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9/30/96

Damon Denson's

John Partchenko

Chris Howard

It was also nice to see the young backups get a chance to play (a whole quarter) in this game, as opposed to the BC game. Although it's hard to tell at that point in the game, they played pretty well. The position I was most concerned about, the OL, looked good - and given the lack of experienced depth, getting the playing time was crucial. Hopefully, the games against Indiana, Purdue, and Minnesota will allow them to get more experience.

John Anes

James Hall

Josh Williams

9/29/96

Well, hopefully the 38-9 victory over UCLA will quiet some of the naysayers, at least for a week. I can't believe how many people picked UCLA to beat Michigan this week.

The offense really came around against UCLA. While there is always room for improvement, I love the balance and the way the ball is getting spread around. A few notes and comments:

Chris Howard's return obviously made a huge difference. He makes great cuts and runs between the tackles very well. I was idly thinking that he has a running style sort of like Emmitt Smith (not that he's that caliber, of course) - compact and efficient, with little wasted movement. Let's hope he can keep it up.

Scott Dreisbach seems to struggle in the first quarter; I noticed this last year as well. Maybe he needs to have some full-speed warm-up drills so that he can get his timing down before the game. Either way, once he gets going, he really plays well. He is good at utilizing multiple receivers, and as he gets more experienced, I think he'll get over his tendency to lock onto a receiver. It will be fun to watch him continue to develop.

It was good to see Michigan overcome its red-zone struggles (after the first quarter interception). It was also nice to see Michigan FINALLY incorporate the shotgun at the end of the first half. Unfortunately, it cost us a chance to score, as a low snap forced Dreisbach to throw the ball away and get an intentional grounding penalty. At least this didn't happen in a "critical" situation; the drive was pretty good up to that point, though the clock management left a bit to be desired.

Jarrett Irons

Charles Woodson

Chuck Winters

Remy Hamilton

Brian Griese

9/27/96

Chris Howard

Glen Steele

9/25/96

Chris Howard

Clarence Williams

Glen Steele

Juaquin Feazell

David Bowens

Josh Williams

9/23/96

Rehashing a few things about the game:

Obviously, the game was sloppy. Unlike last week, Michigan made numerous mental errors. I don't think that it was a lack of effort, but there was certainly a lack of focus, some of which was to be expected. I also don't think the coaching staff can be blamed - they constantly impressed on the team the importance of being ready, but it's not easy for the kids to focus after a game like Colorado.

I was quite impressed with the play of the offense. The fumbles (7 in all) really hurt - 2 lost, but the other 5 cost yardage and downs. The depth at tailback, for the first time in memory, is not where it needs to be. Prospective recruits, take notice! Despite this, Scott Dreisbach played extremely well. He missed a couple of deep throws, and a couple were dropped, but he still was 19 for 28 for 292 yards, which I'm guessing ranks near the top 10 all-time passing performances at Michigan (#3 is 328 yards). Let's hope we can get out of the 20 point rut - that's one of the stranger statistics I've heard (20 points in 4 straight games, for those who didn't hear. However, we're 3-1 in those games, a tribute to the play of the defense).

The defense played well except for defending the trap draw; they also had some difficulty with BC's big back when it was raining. I think that was partly due to the difficulty with footing that the linebackers were having when they tried to shed blocks. Nevertheless, they made the plays when it was necessary, and BC's only scoring drives were 19 and 35 yards.

Special teams was again a problem. The punting was pretty good except for the one in the rain, but it looked like the ball slipped out of Paul Peristeris' hands. Obviously, Remy Hamilton is struggling. I don't know why he's having such a hard time on the grass at Michigan stadium, but other kickers also seem to be having difficulty. This problem needs to be worked out soon. I still question using Chuck Winters on punt returns; he does pretty well when he catches the ball, but he isn't sure-handed enough.

