Sam McGuffie

[C Darwin]

Sam McGuffie and Michael Shaw among freshmen who will play early for Wolverines

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BY MARK SNYDER � FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER � August 13, 2008

In the second week of training camp, coach Rich Rodriguez is getting a better look at Michigan's freshman class.
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The significant personnel losses from last season -- there was a high-impact senior class and a handful of players who didn't return -- created chances for the first-year players.

"I thought coming in there would be nine to 10 true freshmen that would have an opportunity to play, and that's probably going to be the case," Rodriguez said.

Tailback Sam McGuffie and tailback/slot receiver Michael Shaw are the players who definitely "will not be redshirted -- they'll play," Rodriguez said.

Making an impact that quickly, especially with significant depth at running back, shows how talented they may be.

"They've done enough to convince us they can contribute as freshmen, as much mentally as physically," Rodriguez said. "Normally the biggest drawback from a freshman is can they handle the schemes, the pace and all the things that go on with it?

"And those two have shown that they can so far. ... They're both fast, explosive players that are good with the spread system. As much as anything, I like the way they practice. Normally a freshman comes in and you have to teach them the intensity of practice; and these guys are obviously well-coached in high school. Coming here in the summer months helped because they've got a taste of coach (Mike) Barwis and the strength program in the summer."

Among the other freshmen Rodriguez thinks could contribute: offensive linemen Ricky Barnum and Rocko Khoury, receiver Martavious Odoms and possibly tight end Kevin Koger.

"Hopefully every year we recruit well enough (that) we've got guys good enough to compete," Rodriguez said. "If you do that, you're doing a good job recruiting." Edited by: Don Wassall

 

[White Power]

I'm glad to hear that McGuffie will play as a freshman you can't teach talent.

 

[white lightning]

My biggest question is how much will he play and where will he play? Knowing the cockiness of McGuffie, which I like, he will demand to play at running back early and often. He needs to make sure they don't try to bulk him up to play fullback or switch him to defense. Sam was built to be a running back and he has the potential to win the Heisman in the coming years. Good luck to Sam the Man!

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

...If you think that at the University of Michigan veterans have typically been rewarded and freshmen forced to wait their turn, and you just can't believe that Shaw and McGuffie are going to be allowed to come in just out of high school and grab a big piece of this offense ... well ... running backs coach Fred Jackson has some advice for you.

Believe it, baby.

Believe it.

Jackson spent a good 20 minutes Sunday afternoon throwing gasoline all over the already raging hype inferno surrounding the freshman running backs, beginning with a warning that Minor and Brown had better get over their nagging injuries real fast if they don't want to lose their place in the offense.

"Those two guys right there, I PROMISE you that you stay nicked up too long, it's going to hurt you tremendously,'' Jackson said.

Because Shaw and McGuffie can play right now, he said.

Shaw and McGuffie are two of the most exciting freshmen he has ever coached at Michigan, he continued.

They're Justin Fargas fast, but can cut better.

Not exactly trying to ease them into the picture, huh, Fred?

"Nooo,'' the 17-year Michigan assistant said, smiling. "You know how I am - I'm going to tell you like I see it. These guys are special. They're special.''

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also, take a look at the photo of the sports writer... for those who've never been around sports reporters, he is very typical. behold the worshiper of the black god-athlete.

 

[Electric Slide]

Congrats to Sam on his first of hopefully many collegiate touchdowns!!!!!

 

[forty-four]

I didn't see the game, but I did see Sam's TD. His stats didn't look good: 8 rushes for 8 yards. (He did have 2 receptions for 22 yards too). I hope that 1 yard per carry average doesn't become something for the coach to use against Sam. The coach didn't start his tenure well and he may panic. Hopefully I'm just paranoid & given history I should be. Edited by: forty-four

 

[blue_mentos]

I think Sam is in a good position after this game. although his stats werent great, he really couldnt have done anything else with the poor blocking his line was doing, and the inexperience of the whole offense in the new spread scheme. what pleased me though, is that when michigan entered the 4th quarter and needed a potentially game-tieing touchdown, mcguffie was used exclusively in the backfield, and it paid off as he scored the TD. On the next possession, when Michigan could have taken the lead, he was in the game for all of their plays as well. Prior to these two possessions, michigan had split the plays pretty evenly among their 3 or 4 backs. However, when the game was at its high point, and when the possessions mattered most, Sam was in there every play. hopefully this is a reflection on how the coaches view McGuffie.

 

[johnnyboy]

I think Sam is in a good position after this game. although his stats werent great, he really couldnt have done anything else with the poor blocking his line was doing, and the inexperience of the whole offense in the new spread scheme. what pleased me though, is that when michigan entered the 4th quarter and needed a potentially game-tieing touchdown, mcguffie was used exclusively in the backfield, and it paid off as he scored the TD. On the next possession, when Michigan could have taken the lead, he was in the game for all of their plays as well. Prior to these two possessions, michigan had split the plays pretty evenly among their 3 or 4 backs. However, when the game was at its high point, and when the possessions mattered most, Sam was in there every play. hopefully this is a reflection on how the coaches view McGuffie.

excellent point blue. i hope the coaches keep their faith in Sam and let him develop into the star he's meant to be.

