Controlled Fury

There is a difficult balance that players have to strike between playing with abandon and playing with discipline. The hope is that the players can achieve a "controlled fury" while on the playing field. Sometimes, however, the players end up playing with more emotion and less control. Tim Jamison (90) seems to sometimes end up playing out of control and it is costly. Jamison (jr.) is a very good backup defensive end who excels at the outside pass rush. He is an emotional player and what is his strength is also his greatest liability. In the Wisconsin game, Jamison swung at a Badger player and struck him in the helmet after the whistle had blown and Jamison was consequently flagged for a 15-yard personal foul penalty. Coach Carr was none too pleased and had this to say about it at the time, "I was very disappointed in the personal foul penalty that led really to their score there at the end of the half, in the second quarter. That drive may have gone the other way. Maybe it wouldn't have. We lost our poise there. That's part of learning to play. You can't make those kind (of mistakes), you can't lose your poise because it hurts your team and certainly it did there." Thereafter, Jamison began to play more under control until the Ball State game when he incurred another costly personal foul penalty. This time it was not purposeful. Nonetheless, the face mask penalty (pictured above) on third down negated LaMarr Woodley's sack and gave the Cardinals new life. Ball State (which was down only a touchdown and a two point conversion) was then given a first down on Michigan's six-yard line before evenutally being stopped. Playing with emotion is great but it is also necessary to play with control. Mistakes (i.e., costly personal foul penalties) simply cannot occur on November 18th. Emotions will be running high on that day. What the Wolverines (and Jamison in particular) need is a dose of precision. Woodley and Branch are masters at the balancing act of controlled fury. Jamison needs to model himself after either one of his linemates. Go Blue!

*Note: Photo of Tim Jamison (90) by John T. Greilick/The Detroit News