By Mr. Thursday Night
Our 7th place team in the Big Ten this year is the Michigan Wolverines. Year 2 of the Rich-rod experiement begins after one of the worst seasons in the history of the program. As we go to press today, Michigan is being investigated for NCAA practice violations. Apparently Rich-rod had his boys spending 12 hours a day on the field or in the weight room.
Everybody is back on the offensive side of the ball, except part-time starting quarterback Steven Threet. The influx of talent on the recruiting trail will also give the team a few more options that actually fit in the system. In the meantime, quarterback Nick Sheridan is not going to blow anybody away, but if he can keep the mistakes to a minimum, Michigan will win some games. The Wolverines have to be able to run the ball and that falls on Brandon Minor and Michael Shaw. The offensive line was mixed and matched last year, but everybody is back and once the staff finds the right combination, the ground game should flourish.
On defense, the Wolverines have to move on without most of their stars from a year ago. However, linebacker Obi Ezeh is back after leading the team in tackles last season and end Brandon Graham tallied an incredible 20 tackles-for-loss and ten sacks. Those two are a good nucleus to build around, but Coach Rodriguez needs to find some youngsters who are ready to fill in some of the voids all over the defense.
Michigan's schedule is reasonable, especially with a non-conference slate loaded with cupcakes. Look for the Maze & Blue to have a 4-0 nonconference record, 3-5 during Big 10 play, 7-6 oveall.
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