Tag: Daxton Hill

Michigan football grades from Big Ten Week 3 loss against Indiana

Michigan football stumbled in the 38-21 loss to Indiana yesterday. How did each position grade out in the season-defining loss?

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The 2020 Michigan football team suffered a season-defining 38-21 loss Saturday to Indiana as it lost to the Hoosiers for the first time since 1987. This loss eliminates any hopes and dreams for the Wolverines to hoist a championship trophy, whether in the conference or in front of the country.

The Wolverines offense once again wasn’t able to put up points after failing to put up over 24 points last week. The running game didn’t exist, and the Wolverines needed to sling the ball around to try and spark a comeback. The defense for Michigan was a huge issue as well. It didn’t have an answer for Indiana’s passing attack: The secondary was torched all day.

While this loss doesn’t hurt as badly as the loss last week, considering Michigan State lost to Iowa 49-7 this week, it still isn’t what Michigan needed to show in front of the country. Indiana is a good football team. On paper, Michigan is better, but when it came to it happening on the field, the Hoosiers were the better team yesterday. How did each position do in the loss?

Offense

Quarterback: C+

Starting quarterback, Joe Milton was asked to pull this offense out of the hole they were put in and lead them to another comeback. While he didn’t throw the football as much as he did last week, Milton could still make some good plays, but it could have been a better showing for the young quarterback. Milton finished the game going 18-of-34 for 344 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, along with five carries for negative-9 yards.

Milton had to escape pressure many times and was sacked three times. The first interception Milton threw was a mistake solely on Milton. He seemed to have underthrown a pass, but that wasn’t the issue itself. He didn’t see cornerback Jaylin Williams near the receiver as he intercepted the pass. The second interception he needed to make a play and threw it deep. That one you can’t blame him for entirely.

Milton also didn’t have the help he was looking for during the game. Multiple players dropped passes they should have caught, but they aren’t alone in the mistakes. Milton overthrew a few passes and was just a touch too hard on his throws. Twice his receivers had to dive for the ball, and both came up just short. It was Milton’s worst game as the starting quarterback, and for his worst performance so far, it still wasn’t a bad game overall.

Running Back: D

The rushing attack saw no life against the Hoosiers. Hassan Haskins saw the most carries with six for 19 yards; he was the leading rusher. Chris Evans was next with three carries for five yards. Zach Charbonnet only had one carry for four yards. Now the poor grade for the running backs isn’t all on them. With no holes created by the offensive line, the backs struggled to move the ball forward.

Michigan had to abandon the running game being down by 17 at halftime, so they weren’t given much of a chance in the final two quarters. When the running game fails to live up to expectations for the Wolverines, the offense struggles as a whole.

Wide Receiver: C+

Though the team had 344 yards through the air, one wide receiver had almost half of those yards. Ronnie Bell had six catches for 149 yards and a touchdown. Another wide receiver that had a big day was Cornelius Johnson, who finished with four catches for 82 yards and a touchdown. Freshman wide receiver Roman Wilson was the final receiver to catch a touchdown on his lone catch for 13 yards.

While some big plays were made by the receivers catching the ball, they also made big plays by dropping the ball. Some of the throws were overthrown or too high for them; that is on Milton. Others were right in the breadbasket, and they couldn’t hold on. They didn’t have issues getting open against Indiana, but they had issues holding onto the football, and when you can’t run the football and struggle to catch it, your offense will continue to fail over and over again.

Tight End: D

Another unit that had issues with drops was tight end. Starter Nick Eubanks had one catch for 22 yards but had a drop as well. Backup Erick All had a drop as well as that would be his only target of the game. The groups blocking didn’t help the running game either, and both of them need to have a better game next week if they are going to try and win.

Offensive line: F

With two starters out of the lineup, no position saw a bigger challenge than the offensive line. Even with two new starters, left tackle Karsen Barnhart and left guard Zak Zinter, the offensive line shouldn’t have performed this poorly. They struggled to keep Milton free from pressure: He was sacked three times and had to escape the pocket to try and keep passing plays alive too many times. The running game suffered the most with the way the offensive line played. If this unit isn’t able to fix its problems, this season could get even worse.

Now onto the defense and special teams…
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My advice for Michigan football players: Don’t move on from MSU loss

With six games left in the Big Ten 2020 season, Michigan football players can’t afford to forget their loss to the Spartans.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — After losing inexplicably to rival MSU after being three-score favorites, the Wolverines are saying the same thing.

