Three All-American High School Football Games on TV schedule - 1/05/2008:

There are actually three All-American games on TV plus Michigan Basketball

U.S. Army All-American Bowl
from San Antonio, Texas
1:00pm EST. (LIVE)
NBC

****Roster****
Boubacar Cissoko
Terrelle Pryor
Brandon Smith
Sam McGuffie
Nick Perry


Michigan Basketball
Michigan at Purdue
2:00pm EST. (LIVE)
DirecTV Channel 206
ESPN


Under Armour All-American Game
from Orlando, Florida
2:00pm EST. (LIVE)
ABC

****Roster****
Keanon Copper
Christian Wilson
Darryl Stonum
Brandon Moore
Dann O'Neill


Offense/Defense All-American East vs. West game
from Miami, Florida
10:30pm EST. (TAPED)
DirecTV Channel 645
FSN-RM

***Roster****
Kurt Wermers
Jared Holley

Coaches Corner: Game recap of Michigan 41 vs. Florida 35 victory

Not many people saw that coming especially with all the reports of distraction of Carr's last game, R-Rod being new coach, bad practices back in Ann Arbor, kids looking at their options, coaches interviewing for other jobs, etc.

Right off the bat people had to be thinking "oh my" not a great way to start the game out when Minor stepped out of bounds on the kick off on the seven yard line. Then the offense came out and looked like no Michigan offense we saw this year. That was the offense we thought would happen from the start of the season.

Then the defense came out and played very well. Had several bad matches up problems early, but really came together and found a way to control Tebow.

Yesterday is perfect example why controlling Line of scrimmage is so important. Despite four turnovers, committing eight penalties for 64 yards, and giving Florida too many short fields Michigan was able to win the game. Protecting Henne and pressuring Tebow allowed Michigan to out gain Florida 529 yards to 399 yards.

Offense:
Michigan featured a balanced attack. Rushing for almost 200 yards and passing for over 300. Florida's Passing game was held to under 200 yards. Michigan's 3rd down conversion has an outstanding ten out of 15, Florida only two for 11 and this allowed Michigan to run 20 more offensive plays than Florida. Still the biggest factor was Michigan's ability to protect Henne. This was particularly true in the 2nd half.

In the 1st half Michigan had some trouble handling Florida DE Harvey, he recorded one sack and forced a fumble, but after that Michigan kept Henne safe and gave him time to throw. Props go to Michigan Offensive line, but also have to be given to Mike Hart who excellent at blitz pick up and Carson Butler who also did nice job in max protection.

Michigan came out in a different scheme. Going almost exclusively with a multiple WR's set. This was not a true spread, but a pro style multiple WR set that included a TE and no slot. Change seemed to catch Florida by surprise and worked to perfection early. Florida adjusted as good teams will, but Michigan's execution trumped Florida's change. Henne and Hart working behind Michigan's best blocking effort of the year was able to continuously pick up key yardage and move the chains. This kept Florida's offense on the sidelines and stopped them from getting into a rhythm.

Defense:
Michigan's defensive fronts gave Florida's Offensive line fits all day. Yes, Florida gained 250 yards rushing, but they controlled Tebow's rushing and that was a big difference. They also were able to punish, hit, and harass Tebow most times he handled the ball. Key here was Michigan's ability to generate pass rush with just their front four for the most part. Tim Jamison played his best game in Michigan jersey, and both Brandon Graham and Shawn Crable were able to help from other side. This pressure set up Michigan's blitz game.

Florida was never able to handle what Michigan did blitzing. Jamar Adams, Obi Ezeh, and Shawn Crable were getting pressure, hits, and forcing Tebow to hurry passes. Even when they did not get hits they forced him to throw off balance or make bad passes and decisions. Michigan only recorded one sack, but the pressure was just as key as the sack. Florida was able to generate enough offense to stay in the game because Harvin was fantastic. He mounted almost 250 yards of total offense, about 60% of Florida's total offense. He abused Michigan's OLBers and safeties in space numerous times.

Another area of strength for Michigan has the corner play, and yes pressure helped, but Morgan, Warren, and Harrison played quite possibly their best games in Michigan uniforms. Morgan catching Harvin from behind might of been biggest play of the game. His hustle saved Michigan six points, and Florida was unable to score after Morgan Trent play. A huge swing.