9/16/96

The win on Saturday was certainly a redeeming one for all of us Michigan fans. Not that we're at the level of play of Nebraska or Tennessee, but it's a step in the right direction.

Things that caught my eye during the game:

It appeared to me that Colorado's defense did not play its usual, aggressive defensive scheme. I'm undecided on whether that was a good move. On the one hand, I think that it allowed us to control the ball. On the other, when they did blitz, Dreisbach responded fairly well by hitting the "hot" receivers.

The offensive line did an excellent job of protecting Dreisbach. The run blocking was pretty good. Going in, I thought that we would be able to run it up the middle, if we were able to block Matt Russell (Colorado's MLB). This did not happen, as evidenced by Russell's 22 tackles. I let out a few shocked gasps when I saw Rod Payne miss a couple of blocks on running plays - though he played very well overall, and is clearly the heart and soul of the offense. I was quite surprised that we made most of our longer runs to the outside - I thought that their team speed would shut those down, but the right tackle (Jon Jansen) and the tight ends did a pretty good job of sealing off the pursuit on those runs.

The passing game remains a concern. Like the first game, the deep routes were there, but the timing was a little off. If Dreisbach puts just a touch more air under those deep passes, Michigan could have scored 2-3 quick touchdowns (whether that would have been good or bad, I don't know - keeping possession of the ball was key in this game). I wouldn't mind seeing us throw a bit more to get the ball spread around more evenly - there seem to be plenty of weapons, but not all of them get the ball.

The game was remarkably physical. Both teams looked exhausted at the end of the game. I loved the non-stop ferocity of the defense - they hit Detmer on almost every pass play, and when their receivers caught the ball, they paid the price. I think that was really the key to the game - the Colorado offense never got in any kind of rhythm; many of the offensive penalties were due to defensive pressure.

The defense continues to be a dominant force. I predicted that Michigan would have a shot if we could keep Colorado under 30 (I was guessing they'd score 24-27). I never imagined they would be held to 13 points. I love the team concept. Notice that Jarrett Irons didn't have a big game. In fact, he only had 1 solo tackle. It made no difference. This is truly a team - but one where every player is capable of making big plays. I thought that this was the game where Clarence Thompson would be most missed - but up step Marcus Ray and Daydrion Taylor to prove me wrong. Will Carr gets hurt - and Rob Renes, in limited time, proves he's a good player. Ben Huff is making great strides. The only negative: the safeties can't catch! We've dropped at least 3 interceptions already this year - if Marcus Ray had caught that ball, it was a TD. Oh well - that's a minor gripe, at best.

Funny how almost every paper I read gave a BIG edge in coaching to Colorado. Wrong! The better coached team won this game. I don't disagree at all with Neuheisel's style - it works for him; however, concentration on the flash means less stress on the fundamentals. It's hard to do both, and against teams with talented players, the lack of fundamentals will kill you. I think we can speak from experience - Michigan has suffered the same problem in recent years. How many TD's have we had called back in the last couple of seasons? I can think of several off the top of my head; perhaps the biggest was against Northwestern last year.

Well, all that said, it was a huge win. The defense is awesome. We won't face another offense as good as Colorado's this year, though OSU has some promise (70 against Rice isn't convincing, though I think Rice actually won this week). Hats off to the coaching staff for a great game plan, and staying with the team's strengths. If our offense can make some strides, this will be a team to reckon with in November, when it really matters. Don't get too excited, though - there's still a long way to go.

9/9/96

Not much news out of practices this week, which is a good thing.

Rob Swett

Sam Sword

Chris Howard's

9/3/96

Jarrett Irons

Chris Howard

9/2/96

Chris Howard's

Glen Steele

Juaquin Feazell

David Bowens

Charles "don't call me Deion" Woodson

Scott Weaver

Scott Dreisbach

Tyrone Butterfield

The special teams have not made the expected strides forward - in fact, the placekicking, which was expected to be a strength, has taken a turn for the worse. This must be an area of continued focus for the next two weeks (although there wasn't much of a chance to evaluate the return game).

