Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis once again provides his game decals in this, ahem, challenging(?) season.
Until the day comes that Michigan gets its collective act together and assigns helmet decals again, Sap will bring you his game Champions who will be decorated, albeit virtually, with his helmet stickers.
I’ll typically toss in the Fan Award and the Editor’s Choice:
| OFFENSIVE CHAMPION |
DEVIN GARDNER – I thought New 98 did his best to win this game for his team. He is a leader because he has been through the most of anybody on this team. How many coaches/coordinators has he been through? To be sat down for the conference opener last week in this his 5th year had to have been a tremendous disappointment. But true to his character, he let that slide right off his back and focused on the game at hand. DG made some sweet throws (Butt’s grab in the first half comes to mind) and his 4th quarter TD run set Michigan up for the game winning field goal. Too bad it was blocked. Wonder if New 98 can kick like Old 98?? |
| DEFENSIVE CHAMPION | JOE BOLDEN – For the second straight week, Bolden was the best player on defense. Playing what looked like every play in a track meet-like game against a RichRod derivative spread offense is a tall order for anyone and I didn’t see him tire or fatigue one bit.
I feel for defenses that play against these spread offenses. These schemes can make a no one like Rutgers QB Gary Nova look like the second coming of Timmy Chang while making the defensive players look silly. Bolden didn’t look silly out there. |
| SPECIAL TEAMS CHAMPION | DENNIS NORFLEET – I can honestly say I’ve never seen someone play both sides of the Special Teams as good as Norfleet. Sure, his speed has something to do with that, but he continues to bring the energy on both the Kick Team and the Return Team. Just waiting for the game where he finally takes it to the house! |
| UNIFORM CHAMPION | TEAM 135 Sleeve – Maybe it was me, and maybe it was the cold weather, but it seemed like everyone was wearing the TEAM 135 sleeve against Rutgers.
Maybe it was the week that Michigan just went through, but to me, the sleeve seemed to be a show of team unity and solidarity. Hope so – looks like it might be a long year… |
* sorry
Follow MVictors on Twitter
3 Comments
James E.
Hmm, I can’t quite share the Norfleet love. He seems to frequently misjudge punts, catching them when he shouldn’t and letting them bounce when he shouldn’t (he did both last night) and he also has a bad habit of stopping and trying to reverse field on kickoff returns. I think he’s okay as a slot guy but as a returner he doesn’t do a whole lot for me. If you’ve never seen someone play better than him on returns, did you miss the Steve Breaston era?
Dr. Sap
My comments on Norfleet were for BOTH kick teams: return and coverage units. Not sure that UM has had someone perform as well on both. But for pure return guys, my top three are: Carter, Breaston and Stonum.
Dr. Sap
Oops – forgot about some guy named Howard! Top 3: Carter, Howard, Breaston.