Special Teams:
This might of been most overlooked key to Michigan's victory, and just maybe the most surprising. I have to admit before this game Florida's special teams scared me to death. At the beginning my fears seemed well founded. Florida special teams were able to give Florida offense short fields, my biggest worry, but to Michigan's credit they rallied strongly. Michigan blocked a FG, recovered a pooch kick off, and held Florida and dangerous return man James to around 100 yards in returns. Michigan also was 2-2 in field goals, while Florida went 0-2. There is your six points, the final score difference. This really punctuates the importance of this aspect of the game and explains why they are called special teams!

Got any questions regarding this or any other comments please e-mail: erocwolverine@gmail.com and myself and CoachBt will answer your questions. Thanks.

Michigan Basketball: Wisconsin at Michigan

Michigan Basketball

1/2/2008

Wednesday

7:00pm EST.

DirecTV Channel 220

Big Ten Network

Wisconsin (10-2) vs. Michigan (4-8)

Michigan Poll Results:

How do you think Michigan will play against Florida?

Win in a close Game?
12 - 26%

Lose in a close Game?
6 - 13%

Win in a blow out Game?
1 - 2%

Lose in a blow out Game?
27 - 58%

Michigan Football: Michigan vs. Florida

Michigan vs. Floirda

Michigan (White Jersey)
is the away team

New Year's Day

01/01/2008

Tuesday

1:00pm EST.

ABC

University of Florida and University of Michigan clash in one of the nation’s oldest and most popular college bowl games. A New Year’s tradition, the Capital One Bowl is televised nationally on ABC at 1:00pm EST.

Happy New Year Michigan Wolverines

Happy New Year Michigan fans and let's hope next year is a lot better than this year along with being a little "calmer" as well of all sports at Michigan.

I hope today Michigan Football can send Lloyd Carr out right and along with the seniors for all their hard work for the past 4-5 years at Michigan.

To look ahead the next couple of weeks should be really exciting time for a Michigan football fan. We have the assistant coaches to be named yet, the high school All-American games to be played along with recruiting coming down the stretch. Who will Michigan land and who might be looking elsewhere.

Michigan Basketball is in a real transition mode right now and I hope fans will continue to support this team, because they have played hard, hustled and actually looks like a basketball team.

Michigan Hockey has really turned some heads this year with such a young team and I hope they will continue this down and make a big impact in the NCAA championship ... I hope getting to the Frozen Four.

Michigan Softball and Baseball are getting new ball parks and both teams should be very good with high expectations and both have goals of reaching the college world series.



I hope everybody enjoys the day and has a safe and happy new year.

Calvin Magee (OC) coming to Michigan

From the WV Metro News:
http://www.wvmetronews.com/index.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=22787

Also can listen to him on that web link:

Rich Rodriguez is gone, but the plays called for the Mountaineer offense in the Jan. 2 Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma will be the same. That’s because the coach who has called most of the plays for the last five seasons is still on staff…for now.

Assistant Head Coach Calvin Magee is likely headed for Michigan just hours after the bowl game to join Rodriguez, but for the moment it’s still McGee in the booth, sending plays down to the sideline and, in turn, to quarterback Pat White.

Even while Rodriguez was here, the play calls originated with Magee.
“I make the original calls. Rich lets it ride most of the time,” said McGee. “Rich (was) the head ball coach so he always had the final say.”

So now, with Bill Stewart filling the void left by Rodriguez’s departure, will the execution shift for the bowl? “The original call will still be made by me,” said Magee. “If Stu has something he wants to interject then he will tell me.”

Magee joined another former Mountaineer Assistant Coach Tony Gibson at Rodriguez’s press conference at Michigan two weeks ago. But unlike Gibson and Rodriguez—who both resigned a short time later—Magee decided to stay through the next game.

Admittedly, it’s awkward. “The guys know I’m leaving,” said Magee. “I know I’m leaving.” Still, Magee decided the best thing to do was remain a Mountaineer for a few more days.
“I wanted to be here,” said Magee. “I’ve been calling them (the plays) for five years, so I wanted to call them for one more and then I’ll think about Michigan on, I guess, Thursday.”