Take junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson:

“We’re gonna forget about this, move onto Indiana — we’re gonna move on from this,” Hutchinson said. “It was a bad feeling. It sucks, so we’re gonna move on.”

My advice: don’t move on. As Jim Harbaugh once said, ‘Embrace the suck.’

Now, I know that Harbaugh is far from the most popular person in Ann Arbor at the moment, but we have to be realistic: it’s still his team and Michigan still has games to play. No matter what your thoughts are as fans, the Wolverines need to win some games, otherwise, the program will be set even further back than it was on Saturday.

I’ve already outlined why fans should be careful what they wish for, while putting the status quo into perspective. But for the players, they need to rebound — fast.

Indiana is no slouch. It’s 2-0, with wins over Penn State and Rutgers. But don’t be fooled here — Michigan still has no business losing to Indiana for the first time in 30-plus years.

There’s the oft-paraphrased George Santanaya quote, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ Of course, the players aren’t going to forget that it lost a game vs. MSU it had no business losing, but, in my opinion, that should fuel the fire — not be a distant memory.

On Saturday, Michigan was out-matched, out-toughed and out-coached. Going forward, that should fuel the fire and Saturday should be something of a rallying cry, a turning point. Because in the Wolverines losses in — well, decades, at this point — these have been themes. Often teams use big wins to propel them forward, but this one should remind themselves every day of this loss, and what can happen when it goes through the motions.

“Just keeping our heads up, be positive,” sophomore safety Daxton Hill said after the game. “Don’t be negative or anything. Don’t be down on ourselves. There’s plenty more games to be played. Just having our heads up. Just looking forward to the game plan next week playing Indiana.”

That’s closer to the mentality this team should have, in that it’s not giving up. But it should be down on itself for losing as it did, and use it as motivation to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

This team doesn’t have an identity at the moment, but you could see what it might be. In Big Ten Week 1, it was tough and tenacious up front, and was rightly praised. Regardless of what happened in Week 2, you can’t — or shouldn’t, rather — disregard the win over Minnesota. But simultaneously, you can’t disregard what happened against Michigan State. Both games are true, and for the players, they can decide which version they want to be.

There are certainly fans who have thrown in the white towel at this juncture, but the team absolutely should not follow suit. It should dig deep, draw upon the negative experiences it’s already suffered, and forget about the positive about as quickly as they happen.

Jim Harbaugh knows this, as just years ago, he harkened back to his mentor.

“Bo Schembechler had a great line,” Harbaugh said this August (2018). “When somebody tells you you’re good, kick them in the shins.”

For this team to move forward, it must never forget the lessons or the pain of Saturday. It must embrace them. Players don’t have the luxury that fans do of being lackadaisical when the going gets tough.

So don’t just keep your head up, Dax. Don’t move on, Aidan. Like Tyler Durden reminded his real self in Fight Club, ‘This is your pain, this is your burning hand, it’s right here — don’t deal with it like those dead people do!’

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. So wear Saturday’s shame like a scarlet letter and earn your way back into the good graces of the winning column.

No matter what fans or pundits might proclaim, the season is not over. It can be reclaimed, one win at a time. So remember this feeling and do everything in your power to ensure you never feel it again.

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Jim Harbaugh updates Dax Hill, Quinn Nordin, Nick Eubanks injury status ahead of MSU

Looks like good news is coming this week for Michigan football with rival MSU forthcoming this Saturday.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — On Saturday, Michigan not only emerged from Minneapolis with a win, but did so mostly unscathed.

The key word being mostly.

Star safety Daxton Hill — who was solid in his play in the middle, as well as at nickel defending Rashod Bateman — left the game late in the first half and never returned. Harbaugh didn’t have an update on him after the game, other than he was still being evaluated. (Video above.)

However, on Monday, it appears that Hill will be all systems go for Saturday’s rivalry tilt vs. MSU at The Big House. Though, Harbaugh still was cautious about Hill’s status.

“I think he’s gonna be fine,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll know in the next day or so. But anticipate him practicing midweek, tomorrow or Wednesday.”

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Aside from Hill, neither tight end Nick Eubanks nor kicker Quinn Nordin played in the game. Eubanks didn’t travel, and Harbaugh said that they’ll know more about whether or not he’ll be available on Saturday shortly. “We’ll find out more about Nick today, tomorrow,” Harbaugh said.

As for Nordin, Harbaugh thinks it will be likely that he’ll be able to go on Saturday — which is a positive considering Jake Moody missed all three field goal attempts on Saturday.

