We found out just minutes before kick-off that Denard was not going to play at all against Minnesota, and for the first time in his career MarQueis Gray was going to play against the maize and blue. Apparently in warm ups it was very clear that Denard was not able to play at quarterback. I am not sure if it was the cold that bothered his elbow, the new bulky elbow pad, or just a case where he needs more time to heal. The Wolverines took the field with Devin under center, and for much of the first quarter it appeared that the Nebraska game never really ended. But he battled back and became more settled in the pocket and threw some extremely good passes. Devin led the team to a dominant road win, and kept the team on pace to head to the Capital One Bowl.
The interior offensive line really had a rough day. Minnesota was leading the B1G in sacks coming into the game, and we found out quickly why. Mealer, Barnum, and Omameh were push back numerous times. Both guards look very suspect when pulling for a running play which is interesting because both were recruited as smaller, more athletic, lineman for Rich Rod. The scary thing is that their mistakes are different with each pull. Sometimes they drop too far into the backfield and then cannot get in front of the running back, sometimes they trip over the center's feet, sometimes they hesitate when the ball is snapped. It doesn't look like any of these are correctable in the near future. Coach Hoke has even mentioned putting backups to see if anything would change. Mealer seemed like an average filler after Molk graduated, but he has seemed to degress during conference play. I think the main reason why last season and the defense of this year are so much fun to watch is that you can see their improvement each week. The same does not hold true for the offense right now. The running game is still non-existant, and if Denard is out for Northwestern or Ohio State then Devin will have a more difficult time trying to complete passes.
Michigan definitely struggled to get pressure on the quarterback for consistent stretches of the game. Yes, the B1G really lacks playmakers at receiver and the Wolverine secondary is able to defend in man coverage mostly. If Michigan wants to compete on a national level, whether that means against Ohio State in Columbus or against a top 10 team in the bowl game, they will have to find a way to pressure the quarterback. In the coming years look for Mario, Jake Ryan, and some future recruits to really fall into the scary pass rushing type.
I really liked Devin's play at quarterback. I know it has spurred on some conversation about him jumping Denard even when number 16 is healthy, which is very premature in my opinion. Gardner did have a very good game though, and I give credit to the coaching staff because the play-calling really seemed to help him out after the first quarter. He looked a little shell shocked after the first 3 drives, but then they began running some quick passing plays to get Devin into a comfort zone and the running game was able to manage 155 yards without Denard. I especially liked Devin's decisiveness when it came to scrambling, after his interception he stopped tryinng to force throws and took the 5-6 yards the Gophers were giving him instead. Yes, a forced throw could result in a 25 yard completion and completely break the opponents back, but more times than not, a forced throw will result in an incompletion or turnover. It was amazing to see the first fade pass since Chad Henne. I find it funny that we had to put in our "3rd string" quarterback to finally run a fade route. Gardner threw some passes that only his receiver could catch, and his deep throws are more polished than Denard's already. While I am hoping Devin is not starting at quarterback the rest of the season, he gave me a lot of hope for next season's offense. Maybe his future is at signal caller after all.
Looking ahead Michigan has two tough tests remaining and one game that I feel pretty confident about. In the preseason, those two games would be Iowa and Ohio State, but Northwestern has surprised me. Northwestern is really the only team that can take the Capital One Bowl away from Michigan at this point (unless it is Nebraska handing them the Rose Bowl). They have a very run first offense that will be a stiff test for our defense. It should be very exciting.
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