Michigan Wolverines

In conjunction with colleague Mark Schlabach's story on the history of pranks in college sports and the differentiation between a prank and vandalism, Michael Rothstein and Chantel Jennings decided to reflect and share our favorite college sports-related prank or mascot-related kerfuffle.

Chantel Jennings: For the week leading up to the Michigan-Michigan State football game, students will find couches, heaters, speakers and cookouts in the middle of Michigan’s bustling academic side of campus. The area, known as “The Diag,” houses a famous block M that was once painted green by visiting Spartan students. To avoid that, members of Theta Xi fraternity “Defend The Diag” every year, setting up a perimeter and guarding it 24 hours a day. The group has done this for more than a decade and even has a Twitter page with a profile that reads, “Protecting the most valuable piece of brass in existence from our little brother since 2000.”

Michael Rothstein: For as long as I can remember, I've always found mascots funny. When I was a kid, I loved when they fought. Now as a reporter, sometimes I'll look over to the mascot for moments of levity in the midst of a big game to remind me that, yes, this is all just a game. Mascot-on-mascot violence is often staged and expected. Then, there was this in 2010 when Ohio faced Ohio State. And the only one with the plan before the game was the man inside the Ohio mascot, Rufus Bobcat. Brutus, the Ohio State mascot, ran out on to the field with the rest of his Buckeyes brethren prior to the when he was speared and then chased down again by Rufus. What initially appeared to be a spontaneous idea was actually thought out beforehand as the man behind Rufus, Brandon Hanning, told reporters afterward he tried out to be Rufus solely for the moment where he could tackle Brutus. This did not go over well. He was fired for the incident.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Derrick Green is in the spot Anthony Thomas once inhabited, the role Michael Hart once played and one that has been played by many other running backs down the line.

They came to Michigan as freshmen and starred right away. The next guy potentially in line to do that is Green, the No. 5 running back in his class and the Wolverines’ highest-rated recruit this past recruiting cycle.

He has one other advantage as well -- he’s the guy chasing everyone else, from incumbent starter Fitzgerald Toussaint, who is coming off injury, to a gaggle of other running backs searching for time this fall.

“It’s always better to be the young guy,” Thomas said. “You don’t want to be the guy with the young guy behind you, always on your heels. You want to be the person who is pushing the other guy.”

So how can Green -- or fellow freshmen Deveon Smith or Wyatt Shallman -- push enough to where he wins the job? There are a few ways. It doesn’t hurt that, of all the positions on the offense, the Wolverines have the longest history of playing freshman running backs.

And it’s not like stepping in as a quarterback or a lineman.

“Running back is the easiest position to transition to in college, playing as a freshman,” said Hart, who ran for 1,455 yards his first year. “I say that because if you’re a good running back, you just run the ball. You break tackles.

“You don’t teach kids how to break tackles. Transitioning, as far as just running the ball, is not hard. But the mental aspect is what slows guys down. If they can’t come in and learn the offense, they are not going to be able to play. But from an athletic standpoint, it is the easiest position to transition to.”

Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges has a strategy to deflect any mental issues which might arise. Instead of having his young backs handle everything early, he takes a similar approach to what one might take with a quarterback.

Everything in sections. Nothing too overwhelming too fast. If anything, Borges becomes more cautious with how much he drops on his freshmen because he’d rather have them wanting more than attempting to know too much.

“Teach him the run game and then teach him the pass game in pieces so you can then be functional as you go,” Borges said. “You can play a freshman running back as long as you don’t inundate him with so much information that it becomes disinformation, you know.

“But I’ve had a bunch of tailbacks come in and play as freshmen and didn’t give them too much. But by the fifth, sixth game of the season, they could handle all of it. Very few could handle it in game one.”

One could argue that was the case even with Hart, the sole Michigan freshman to rush for more than 1,000 yards. Hart received three carries late in his debut against Miami (Ohio) in 2004. The next week, he had five carries against Notre Dame.

It wasn’t until his third game where he received 25 carries against San Diego State where he really took hold of the position. He would carry the ball less than 20 times in a game only one more time that season -- against Ohio State.

In some ways, the same thing happened to Thomas. He had only nine carries in his first game against Colorado in 1997. The next week was his breakout performance, with 122 yards on 21 carries against Baylor.

