Here are the Decal Champions for Week 3 by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis:
OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – In a game that was in doubt well into the 2nd half, Jake Butt stepped up and played like the dominant player we all know he can be. Not really needed or called upon in the first two games, #88 showed us that he still has it and needs to be accounted for where ever he is on the field. Seven catches for 87 yards is a testament to his importance in this offense.
DEFENSIVE CHAMPION – Easy to go with #5 here because Jabrill Peppers exemplified the critical, fundamental nature of playing defensive football. Much like a hammer that keeps hitting a nail, eventually the nail will go down. That’s what happened with CU’s QB. Sure he was gutty and made plays, but he got hit one too many times and you can’t make any plays when you are on the bench. With 9 tackles, 3.5 TFL and 1 sack, I credit Jabrill for playing a big part of Michigan’s (hammer) Defense.
SPECIAL TEAMS CHAMPION – Did I not tell you that Peppers was going to take a kick to the house before the season was over? The dude has instincts that you just can’t coach. The way he returns kicks by setting up his blocking and then attacking the open space with authority is special to watch! Even if he doesn’t go all the way, he sets the offense up with great field position and that cannot be understated in its importance to play calling when Speight & Company gets the ball.\
COACHING CHAMPION – I’m gonna go back to DC Don Brown because he didn’t panic when Michigan got down early against CU. Remember how I said last week that Spread Teams can make ANY defense look bad? Well, the best way to neutralize a Spread Team, in my opinion, is to keep hitting EVERYONE. After a few hits, the QB will start to hear footsteps, get “happy feet” and all of a sudden, his accuracy will diminish. After a few hits, the receivers will start looking over their collective shoulders, get “crocodile arms” and develop a case of the “dropsies.” That’s how Harbaugh & Co. defended Oregon while he was at Stanford and that’s what happened in the second half against Colorado. Helmet sticker for you, Dr. Blitz!
UNIFORM CHAMPION – I can’t tell you how happy I was to see two things about this year’s helmet stickers/decals. According to Greg Dooley, the decals are indeed smaller this year. That’s good to hear as they seemed to be a tad larger last year. Was also happy to see that the placement of the decals has changed this season. No longer are they applied in a tip-to-tip fashion as they were last year. They are now “nested” amongst/next to each other, much like they were back in the day. This means that, according to my Dr. Sap computer models, more stickers can be placed on the Maize and Blue headgear in 2016. If my calculations are correct, the stickers should max out around 75 or 76 WITHOUT being placed in between the stripes. That’s about 20% more than last year – for those of you who are counting and wondering at home. :)
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Week 1: Chris Evans, Mike McCray, Jabrill Peppers, Don Brown, Michigan helmet
Week 2: Wilton Speight, Jabrill Peppers, Tyree Kinnel/Chris Wormley, Chris Partridge, Shoes (soles)
