Tag: Gemon Green

Michigan football’s Gemon Green pressing charges against MSU players involved in tunnel altercation

Michigan’s Gemon Green will be pressing charges and taking legal action, according to a report:

Michigan defensive back Gemon Green was one of the two Michigan football players that were caught in the midst of a tunnel altercation with members of the Michigan State football program.

In a video that surfaced Sunday morning, it appeared that Green had been hit by an MSU player with his helmet.

According to a report from ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren, Green’s father has stated that the family will be pressing charges and taking legal action against those involved in the incident.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on Twitter @Cory_Linsner.

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Waiting for MSU rematch, Michigan football players insist loss to rival ‘not happening again’ in 2022

#Michigan is smelling blood in the water. #GoBlue

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Regardless of the records thus far, Michigan football has been biding its time, waiting for its rematch against rival Michigan State.

Last year, both the Wolverines and Spartans entered the contest in East Lansing undefeated, but it was the maize and blue who went home with a blemish on their record. They can’t stop thinking about it. And when the teams face each other again in Week 9, these Wolverines are hoping to right the wrong from a year ago.

In fact, it’s all they’ve thought about since walking off that field at Spartan Stadium.

“Ever since we lost last year,” left guard Trevor Keegan said. “That bus ride home, it sucked, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Yeah, it still pisses me off, and we’re gonna do everything to prepare for this game. We got the bye week to get healthy, and we’re gonna be ready to roll.”

“I remember sitting all the way, back of the bus with Erick, didn’t say one word,” wide receiver Roman Wilson said. “Got to Schem, got home, didn’t say one word. Because we all know like, we all know we did. And we all know what we’ve got to do this year. We’ve just been waiting for that moment.”

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The Spartans have won two in a row, perhaps improbably, given that the Wolverines were big favorites in both games. Michigan is set to be a big favorite once again, ranked No. 3 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll whereas MSU is 3-4 thus far.

Fifth-year cornerback Gemon Green remembers the past two games, and notes Michigan is much more capable of going up against MSU and taking the game, because the Wolverines are much more complete. A lot of that has to do with the run game for either team. Usually the team that rushes for more yards in the rivalry wins, and Michigan is poised to do just that this year, while keeping Jarek Broussard, Jalen Berger, and Elijah Collins from repeating Kenneth Walker III’s success.

“I remember, we was not as good in the run game as we are this year,” Green said. “What’s nine, again? What’s his name again? Whatever. No. 9 for Michigan State last year, he’s in the league. He was a very good back. I don’t think they have that this year. So I feel like we’re gonna do a lot better than what we did in the previous years in the run game, just talking about the run.”

For Michigan’s side, the players know they let a game slip through their fingers.

The Wolverines were dominating, yet only had a 16-point lead. And they squandered it; MSU made an improbable comeback to win. Green said that will not happen again, smelling blood in the water against a down-and-out Spartan squad.

“Just not getting a dub, for real,” Green said. “I feel like we was always in a position because I don’t think that we got beat more than 10 points. Last year, we should have blown them out last year. And for them to come back and beat us that was like really like a big emphasis. That’s not happening again.”

Michigan will host MSU next Saturday in Week 9, with the game kicking off at 7:30 p.m. EDT. It will be nationally broadcast on ABC.

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Gemon Green, DJ Turner said the focus is on creating more turnovers this year

Love the focus of the defense!

Michigan football had a stellar year in 2021 after it won 12 games which included the beating of Ohio State and Iowa in the Big Ten Championship game. The Wolverines not only had a great running attack, but they had a stout defense which ranked No. 8 in scoring defense (17.4 points-per-game) and 20th in total defense (330.9 yards allowed-per-game).

The only knock on the defense, that lost eight starters from last year, was the lack of turnovers it created. Michigan ranked 98th last year in the fact it only created 1.1 turnovers-per-game. The Wolverines finished 2021 with eight interceptions and eight fumble recoveries.

