The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

4B - October 31, 2011

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THE QUICK BREAKDOWN
M A IZ E G A U G E The Michigan Daily football writers break down the weekend's stats that don't show up in the box score. The Denard-o-Meter measures the success of quarterback Denard
Robinson, the Beef-o-Meterjudges how emotional (positive or negative) Brady Hoke was following the game, and the Hype-o-Meter measures the fans' performance.

DENARD-O-METER
Other than one run, Robinson never made anybody
say "Wow." But he never made anybody say "Why?"
4 either. He had just170 passing and 63 yards rushing
Denards but, most importantly, he threwjust one interception.

BEEF-O-METER
4/ The defense was suffocating and Hoke gave
his running backs 37 carries as they went right
at the Purdue defense. That was the team
Brady Hokes Hoke envisioned when he came here.

E

HYPE-0-METER

2/
Big Houses

That was embarassing. The student section was
two-thirds full the entire game. The only sav-
ing grace, and the only thing preventing this from
being a "1," was Buddy the Elf in the front row.


REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE
FITZGERALD TOUSSAINT: If there
was a performance that a running
back could have to become the lead
guy, that was it. Toussaint had 20
carries, proving he could shoulder
the load. He also had 170 yards,
giving him 8.5 yards per carry,
showing he could be the explosive
back that he was expected to
be. This was most evident in his
59-yard touchdown run, where
he side-stepped defenders, cut
back to the middle, and then
split the safeties en route to the
endzone. Toussaint had always
been the likely candidate for the
lead running back job but never
had a breakthrough performance.
This may have been it. Michigan
coach Brady Hoke wants to run
the power play for the rest of time.
After being a little banged up in
previous seasons, Toussaint is
healthy and appears ready to run
the power play for the rest of time.

REDSHIRT JUNIOR SAFETY
JORDAN KOVACS: This wasn't in
the script. If Disney sports movies
have taught us anything it's that
the walk-on struggles early on,
overcomes injuries, finally gets
on the team, earns a scholarship,
then becomes a huge star and
there's little to no adversity after
that. So it's safe to say everyone
was surprised when Kovacs, who
had followed the script religiously
until Saturday, had to sit out
with a knee injury. He made an
appearance before the game,
wearing sweats, but Kovacs hadn't
missed a game in his career. After
the game Hoke said he wasn't
sure how long Kovacs would be
out, meaning his status for the
Wolverines' matchup with Iowa
is in doubt. Obviously Hoke will
know if he's ready to go in practice,
but knowing the coach, there's no
way the general public will know
for sure until next week's kickoff.

MARISSAMtCLAIN/Daly TODD NEEDLE/Daily

NOTABLE
QUOTA BL E
want to
ill one
of them.
(...) Read
it in the
obituaries."
-Michigan coach Brady Hoke on the
unsatisfactory performance of his
freshmen

THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP-10 POLL
Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with first place votes receiving 10
points, second-place votes receiving nine, and so on.
1. LSU (8): After both teams 6. OREGON: The Ducks
had a bye week, tailgating could have a QB controversy.
L has already started for LSU Then again, Florek could be
vs. Alabama. the QB and the Ducks would
still rack up 40 points.
2. ALABAMA: This spot
is further reserved for the 7. OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma
loser of nextweek's game. State isntthe onlyceam in
the state thatecan score 5D.
3. OKLAHOMA STATE:
Can somebody please force 8. ARKANSAS: The
the Cowboysto play aclose Razorbacks beat Vandy by
game? Watching backups three. Umm, what happened
play the 2nd halfisn't fun. to SEC Depth?

4. STANFORD: We'llleave
the Luck puns up to you
after the Cardinal's triple OT
victory.
S. BOISE STATE: This
could be Boise's year. It just
needs losses out of Stanford,
Oklahoma State and Alabama
or LSU twice.


STAFF PICKS
The Daily football writers do their best
to predict, against the spread, what
happens in the 2011 football season.

Michael
Florek

Stephen J.
Nesbitt

I lab nW i

No.17 Michigan (-15) vs. Purdue
No. 3 Oklahoma State (-18) vs. Baylor
No.4Stanford (-8.5) at No.20USC
No. 6 Clemson (-4.5) at Georgia Tech
No.7 Oregon (-32.5) vs. Washington State
No. 8 Arkansas(-12.5) at Vanderbilt
No.9MSUatNo.13Nebraska(-55)
No.10 KSU.vs.No.11Oklahoma (-13.5)
No.12 Wisconsin (-8.5) at Ohio State
No. 14 South Carolina (-6.5) at Tennessee
No.15virginiaTech (-4) at Duke
No.16 Texas A&M (11) vs. Missouri
No.18 Houston(-26.5) vs. Rice
No. 19 Texas Tech (-17.5) vs. lowa State
No. 21 Penn State(-6) attIllinois
No.22Georgia(-3),vs.Florida
No. 23Arizona State (-35.5) vs. Colorado
No.25WestVirginia(-7) at Rutgers
Northwestern (-9.5) at Indiana

Michigan
Oklahoma State
Stanford
Georgia Tech
Oregon
Arkansas
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Tennessee
Virginia Tech
Texas A&M
Houston
Texas Tech
Illinois
Georgia
Arizona State
West Virginia
Northwestern
owa
11-9
117-92-3

Michigan
Baylor
Stanford
Clemson
Oregon
Arkasas
Michigan State
Oklahoma
Wisonsin
SouthCarolina
Virginia Tech
Texas A&M
Houston
Te xas Te ch
Penn State
Georgia
Arizona State
West Virginia
Northwestern
owa
8-12
121-88-3

Kevin,
Raftery
Purdue
Oklahoma State
Stanford
Clemson
WashingtonState
Arkansas
Nebraska
Kansas State
Ohio State
South Carolina
virginia Tech
Texas A&M
Houston
Te xas Te ch
Illinois
Florida
Arizona State
Rutgers
Northwestern
Minnesota
10-10
116-93-3

Tim
Rohan
Michigan
Baylor
Stanford
Clemson
Oregon,
Arkansas
Nebraska
Oklahoma
wisconsin
South Carolina
Virginia Tech
Te xas A&M
Hooston
Texas Tech
Ilois
Georgia
Arizona State
West Virginia
Northwestern
Iowa
10-10
126-83-3

9. NEBRASKA: Stop what
you're doing and give a
hearty round of applause to
Nebraska for exposingMSU
for what they are.
10. CLEMSON: Because
anytime you're outplayed in
every facet of the game, you
deserve to stay in the top 10.
I
Sam Sedlecky,
Maize Rage
President
Michigan
Oklahoma State
Stanford
Clemson
oregon
Arkansas
Nebraska
Kansas State
wisconsin
South Carolina
Virginia Tech
Texas A&M
Houston
Iowa State
Penn State
Georgia
Arizona State
West Virginia
Northwestern
Iowa
10-10
87-57-1

This Week
Overall

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To apply to be a guest picker, e-mail trohan@umich.edu. If you're chosen and can beat at least two of us, you'll stay on for another week. The longest-tenured guest picker will get a prize at the end of the season,