8/27/96

Juan Porter

Rod Payne

Clarence Thompson

Tommy Hendricks

8/27/96

Michigan athletic department site

Glen Steele

Juaquin Feazell

David Bowens

Brent Blackwell

Clint Cophenhaver

Rob Swett

Sam Sword

Marcus Ray

Steve King

Daydrion Taylor

Chuck Winters

Tommy Hendricks

LeAundre Brown

Ian Gold

J.R. Ford

Russell Shaw

8/26/96

It's been relatively quiet for the last few days. The press was allowed to take some footage (gasp!) of practice yesterday; not much really came out, though Lloyd Carr was in good humor (hopefully this is a good sign).

In Big 10 news, Penn State looked good in the Kickoff Classic, beating USC handily. I was, however, struck more by USC's ineptitude than PSU's skill. PSU's defense played well, but USC was frankly bad on offense. Defensively, USC has a good interior line, and good CB's, but the defensive ends and LB's were sad - no pursuit and no tackling. In my opinion, it'll be wait and see before we get a sense of how good PSU really is, though they were better offensively (especially the OL) than I expected. Nevertheless, the local media has now anointed PSU the favorite to win the Big 10 championship.

8/20/96

Glen Steele

Juaquin Feazell

Brent Blackwell

Paul Peristeris

Cory Sargent

8/19/96

Rasheed Simmons

Glen Steele

Juaquin Feazell

James Hall

Pat Kratus

Chris Ziemann

8/17/96

Clarence Thompson

Steve King

Rasheed Simmons

Joe Ries

Eric Wendt

Eric Moltane

Juaquin Feazell

Glenn Steele

James Hall

Pat Kratus

Chris Ziemann

8/16/96

Tim Biakabutuka

Here is a projected two-deep roster for the fall (this is NOT from the coaches - it's my best guess). Based on this chart, it is apparent that Michigan needs to get some playing time for the young linemen on both sides of the ball - hopefully, there will be some games where they can get some experience in "non-critical" situations this season.

**Offense**
Position	Starter	Class	Backup	Class
QB	Scott Dreisbach	So-r	Tom Brady	Fr-r
TB	Clarence Williams	So	Chris Howard	Jr
FB	Chris Floyd	Jr	John Anes	Fr
FL	Tyrone Butterfield	Jr	Russell Shaw	Jr
SE	Tai Streets	So	Todd Brooks	So-r
TE	Jerame Tuman	So-r	Mark Campbell	So-r
C	Rod Payne	Sr-r	Steve Frazier	Fr-r
G	Damon Denson	Sr	Jeff Backus	Fr
G	Zach Adami	Jr-r	Noah Parker	So-r
T	Jon Jansen	So-r	Jeff Potts	Fr-r
T	Tom Guynes	Sr-r	Paul Tannous	Fr

Defense
Position Starter Class Backup Class

DT Will Carr Sr Rob Renes Fr-r

DT Josh Williams Fr-r Ben Huff Jr-r

DE Glen Steele Jr-r James Hall Fr-r

DE Juaquin Feazell So-r Pat Kratus Fr-r

LB David Bowens So Mike Elston Jr-r

LB Jarrett Irons Sr-r Clint Copenhaver So-r

LB Rob Swett Jr-r Sam Sword So-r

FS Chuck Winters Sr-r Daydrion Taylor So

SS Steve King Sr-r Marcus Ray Jr-r

CB Woody Hankins Sr-r Brent Washington Fr-r

CB Charles Woodson So Andre Weathers So-r

**Defense**
Position	Starter	Class	Backup	Class
DT	Will Carr	Sr	Rob Renes	Fr-r
DT	Josh Williams	Fr-r	Ben Huff	Jr-r
DE	Glen Steele	Jr-r	James Hall	Fr-r
DE	Juaquin Feazell	So-r	Pat Kratus	Fr-r
LB	David Bowens	So	Mike Elston	Jr-r
LB	Jarrett Irons	Sr-r	Clint Copenhaver	So-r
LB	Rob Swett	Jr-r	Sam Sword	So-r
FS	Chuck Winters	Sr-r	Daydrion Taylor	So
SS	Steve King	Sr-r	Marcus Ray	Jr-r
CB	Woody Hankins	Sr-r	Brent Washington	Fr-r
CB	Charles Woodson	So	Andre Weathers	So-r