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Jim Harbaugh updates Dax Hill, Quinn Nordin injuries post-Minnesota

One Michigan football player never got a chance to play at a position that struggled, the other left in the first half vs. Minnesota.

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MINNEAPOLIS — No. 18 Michigan football got a decisive 49-24 win over No. 21 Minnesota to open the Big Ten season on Saturday night, but there were certainly a few deficiencies in the game.

The most obvious was on special teams, as the kicking game left 9 points out there.

Jake Moody hit all seven of his extra point attempts, but went 0-3 in his field goal attempts on the night, missing from 38, 48 and 33. While Quinn Nordin appeared to be involved in pregame warmups, he didn’t end up being good to go, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh confirmed after the game.

He shared Nordin’s injury status as well as spoke on Moody’s errant day.

“Quinn Nordin has been working through something,” Harbaugh said. “Got healthy and then had a little bit of a setback during the week. But I think he’ll be fine going forward.

“With Jake, the first field goal, it didn’t feel like he hit it with the authority that he usually does and hte confidence. It spilled off to the right. The next one I thought he hit really good. And he started kicking extra points and really getting into his rhythm. The second missed field goal, I thought he hit it good, just went left on him. And the last one was the only low snap of the entire game. Will (Hart) didn’t quite as well as he could have. The whole mechanic was off. The whole battery of snap, hold, kick — it was off from there.”

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Equally as notable was the second-half absence of Daxton Hill.

Last week, Harbaugh said that Hill might be the most talented player on the team, praising his coverage ability. That showed early, as Hill often found himself on Gophers star receiver Rashod Bateman. However, he disappeared from the field late in the first-half, and never returned.

Harbaugh was less clear on Hill’s status in the postgame, but said that he continues to be evaluated.

“Dax had to leave the game,” “Being evaluated, so we’re seeing where that is.”

Where Michigan ranks in overall talent across college football

With the 2020 Big Ten season about to kick off, we break down where Michigan stands in terms of talent from a national perspective.

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Examining and ranking every Football Bowl Subdivision roster based on how their student-athletes ranked as high school prospects, the 247Sports Team Talent Composite is meant to provide a baseline understanding of the talent each program possesses.

Of course, some prospects do not live up to the lofty ranking achieved during their prep days, and others exceed expectations, but, generally, the programs at the top of the recruiting rankings are the ones competing for conference and national championships.

An exercise the publication embarked on in 2015, 247Sports released the 2020 version of their Team Talent Composite rankings on Oct. 9, with Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs leading the way. Featuring 68 blue-chip prospects – classified as four or five-star players – on their current roster, the Bulldogs totaled a team score of 991.53, good for a 93.27 average. Sophomore linebacker Nolan Smith, freshman cornerback Kelee Ringo, and redshirt sophomore running back Zamir White were Georgia’s three highest-rated players.

Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide (985.86), Ryan Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes (976.48), Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers (915.57), and Tom Herman’s Texas Longhorns (892.91) rounded out the top-five.

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Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines appeared at No. 17 and were the third-highest rated Big Ten Conference program, with James Franklin’s Penn State Nittany Lions grabbing No. 13.

Registering an 827.18, the Wolverines’ roster consists of two five-stars, 41 four-stars, and 38 three-stars. Safety Daxton Hill and defensive tackle Chris Hinton, both sophomores and the program’s only five-stars, stood atop the list and were closely followed by sophomore running back Zach Charbonnet, senior defensive end Luiji Vilain, and freshman wide receiver A.J. Henning.

A product of Lincoln-Way East in Frankfort, Illinois, Henning was the crown jewel of Michigan’s 23-member 2020 recruiting class, which ranked No. 14 nationally and second-best in the Big Ten.

While there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the Wolverines with the upcoming season set to kick in slightly over one week, this is the lowest 247Sports has been on the program’s talent in their six-year history of composing such rankings. For four-straight years from 2015-18, Michigan ranked in the website’s top-10, earning No. 9, 8, 7, and 8, respectively. In 2019, Harbaugh’s roster was rated as No. 11.

As many would expect, the Southeastern Conference was well-represented in the 2020 rankings, earning ten of the Top 25 spots, including Ed Orgeron’s LSU Tigers at No. 6, Dan Mullen’s Florida Gators at No. 7, and Jimbo Fisher’s Texas A&M Aggies at No. 11.

Other Big Ten rankings include Scott Frost’s Nebraska Cornhuskers at No. 24, Paul Chryst’s Wisconsin Badgers at No. 27, and Mike Locksley’s Maryland Terrapins at No. 32.

