Q&A with MGoBlog

Below, Brian from MGoBlog gives MAN ANSWERS to my questions. Our answers to his questions are here (French took 1-8, I took 9-12).

1. Denard, Denard, Denard... I think most Hokies know about the freak-of-an-athlete you guys having running around the field at quarterback. How would you go about designing a game plan to contain him, and who's the second guy on offense VT's going to have to worry about stopping?

I would come after him and play a lot of robber zone stuff to take away intermediate routes when you do. Denard has been mistake-prone when pressured but when left to set his feet and throw he's been pretty accurate lately. You do put yourself at risk of Denard busting past your blitzers and giving up a big play, but that's somewhat offset by the chance he chucks an ugly interception.

The second guy to worry about is Fitzgerald Toussaint, Michigan's primary running back. He's a smallish, darting runner with the ability to juke in a phone booth and very good (but not great) top end speed. He cracked 1000 yards on the season with a late surge.

2. Greg Mattison is a long time college and NFL defensive coordinator and d-line coach. What's his defensive philosophy, and could you talk about the style of your d-line play?

Mattison runs a 4-3 under with a lot of zone blitzing. On third downs they often run an "okie" front with seven guys at the LOS; usually three back out but you don't know which three. On standard downs he's a little more conventional. Michigan still brings a lot of heat relative to the average team.

The D-line consists of one-gap guys expected to beat their blocker and get to the hole, which has been effective. NT Mike Martin is an extremely active playmaker who beat a Nebraska OL so badly earlier in the year he forced a pitch on a speed option. Yeah. The other guys on the line are like that except not as awesome.

3. Our punters don't kick the ball very far this year. In fact senior receiver Danny Coale will probably handle the punting duties in NOLA. Beamer Ball y'all... Do you have a returner capable of making big plays on special teams?

Not really. The kick returners are average athletes. While punt return man Jeremy Gallon has made a few plays this year, he's not a whole lot more exciting.

It can always be worse. via http://gif.mocksession.com

4. Do you have any indication of what the team's attitude toward this game is: reward for a great season, or a chance to make a statement?

With everything the seniors on the team have been through I assume it is the latter. Michigan has been down for the first time in 40 years; not only reaching but winning a BCS bowl and finishing in the top ten is a big carrot for guys like Molk, Martin, and Van Bergen.

5. Twitter style, in less than 140 characters why did Michigan lose to Sparty and Iowa?

Poor offensive gameplans.

6. If I remember correctly, I don't think you were too thrilled that Michigan had to settle with Hoke instead of Harbaugh. Now that he's coached a full season, won ten games, recruited for a full cycle, beat Ohio State, and brought Michigan back to the BCS how do you feel about the program resting in his hands?

I was not thrilled but Hoke has exceeded all expectations. From hiring Mattison to sweeping through the Midwest en route to a top 5 recruiting class to going for it on almost all the fourth downs I want him to go on, he's been pitch perfect. I feel better about Michigan's coaching situation than I have in over a decade.

7. What's your prediction?

I haven't watched enough of VT yet to have a final say; right now I think VT is well suited to defend Michigan's WRs straight up (I was very impressed with the secondary in the games I've seen) and will be free to pressure M, which can lead to bad things. I wonder about that young DL, though, against a Michigan line that has gotten much better over the course of the season, and can see Michigan running effectively a la Lamar Miller and Andre Ellington; I like both those backs and think M's two main rushers are at their level.

On the other side of the ball I think Michigan is in a good spot. While Thomas is a tank he's not a breakaway threat that will force Michigan to run the VT-style defense that burned them in the OSU game, and they've annihilated tailbacks in the back half of the season. Rex Burkhead and Boom Herron both had under 40 yards. Wilson is not going to be held that low but I think Michigan can keep him under 100 unless VT bottles up Martin a lot more effectively than anyone's managed to lately. With that and an effective short yardage defense, Michigan should bounce back to their very good D of the first 11 games.

With special teams mediocre on both sides, it comes down to Denard's propensity for turnovers. Michigan squeezed by OSU despite being effectively -2 in TO margin (I'm counting the immortal Hagerup muffed punt but not the Miller INT at the end of the game); they probably can't win against an 11-2 team by doing that. I think M's good for a -1 in this game but it still seems like a 24-17 type win.