Special Teams
Position Starter Class Backup Class

PK Remy Hamilton Sr-r Jay Feely So-r

P Cory Sargent Fr Paul Peristeris Sr-r

KR Russell Shaw Jr Anthony Williams So-r

PR Charles Woodson So Russell Shaw Jr

**Special Teams**
Position	Starter	Class	Backup	Class
PK	Remy Hamilton	Sr-r	Jay Feely	So-r
P	Cory Sargent	Fr	Paul Peristeris	Sr-r
KR	Russell Shaw	Jr	Anthony Williams	So-r
PR	Charles Woodson	So	Russell Shaw	Jr

8/15/96

Two-a-day practices are continuing. As in the spring, practices are closed to the media, meaning information is a little hard to come by. However, the coaches have had some comments.

Tai Streets

;

Tyrone Butterfield

Russell Shaw

Mercury Hayes

Aaron Wright

Marcus Knight

Charles Woodson

Scott Dreisbach

Tom Brady

Brian Griese

DiAllo Johnson

Jason Kapsner

Stan Parrish

8/10/96

Yesterday was picture day for the Michigan football team (mostly a day to sign autographs and meet fans). Practice starts today; I bet the players are glad it's so much cooler than it was a few days ago.

Jeff Backus

Paul Tannous

Josh Williams

Trent Zenkewicz

Jason Horn

Dion Grubbs

Rank	Team	Points
1.	Nebraska (47)	1,524
2.	Tennessee (6)	1,398
3.	Florida State (6)	1,376
4.	Florida (3)	1,364
5.	Colorado	1,231
6.	Southern California	1,121
7.	Notre Dame	1,094
8.	Penn State	983
9.	Texas	968
10.	Ohio State	958
11.	Michigan	866
12.	Texas A&M	857
13.	Syracuse	813
14.	Alabama	768
15.	Virginia Tech	703
16.	Miami (Fla.)	593
17.	Auburn	585
18.	Kansas State	441
19.	Northwestern	426
20.	Louisiana State	329
21.	Virginia	292
22.	Washington	205
23.	Clemson	163
24.	Kansas	150
25.	Iowa	110

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Arizona State 187, North Carolina 112, Utah 94, Brigham Young 83, Oregon 81, Wisconsin 81, San Diego State 60, Texas Tech 59, East Carolina 58, Georgia Tech 45, Georgia 35, UCLA 31, West Virginia 23, Baylor 14, Oklahoma 13, Arizona 12, Stanford 11, Arkansas 10, Colorado State 9, Louisville 9, Toledo 9, Boston College 8, Michigan State 6, Southern Mississippi 6, Houston 5, Miami (Ohio) 5, Cincinnati 3, Fresno State 3, Mississippi State 2, California 1, Texas Christian 1.

8/7/96

The season is fast approaching, with the opening game scheduled for August 31st at 3:30 p.m, versus the Illinois Fighting Illini. I would expect Illinois to have a tough go of it this year, going .500 last year and losing two players (Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice) who were among the top 3 picks in the recent NFL draft.

The freshman class (of 2000!) reported today for their initial workout. Speculation on who will contribute immediately has already begun (after one day of walk-throughs).

Russell Shaw

Aaron Wright

Jeff Backus

Jason Kapsner

Tommy "Death Row" Hendricks

The rest of the team will report on August 9th (Friday).

go blue!