Coaches: Talent, not strategy, is Michigan's strength

Michigan quarterback Steven Threet breaks downfield for a 58-yard run as Wisconsin linebacker Jonathan Casillas (2) and defensive back Allen Langford (17) try to catch him during the fourth quarter of the game in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday. Carlos Osorio, The Associated Press

Even though Michigan had struggled somewhat early on in the season, it's clear that Big Ten coaches don't expect the Wolverines to flounder for long.

"Michigan has players, they always are going to have players," co-defensive coordinator Dan Disch said. "That's the thing, just because you're bringing in a new system, doesn't mean that the player quality is going to change, it's just the system. It's going to matter what kind of players he has."

The Wolverine spread attack has new players at quarterback, running back and two receiver positions this year, with Steven Threet, Sam McGuffie, Martavious Odoms and Darryl Stonum, respectively.

Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez reiterated what Disch said at his press conference Tuesday.

"The reason that I like it is because I've been running it for 17, 18 years, we have a lot of ways that we can go into it," Rodriguez said. "But it still comes down to having players that can execute no matter what you do."

The first position and most important position that Rodriguez may have filled is quarterback with Threet. After struggling a bit to start the season, the freshman helped the Wolverines to a 27-25 victory over Wisconsin, going 12-for-31 with 96 yards passing with one touchdown and two interceptions, as well as 89 yards rushing on nine attempts.

"He's a big strong guy, much more mobile than we thought, we recruited him a little bit," Illinois head coach Ron Zook said. "He runs the offense, much more mobile, I'm sure that that's the guy that you would go recruit to run this offense, but I'm not sure it's not either, now, after watching him."

While Rodriguez knows that having the Pat White and Steve Slaton-type players are what makes his offense run smooth, it remains to be seen if Michigan fullback Mark Moundros can fill the position that now-Seattle Seahawk Owen Schmitt did for West Virginia last year. Rodriguez emphasized the importance of having sound blocking from his line and backs in his system that often leaves his quarterback in an empty set.

"The skills guys ... make your plays in space," Rodriguez said. "(But) you gotta have some guys up front that are versatile enough and strong enough to give you a power element, yet are athletic enough to block in space. If you had a big guy, like we were fortunate to have Owen Schmitt, a power guy, also a pretty athletic guy that we you could use in the shotgun."

Rodriguez was quick to qualify the statement, though.

"You can recruit to that, you can develop that," he said. "But when you get those real explosive players in space, it's really going to make everything look better."