First Look: Michigan
Right: Junior Nick Sheridan will get the starting nod at QB against Ohio State.
Sports Illustrated Photo
The quarterback Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez would like to start against Ohio State this Saturday will actually be suiting up for the Buckeyes.
Rodriguez heavily recruited Terrelle Pryor while at West Virginia and Michigan to run his spread offense, but after delaying his decision six weeks, Pryor officially announced he was going to Ohio State.
A former walk-on, 6-foot-1, 207-pound junior Nick Sheridan, will get the starting nod against the Buckeyes.
Sheridan has played in seven games and has completed 55-of-113 (48.7%) of his passes for 526 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions.
Steven Threet, a 6-foot-5, 228-pound redshirt freshman, who originally signed to play at Georgia Tech, has played in 10 games and completed 102-of-200 (51.0%) of his passes for 1,105 yards with nine TDs and seven INTs, but is listed as doubtful with a shoulder separation injury.
Michigan’s top rusher is 5-foot-11, 185-pound true freshman Sam McGuffie, who has 486 yards on 118 carries with three touchdowns, but is listed a questionable due to a death in the family.
McGuffie, though, has only nine rushing attempts and 62 yards in the last five games, and did not play against Purdue and Northwestern. Listed at the top of the depth chart at running back is junior Brandon Minor, who has 466 yards on 89 carries and eight TDs.
The Wolverines’ top pass catchers are 5-foot-9, 175-pound freshman Martavious Odoms with 44 receptions for 406 yards, and 6-foot-3, 207-pound junior Greg Mathews, who has hauled in 35 balls for 406 yards and 3 TDs.
Defensively, 6-foot-2, 247-pound sophomore linebacker Obi Ezeh leads the team in total tackles with 96, while 6-foot-2, 270-pound junior defensive end Brandon Graham tops the roster with nine sacks and 18 tackles for loss. Morgan Trent, a 6-foot-1, 188-pound senior cornerback has a team-high three interceptions.
Michigan, which began the season an even 2-2 after wins over Miami-Ohio and Wisconsin and losses to Utah and Notre Dame, rode a five-game losing streak entering the Minnesota game before defeating the Gophers 29-7.
One of those five losses during that span was a humiliating 13-10 setback to Mid-American Conference member Toledo.
Entering last week’s game against Northwestern with a record of 3-7, Michigan sank to an all-time low after C.J. Bacher threw two touchdown passes in the second half to lift the Wildcats to a 21-14 win over the Wolverines, handing UM eight losses overall and five at home for the first time in the storied program’s 129-year history.
Sheridan and Threet combined to throw for only 83 yards on 12-of-36 passing, but did gain 184 yards on the ground with Carlos Brown rushing for 115 yards on 23 carries.
But college football’s winningest program had already sealed its first losing season since 1967 and snapped a 33-season bowl streak.
Even with the Wolverines sub-par season, a win against Ohio State could help.
“If we can come out and beat O-State that would clear everything up,” senior safety Brandon Harrison said after the Northwestern game.
Good luck with that, Brandon.