 

[GreatLakeState]

The radio color man, who also does Lions games, commented on one
play, when the Utah defense tackled McGuffie without the ball, pretending
to buy a fake instead of letting him slip out to catch a pass -- that's what
teams did to Barry Sanders.

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

Did anyone see the ridiculous juke Sam pulled on his 23 yard pass reception. He juked a player out of his pants to pick up a half dozen more yards or so. That is the sign of a special player. McGuffie has ankle breaking moves. He is indeed a very rare player.

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

I might add that Sam will just need better blocking and a better sense of the speed of the higher level of football and then he will start wowing the caste whorish Michigan fans.

If Sam can get into the open field by making a cutback to find a nice hole, he will do Reggie Bush type damage to the opposition. I saw Sam try to reverse his field on one of his rushes, but the defender just barely brought him down and he lost 5 yards. That is a very risky move at this higher level of football and something that should rarely be done b/c the players are so much faster. He is going to need at least a little blocking, as every running back, but Barry Sanders does of course.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

McGuffie had another good game, showing off his skill and speed. 17 runs for 74 yards plus 3 catches for 32 yards making him the second leading rusher in the game, and second in carries as well; first in both on his team. Second in receiving yardage and tied for most catches on his team.

 

[jared]

McGuffie looked to be in on around 90% of snaps. I just wish Rich Rod would send the fullback out there a little more. I don't care for that option read crap. Michigan's QBs are not Vince Young and the O-line is still letting in way too much penetration. On the plays where McGuffie had a lead blocker, he broke off a couple 10-20 yard runs.

 

[jaxvid]

McGuffie had a very good game, he ran really well and made several big plays. He was the reason Michigan won and was selected the player of the game. He still splits a lot of carries but that is typical of the spread, the o-line isn't that good yet but the most encouraging sign is that the coach obviously likes him and puts him in at crucial times. Even the radio announcers have got on his bandwagon and were really talking him up. It's just Miami of Ohio but it's a good start.

 

[Gi-15]

McGuffie had a very good game, he ran really well and made several big plays. He was the reason Michigan won and was selected the player of the game. He still splits a lot of carries but that is typical of the spread, the o-line isn't that good yet but the most encouraging sign is that the coach obviously likes him and puts him in at crucial times. Even the radio announcers have got on his bandwagon and were really talking him up. It's just Miami of Ohio but it's a good start.

I didn't watch the game, but next to Sam's 17 carries, the leader was the QB with 5 carries, how is that splitting carries? Looks like go-to back numbers to me. great job by sam!

 

[jaxvid]

I didn't watch the game, but next to Sam's 17 carries, the leader was the QB with 5 carries, how is that splitting carries? Looks like go-to back numbers to me. great job by sam!

I didn't realize he had so many carries, but you know us castefootballers any time the "other" guys get the ball it's too much!!

Also Shaw the other freshman back had a long run from scrimage early that got him some playing time before they went back to Sam. And they gave Sam's touchdown to Brandon Minor, Sam had driven the team down field and as soon as they get to the five he needs to get "rested".

 

[Colonel_Reb]

In all likelyhood, Sam will split carries at best when the other injured black backs get back. It is nice to see him impress. Even the TV announcers called him a "human highlight reel" and said you could check him out on Youtube. Great to hear that Sam was player of the game jaxvid. I'll add that fact to his stats.

 

[backrow]

I didn't watch the game, but next to Sam's 17 carries, the leader was the QB with 5 carries, how is that splitting carries? Looks like go-to back numbers to me. great job by sam!

I didn't realize he had so many carries, but you know us castefootballers any time the "other" guys get the ball it's too much!!

Also Shaw the other freshman back had a long run from scrimage early that got him some playing time before they went back to Sam. And they gave Sam's touchdown to Brandon Minor, Sam had driven the team down field and as soon as they get to the five he needs to get "rested".

they took him out for a play probably, nobody expected Minor to score on a 15 yard run.

 

[whiteathlete33]

So Sam averaged 4.3 yards a carry. Nice, this kid is NFL material. Ill be rooting for him all season.

 

[backrow]

it could have been better, seeing how he got three carries late when they were trying to run out the clock and Miami's defense ate him up, mainly because of two very good white linebackers. one of them had 4 or 5 tackles for a loss.

 

[whiteathlete33]

His numbers are still good especially since he's only a freshman. If he can progress by his junior or senior seasons he can be one of the top 5 rbs in college football without a doubt. He has the athletic ability and even the announcers acknowledge this. It obviously takes some time to get used to the college game. I believe his 40 time was in the 4.3 range which is incredible. He's a home run threat every time he touches the ball. I doubt there are more than a 1 or 2 black rb faster than him right now.

 

[white is right]

Give him the O-Line of a traditional Michigan team and he is a bare minimum 100 a game guy and against teams like Miami of Ohio he can be 150 a game plus guy. ESPN's talking heads were saying that Michigan is at best a 6-6 team.