Now that we are onto the 2022 campaign, Jim Harbaugh has stated that he believes the defense could be just as good as last season, if not better.

“I think its potential, and I think you’re kind of seeing it develop before your own eyes, I think that our defense could be better,” said Harbaugh on ‘In The Trenches’ podcast. “A no-star defense. I’ve been a part of many of them that were the great defenses. It creates more competition within the position, guys are more hungry.”

While Michigan is replacing ample amount of starters along the defense, the Wolverines still return an abundance of experience. In the secondary, Michigan is replacing three starters, but you might as well say Michigan returns two starting corners. Vincent Gray, who declared early, started all season in 2021, and Gemon Green were the starting corners when 2021 began, but eventually DJ Turner became the starter in place of Green.

On Monday, Gemon Green talked about how he thought about forgoing his eligibility but injuries hampered him in 2021, so he wanted to come back and play with his team another year. He stated that he has had a great camp, and with the younger corners pushing him, it has made him have a great camp in order to be named a starter.

“You’re right. I had a great camp”, said Green. “You know, just getting back in the playbook and trying to stay focused. I’m having the young guys like Will (Johnson), Myles Pollard, DJ Turner all pushing me and stuff. So that’s pretty much why I had a great camp.”

Green had one interception last season, but in this three years of playing in Ann Arbor, that has been his lone interception. The senior told the media Monday that he has really focused on adjusting his head when the ball is coming his way, and keeping his eyes on the ball.

“Oh, for me, personally, I just adjust my head back and get my eyes on the ball,” said Green. “That’s what I’ve been working on this all fall camp and spring ball as a whole, you know, our job is to play faster, know our keys. Everybody execute their jobs and everbody do thier one-of-11.”

The Michigan secondary is looking to force more turnovers this season. This is the second season that the secondary has worked with Steve Clinkscale, and both Green and DJ Turner says that the focus has been on creating more turnovers this season. Since Harbaugh has said that he believes this could be an even better defense in 2022, Green quickly said to meet his standards, Michigan must get more interceptions — which the speed of the 2022 team may help.

“Well, to meet that standard, I think we need more picks to be honest,” said Green. “We need more turnovers as a whole as a defense fumbles and picks. To be honest, I think we felt we were a lot faster than last year. So it’s gonna be a lot of it’s gonna be a big difference from last year.”

Fellow corner, DJ Turner, amplified what Green said on Monday. He noted that the main thing in camp has been creating more turnovers, and he feels that Michigan will be playing very confident on that side of the ball.

“I would say get turnovers will be the main thing that we’ll be focusing on this year,” said Turner. “More interceptions and just play confident that’s the thing and I feel like that’s what we’re gonna do going into the season.”

This will be the third season now that Green and Turner have been on the field together. Earlier, Green said that the younger guys have really been pushing him in camp, like Turner. He says that when he’s having a bad day, Turner is there to ger him going again, and when he see’s Turner make a play, he wants to make a play. In other words, the two feed off of each other.

“Just like pushing each other like at practice and everything,” said Green. “Whenever I’m having like a bad day, he turned me up. Sometimes it makes me go crazy. We have some time you make a play, I want to make a play. So like we just bring each other like together.”

Turner was also asked about the relationship the two starting corners share. Turner said that they both share three strong qualities, and they both talk things out together — like teammates should do.

“Both of us are physical, both of us are fast, both of us love to compete,” said Turner. “I mean and we just always try to help each other out. Like we were going to the sideline, I ask him what did you see, what did I see, and we always just try to mix and match to try to you know make the best of both worlds.”

While it appears the two starting corner spots are filled for the time being, Jim Harbaugh has said that Mike Sainristil is going to be starting in the base package at nickel. Sainristil was a corner in high school, so the position isn’t new to him, and Green said on Monday that the converted receiver is a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball.

