mazebacker70
-
Total Posts
:
366
-
Reward points
:
167
- Joined: 2/3/2008
- Location: galloway ohio USA
-
Status: offline
|
Sam McGuffie represents U-M offensive future
-
Monday, September 08, 2008 5:47 AM
It is often said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you saw beauty in this one, we're penalizing you 10 yards for beholding. Michigan's 16-6 win over the Miami RedHawks "certainly wasn't pretty," in Rich Rodriguez's view. But it was definitely well-earned. And on another slow offensive day, one of the fastest Wolverines gave reason for hope, this year and in the future. His name is Sam McGuffie.
McGuffie ran 17 times for 74 yards and caught three passes for 32 yards. That doesn't look like much in this paragraph, but it looked a lot more impressive on the field.
McGuffie should give fans hope this season, because with a shaky offensive line and inconsistent quarterbacks, Michigan needs a guy who can get the heck out of the backfield as fast as possible. That's McGuffie: one cut and go.
"If you see a hole, usually in my head I'm thinking 'score' or 'first down,' " McGuffie said.
McGuffie also should give you hope for the future because there were moments Saturday when he showed what Rodriguez's offense looks like when it's rolling.
McGuffie did not look like the YouTube sensation who had die-hard fans salivating on their keyboards last year. But he looked like he knew what he was doing, and I mean that as a big compliment.
In an opening loss against Utah, U-M's two most common offensive plays were Dazed Right and Confused Left. In Week 2, McGuffie hit the right holes and ran with confidence.
"I think he did a great job today," offensive coordinator Calvin Magee said. "He made his reads better than he did last week. He looked like he ran hard. He is going to get better each week."
Coach Rodriguez said after his first win in Michigan Stadium that it is fair to call his experience "very frustrating, exasperating, whatever other adjective you want to put on it." He was obviously talking about his offense, as he usually does, for two reasons: Most people ask about offense, and Rodriguez spends almost all his time on that side of the ball.
Every offense is maddening in its own way when it doesn't work. When a conventional pro-style offense fails, it looks like it is stuck in the mud. When a pass-crazy offense fails, possessions last roughly nine seconds.
When Rodriguez's spread fails, it looks like a gimmick. All these cuts and fakes and misdirection runs are highly entertaining when they work. But when they don't, the effect reminds me of that famous scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" where Bad Guy (I don't know his name -- let's just go with Bad Guy) twirls his sword like crazy, as though he knows 800 ways to slice an enemy into pieces, and Indiana Jones takes out his gun and shoots him. Think of the spread as the guy with the sword and the defense as Indiana Jones.
It won't be like this forever at Michigan, of course. At some point, Rodriguez will find players who better suit his spread-option attack and Michigan will score a lot more.
That's the great thing about McGuffie: Even though he committed to play for former coach Lloyd Carr, he is actually better-suited for Rodriguez's offense.
"I think Sam would fit in any system," Rodriguez said. "But I think it's a perfect fit for what we do. He's not the biggest guy, but he's got good feet and quickness. He's a good spread tailback in that regard."
McGuffie is 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds. He'll pound out tough yards, but his biggest strength is running outside the tackles. He is the kind of small, shifty player that Rodriguez loves to recruit. (Of the 16 players who committed to Rodriguez's 2009 recruiting class, 10 weigh 186 pounds or less, according to rivals.com.)
After Carr retired, McGuffie reconsidered his college options. He said Saturday that he is aware of "Rich Rodriguez's past: running the ball, running the ball, running the ball." That is one reason he stuck with U-M.
"Any offense where the running back gets the ball this often is good for a running back," McGuffie said.
McGuffie's fellow freshman, Michael Shaw, is also a great fit for the spread, and he looked terrific on a 30-yard run. But Shaw suffered a groin injury and only touched the ball twice.
For now, it is McGuffie's load to bear. U-M's receivers and backs had 38 touches Saturday. McGuffie had 20.
As McGuffie was leaving the field, U-M radio network sideline reporter Doug Karsch asked him if the game is slowing down for him.
"Only when I get tackled," he cracked.
Someday, that won't happen nearly as often.
[/link]
KIRTHMON F DOZIER/Detroit Free Press
[link=http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080907/COL22/809070538/1054/SPORTS06&GID=mchXLf+k+bDr+kxPTlXioJB3bXUYWWRC++OQnhAbbN0%3D]http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080907/COL22/809070538/1054/SPORTS06&GID=mchXLf+k+bDr+kxPTlXioJB3bXUYWWRC++OQnhAbbN0%3D
|