The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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in the first six games and 1.7 in the second half of the season. Fifth-year senior graduate trans- fer Jake Rudock took a pair of nasty shots against Penn State and Ohio State, but largely remained upright and safe in the pocket. While the ball carriers are culpable in the ground-game deficiency that engulfed this team in late October and all of November, the run block- ing was a major source of frustration. The Wolverines averaged just 104.0 yards rushing per game in the sea- son's second half, failing to hit the century mark against Michigan State (62 yards), Penn State (87) and Ohio State (57). They averaged only 3.3 yards per carry overall in six games, and 2.1 in their losses to the Spartans and Buckeyes. The blocking was not the sole cul- prit — there was a theory that the lack of explosiveness and accelera- tion from junior tailback De'Veon Smith and redshirt junior Drake Johnson was a greater hindrance to the rushing attack than the play of the line. That notion, however, was refuted some when Peppers lined up at tail- back the final two games and aver- aged just 4.0 yards per carry. He was held to two yards or fewer on four of his 12 total attempts, including a pair of negative-yardage runs. The keen eyes of those that coached and played the position, including former line coach Jerry Hanlon and former lineman Doug Skene (both TheWolverine.com analysts), did not use the term "regression" to describe the run blocking, but they felt prog- ress came to a halt collectively and individually. Best Player: C Graham Glasgow Most Improved: LT Mason Cole Who To Watch In 2016: OT Grant Newsome Quarterback: B+ Midterm Grade: B Reason For The Grade: Rudock finished his regular season on, per- haps, the greatest streak of any Mich- igan quarterback ever — he became the first U-M signal-caller to throw for 250 yards or more in four straight contests. His 1,296 total yards during that stretch ranked as the best four- game tally in program history while his 11 touchdown passes in four con- tests are second only to Chad Henne (12 in 2004) and share the second- place mark with three others. Rudock's progression, and that of the passing game, was the most impressive development throughout the season. The Iowa transfer aver- aged only 191.2 yards passing in the first five games of the season and had a negative touchdown-to-intercep- tion ratio of 5:6, while he connected on just two plays of 40 yards or greater out of 89 completions (both to junior tight end Jake Butt). Leading Michigan to a 6-2 mark in its first eight games, Rudock was cited for his intangible qualities — the leadership, the calmness in the huddle and smart decisions — but he was consistently labeled a "game manager" while drawing the ire of U-M fans that felt he left too many plays on the field. What transpired in November was