I think we'll see a different offense from the team this year. Last year, the team rushed 574 times and passed 370 times. While I think they will stick with that ratio in the early going while the OL gels, once those guys settle in and the new young WRs get some experience, I think this team will be running an offense similar to the Pats. Lots of 3/4/5 wide and quick drops for Speight. I don't think the offense will be asked to do much, but they should be able to roll against everyone other than UF, PSU, Wisco, and OSU.
While the OL is breaking in new faces, they are more talented and should be competitive. They have Cole, Bredeson, and Onwewu should all be solid. Kugler or Ruiz will hold down C (I bet it's Ruiz by the end of the year), but RT is definitely a lil sketchy. Runyan is the presumed starter, but I'm not confident in him. Ulizio seems to be almost ready and is a mean SOB. I have little confidence in JBB other than as a backup. Overall, a thin group, but with hopefully 4, 5, 6 guys who can do a good enough job to let the WRs get loose.
At least one and hopefully (likely?) two of DPJ, Black, Collins, and Martin shows they're ready for real PT early. My guess is DPJ fires out of the gate, Black follows shortly behind him, and Martin makes a real impact this season too. Collins looks like he could use some refinement - likely just a read zone jump ball specialist this year, although a redshirt may be the best route for him. I don't think Crawford will be that good, so we will really need to lean on the Freshmen Four a lot.
At TE, Bunting will hopefully replace a lot of what Butt did. Butt was an outstanding receiver, but he also dropped more passes than he should've last year. I really hope Ty Wheatley Jr. puts it all together. A guy with his size and agility is super rare and if he can figure it out, he'd be a real unique weapon. Khalid Hill is back to continue wrecking people.
The RBs should be improved with another year in the system and Speight should build on last year and be more consistent. Evans and Higdon will split carries all of which will be reasonably productive and Ty Isaac will be given some chances to show his stuff. UM really needs to try and land a stud RB soon. Walker should be a good runner going forward, but it seems like RB is a position where young guys can make an immediate impact.
Speight will be the starter and Peters is likely the backup. O'Korn did nothing last year and is too risky for this team's offense-defense profile (i.e. the defense will win most games as long as the offense puts up at least 17 points and limits TO).
The defense will be at least a top 10 unit, and likely a top 5. The DL is going to be insane. Gary looks like he could play on the interior, but instead he will wreak havoc from SDE. Forget running to that side either. I assume teams will try to lineup TEs on his side, but if they don't do that and double him with a guard instead, Mone and Hurst will destroy the interior. Not to mention Winovich at WDE will be able to take on a lot of OLs 1v1. They have lots of talented backups too headlined by Solomon. Solomon will be true frosh Gary redux. Carlo Kemp is getting positive buzz in camp as is Dwumfour. At WDE no one is a clear cut backup (Vilain?), but I think it's easier to fill in those guys as even some LBs can fill in there. A rotation of 7 DL probably gets it mostly done. Watch out for gold domer hatin' Jeter too.
McCray comes back to hold down MLB. The kid played extremely well last year and solidified what was a potentially sketchy D corps. Bush will be playing alongside him in the middle and apparently is a LB in the London Fletcher mold (short, stout and brings the wood). I doubt teams will be able to run between the tackles at all against this D and really since Gary will shut down the perimeter on one side, only the perimeter away from him will be viable. Hudson is your new Viper and while it is impossible to replace what Peppers did on D, this guy is supposed to be tailor-made for the unique role. In Don Brown's BC defenses, the Viper racked up huge tackling numbers and I expect that he will deliver. There's not a ton of obvious backups for these guys (Singleton, Wrobo?), so the backups will be getting a lot of PT against Cincy, AF, Purdue, MSU, and IU before the PSU game to make sure the team stands a chance if and when those guys come out.
The back end of the defense is by far the sketchiest. Hill and Long are your starting CBs, and while I think Long will be good from the get go, Hill doesn't inspire the same confidence. Behind them the only other corner I wouldn't be scared to see is Ambry Thomas, but even he is very green. Getting the young guys reps before PSU will also be important. I feel pretty good with Kinnel and Metellus at S. Kinnel will be the centerfielder and Metellus played very well against FSU. There's also no experience backing up these guys, so hopefully some younger guys get into the games before PSU.
Prediction time!
UF (neutral) - I think UM wins this one because UF can't throw the ball. They have shitty QBs and the Calloway suspension is the one that actually hurts. This game will be ugly, but the offense does just enough and the D looks excellent against a bad offense. 20-13. 1-0.
Cincy - Big UM win. Stats for everyone. 2-0.
Air Force - Big UM win. Stats for everyone on offense. Play for no injuries on defense. Do not schedule these dudes again please k thanks. 3-0.
@Purdue - Big UM win. Stats for everyone. 4-0.
MSU - Big UM win. Stats for everyone. Even more than Cincy and Purdue. Harbaugh will want to bury this program that is teetering a lot. 5-0.
@IU - Big UM win. Stats for everyone. This team was frisky with Kevin Wilson. Now it's back to really shitty IU. 6-0.
@PSU - I really don't get all the hype for PSU. They will beat the bad teams on their schedule, but their win against OSU last season was super flukey. If this game were earlier in the season, I'd say that PSU takes it, but it's not, and UM will have their OL, WR, and backups up to speed by this point. Is this a tough game, absolutely. Could I see UM losing, yes. Nevertheless, give me Harbaugh > Franklin every day. UM win. 7-0.
Rutgers - Big UM win. Stats for everyone. 8-0.
Minnesota - Tighter win than we'd like. This is the trap game coming off a powderpuff Rutgers and before visiting old friend Durkin. 9-0.
@MD - Another tighter win than we'd like, but UM is just far ahead enough to win this tougher than it appears game against a vastly improving MD program. 10-0.
@ Wisco - Loss. The pressure on this team will be immense going into this game as either 10-0, 9-1, or maybe a bit less so at 8-2 (they'd probably still be in the hunt for the East division presuming one of the losses is against UF - don't see them losing to @PSU and @MD). Camp Randall is a really hard place to win and the Badgers should be pretty good. 10-1.
OSU - A BIG FUCKING W. It's about time this one swings our way. Getting them at home with a berth for the B1G championship on the line, UM wins a squeaker over the bad guys.
Final Notes:
- PSU has a tough tough schedule this year. The game vs. Pitt in week 2 is usually pretty tough (they lost last year), @Iowa in week 4 will be very hard, although better than late in the year, @ Northwestern is a harder midseason matchup than UM has, vs. UM, @OSU, vs. Nebraska, and @MD. No way is PSU coming out of that schedule better than 9-3.
- OSU has a very manageable schedule. Vs. Oklahoma in week 2 will be tough, but I expect them to win. @ Nebraska might be a little tricky, but they will be ready. Home against PSU, they will be out for revenge and crush them. @Iowa in November is interesting. Maybe Iowa can return the favor and hang an L on them. Two cupcakes before they come to A2.
- As a result of OSU's schedule, I expect them to be 7-1 or 8-0 in conference games (undefeated in the division) coming into The Game.
- Michigan's season comes down to @ PSU, @ MD, @ Wisco, and vs. OSU. The UF game will be fun and a challenge, but won't have any impact on the B1G. UM could easily lose that game with a green squad, but use the next several games to break in the younguns. If they can get it together before PSU, watch out.