Observations on the win over the Huskies, 33-17!

1-Michael Hart looked like an All-American with 117 yards on 23 carries and 4 catches for 49 yards with one touchdown. Jason Avant had 9 catches for 127 yards, one TD and was voted Chevrolet Player of the Game. Grady scored his first TD as a Wolverine, and finished with 9 carries for 42 yards although he did fumble in the red zone for our only turnover. Jackson, Martin and Bradley added another 38 yards on 9 carries.

2-Chad Henne looked poised and prepared, and was 20 of 31 for 227 yards and 2 TDs (no sacks, no picks) with Avant and Hart. Offense looked solid with 29 first downs and 447 yards in net offense on 81 plays for 5.5 per play. We created six red zone opportunities for 24 points. Henne threw to seven receivers. Our offense was 11 of 17 in 3rd down conversions, and dominated time of possession by over 10 minutes because of the four turnover advantage. The time of possession advantage resulted in 24 more offensive plays.

Overall, we had a good offense with a solid running game, and dangerous threats with screens to Hart and quick tosses to Breaston. Avant is our "go to" guy on 3rd down, and in end zone tosses and he is a sure-handed receiver. Massaquoi give us a great crossing option. As the season progresses, Grady and Manningham will contribute more along with Ecker and others. We should be a definite offensive threat, and we'll need it to keep the time of possession advantage to keep our defense off the field.

3-Defense is another story! If someone stops our offense this year, I'm not confident that our defense can get the job done. Northern Illinois had 20 first downs, and 211 net yards rushing with 411 yards in net offense on 57 plays for an average of 7.2 yards per play. We only forced their offense into one punt. That is not good defense. Horvath was 17 of 25 for 200 yards with one pick and one sack. Six players caught passes, but no TDs were caught. Garrett Wolf was the Chevrolet Player of the Game with 148 yards on 17 carries including the 74 yard scamper for a TD. They were 4 of 8 in third down conversions, and created three red zone opportunities for 17 points. The difference in the game were 5 Husky turnovers compared to only one by Michigan.

Our weak side was exploited and our safeties were non-existent on the long run by Wolf for a TD. Mason doesn't look like a great corner, and Leon Hall did have a pick (tipped by Massey), but our secondary has a lot of work to do. Burgess dropped a sure interception that could have been returned for a TD. Where's the pass rush? One sack, and only two tackles for loss. It was a disappointing first game for the defensive line that let the Huskies net over 200 yards rushing, and only managed one sack.

4-Special teams were decent overall. We blocked a field goal (John Thompson), but had one blocked. We made two of three field goal attempts by Rivas. Ross Ryan had some nice kickoffs, and five touchbacks in 7 attempts; he also beat out Frosh phenom, Mesko, for the punting job. Breaston, Mason and Arrington handled three kickoffs for 15 to 17 yards each. We punted once for 41 yards, and forced a fumble on nice coverage by Hood; Ross Ryan recovered his punted fumble. They only punted once out of bounds. Rivas missed an extra point blocked; however, he made three.

5-Bad news with Arrington leaving the game with ice on his ankle! Hopefully, it is not serious. Riley and Kolodziej were alternating at right tackle, and Riley played with the second unit at Right Guard. The pass protection was solid, and Henne was almost sacked twice; however, they gave him plenty of time. We took 4 penalties for 31 yards, Riley jumped once, Woodley got a personal foul and Mason was caught for interference for three of those. Terry Taylor did see his first action at Nose Tackle. Heralded "nickel" back, Charles Stewart didn't see action for some reason, but Brandon Harrison did see action on special teams. Dustin Utschung led the Husky defense with 13 tackles.

6-It looks like Chris Graham led the defense with 10 tackles while McClintock had 9 and Mason had 8. Engelmon, Burgess and Hall had 5 each. I expected much more from Burgess, and it was disappointing not to see David Harris in the middle; hopefully, his injuries are not serious so he may return for Notre Dame. Gabe Watson has not and is not worthy of award recognition; he is a very mediocre player, and the expectations that he would be a leader on defense were answered today. Watson is not capable of putting on a pass rush, he can be blocked in rushing schemes and it looks like he'll never be the All-American we'd hoped he'd be. I didn't see much of Pierre Woods today either. It looks like he made one tackle, but if there are some high school defensive line recruits out there, please contact Coaches Carr and Stripling immediately as they will need help next year. It was nice Jeremy Van Alstyne got the start after his injury problems, but we didn't hear his name called much.

Those who continue to knock Jim Herrmann might consider what Bo said on the air, and that was that perhaps our speed and talent on defense is simply not that good. Our tackling continues to be atrocious, and Bo definitely pointed that out. We could definitely use some cornerbacks and safeties immediately, and it would not be surprising for some new faces back there next year. Somebody needs to step up and become our defensive leader.

If you were to ask any Michigan football fan who they were most impressed with defensively, the response would probably be "nobody" from most fans.

Observations on the first half with Northern Illinois, 27-10!

1—Michael Hart is looking like an All-American with 83 yards on 19 carries and 4 catches for 49 yards and one touchdown. Jason Avant has 7 catches for 104 yards and one TD. Grady scored his first TD as a Wolverine.

2—Chad Henne looks poised and prepared, and is 14 of 20 for 174 yards and 2 TDs (no sacks, no picks) with Avant and Hart. Offense looked solid with 19 first downs and 289 yards in net offense on 48 plays, and created three red zone opportunities for 21 points. We scored on every possession except one, and Henne threw to five receivers. Our offense was 8 of 10 in 3rd down conversions, and dominated time of possession by over 10 minutes.

3—Defense is another story! Northern Illinois has been watching the game films of our last year’s weaknesses and capitalizing. If someone stops our offense this year, I’m not confident that our defense can get the job done. Northern Illinois had 9 first downs, and 125 net yards rushing with 206 yards in net offense on 26 plays for an average of 8.6 yards per play. That is not good defense. We could only force them into one punt! We did get a turnover that helped late in the first half to stop a drive. They are one of three in third down conversions.

Our weak side is being exploited and our safeties were non-existent on the long run by Wolf for a TD. Mason doesn’t look like a great corner, and Leon Hall isn’t doing much. either Burgess dropped a sure interception that could have been returned for a TD. Where’s the pass rush? No sacks, and only two tackles for loss.

4—Special teams was “hot” and “cold.” Ross Ryan (beat out Mesko) had some nice kickoffs, and three touchbacks. Breaston, Mason and Arrington handled kickoffs o.k. We punted once for 41 yards, and forced a fumble on nice coverage by Hood; Ross Ryan recovered his punted fumble. They only punted once out of bounds. Rivas missed a field goal, and had an extra point blocked; however, he made three.

5—Bad news with Arrington leaving the game with ice on his ankle! Hopefully, it is not serious. Riley and Kolodziej are alternating at right tackle.