Ed. Dr. Sap is back with his decals for week 5. I added the Editor’s pick and we collaborated on the Fan award this week. Here are the picks from Week 1 and Week 2 and Week 3 and Week 4. Back when Bo was coaching the Michigan Football team, he awarded decals for individual as well as TEAM accomplishments. He also selected Champions each week. Not only were the obvious categories (offense, defense, special teams) selected, but Bo also made it a point to recognize the not so obvious ones – Scout Team Champions and Team Hustlers – each week. OFFENSE DENARD ROBINSON – So it wasn’t just me. Even Frank Beckmann said that the way Denard and the UM offense was churning out the yardage Saturday, you could put a #7 on his back and you would have thought Rick Leach was running the Michigan offense again. Only fitting that Denard’s performance made him the All-Time Big Ten Rushing QB Leader. When he’s healthy, Shoelace is tough to bring down – with or without his shoes on. DEFENSE JAKE RYAN – After watching #47 do his thing again, one word came to mind – MANSTER. In the late ‘70s, Bob Ufer recalled how UM D-Tackle Chris Godfrey was called “manster” by fellow wolverine Ron Simpkins. Why manster? He…
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Dr. Sap’s Decals | Notre Dame
Ed. Dr. Sap is back with his decals for week 4. I added the Editor’s pick and Fan award again this week. Here are the picks from Week 1 and Week 2 and Week 3. Back when Bo was coaching the Michigan Football team, he awarded decals for individual as well as TEAM accomplishments. He also selected Champions each week. Not only were the obvious categories (offense, defense, special teams) selected, but Bo also made it a point to recognize the not so obvious ones – Scout Team Champions and Team Hustlers – each week. OFFENSE JEREMY GALLON – While he only had three receptions for 33 yards, he seemed to always be there when Michigan needed a first down. Gallon is starting to emerge as Denard’s possession receiver. DEFENSE JORDAN KOVACS – Kovacs played another solid game, notching 5 solo tackles, 7 in total to lead the team in both categories as well as 1 tackle for loss. I wish this guy wasn’t a senior – I’d love to have him around for three more years. SPECIAL TEAMS MATT WILE – Boomed all three of his kickoffs with such efficiency that ND did not have the opportunity to return any of them – they all went for touchbacks. I’m sure Bo would have liked to have had Wile back…
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Dr. Sap’s Decals–UMass
Ed. Dr. Sap is back with his decals for week 3. I added the Editor’s pick and Fan award this week. Here are the picks from Week 1 and Week 2. Back when Bo was coaching the Michigan Football team, he awarded decals for individual as well as TEAM accomplishments. He also selected Champions each week. Not only were the obvious categories (offense, defense, special teams) selected, but Bo also made it a point to recognize the not so obvious ones – Scout Team Champions and Team Hustlers – each week. OFFENSE DENARD ROBINSON – did it all on offense for U-M (AGAIN!). Looked much more poised and in command of the offense. Still has some work to do, but the season is young and #16 is still “hungry.” DEFENSE FRANK CLARK – While he was only in on 3 tackles and had one tackle for loss, he was solid in his first career start. Got to the quarterback and gave the D some much needed pressure when it was still a game in the first half. SPECIAL TEAMS WILL HAGERUP – Only had two punts , but averaged 46 yards with one being a 60 yarder that UMass fumbled and recovered at their 4-yard line. HUSTLER / SPARKPLUG TAYLOR LEWAN – Always a big deal when your offensive tackle…
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The Decal Club
You probably recall that Michigan uniform aficionado Dr. Steve Sapardanis covered the wonderful Dr. Sap’s Decals in 2011. Prior to the Bama game we agreed to a modified, more focused version of the Decals for 2012 – something more along the lines of Bo’s ‘Victors Club’: Sap also reserved the right to take a pass on awarding this honor based on the performance. His rationale? Sap told me Bo himself would take a pass on occasion, if he didn’t feel it was appropriate based on the team’s performance. So on the heels of Hoke saying, “we didn’t play Michigan football”, we’ll hopefully see Sap next week. That said, I’ll take a shot. Haven’t seen any film beyond the painful SportsCenter reel but here’s my best shot: * Offense: Jeremy Gallon. My break out player for 2012 as suggested in HTTV did not disappoint and seemed to be one of the guys in maize and blue that could hang with Alabama. The guy is a reliable receiver & pretty much brings in the pigskin it is near him. He made everyone forget about the horrific punt handling we saw a couple years back. * Defense: Jordan Kovacs. On defense, he was far from perfect but he made some nice solo tackles. Played like a captain. * Special Teams: Will Hagerup. Easy…
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Dr. Sap’s Decals–Illinois
Matt Wile: 5 decals – for 5 Non-Returnable (Aluminum Beer Can) Kickoffs!* Don’t kid yourself at the importance of these kicks – they forced Illinois to drive 80 yards almost all game and that made a HUGE difference! Fitzgerald Toussaint: 3 decals – 1st QTR 65-yard run, 25-yard run, and 4th QTR 27-yard TD run David Molk: 3 decals – seal blocks on Toussaint 65-yard and 25-yard runs in 1st QTR, seal block on Denard 2-yard TD run in 2nd Qtr J.T. Floyd: 4 decals – 1st QTR PBU, 4th QTR INT (would have given one more for a pick-six!), 4th QTR PBU, +1 editor’s choice, for transforming into Chuck Woodson for this game, wow. Ryan Van Bergen: 3 decals – 3rd QTR sack, and two 4th QTR sacks Denard Robinson: 2 decals – 5-yard TD run in 1st QTR, 2-yard TD run in 2nd QTR. Jake Ryan: 2 decals – 1st QTR TFL, 3rd QTR PASTING hit on QB during option-pitch – outstanding! Jordan Kovacs: 3 decals: 1 for forced fumble in 2nd QTR, 1 for TFL in 3rd QTR, and +1 editor’s choice for actually being Zack Novak and fooling us this whole time. Thomas Gordon: 2 decals for fumble recovery in 2nd QTR and PBU in 4th QTR Michael Schofield: 1 decal for seal block on…