Michigan announcer Beckmann expects another classic with Notre Dame

admin September 20, 2012 0

By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Correspondent

Each and every week during the Irish football season, IndySportsLegends.com interviews Notre Dame’s upcoming opponent’s radio play-by-play announcer.

This week IndySportsLegends.com spoke with Frank Beckmann, the long-time Voice of the Wolverines.

Following is what Beckmann had to say about Michigan, who is 2-1 following a 63-13 pasting of FCS foe Massachusetts Saturday in Ann Arbor.

IndySportsLegends.com: What’s your take on the 2-1 Wolverines?
Beckmann: I think this is the game that tells us what their season is going to be all about. It’s sort of the lynchpin of the season if you will.

Lets face it, Alabama is in a different league than anybody else in college football except maybe LSU. They’re that good.

Michigan played an Air Force team played that offensive style that you’re not accustomed to in the triple option so it was tough to gauge what you had there defensively especially and they played an unusual defensive scheme, too, so that game was tough to judge.

Last week they played an overmatched opponent and did what they were supposed to do and won big.

This one really starts to tell the story of the improvement they’ve made. And how all those young guys they’re playing – they’re playing 12 freshmen – are grasping the Brady Hoke system.

I’m really looking forward to the game because these are the tests you want against good teams, a big-time environment, a night game, national TV, a lot of pressure on everybody but a lot of excitement, too.

IndySportsLegends.com: Was it easy for Michigan to put that loss to Alabama behind it since the Crimson Tide are so good?
Beckmann: I don’t necessarily think for that reason, but I just think they looked at it as, ˜We got beat and we got beat by a great football team. Onward and upward.’

You have to do that. The point that was made in Ann Arbor and it was absolutely true is you can’t let Alabama beat you twice. In other words, you can’t lose that game and be so downtrodden the next week. You’ve got to have a real short memory in sports and especially in football where you have a new game every week. Because the schedule is so compact, you’ve got to forget in a hurry.

That’s what got them through it was making sure Alabama didn’t beat them twice.

IndySportsLegends.com: You’ve seen a lot of good football teams through the years, but how good is that Alabama team?
Beckmann: That’s just about as good a team I think as I’ve ever seen.

There are no real holes on the team whatsoever.

You go over to that defense and you say, ˜Well, this one cornerback is OK,’ but he could start at almost every school in the country and be the star defensive back. He’s only OK because the other guy (Dee Milliner) is so good.

The quarterback AJ McCarron is very efficient. He’s very much like Brian Griese was in the 1997 national championship season for Michigan. He just gets the job done for you.

They’re just a great football team and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better one.

IndySportsLegends.com: Does this year’s Michigan team have the makings of being as good or even better than as last year’s 11-2 squad?
Beckmann: Well again I think this game pretty much tells us the answer to that question and which direction things will go.

Notre Dame has really improved this year. Their defense, which was good a year ago, looks even better, especially in that front seven.

The offense with Theo Riddick at running back and (Everett) Golson at quarterback looks dangerous running or passing.

I think it’s just a huge game for Michigan that will tell them what the season is going to be like the rest of the way.

Notre Dame has everything in its favor in this one. They’ve got the night game, all the excitement, it’s at home, three straight losses in the closing seconds to Michigan. So if you’re Michigan what a great opportunity to prove yourself as a team and to jumpstart the rest of your season because there is two-thirds of the way to go yet.

IndySportsLegends.com: How much has quarterback Denard Robinson improved?
Beckmann: He looks a lot more patient this year and looks more comfortable. By patient I mean first of all he doesn’t look like he’s trying to run on every play. He’s letting patterns develop. He doesn’t appear to be too anxious in the pocket.

He really seems to be comfortable with Al Borges (Michigan’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach).

He spent a lot of time studying film in the off-season and during the season so far this year. I think that’s paid off for him.

He’s a smarter quarterback. He still has the physical tools, that hasn’t changed a lick.

Whether he would admit this or not, I think he’s taken being named a captain to heart and realized he’s looked upon differently now. He’s not just Denard, the potential Heisman winner. He’s Denard, the leader of the team. I think that means a lot to him. You’re seeing him play that way and I think you’ll continue to see him play that way the rest of the season.

