The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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tion in the spring, with Molk out the door after several seasons of start- ing. That means the focus will be on fifth-year senior Ricky Barnum at the beginning of spring ball. Hoke indicated Barnum gets the on what Michigan's best performers do well. "Number one, we've got to iden- first crack at winning the job, mov- ing over from guard. Fifth-year se- nior Rocko Khoury, who played the first series of the Sugar Bowl for the injured Molk, and sophomore Jack Miller will also be competing. "Ricky is the guy who will start first for us in the spring," Hoke noted. "He's played it quite a bit last year, between playing center and guard. He got hurt, which hurt him quite a bit on reps in general. But he played it quite a bit, practice-wise." If Barnum wins the center spot, tify the guys who are playmakers," Hoke said. "Who are those guys? You don't have the big receiver. Roy's got some length to him, but you don't have that big, physical receiver like Junior was. "It's identifying who those guys are, then you've got to make sure you're building your offense around the guys who make plays. It can't be just about an offensive system. If it is, you're going to go backwards. "You're going to keep the best ele- lead backs, either an H-back or a true fullback. We're still going to keep looking at some of the things that can enhance us offensively." But identifying playmakers isn't exclusive to the offensive side of the football, Hoke stressed. "Defensively, it's the same thing," he said. "You've got to find those guys who can blitz. The one thing Jake Ryan can do — he makes plays. As ugly as it is sometimes, he makes plays. We've got to identify those guys. "Kovacs is a pretty good blitzer. U-M could keep redshirt junior Mi- chael Schofield at left guard, where he played last season in Barnum's ab- sence. That would require finding a right tackle, or Schofield could move out, with someone such as redshirt freshman Chris Bryant moving in at left guard. Two spots definitely won't change, with redshirt junior Taylor Lewan holding down the left tackle spot again and fifth-year senior Patrick Omameh at right guard. Toussaint produced a breakthrough year in his third season with the Wol- verines, rushing for 1,041 yards and nine touchdowns. His vision, and his success, increased throughout the year. Senior Vincent Smith is back as Running Backs Redshirt junior tailback Fitzgerald ments that Denard has done a tre- mendous job with, and keep push- ing the envelope with some of the two-back stuff and the schemes at the line of scrimmage from a block- ing perspective. You push it with the It's like [Troy] Polamalu and the Pittsburgh Steelers. We're not the Pittsburgh Steelers, by any stretch, but having the right guys in there to make plays is what we're after." And that's what they go in search of anew, come March 17. ❏ well, after carrying 50 times for 298 yards and two touchdowns in 2011. His toughness and blocking savvy proved invaluable on passing downs, and he made 11 catches for 149 yards and two scores. Thomas Rawls carried 13 times for 79 yards as a freshman, while junior Stephen Hopkins carried 11 times for 43 yards and grew increasingly comfortable in the fullback role as the season wore on. They'll provide the heart of the rushing attack in the spring, and then be challenged by the newcomers once fall camp rolls around. Hoke noted spring will be all about building a new team, one centered FINDING PLAYMAKERS In 2011, redshirt junior running back Fitzgerald Toussaint carried the ball 187 times for 1,041 yards and nine touchdowns. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN APRIL 2012 THE WOLVERINE 25