The Wolverines will begin their 2020 campaign against P.J. Fleck’s Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-2, 7-2 Big Ten in 2019) at TCF Bank Stadium on Oct. 24 at 7:30 P.M. EDT on ABC.

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Multiple positional moves in Michigan secondary highlights versatility

Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh broke down the depth to both safety and corner, noting multiple position switches.

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Michigan’s secondary is in an odd state heading into the 2020 season opener at Minnesota.

While the safety position returns two starters in Daxton Hill and Brad Hawkins, with Lavert Hill graduating and Ambry Thomas opting out, Michigan will be breaking in two new starters at cornerback.

Speaking to Jon Jansen on the Inside Michigan Football radio program, head coach Jim Harbaugh broke down both positions, starting with the safeties. And with Hill returning, he feels like he has a special player — if not the Wolverines’ best, overall.

“It’s been a high-level, really,” Harbaugh said. “The talent – he might be our most talented player on the team, arguably. Very, very trusted, very good communicator in the backend. Really knows the safety position and also the nickel position. He’s really, really good. Playing both safety and covering in the nickel slot. He’s been really good.

“Brad Hawkins, he is playing his best football since he’s been here, too. He’s a returning starter, so that’s saying something. Doing extremely well. Makari Paige, Hunter Reynolds – those two have been really good.

“Compliment both the Green brothers – German Green playing safety and special teams and Gemon Green is competing for the staring corner position alongside Vince Gray. Been happy with both safeties. Caden Kolesar, also playing safety and special teams. Those are the ones that are right there in the mix at safety and doing a really good job.”

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While that’s a bit of depth at safety, though Harbaugh touched on it, what more does he see at corner?

It’s evident now that third-year in-state defensive back Vincent Gray has secured on position, and while Gemon Green is competing for the other, who else could contend for playing time this season?

Harbaugh notes another player who’s switched positions during fall camp in Sammy Faustin, who’s been drawing rave reviews from defensive coordinator Don Brown the past few months.

“Corners, there’s battles going on,” Harbaugh said. “Vince Gray – who’s starting. Who’s on the other side of Vince? You got Gemon Green — Sammy Faustin has moved from safety to corner. He’s doing a really nice job the last week since he’s been there. Also: I mentioned George Johnson and DJ Turner, Eamonn Dennis, Andre Seldon. All guys that are competing very strongly at the corner position.”

There had been rumblings of Dax Hill moving to corner, but it appears, according to Harbaugh’s Monday night appearance and Don Brown’s the previous Monday, that he’s sticking with safety and nickel back. On Monday, he touched on Faustin’s move as well as George Johnson’s transition from wideout to defensive back. Hunter Reynolds is a former corner who converted to safety last season.

With all that in mind, Harbaugh is enthusiastic about having so many players who can take on multiple roles. With the variable position switches, he says it gives Michigan the best chance to succeed.

“Versatility is always a good thing, no doubt,” Harbaugh said. “The players that are the most talented and give the most effort, the cream rises to the top and I think we’re seeing that. It does allow Coach Zordich and Don Brown the ability to — when a player has versatility to do the best things for our team and get the best matchups, et cetera. I think all those things are a big bonus.”

We’ll get to see just how that versatility pans out in less than two weeks, with Michigan traveling to Minnesota for the Oct. 24 Big Ten season kickoff. The game will be nationally televised in primetime, with ABC putting it in its 7:30 P.M. EDT slot.

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Why Don Brown believes Daxton Hill might be ‘best cover guy in the Big Ten’

The coaching staff in Ann Arbor has high expectations for the sophomore and former five-star defensive back.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — While many are concerned about the state of the Michigan football defense after back-to-back thrashings the past two years at the hands of Ohio State, having a speedy cover guy is precisely what the Wolverines need. And it appears to have just the person ready to take that next big step forward.

This offseason, Athlon had Michigan sophomore Daxton Hill as one of its breakout players of 2020, and according to Wolverines defensive coordinator Don Brown, he’s ready to make good on that prediction.

Hill is presumed to be the starting safety for the maize and blue this season, however, Brown sees him moving all over the field, taking on different roles — because he’s capable of playing multiple positions.

As he sees it, it’s up to Hill and the coaching staff to figure out where he can be utilized best.