IndySportsLegends.com: Is Michigan’s biggest weakness still its defense, but with that said it has come a long way in a short period of time?
Beckmann: They were terrific last year. I think if there’s a weakness, it’s inexperience. They’ve played 12 freshmen already and that’s going to continue all year.

They lost Blake Countess, their best corner perhaps, in the Alabama game for the season to a knee injury.

You’ve got a lot of new guys in there who have to replace key performers like (defensive linemen) Mike Martin and Ryan Van Bergen. That’s really tough to do.

Those guys are inexperienced until they play a lot and now they’re playing a lot so at some point they become more experienced and they should get better. You’re seeing them improve week to week. How far they come will determine how far the team goes.

IndySportsLegends.com: The overwhelming strength of the Wolverines obviously starts with Robinson under center, but do they have to get less one-dimensional in their offense?
Beckmann: Brady Hoke wants to do that, there’s no question.

The running backs will come around in time I think. The offensive line is still gelling.

The real surprise has been the receivers to me. I thought they would really miss Junior Hemingway because he came up with so many big plays last year, but they’ve found a way to develop (backup quarterback) Devin Gardner out there. They have a freshman tight end named Devin Funchess, who has just been lights out the last couple weeks and has been a real eye-opener.

The receiving corps has been better than anybody expected it to be.

So you have a running back position that hasn’t lived up to expectations and a receiving corps that has exceeded expectations. At some point, the two of those have to meet so you’ve got some balance and it’s not all Denard. If it’s all Denard all the time, no team can win with just one player like that. Michigan knows that and they’re not going to try to do that either.

IndySportsLegends.com: Is one of the keys the rest of the way running back Fitz Toussaint taking his game to another level?
Beckmann: I think so. He missed the opener with a suspension and has not been the back that we saw in the last six weeks of last year when he just tore up the Big Ten, but there’s a long way to go.

I’m sure they’ll pay a lot more attention to getting the running game going this week. They have to because you just can’t sit back there against this Notre Dame defense with 11 sacks and expect to throw the ball 50 times.

IndySportsLegends.com: When you’re calling the game from the booth on Saturday, what key matchup will you hone in on?
Beckmann: I’m anxious to see how Brian Kelly changes the approach to stopping Denard this year. They did a great job in the first half last year against Denard running the ball. They had a safety in the box quite often and were just intent on stopping him from killing them with the run like he did the year before in South Bend. Eventually Denard got his sea legs under him throwing it and that’s what killed Notre Dame in the second half.

I’ll be interested to see what strategy Brian employs this time around. Whether he has a guy spying Denard, all the different things a coach can do.

That to me will be the most interesting matchup of the ball game. Will he dare Denard to throw the ball again or will he just go with a seven-man front believing they’re good enough to win that battle? Can Notre Dame stop Michigan with seven guys without putting that eighth man in the box? If they have to put that eighth guy up there, Denard could have a big passing game again and send the Irish faithful home with another defeat.

IndySportsLegends.com: Is Notre Dame’s defense Michigan’s No. 1 concern as it analyzes this matchup?
Beckmann: Absolutely, but I don’t discount Notre Dame’s offense either.

This is a talented group of guys. When you have Cierre Wood listed as your third-string running back, you’re pretty loaded. Theo Riddick was a great player coming out of high school and he scored two touchdowns against Michigan last year as a receiver.

The tight end (Tyler) Eifert may be the best tight end in the country.

They have a mobile quarterback in Golson.

I don’t think you can ignore the Notre Dame offense whatsoever.

The defense carried them last year late and I think it’s their trademark again. I think the story for Notre Dame will be how good that defense remains will determine how far they go this year.

IndySportsLegends.com: Michigan has had Notre Dame’s number lately so what kind of a game do you envision come Saturday night?
Beckmann: Lets see Michigan won with what nine seconds left in ’09, 27 seconds left in ’10 and two seconds left last year. I’m going to say Michigan wins it with 12 seconds to go on a Denard touchdown pass.

IndySportsLegends.com: So we shouldn’t expect anything other than another classic, right?
Beckmann: I hope so. This has been a great rivalry, a fun series.

I really hope with Notre Dame moving into the ACC in all those other sports and committing to the five conference games doesn’t totally disrupt the schedule and rivalry with Michigan. Everybody up here loves this game. It’s the No. 1 and No. 3 winningest programs in the entire country and I hope Notre Dame is on the schedule for a lot of years to come.