So it takes some time to adjust.

“You have to have several things,” Thomas said. “You have to have the wits to know you’re going in steady as possible. You have to be able to retain information, be strong enough and be durable.

“You have to be able to do more than one thing at this level. You have to be able to run the ball as a running back but you have to be able to block and catch the ball out of the backfield.”

And the sooner a back handles that, the sooner he will have a true shot at being a featured running back.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Devin Gardner has spent some time over the past few weeks working with a private quarterbacks coach, George Whitfield Jr.

As long as he doesn’t come back with any poor habits, Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges is fine with that.

“I don’t really encourage it or discourage it,” Borges said. “I don’t want too much of it. Once they are here, we want them coached by the guys who are going to coach them.

“But guys are using that in the offseason because we can’t coach them.”

Borges knows Whitfield -- although he has not talked to him about Gardner -- and that has made him more comfortable with his starting quarterback staying fresh by working with an off-site guru.

Part of why Borges is fine with Gardner working with someone else comes from the fact that Borges can’t work with him at all right now because of NCAA rules. Meanwhile, Gardner wants to stay sharp as he enters his first full season as a starter.

Hence the trip to work with Whitfield.

“I don’t blame him,” Borges said. “His ambition is exciting.”

Borges has much to be excited about these days. He gets his second healthy scholarship quarterback on campus next week in freshman Shane Morris. The Warren, Mich., native has had the playbook for a while and has been to many Michigan practices since his commitment almost two years ago.

He has also worked with Borges at various camps over the past two seasons, which has given Morris a sliver of an idea of how he’ll be coached at Michigan.

“He’s not a complete neophyte,” Borges said. “But by the same token, he has not played college football and there will be some growing pains with that.”

But will Michigan find a third scholarship quarterback? The Wolverines are still looking but it appears to be less likely than before.

Borges, speaking after an hour-long stint on the Mott Hospital Takeover on WTKA-AM in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Friday, had a laundry list of things any sort of quarterback transfer would have to do to even reach Michigan. Graduation. Fitting in chemistry-wise. Having played in a similar system -- even if verbiage is different -- is also paramount.

There aren't many quarterbacks who can fit that description, especially ones who must understand the chances of them starting is minimal.

“At the end of the day,” Borges said, “that likelihood isn’t that great.”

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Two years ago, Michigan and Virginia Tech played in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The programs announced on Thursday that they will play again -- next decade.

The Wolverines and Hokies agreed to a home-and-home deal, playing at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 19, 2020, and at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va., on Sept. 11, 2021.

“I am pleased that [Michigan athletic director] Dave Brandon and I have been able to work out this agreement,” Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said in a statement. “Michigan is the winningest college football program in the country, and it will be exciting to have the Wolverines come to Lane Stadium.”

It will be the first time the teams will play during the regular season. Michigan beat Virginia Tech, 23-20, in the 2012 Sugar Bowl. After having never played a Big Ten team in the regular season, the Hokies now have three scheduled for the future: Ohio State in 2014 and a home-and-home with Wisconsin beginning in 2016.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- As former Michigan guard Trey Burke moves on to the NBA, he’ll be keeping part of his life close to home. He has decided to be represented by his family.

Burke told ESPN.com he would be represented by his father, Benji Burke, and his cousin, Alonzo Shavers. Shavers primarily has been an NFL agent and is the founder and president of Infinite Sports Concepts.

“I think it’s the best decision for me,” Burke said. “Alonzo is my cousin and also been a football agent for years. He has the experience. My dad is new to the game. I felt going with them would be the right fit and I think we’ll still have the same resources we would have with a bigger firm, just because I feel like I’m marketable enough to get those types of endorsements and things like that. I just felt like it was the best decision for me.”

Burke, the national player of the year for the 2012-13 season, is projected as a lottery pick, perhaps as high as the top five in June’s NBA draft. He set Michigan’s single-season assist record last season with 260 while averaging 18.6 points a game.

The 20-year-old will attend next week’s NBA draft combine in Chicago. He said there were other agents inquiring about signing him before he chose to stay within his family.

“It was a business decision for me and one I felt I had to make,” Burke said. “There were a lot of big-time agents that were really interested and wanted me to sign with them. I just feel like I made the best decision for me.”