Quarterly Review: Expecting Improvement

A lot of us Michigan fans started the season riding a wave of optimism with this young Wolverine football team. They started out hot and seemingly got a big monkey off our backs with the team covering the 35 point spread and avenging "the upset" against Appalachian State in week one. Then, we all went into the week two showdown with Notre Dame looking to do what we have done three out of the last four meetings: Beat the Irish! Well, that wave, along with the ship carrying any of our hopes that this team had truly arrived, went crashing into the rocks and sank faster than the Costa Concordia with our first shutout loss since 1984 (FYI, that was and will remain for at least a few more years the longest standing streak in NCAA history).

A star is born in Ann Arbor.

The week following that humiliating 31-0 defeat in South Bend HC Brady Hoke seemed to very little to take any targets off his head, handling the media and the disgruntled fans about as well as Lenny petting the rabbits. No doubt some fans probably deserve to get choked, and Michigan fans in particular are a little spoiled, but I guess that just comes with being the winningest program of all-time. However, Hoke coming out and publicly ridiculing the base that has given so much support over the years in terms of time, energy, and money to an elite program that has fizzled more than sizzled in the last decade is something that I would advise against for a man in his position. Using words like "not real fans" is a Sports PR 101 no-no as far as I am concerned.

With the team looking to move forward they escaped the Miami (OH) game in week three with a 34-10 pounding. In most cases that would help ease some of the pain, but there still seems to be a lot of uneasy and pessimistic energy festering throughout Wolverine Nation. In fact, there was a shower of boos raining down on the team and their seems to be a tsunami of frustration overtaking the entire Big Ten Conference after a terrible start to the season. At this point it just doesn't look good for the Midwest.

So, to get to the point rather quickly here (I will spare you any more metaphors), let's focus on the one question that needs to be asked at this point, which is: What exactly have we learned about this Michigan football team now that we are a quarter of the way into the season? 

1. For starters, I have to say that we knew this wasn't going to be an easy ride. Yes, nobody expected to get our asses handed to us like we did at Notre Dame, but nobody, including the most optimistic of fans, was expecting this team to go undefeated either. The thing to remember is that this is still a young team and we should expect to see improvement as the season rolls on.
2. The coaches seem content on saving the best for the Big Ten schedule. A lot of guys have suffered minor injuries and have missed extensive game time, and I guarantee that some of them would not be sitting if it were the Big Ten Championship on the line. A lot of it has to do with the depth they are developing all over the roster, but there is not doubt in my mind that Hoke and crew deem these first four games to be far less relevant than the final eight games on the schedule. Hoke has always said that their goal every year is to win the Big Ten, and none of these first four games matter too much in regards to that.
3. Doug Nussmeier is obviously still breaking in a new offense. Yes, he has been implementing the system since last winter, but it's not quite as easy as many might think and, going back to my first point, there is a ton of youth still learning the ropes at nearly every position. Devin Gardner is the only senior on the entire starting offense and only two others are juniors if Graham Glasgow and Jack Miller remain on the first unit O-line. The rest of the offense is made up of freshmen and sophomores. Again, improvement should be expected with every passing week.
4. The coaches are committed to establishing a downhill running attack. which I believe is very important. The running backs have racked up a ton of yards against App St and Miami, but got stuffed under the eyes of Touchdown Jesus. The idea here is that if they can get it all together and start rolling by the time the Big Ten schedule opens next week then things will really begin to click. 
5. The coaches have faith in the depth at receiver. I am willing to bet my right eye that Devin Funchess could have played last Saturday against Miami but sat-out for precautionary reasons instead. I mean, let's face it, there is no real need for him to play right now. He already looks like an All-American and future first round pick and it would be a shame for him to get hurt while playing against guys that have no business being on the same field as him. Besides, I was glad to see other players, such as Amara Darboh, Da'Mario Jones, and Freddy Canteen, get ample playing time to help them hone their skills. These young guys gaining as much experience as they can now will go a long way toward us finding success in the passing game later on in the season.
6. The defense is still experiencing growing pains, but look like they could be a very good unit when it's all said and done. Yes, they gave up two annoyingly long drives to App St, and eventually crumbled under the pressure of turnovers in South Bend, but a lot of different guys have garnered playing time all over the field due to injuries. Still, the unit has managed to only allow an average of 252.7 total yards per game, which is good enough to to have them ranked as the seventh best defense in the country. That is good and I expect the D to also grow together more as unit and improve moving forward. The one area they really need to improve on is turnovers, which they have seriously lacked thus far.
7. The tight end position is a bit thinner than we had all hoped. Luckily though, Jake Butt is back and playing at full speed once again. His innate ability to make plays and toughness in the passing game were sorely missed. Kahlid Hill has shown enough to warrant some more playing time but he is still green as a reshirt frehsman. A.J. Williams has been a disappointment thus far as a junior. It would be nice if converted DE Keith Heitzman could pick up the pace a little bit and rise up the depth chart. He has the size to be a force as a blocker and soft enough hands to get some targets. He just needs to fine-tune his game.
8. We can't rely on the kicking game to save us at this point. Matt Wile has already missed three field goals from moderate distances and his two misses in the first half against Notre Dame really began to take the wind out of our sails early in that game. He has a strong enough leg to nail the long shots but his accuracy and mental toughness seem to be inadequate at this point. Let's just hope he can get it together because we are going to need to count on him again at some point. Will Hagerup has been okay so far as a punter, but some better consistency is needed for us to continuously pin opponents deep in their own territory.

As far as being a fan goes, I am still optimistic that this team can really make some noise in 2014. There are lot of games ahead starting with Utah this week, and no opponents from here on out should be taken lightly. We should all expect improvement as the team dials the intensity up a notch on the eve of the Big Ten opener against Minnesota on September 27th.