Tag: German Green

Despite losing starters, Michigan’s cornerbacks perform well in season-opener

Michigan football has new starting cornerbacks in 2020, and they might be better than advertised as they performed well in the season opener

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With cornerback Lavert Hill graduating, Michigan was expecting Ambry Thomas to step up as the top guy with Vincent Gray moving into the number two role. After the circus that was the Big Ten off-season, Thomas opted out to focus on the 2021 NFL Draft. Now, Gray would move up to the number one role, so who was next to him? German Green.

So Gray and Green would be the new starting duo at cornerback and their first test? The best wide receiver in the Big Ten and possibly in the country in Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman. Bateman was held to just nine catches for 101 yards. Now you might think, wow, letting a wide receiver get over 100 yards is ok? Not entirely, but they held Bateman out of the endzone and contained him not to be as big of a factor as he’d like to be for the offense.

For Gray, he finished the game with four tackles as he covered Bateman for most of the game, and his performance was great for the defense. He did let up a huge 38-yard catch and was interfering with Bateman as well on it, but that one mistake wasn’t game-changing.

For Green, he had two tackles, along with two pass break-ups. He was tested early on as Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan underthrew a 45-yard pass to wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell, and Autman-Bell was able to get Green off of him in coverage to stop and get the huge grab. Besides the big play, Green was impressive in the first start of his career.

Michigan’s secondary was asked to stop one of the best receivers with a quarterback who came off a strong sophomore season, and they answered the bell with a big win.

They held Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan to 197 yards as he was 18/31 with one touchdown and an interception. 197 passing yards with 101 of those yards coming from just one wide receiver was a huge confidence boost for a young secondary. This was also a big test for the inexperienced group of cornerbacks.

They were able to slow down Minnesota’s offense and make Bateman not as big as of a threat as they expected him to be. This secondary might not be as bad as everyone thought they would be. It certainly helps that the front seven were able to create pressure on Morgan, but when the secondary was tested for most of the night, they contained and slowed down the Golden Gophers offense, and that’s all they needed to do.

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3 things to watch for against No. 21 Minnesota

Michigan football looks to start the shortened season with a win as they try and defeat Minnesota, check out the three things to focus on.

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After a long summer and with the season getting canceled then reinstated, Big Ten football is back and on opening week in primetime, Michigan football takes on No. 21 Minnesota on the road. Michigan is entering the season with plenty of questions on both sides of the football, with new starters at cornerback, the offensive line, and the most important position of them all, quarterback.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines starting the season with a big win over Minnesota would be a huge confidence boost as they head into a rivalry game against Michigan State next week. With not much wiggle room in a nine-game season and no non-conference games, each game just got more intense and important for every team in the Big Ten. Michigan would love nothing more than to go into Minnesota and take down the Golden Gophers and finally see how they can play in a real game instead of just having practices.

With kickoff in less than a week finally, here are the three things to watch for Michigan against Minnesota.

1. How will Michigan’s secondary fair against Minnesota’s passing offense?

Last season, Minnesota finished as the 27th ranked offense in the country. With two wide receivers finishing with over 1,200 yards and quarterback Tanner Morgan throwing for 3,253 with 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The bad news for Minnesota is one of those wide receivers is now in the NFL. The good news is the other, Rashod Bateman, opted back in after opting out earlier this year. Bateman had 60 catches for 1,219 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.

Bateman’s return isn’t good for the Wolverine secondary, who lost cornerback Lavert Hill and now cornerback Ambry Thomas who opted out of the 2020 season to focus on the 2021 NFL Draft. With that, the only returning cornerback with starting experience is Vincent Gray. The other starting cornerback spot is still up for grabs as German Green, DJ Turner, and Andre Seldon are fighting it out in practice.

This inexperienced secondary will have its hands full with Bateman, but the good news for them is outside of Bateman, the receiving core for Minnesota isn’t as daunting. The next best returning wide receiver is Chris Autman-Bell who had 28 catches for 371 yards and five touchdowns last season. This secondary will be tested heavily and often by Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck. Morgan will have to find help elsewhere if Bateman finds himself in double coverage and with the Wolverines having the 10th best defense last season, even with new starters at the cornerback position, could be a tough matchup for Morgan to start the season out.

2. Will Joe Milton be the answer at quarterback?

After months of practice, quarterback Joe Milton will finally start for the first time in his career in Ann Arbor. Milton took on Dylan McCaffrey for the starting job and came out the winner, while McCaffrey would transfer out. Milton brings a different look at the position for the first time under Harbaugh with the possible playmaker that Milton can be with his arm as he can create big plays with the help of the speed he has at wide receiver.

