Week 7: Illinois Recap

My blogging schedule has been all messed up this week due to a busy few days of work, but as the week draws to an end I will try to catch up on my normal articles.  The Michigan football team played their most complete game of the season last Saturday, which might result in many fans being over-confident for the upcoming matchup with Michigan State.  The Wolverines won their 4^th game of the season based on some stout short yardage defense and a couple of innovative offensive play calls.

Anytime that your team gets a shutout, the first positive has to be the defense.  I know Illinois is easily the worst conference team this year, but Michigan continued to improve on this side of the ball.  The defensive line continues to grow into a strength, which makes the linebackers look like the best unit in the B1G.  Illinois lost their starting quarterback early in the game, and they don’t really have any real downfield threats at receiver.  So, the Michigan secondary was not tested much, if at all, in this game.  Jake Ryan continues to grow into one of the best Michigan linebackers that I can remember watching.  Craig Roh has also become one of my favorite players just because of how much he has given to this program.  The guy is a 4 year starter, but at 3 different positions. Yes, he was one of the biggest recruits that Rich Rod got on the defensive side of the ball, and he might not have lived up to all of the expectations in regards to stats.  This guy has done anything that the coaching staff has requested, and has been a plus defender all 4 years.  The goal in the Rich Rod era was to have Roh play around 255 pounds, and not he is playing over 280 and is still making plays.  Hats off to him, and on senior day please give him the recognition he deserves.

I really liked some of the offensive play calling against Illinois.  Even though it was raining most of the game, Al Borges still decided to throw the ball more than I expected early on. Many different screen passes were called, with one going to Gallon for a long touchdown.  Michigan was just better than the opponent across the ball from them on Saturday. The most important part though was Denard did not turn the ball over for the 2^nd straight game. If he can keep the streak going this weekend, Michigan becomes much harder to beat.

Overall, Michigan beat Illinois like they should have (especially after Scheelhasse was injured), and there is not much we learned about the team this week.  The offense does seem to be gaining some confidence and momentum in B1G play.  The defense has been the most impressive.  They are following in the footsteps of the 2011 team, and are just becoming extremely fun to root for. Michigan will have its 3^rd difficult game of the season this Saturday.  Michigan State has been the most disappointing team in the conference so far this year, but they have been known to play their best game against Michigan.  Also, Denard has really struggled against aggressive, talented, defenses in his career, and the Spartans seem to have a very good game plan against him.  It should be a fun game to watch, and a very disappointing afternoon if Big Blue finds a way to lose.