“He learned the defense really quick,” said Green. “He started playing defense in the spring. And he got on the playbook fast. So he’s been a playmaker, he’s gonna be a dog. And him being a captain, you know, he gives us that energy every day as in the DB room and as a team. So he’s in a great place.”

Michigan will kickoff the season this Saturday, Sept. 3 in Ann Arbor against Colorado State. With the depth and speed at the corner spot, it will be intriguing to see if this team can get off to a hot start forcing a turnover or two.

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Michigan defender set to silence critics in 2022 per 247Sports

If he takes a step forward, it would be huge for #Michigan! #GoBlue

When it comes to Michigan football in 2022, there are a lot of names under discussion. From the quarterbacks, to RB Blake Corum, edge rusher Mike Morris, linebacker Junior Colson, the wideouts and tight ends, the Wolverines have a lot of high-end players expected to either maintain their level of play from a year ago or to improve upon what we’ve seen thus far.

247Sports has another name that the college football world should be paying attention to in Ann Arbor.

In the outlet’s list of players ready to silence critics in 2022, 247Sports did include a Wolverine, but a surprising one. It has Gemon Green as that player ready to take that next step forward.

This fifth-year senior is a returning starter who, for the first time in his career, will be asked to lead at the back end of a Michigan defense replacing arguably its three best players in Aidan Hutchinson, David Ojabo and Daxton Hill. Green played in 12 games last season with six starts and should produce his most statistically-dominant campaign in his final year with the Wolverines if he stays healthy. Given several top-end quarterbacks Michigan will face this season, Green and the rest of Michigan’s cover guys will need to be at their best in defense of last season’s Big Ten crown.

Green finished out the 2020 season very strong, as arguably the best player on the field in Michigan’s unexpected season finale against Penn State. His 2021 was serviceable, but he was lost with injury after the Michigan State game, which allowed for then-third year defensive back DJ Turner to find his niche.

In 2022, however, it’s not even a foregone conclusion that Green gets the starting role. With Mike Sainristil being converted from a wide receiver to a two-way player, there’s a possibility that he could usurp Green, not to mention five-star corner Will Johnson, who made some big plays in the April spring game.

If Green is to retain his starting role and to be the leader in the secondary, that would spell good things for Michigan, as it would signify that he’s holding off the aforementioned competition. We’ll know more once fall camp arrives.

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Jim Harbaugh updates various injuries after Indiana game

Definitely some good news in here!

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The injury bug hit Michigan football hard on Saturday night when it took on Indiana. While there have been some big injuries throughout the year — from Ronnie Bell in the season opener to Trevor Keegan and Zak Zinter missing some time to Erick All and Donovan Edwards not playing on Saturday — several more key players went out against the Hoosiers.

Collectively, Jim Harbaugh is confident that the team will return healthier this next week when it travels to Penn State.

“Get some guys healthier next week and go about having good days,” Harbaugh said. “Good days will be the goal now as we go down the stretch. Good day of meetings, good day of practice, and then go play the game.”

The big injury on Saturday was to Blake Corum, who left the game and the sidelines and returned in street clothes and in a walking boot.

Harbaugh says that he’s not sure the extent of his injury, but he doesn’t imagine that it’s anything serious at this juncture.

“We’ll see. After the game, talked to him for a little bit,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t know how — I don’t think it’s serious, I don’t know if it’s mild. But it’s somewhere less than serious — we’ll see.”

But he wasn’t the only one.

Gemon Green, Andrel Anthony and A.J. Henning also left the game in the second half with injuries and did not return. But Harbaugh feels like there’s a good chance that they’ll also be back next week.

“Yeah, there were a couple guys that were out this game that I think we’ll get back, get healthier next week,” Harbaugh said. “Just do a good job of putting good day on top of good day as we get ready for Penn State.

