If you haven someone better in mind, by all means, he should replace Hornibrook. That said, if you have someone in mind who's better than Taylor, he should be our #2 RB. The fact is, we have nobody better in either position, and there's no need to throw this year out to groom a future QB, and if we did, who would it be?
The youngsters on defense played well. They are well coached. They made some mistakes. A bunch of kids will make mistakes. That's why you want experienced leadership out there blending with them. Injuries stopped that from happening. They held up well, giving up a lot less passing yardage than you'd expect.
Hornibrook's hands are tied based on the amount of trust the coaching staff has with his receivers. Because the coaches don't see the skills of enough of them, they lean even harder on the run, and that makes them predictable. It's tough on Taylor, Deal, and anyone else carrying the rock, and when they pass it's because of necessity, and they have more defenders covering receivers then they do when they're playing run defense.
That said, this is not a bad team. It's not a great team, but it is a young team, and there's going to be growing pains. What they do have, and I'll take it anytime, is heart. They play hard, and don't roll over and play dead. Michigan never let up on the throttle, but when it was a lost cause, the Badgers got a lot of kids on the field to give them a little game experience for down the road, if they're needed. That's smart coaching in my book. I want guys who are hungry to play, and will show it in practice, because they got a chance to play in a game, not just be fodder for practice.
