The Michigan Daily - SportsTuesday - January 6, 2004 - 5B Mic he a tx#team $ryx. or y e gam Mic 3 Observations 1. Most importantly this was a team loss. Fans who want to berate an individual person or position were not watching the entire game. All aspects of the game belonged to Southern Cal. This was sur- prising since the Trojans hard- ly put a complete game together like this against lesser opponents from the Pac-10. The only part of the game where Michigan had an edge was against the second- ary of Southern Cal. Unfortu- nately, John Navarre hardly had enough time to make his first read, let alone go through his progressions. 2. Marlin Jackson is right in making his claim that he should be moved back to cor- nerback. Should he have 1 declared it so blatantly to the media? Probably not. It may have been more of a surprise tactic for next season. But he is right. He obviously feels - and looks -- out of place at the safety position. The only time he looked at home dur- ing the second half of the season was when he was playing the nickel back, but even at that position he was useless guarding a No. 2 or 3 receiver that would be avoid- ed. This is not to say that Markus Curry couldn't handle the No. 1 spot in 2004, it's just that the safety spot has shown it has depth - Jacob Stewart and Willis Barringer - and Marlin is the best cor- nerback on the team. 3. Braylon Edwards is ready for the NFL. Should he go? No. He'd be relying on his com- bine too much in a wide receiver-stocked draft. Right now he's a second-rounder in my mind, and a first-rounder next season. X's AND (ky (e) 0'S higan Daily Sports Editor Kyle O'Neill is not a collegiate athlete, nor is collegiate coach. But he was a starting wide receiver for his winless n at Garber High School, was third in Bay County in receptions his sen- 'ear and claims to know something about the game of football. So each e, we'll let him and his 5-foot-10, 158-pound frame break down why higan either succeeded or failed. Final Grades There was hardly a reason to break down one specific play as for why Michigan lost to Southern Cal., as the Wolver- ines were outmatched when the first Trojans' War Chant played. But despite the loss, Michigan's season grades are still good enough for my Dean's List. Quarterbacks: B There is no change on the grade here, as John Navarre proved to the Michigan Nation that he is a high-quality quar- terback in his win over Ohio State. Navarre even earned due praise from Southern Cal. coach Pete Carroll, who right- fully stated that had Navarre not scrambled as well as he did, he would have been sacked even more than the nine times he was. Though Navarre was at no fault for the Rose Bowl loss, he is not any higher than a 'B' because of his inability to be the differ- ence-maker in leading his team to victory. Running backs: A Make no mistake about it, Chris Perry was the mythical 'A+++' this season, and this is only a grade of an 'A' because of the lack of a consistent No. 2 back. From his 51 carries against Michigan State to his 154 yards on the ground against the Buckeyes, Perry has looked like the best back in the nation. His blocking and receiving contributions were fullback and wideout-esque throughout the season and more than made up for his dis- appearance (stats-wise) from the Oregon, Iowa and Southern Cal. games. Wide receivers: Inc. It's easy to scratch your head as to why this group is incom- plete, as it produced so much during the season. By stats and game-breaking plays alone, the trio of Braylon Edwards, Jason Avant and Steve Breaston should be an 'A.' But in the end, they were unable to make the final differ- ence as they should have done in the Rose Bowl. That alone should have dropped them to a 'B+'. But all three are eligible to return next season. Assum- ing all three do, their grade will be determined by what they do as an experienced trio and not a first-year group. Offensive line: B- Before their performance in the Rose Bowl is addressed, what Michigan's offensive line did in the final six weeks of the regular season was nothing short of spectacular. Allowing Perry so much success in the final weeks and keeping Navarre protected from danger- ous Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue defenses should not be overlooked - and was reason enough to improve their midterm grade of a 'C+' about 20 percent. Unfortunately, in the game that mattered the most, their performance was a nightmare for such a talented line. Defensive front seven: B+ Aside from being out of their element against Southern Cal. - the Trojans ran the ball effectively in the second half - Michigan's front seven turned in a relatively consis- tent performance game in and game out. The only exceptions were the Minnesota and Cen- tral Michigan games. Other than that, these Wolverines were more than dominant. But like John Navarre, they did not make the one game-changing play when they were needed most to do so. This is a young front seven, though, and will return most of its depth, sans veteran captain Carl Diggs. Defensive secondary: C+ They will be judged primarily by one game and one game alone: the Rose Bowl. Matt Leinart threw at will, and the Wolver- ines had no response. Blame the lack of pressure on the Southern Cal. quarterback if you want, but the secondary looked much more lost than the front seven and obviously benefited from Big Ten passing games that were not as fast as Southern Cal. Special teams: C Replacing Adam Finley will be more crucial than replacing Navarre, as he was the only thing keeping that debacle called a punt team respectable. Garrett Rivas has to develop a long ball in his arsenal, but was consistent nonetheless. A kick returner needs to be found for next season as well, as Steve Breaston is a natural punt returner and is out of his ele- ment of making people juke when he returns kicks. Coaching: B+ Make no mistake about it, this team was on course to be 6-6 and face Bowling Green in the Motor City Bowl. Give credit to the coaching staff for coming up with untouchable game- plans after the third quarter of the Minnesota game. There was no better team in the nation during that month of November. But, like many other positions on this team, the coaching staff was taken to school by Carroll and Norm Chow. Any play or set that Michigan had was outdone by Southern Cal. While some of that was player performance, there was noticable difference in who outprepared who. Hype-meter Ohio State fans 101 Penn State w:game last year "Tremendous" Lloyd's proud <