Milton’s cannon of an arm will have to be on display as he tries to take on the Minnesota defense, which was ranked eighth last year but lost a lot of pieces. Milton will have plenty of weapons to throw to as well with a loaded backfield and receiver room, there is no lack of help for him to find on the field. The only question mark will be the offensive line and if they can keep Milton up and give him time to throw the football, Milton will be able to sling it deep on the Golden Gopher secondary.

Milton won’t need to put up big numbers in his first career start, but if his completion percentage can be positive, limit the turnovers, and avoid careless mistakes, it’s all the team can ask for if the others can do their job as well. The strong arm that Milton has will be on display and it’s something the Wolverines haven’t had in a long time. Milton making big plays can also instill more confidence in himself, especially on the road and against a ranked opponent.

3. Can Michigan get over the GameDay hump?

When all eyes are on the Wolverines, they seem to struggle. When Michigan is involved with a game that is on ESPN’s College GameDay show, they are 1-7 with their only win coming against Wisconsin in 2018. Another record that is 1-7 for Michigan is Harbaugh when he is on the road against a ranked opponent, his last win was also in 2018 against Michigan State.

Harbaugh has been able to defeat the teams they should beat, but when the challenge increases, that’s when Harbaugh and Michigan struggle. Road games are tough, but now with no fans in the crowd, there shouldn’t be too much of an advantage anymore. When the bright lights are on, Harbaugh and his team need to shine bright.

This matchup against Minnesota will be the first primetime game for the Big Ten this season and a win over an impressive Golden Gophers team would be a big help for the Wolverines who look to climb up the AP polls and be a team to talk about when the College Football Playoff polls begin on November 24. Harbaugh would get another win over a ranked opponent on the road and a win on Gameday in one week, two of his struggles taken down week one. One win won’t fix everything, but it can be the start of a huge season for the Wolverines.

Contact/Follow @WolverinesWire/ @BKnappBlogs

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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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Bob Shoop breaks down Michigan’s safety group heading into spring

The newfound Wolverines safeties coach shares his thoughts on his personnel and what he expects of them.

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Michigan had a pair of defensive departures this offseason, but it replaced them with two capable former defensive coordinators who are now position coaches.

Among them is Bob Shoop, who spent his last 12 years in college football as a defensive overseer, but now he’ll be attuned to the safeties position, as vacated by Chris Partridge, who left to be Ole Miss’ co-defensive coordinator.

While Shoop says that he intends to be a much more active recruiter than he has in the past, as he shared with Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast, he was fortunate that he didn’t hit the trail immediately upon arriving in Ann Arbor. Instead, he got to stay in Schembechler Hall, getting to know his group and the lay of the land, learning exactly what he has at the safety position.

“When I first got here – Coach gave me an opportunity rather to get out on the road recruiting, to get in the office,” Shoop said. “During the day, I got to interact with the GA’s and quality control and I got to watch any projects Coach wanted me to watch – Coach Brown – and I watched all the games. I watched all the coverage cut-ups, along those lines. And then interact with those guys.

“And the thing about watching the game film and the cut-ups and things along those lines is really there’s only three guys that have a significant – three guys that played a lot at safety last year as Josh Metellus obviously is gone. Brad Hawkins is a guy that played a fair amount, brings a tremendous amount of experience. Obviously missed the end of the year against Indiana, Ohio State and Alabama. We need to get him back and healthy, because I think the expectations are he’s gonna be one of the leaders of this unit.

“And in Dax Hill. I knew Dax a little bit when I was at Mississippi State because I had him in the 2019 recruiting class as the top safety in that class. We went back and forth between Alabama and Michigan in the recruiting process. And really to have the opportunity to work with him here, I’m very, very excited about watching his development and taking him to the next level. But the experience he gained last year was really, really valuable. And I thought he did a really solid job in the Ohio State game, the Indiana – where he got an interception – and the Ohio State and Alabama (games) where he got thrown into the trenches against some explosive offenses.”

As Shoop explains, those are the two known commodities, but what about the depth behind them?

He says there’s a lot of expected contributors heading into next season, but he only has a certain amount to work with this spring, as freshmen RJ Moten and Jordan Morant don’t arrive until summer.

Still, he likes what he has and shares who should be impact players once they hit the field.

“The issue, really, as we head into spring is finding some depth there,” Shoop said. “I’ve gotten a chance this spring to work with some of the other guys and there are guys who there’s some expectation for. Sammy Faustin, German Green, Caden Kolesar, Tyler Cochran – those guys played on special teams. We have an early-enrollee in Makari Paige. Just – I’m really, really excited to work with those guys. Quinten Johnson. Guys I don’t know enough about, because I haven’t seen them on the field, but I have seen them work with Herb in the weight room and I have seen them work with Herb in winter program. They seem to have a great work ethic. They have great passion, great toughness. Seem to have a team-first mindset. They encourage one another and they have a great deal of pride as a position unit. So I think there will be a great amount of competition this spring.”

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