't such a failure); he's a co-starter for Bama.

The same things that led to tonight's bloodletting are the same things that will prevent this team from winning the Big Ten. Lack of playmakers on the outside on offense (Roundtree's a terrible fit in this type of offense, he's the perfect RR slot receiver, catching bubble screens), and lack of top end quality on the interior of the defensive line. The former will allow teams like MSU, Nebraska, and OSU to load up on Denard. The latter will allow those teams to move the ball on the ground, something you have to stop in the Big Ten.

Never bought into the Top 10, preseason Big Ten favorites hype. I look at this roster, and I see an 8-4 team that ends up in the Outback or Capital One or Gator Bowl. A disappointment to many given the senior QB and the expectations placed on the team by the media? Sure. But I have never looked at this team and seen a conference champion. There are gaps on the roster being filled by young players (look at all the freshmen that played tonight) and under-skilled guys being coached up; that's not a conference champion, so if the season unfolds like I think and we end up playing in one of the Florida bowls on NYD, that's a success to me.

Do we have a QB coach?? Denard is still making horrible throws fallen backwards !!! Tell me guys! Will someone explain to me why he still does it!