“I’m hopeful! I don’t know for sure. If they can heal like the Green brothers do — both those Green brothers, Gemon and German Green, I’ve been with them for four years now, and nobody I’ve ever seen in football heals quicker than the Green brothers. It’s amazing, it’s amazing. So, hopefully — I know the Greens will! I’m confident of that!”

As for the quarterback position, Harbaugh notes that Cade McNamara did somewhat re-aggravate the injury he sustained at Michigan State — though it appears there’s more to it than that.

Cade went in and out of the game intermittently, particularly in the second half, which meant more playing time for true freshman J.J. McCarthy.

“Cade was working through something,” Harbaugh said. “Tough as can be, gotta give Cade a lot of credit, he’s a tough guy. But yeah, stay prayed up and healed up.”

Michigan will try to heal up before it takes on Penn State at noon EST in Happy Valley.

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Why Michigan’s cornerbacks are much more comfortable with the new coaching staff

This feels like a huge indictment of the previous staff, as well as a credit to the new one.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When Don Brown was Michigan football’s defensive coordinator, you knew what you were getting every single down: man coverage, with the corners left out on an island. That was all fine and well when he had a mixture of elite and experienced talent. In 2020, however, he had neither, and with the Big Ten schedule thrust upon the players at the outset of the season, it meant major trouble.

But that wasn’t the only reason things failed in the secondary.

There have been big changes with new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald helming the defense. One of them being that the coverages are constantly mixing things up: man, zone, and pattern matching. On a down-to-down basis, opposing quarterbacks and receivers never quite know what they’re gonna get.

For cornerback Gemon Green, it’s exactly what he wanted, as offenses can’t just tee off on the secondary, hoping their man can beat the coverage one-on-one.

“We can disguise a little bit. It helps us as a player because we can kinda do (what they do) in the league,” Green said. “So it helps us look at it early on, while we’re in college. It took some pressure off us, like I said before in an early interview. But we still gotta play ball.”

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Green himself is feeling better and better on a weekly basis. Of corners in the Big Ten playing at least 20% of the time snap-wise, Green is ranked 14th in 2021 — up a few spots from 2020, when he was 17th, per PFF. Vincent Gray, on the other hand, rose from 32nd to 12th, according to the advanced analytics site.

It’s not just getting more experience, though that’s part of it. A big part is that he feels like his unit is more prepared on a weekly basis.

“My confidence is a lot better than last year playing throughout the first six games. ” Green said. “Last year, I was trying to get better — same as this year. I don’t know — I feel like we prepare better each week this year than we did last year. That’s probably it, pretty much — preparation.

“Yeah, experience — everything.”

But that’s not all — and this is the indictment.

For Green and the other players in the secondary, if there was something they didn’t know, or that they felt they weren’t good at, they feel like they weren’t getting the teaching last year. Essentially, the staff was saying ‘this is how we’re going to do it, so do it,’ without much of the ‘why’ involved, or any kind of adjustments. This year, however, Green says it’s the complete opposite, with the secondary getting to ask questions when they feel like they’re stuck in the mud.

“This year, just going back and forth — if we feel uncomfortable with something in a coverage or something, we come talk to the coaches,” Green said. “They’ll try to help us out. Last year, we didn’t do that, for real. We didn’t have one-on-one conversations for real, about the defense. It was always like, ‘Play this, do that.’ But this year, we do a lot of adjustments — even throughout the games. I feel like it’s a lot better, just adjusting and stuff.”

Overall, the new coaching staff with Macdonald and secondary coach Steve Clinkscale have been much more accommodating. Green says he feels much more comfortable going to the coaches this year, knowing that their door is always open.

“I feel like it’s more man-on-man this year,” Green said. “We get to have a full conversation with the coaches. I could just go have a full conversation with the coaches. I could just go into his office right now and sit there for like an hour and chop it up with him — about football, life. Last year, I didn’t kinda do that that much, but that was last year.”

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Brimming with confidence, Michigan’s cornerbacks eager to prove their mettle

What if it goes from being a supposed weak link to a veritable strength?