“He can fit in anywhere he wants to fit in – that’s how talented this guy is,” Brown said. “Obviously, he’s a safety by trade, but he’s a nickel by trade, as well. And really that was his ‘get on the field’ role last year – was through the ability to get into the extra DB packages, which we do quite a bit. And then at the end of the year, obviously he had to shift gears and make the transition to being one of the full-time safeties. He’s way more accomplished in terms of understanding concept and knowing what to do as an every-down safety. But this guy can play anywhere. If we had any problems at all, he could bump outside due to injury. He could play anywhere in the back end and is much more comfortable, schematically.

“Now, how do you tell if a guy is more comfortable schematically? He plays faster on his feet, primarily pre-snap. In other words, there’s not a lot of indecision about, ‘What’s my alignment? Where or who do I align on? What’s my responsibility?’ He’s just lining up, playing football. Usually all those things – I always tell the guys: 66% of football occurs pre-snap. Obviously, that’s an area – we put him in there as a true freshman and we were gonna live and die with him, and he had veterans around him. Now he’s gotta take some of that leadership role along with Brad Hawkins who’s done a really good job. Sammy Faustin’s done a good job. We feel like we’re much more accomplished on the back end for sure.

“But he’s a talented guy. I’m not sure he’s not the best cover guy in the Big Ten, to be honest with you.”

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But what makes him so good?

We only got a brief glimpse at Hill’s ability and he brings speed in spades. Similar to Jabrill Peppers during his tenure in Ann Arbor, Hill is something of a Swiss Army Knife, who can be put all over the field. Brown has seen how much slower the game has gotten for the former five-star from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and he anticipates that because of how much more ingrained the system is for him, that Hill will be able to shine in multiple roles this year.

“It’s all those things, but it’s funny, the thing we’ve been able to do with our three down, two down – all that – is be able to find guys with unique traits and then let them do it,” Brown said. “Like Josh Uche, for example, is a very, very good pass rusher, who can blitz internally. He could rush the edge. But you also had to be very specific as to where he could play. And then we gave him about 20 jobs a game that he could do differently. You had to try to take what the man is elite at – for example, rushing the passer – and let him do that.

“With Dax, he can cover the slots – let him do it! He can rush the edge – let him do it! Is he a good internal blitzer? Eh, he can. But the guy can cover. And it’s funny – some guys are always around the ball no matter if they know what they’re doing or not. He was one of those guys. ‘Oh, the ball’s over there, and there’s Daxton.’ So even when he was going through the learning curve and we were taking him through that, he was always around the ball. If you ask me what he’s elite at, he’s always around the ball.

“And boy, he can run. Some guys, they run hard and fast and all that, and you go, ‘Boy, is he working hard.’ Sometimes you wonder if he’s working hard – now, of course, he’s working hard. But he makes everything look easy. We all wish we had those traits, right?”

Hill and the Wolverines begin padded practices on Wednesday in anticipation of the season opener at Minnesota come Oct. 24.

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One Wolverine makes Athlon’s list of breakout players in 2020

The second-year Wolverine is expected to be one of the best players in the country.

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The No. 1 sign that the 2020 season is nigh came on Monday with the announcement that the Wolverines were given clearance to return to campus and that voluntary workouts would begin in earnest next week.

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That said, the players now have to start working on getting into veritable football shape, especially given that there was no spring ball and the season begins with a road trip to PAC-12 power Washington.

While the freshmen work to get acclimated and those in position battles prepare to stake their claim, what about the blue chips, the players who are anticipated to be standouts? Naturally, at a school like Michigan, some are going to be among the best in the country, further evidenced by the maize and blue having three first-round picks in the past two NFL drafts.

But it’s not just the draft eligible players who could be standouts. While redshirt sophomore right tackle Jalen Mayfield is a popular choice to be among the nation’s top players and a potential first-round draft choice in 2021, in Athlon Sports’ preview of anticipated breakout players, they have a second-year Wolverine in mind on the defensive side of the ball.

Dax Hill, DB, Michigan

Hill made an instant impact in his first season with the Wolverines. The Oklahoma native played in all 13 games, recording 36 tackles (three for a loss), one interception and three pass breakups. Hill’s speed and overall coverage ability will be a huge asset for a Michigan secondary looking to replace cornerback Lavert Hill and safety Josh Metellus.

A former five-star, big things are expected of Hill in his second year. He got his feet wet in 2019, and even got some starting experience in the final three games with Brad Hawkins sidelined with injury.

Now with Metellus drafted by the Minnesota Vikings and Hawkins healthy, the standout safety is anticipated to be among the best safeties in the country.

It all starts Sept. 5 when Michigan travels to Seattle to take on the Huskies.

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