Monday, August 15, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cfm Borges won't bottle up Robinson's running ability, By STEPHEN J. NESBITT Daily Sports Editor It's what every Michigan fan has known since Denard Robinson botched his first snap as a freshman and practically trotted through the Western Michigan defense for a touchdown. Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges just reaffirmed it. Denard is deadly. "With the ball under his arm, anything can happen," Borges told the media Wednesday. "If you're going to hook slide him premature- ly, when he could juke a guy-" Borges paused. "You coach Denard differ- ent than you coach (San Diego State quarterback) Ryan Lindley. They're different players." It's safe to say that opposing defenses can still expect a heavy dose of Robinson, even under Borges' pro-style offense. But it's not going to be quite so heavy. Robinson led the Wolverines in 2010 with 1,702 rushing yards. But it took 256 carries to reach that mark - an average of nearly 20 attempts per game. And that's a number Borges aims to shrink. Borges wouldn't commit to a number of carries he'd like Robin- son to have, but said, "It's gonna be less." "As a play caller, you go into games with a plan, but then all of the sudden things change and they can't stop (Robinson),"-Borges said. "Now, I was born at night, but I wasn't born last night. Call his number, give him a chance, but try not to beat him up." And, as always, he just has one piece of advice for his junior quar- terback. "Make plays, don't make mira' cles," Borges said. Borges won't be reinventing the wheel to tailor his offense to fit Robinson's unique skill set. But it won't be old hat, either. "A lot of the stuff you're going to see, you'll say, 'Oh, I've seen that before,"' Borges said. "But because we're going to a power-run style, we're trying to take some of the burden off him as a runner - and more than anything keep him in one piece. Because the one thing that jumped out at me as I stud- ied tape from last year is (Michi- gan was) a different team when he wasn't in there." . To ease the strain on Robinson's legs, Michigan is committed to featuring the running backs early, and often in the first season under Borges and Michigan coach Brady Hoke. Borges intends to cut the race at tailback down from a handful of backs to two or three in the near future. Although he'd name the starter "yesterday if we could," the offensive coordinator gave no indi- cation as to the front-runners in the backfield. "Nobody's been tackled yet, so you can't tell anything yet," Borges said. When asked to list his criteria for a leading candidate at tailback, Borges's response sounded remi- niscent of former running back Mike Hart and some of Michigan's all-time best backs. It's not about the size. "The ability to win in the open field, break tackles, make people miss, understand our protection scheme," Borges said were vital pieces. "Receiving skills are a part of it, too - it's not at the top of the list, but it's part of it. "It's a vision position. As long as you give them an opportunity to see the cuts, they can make the cuts easily." At 5-foot-6, junior Vincent Smith has been tabbed as a strong con- tender for duties at running back, but is jockeying for the No. 1 job Junior quarterback Denard Robinson won't be seeing 20 carries pergame in 2011. alongside redshirt junior Michael Cox and senior Michael Shaw. Borges referred to burly soph- omore Stephen Hopkins as a "hybrid" back, and possibly a third- down threat. But even with the seemingly tight race in the backfield with just over three weeks remaining, Borg- es doesn't plan to rotate running backs once Sept. 3 rolls around. "I don't like rotating guys," Borges said. "But that being said, if two guys are on an equal plane we may do it. Never say never, but it's never been my preference." But, for now, the running backs are looking to the man at the pin- nacle of the nation's running game - No. 16. And Borges wouldn't mind some Robinson-like runs from his tailbacks. "(We want) a guy we feel ... can give us some of the same things Denard gave us last year and he'll give us this year," Borges said. Michigan defense focusing on effort, technique in camp By KEVIN RAFTERY Daily Sports Editor Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison thinks Bo Schem- bechler would be beaming. "I think he'd be smiling like crazy right now," Mattison said after practice on Tuesday, seated inside Schembechler Hall for a press con- ference. Mattison was responding after being asked how he thought Schem- bechler, Michigan's late head coach, would react to knowing Michigan football coach Brady Hoke is now at the helm. But when it comes to his defense, Mattison aims to do more than just make Schembechler happy. "Our mission here is to get play- ers that make -the University of Michigan proud," Mattison said. And Mattison believes that he has the players to make that hap- pen. Though the Wolverines have only had two days of practice thus far, Mattison was pleased with what he's seen. "I'm really, really impressed and excited about the effort of our guys," Mattison said. "I think you saw it starting in the summer. I think you saw these guys trying to do the right thing, trying to improve themselves, and then it just carries over when they started practice. "We've got miles and miles to go to get where we want to be, but as far as their preparation right now, I'm very, very excited about it." Despite the improvements of his players, Mattison said there's a long way to go before he finalizes start- ers for each position. He mentioned several times that each starting job is up for grabs and claimed the best 11 players will be the ones on the field. Mattison said he is looking toward the future and cares very little about last year's disastrous season and which players held what positions in 2010 - a season when Michigan finished 110th in the nation in total defense. Instead he chooses to focus on what he can do to get Michigan back on track for the upcoming sea- son, adding he only watched a small amount of tape on last season's defensive squad - including parts of the Notre Dame, Michigan State and Wisconsin games - because he opts not to dwell on the past. While he didn't give any names, Mattison mentioned that some players may change positions throughout camp. But the coordinator, in his first year back with the Wolverines after coaching in Ann Arbor from 1992 to 1996, had high praise for this year's linebacker core. "This group of linebackers, I would say they probably day to day have improved more than any other position," Mattison said. "Now the thing we gotta find out is, is that because they weren't very talented and they're really going now, or is it because they're really, really improving? "I happen to think it's because they're really improving." He's going to have a tough time deciding who should start, as he said most of the linebackers have similar skill levels, but when look- ing at the front seven in general, the task is easy. "The whole thing is gonna come down to two things," Mattison said. "Playing with great technique and playing with great effort." Mattison echoed that same phi- losophy when talking about his defense as a whole - a defense that hasn't developed an identity quite yet. "I can't say right now that we're a blitz team, I can't say that we're gonna be a coverage team," Matti- son said. "The onlything I can say is we're gonna play with unbelievable effort. The thing I hope we can say after this camp is over with is that this team is gonna play with great technique." And though Mattison said he doesn't know 'exactly how his defense will materialize, he has a vision for what he wants it to be. "I want to be a team that nobody can run the football on, first of all," he said. "I want a defense that is aggressive." He wants the opposing team's quarterback to be scared. He wants his player's technique to be perfect. But more than anything, Mattison wants to help give Michigan fans a reason to be proud. With a collective effort from everyone involved with the team - from players to coaches to admin- istrators - there's no doubt in Mat- tison's mind that Michigan will do just that. "I know in my heart what's about to happen here," he said. "We're gonna have a football program that Bo, (former) coach (Gary) Moeller, former coach (Lloyd) Carr are gonna be proud of again, and a pro- gram that has been built for many, many years of doing it the way we are tryingto do it right now. "I justbelieve in my heart that it's gonna happen."