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Much of the lamentation about the future of the Michigan defense relies heavily on the notion that the secondary will not be able to hold up its end of the bargain. However, with potentially four returning starters and stalwarts at safety, that would mean that the cornerbacks did not improve year-over-year.

But we’ve seen improvement, even if it was in the last few games of 2020.

Of the duo of Vincent Gray and Gemon Green, Green posted a defensive best — across all positions — in the unexpected season finale against Penn State last year, garnering PFF’s grade of 85.7 defensively and a coverage grade of 88.4. As the secondary continues its revamped schematic install through fall camp, Green says that the breadth of the position group is feeling more in-line with what’s expected of the Wolverines defensive backfield.

“The confidence is pretty good,” Green said. “Everybody’s pushing each other so – you got DJ and Vince pushing me. They pushing each other, trying to get the other starting spot.”

Commenting on our press conference recap on YouTube, Green clarified that he hasn’t won the starting role just yet, noting: “I ain’t won the starting spot either we all still competing everyday.” However, he had been mentioned by Jim Harbaugh as entering fall camp as a solidified starter, with the other position being up for grabs.

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The good news is, regardless, the cornerbacks’ skillsets won’t be tested to the extreme they were a year ago.

Don Brown’s scheme meant that the corners were thrown to the wolves, left on an island with little-to-no help, stuck in man coverage. That’s fine for veterans, but with two new starters a year ago, it meant a little more than a rocky start. New defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald ensures that it won’t just be man coverage, but there will also be zone and pattern matching — indicating a more sophisticated, NFL-style defense.

Green is enthusiastic about the changes, indicating that the predictability of the defensive backfield certainly played a part in the unit’s demise a year ago.

“I love it, because everybody ain’t just knowing I’m playing man, so they ain’t just fittin’ to throw shots,” Green said. “I can play off a little bit – I can play a lot of defense. There’s gonna be a lot of different stuff.”

Overall, Green notes his own emergence in the Penn State game, and feels like he’s even turned a corner beyond that. With the season just over a week away, with the game slowing down for him and a new scheme to match, he’s not ready to show his cards until the Sept. 4 opener against Western Michigan.

“It’s a lot different from last year, so you’ll just have to wait and see until Saturday. Two weeks!”

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RECAP: RJ Moten, Gemon Green and Cornelius Johnson (8/24)

Catch the latest highlights from #Michigan’s fall camp press conference in 5 minutes! #GoBlue

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August 24, 2021:

  • RJ Moten
  • Gemon Green
  • Cornelius Johnson

——————————————————–

In accordance with Michigan football policy, the media isn’t allowed to upload more than 5 minutes of footage from any press conference. But we found our way around that. Giving you the best of every press conference, we cut out the questions to give you the straight answers, with the most interesting parts of each media availability taking center stage. WolverinesWire presents our new series: RECAP in five minutes or less.

——————————————————–

Topics include:

  • Why Moten likes the new defense
  • When did the lights turn on for Gemon Green?
  • The fastest players on the teams
  • What the offense is doing differently in 2021
  • The difference between performing on State St. and Main St.

And MORE!

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Michigan football grades from Big Ten Week 6 27-17 loss against Penn State

Michigan football lost 27-17 against Penn State in Ann Arbor. How did each position grade out in the loss to the Nittany Lions?

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Michigan football is back to its losing ways in the 2020 season. Despite it ending its three-game losing streak to Rutgers last week, Michigan couldn’t figure out what to do against Penn State this week, losing 27-17. The Wolverines couldn’t come back down 17-7 at halftime like they were able to last week as the Nittany Lions were too much for them.

Michigan had an injury with its starting quarterback in Cade McNamara early on in the game, which brought in backup Joe Milton for a while before McNamara returned. The return wouldn’t last long, though, as Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh pulled him in the fourth quarter due to his injury. The position needed some consistency, and it once again failed to live up to its expectations.

