Monday Morning Quarterbacking the Wolverines

Well, the opening game has come and gone and its time for reflections. I'm no genius (if I were I would be coaching Notre Dame), but here are my impressions of what I saw of the UM-Vandy game this weekend:

* There is definitely a long overdue change in the defensive philosphy, and this defense is loaded with talented guys, who seem to be more aggressive. Make no mistake, the sacks are huge, and the Vandy QB is mobile and they run a sophisticated passing attack, they did average 27 points per game last year, albeit with Cutler. But, I did see better tackling and some big hits which are solely needed. Not a bad debut.

* Mesko seems to be an above average punter, something the Wolves have not had since Don Bracken in the early '80s. If he is what he looks like right now, you will be amazed how much it helps not to have someone line driving 35 yarders in key situations.

*The depth at running back looks good, but I worry about Grady around the goal line holding onto the ball. Miner and Brown look like quality depth behind the two big guys, Hart looks wonderful, just keep him healthy.

* The receiving corps has some work to do, although you would rather have these athletes who need to learn how to catch the ball than vice-versa. Manningham is, obviously, on track to be the the next great UM receiver. Breaston never was as good a WR prosepct as KR, but he needs to get more consistent catching the ball. This guy is, potentially, every bit the playmaker that number 7 is in Columbus.

* Henne still mystifies me. He is on track to literally obliterate all the numbers at a school with a pretty good track record at QB over the last fifteen years, but he still looks shaky to me at times. However, there is no question that he is the man the Wolves can least afford to lose. If Chad could play with the poise he showed in the fourth quarter of the PSU game, you are looking at a high draft pick in '08. Think about this, Brady Quinn is the all everything glamour boy for this year and, like Henne, he is a four year starter. Quinn has thrown 58 TD passes in three years and one game, Henne has 51 in two years plus one game. My point? Henne has All America talent and needs to smooth it out...I think he can...I just can't understan d why, so soon after making a play/throw that makes me think this might be the best UM QB I've seen in 30 years-Brady included-he will do something that makes me think "Scott Mitchell!" involuntarily. But, I still like him.

CMU showed me something against BC, the nations perenially most underrated team. This will be a good test for UM, particularly offensively. I would stay away from expecting them to cover the 27 1/2 point spread, but I will call it UM 31 CMU 7.