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Colonel Reb wrote:

"McGuffie had another good game, showing off his skill and speed. 17 runs for 74 yards plus 3 catches for 32 yards making him the second leading rusher in the game, and second in carries as well; first in both on his team. Second in receiving yardage and tied for most catches on his team."

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i agree about michigan's o-line. they allowed WAY too much penetration. it seemed like McGuffie was getting hit in the backfield every third carry.

 

[Gi-15]

good story posted on DD.com as usual:

Sam McGuffie shows what's to come for Michigan


It is often said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you saw beauty in this one, we're penalizing you 10 yards for beholding. Michigan's 16-6 win over the Miami RedHawks "certainly wasn't pretty," in Rich Rodriguez's view. But it was definitely well-earned. And on another slow offensive day, one of the fastest Wolverines gave reason for hope, this year and in the future. His name is Sam McGuffie.


McGuffie ran 17 times for 74 yards and caught three passes for 32 yards. That doesn't look like much in this paragraph, but it looked a lot more impressive on the field.

McGuffie should give fans hope this season, because with a shaky offensive line and inconsistent quarterbacks, Michigan needs a guy who can get the heck out of the backfield as fast as possible. That's McGuffie: one cut and go.

"If you see a hole, usually in my head I'm thinking 'score' or 'first down,' " McGuffie said.

McGuffie also should give you hope for the future because there were moments Saturday when he showed what Rodriguez's offense looks like when it's rolling.

McGuffie did not look like the YouTube sensation who had die-hard fans salivating on their keyboards last year. But he looked like he knew what he was doing, and I mean that as a big compliment.

In an opening loss against Utah, U-M's two most common offensive plays were Dazed Right and Confused Left. In Week 2, McGuffie hit the right holes and ran with confidence.

"I think he did a great job today," offensive coordinator Calvin Magee said. "He made his reads better than he did last week. He looked like he ran hard. He is going to get better each week."

Coach Rodriguez said after his first win in Michigan Stadium that it is fair to call his experience "very frustrating, exasperating, whatever other adjective you want to put on it." He was obviously talking about his offense, as he usually does, for two reasons: Most people ask about offense, and Rodriguez spends almost all his time on that side of the ball.

Every offense is maddening in its own way when it doesn't work. When a conventional pro-style offense fails, it looks like it is stuck in the mud. When a pass-crazy offense fails, possessions last roughly nine seconds.

When Rodriguez's spread fails, it looks like a gimmick. All these cuts and fakes and misdirection runs are highly entertaining when they work. But when they don't, the effect reminds me of that famous scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" where Bad Guy (I don't know his name -- let's just go with Bad Guy) twirls his sword like crazy, as though he knows 800 ways to slice an enemy into pieces, and Indiana Jones takes out his gun and shoots him. Think of the spread as the guy with the sword and the defense as Indiana Jones.

It won't be like this forever at Michigan, of course. At some point, Rodriguez will find players who better suit his spread-option attack and Michigan will score a lot more.

That's the great thing about McGuffie: Even though he committed to play for former coach Lloyd Carr, he is actually better-suited for Rodriguez's offense.

"I think Sam would fit in any system," Rodriguez said. "But I think it's a perfect fit for what we do. He's not the biggest guy, but he's got good feet and quickness. He's a good spread tailback in that regard."

McGuffie is 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds. He'll pound out tough yards, but his biggest strength is running outside the tackles. He is the kind of small, shifty player that Rodriguez loves to recruit. (Of the 16 players who committed to Rodriguez's 2009 recruiting class, 10 weigh 186 pounds or less, according to rivals.com.)

After Carr retired, McGuffie reconsidered his college options. He said Saturday that he is aware of "Rich Rodriguez's past: running the ball, running the ball, running the ball." That is one reason he stuck with U-M.

"Any offense where the running back gets the ball this often is good for a running back," McGuffie said.

McGuffie's fellow freshman, Michael Shaw, is also a great fit for the spread, and he looked terrific on a 30-yard run. But Shaw suffered a groin injury and only touched the ball twice.

For now, it is McGuffie's load to bear. U-M's receivers and backs had 38 touches Saturday. McGuffie had 20.

As McGuffie was leaving the field, U-M radio network sideline reporter Doug Karsch asked him if the game is slowing down for him.

"Only when I get tackled," he cracked.

Someday, that won't happen nearly as often.



please look at this hateful comment :


It is a sad day when UM's future is placed on the shoulder of a fast but small white running back. This is not a politically correct statement, but it is one of fact. Great runningbacks are not only fast but strong and deceptive. Mcd's highlights show that he is indeed fast, but definitely not a strong, or deceptive back. They are mainly of a fast kid streaking off great blocks and at times jumping over tacklers (another big 10 no-no). He will indeed likely be the next "great white hope", but that is for Air Force, Princeton, or BYU (see Luke Staley), not for the greatest football program in the country.
UM compares to Ohio State...USC...Florida NOT Northern Illinois or Montana. Think Chris Perry or Anthony Thomas, not Tommy Vardell or Luke Staley.
Because I truly lov UM, I actually hope I'm dead wrong, but unfortunately history confirms that UM is in trouble of being the next major program hurt by their inability to attract the best athletes in the nation (See Notre Dame).

Edited by: Gi-15