The defense made some stops and slowed down Penn States offense, but even with just two running backs, the Nittany Lions didn’t have trouble putting up points on the Wolverines. While the defense didn’t perform great, it wasn’t as bad as the offense was overall. Check out my grades from the loss to Penn State below.

Offense

Quarterback: C-

McNamara had a rough go at it as the starter. He had a good start with only one bad throw, but he started to perform worse once he got injured. McNamara couldn’t throw the football downfield, and the short throws weren’t moving the chains. He finished going 12-for-25 for 91 yards.

Milton came in for McNamara when he was injured and when McNamara was pulled in the fourth quarter. His performance wasn’t much better, going 1-for-3 for 21 yards. Milton’s two incomplete passes were poor throws and not what the team needed to see with him back in. Neither turned the football over, which is helpful, but it was not a great performance with under 100 yards for each.

Running Back: B

Michigan football has seemed to have thrown the running back committee type of ground game out the window this week. Hassan Haskins is the starting running back, and he won’t give that job up, finishing with 17 carries for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Chris Evans was the next man up with four carries for 35 yards, while Blake Corum had three carries for 27 yards. Zach Charbonnet never saw the field, out with an undisclosed ailment.

Wide Receiver: C-

No wide receiver could find the end zone this week, and there were very few plays from the group. Ronnie Bell once again led the group with four catches for 40 yards. Freshman A.J. Henning made a big catch for 28 yards, finishing with three for 31 yards. Cornelius Johnson had two catches for 15 yards. Mike Sainristil had a game to forget with a drop and a muffed punt.

Tight End: C-

After performing well last week, the tight end group was silent against the Nittany Lions. Erick All had a catch for eight yards, while Nick Eubanks had a catch for six yards. The blocking could’ve been better from the duo, but it wasn’t as bad as it was in weeks past.

Offensive line: C-

While starting left tackle Ryan Hayes was active, he didn’t play. Right tackle Jalen Mayfield and center Andrew Vastardis were still out with injuries. The line did a good job keeping both quarterbacks upright despite facing a strong Penn State front seven, but outside of the big 59-yard run by Haskins, they could only help muster up 115 yards on the ground. Short yardage situations on third and fourth down were challenging for the group to gain as they weren’t able to push the defensive line back when it mattered most in the fourth quarter on the fourth and one run by Milton.

Now onto the defense and special teams…

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5 players to watch: Michigan football at Rutgers

Michigan football is trying to fix things after losing again to Wisconsin. Who are the five players to focus on this week against Rutgers?

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When it rains, it pours, as the Wolverines continue to slide down further in the rut they are in this season.

Last week, Michigan lost 49-11 to No. 10 Wisconsin at home and fall to 1-3 on the year, a thing nobody was expecting to see heading into this week’s game against Rutgers.

Michigan comes into the game this week with the same record as its opponent. Rutgers is 1-3 as it is on a losing streak itself, with its last win coming against Michigan State on opening week. Now, three weeks later, both teams can’t seem to get it done no matter who it goes up against.

Michigan surprisingly lost its rivalry game against Michigan State; it couldn’t handle a red hot Indiana team, and the team couldn’t make Wisconsin look like a team that hadn’t played in three weeks. Rutgers, on the other hand, has had some challenges as well. Rutgers also lost to Indiana, then had to take on the Buckeyes and put up a better fight than in years past, then lost to the former worst team in the Big Ten, the Illinois Fighting Illini.

This game is a doozy for both teams as each team wants to finally get back into the win column after being on the other end for the past three weeks. Michigan needs this win more than Rutgers, as losing to the Scarlet Knights would be the biggest loss under head coach Jim Harbaugh, and it would speak louder than any of the previous losses this year. Rutgers has seemed to be improved despite the record, and getting a win over the Wolverines could change the tide for them. What five players should you focus on when the lights turn on and the two schools battle Saturday night?

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