According to senior Stevie Brown, everyone on the Michigan football team likes to give scout teamer Ohene Opong-Owusu a hard time.

Brown said the Wolverines will poke fun at the fifth-year senior for his body shape and walking style. But in Michigan's 63-6 win over Delaware State, the Wolverines (1-2 Big Ten, 5-2 overall) were all smiles when Opong-Owusu saw the field for the first time in his career on special teams.

“They got a big lift out of the Big O running down there,” Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said Monday. “The first one, I didn't know if he got a tackle or he got a JOP, I call it a JOP, jump on the pile. But then the second one, he got a nice hit on a guy that was trying to block him, then he got a piece of the tackle.”

Opong-Owusu was one of 84 Wolverines to garner playing time against the Hornets (1-2 MEAC, 1-4), including one of nine to make their first collegiate appearance.

“Everybody but the freshmen we are planning to redshirt got a chance to go in there,” Rodriguez said. “To see the smiles on their faces and to see how excited their teammates were to get them out there was pretty neat.”

Second stringers and beyond gave Michigan 688 yards of total offense against the Hornets, contributing to the Wolverines’ school record 727 total yards of offense. True freshman tailback Vincent Smith led the Wolverines with 166 yards on 17 carries. Redshirt freshman Michael Cox and sophomore Michael Shaw finished with a combined three scores and 155 yards on the ground.

But even with 73 percent of Saturday’s dress list participating, Rodriguez said the Michigan depth chart is staying put.

“I think some guys, we’re getting more confidence in,” Rodriguez said Monday. “But there wasn’t really a situation where, ‘Geez, this guy really deserves to be the starter and that guy deserves to be his backup.’ We didn’t have that jump out at us.”

Senior tailbacks Brandon Minor (ankle) and Carlos Brown (concussion) also didn’t play Saturday. But probably the most important Wolverine to rest was freshman quarterback Tate Forcier. Last Saturday, Forcier started the game and completed two passes, but roamed the sidelines after his one drive.

After injuring his shoulder against Indiana and suffering a mild concussion against Iowa, Forcier’s body has been banged up and he has struggled on the field. In the four games before injuring his shoulder, Forcier completed an impressive 62.1 percent of his 87 passes. In the three games since, his completion percentage has fallen to 50.9 percent.

In Forcier’s place last Saturday, fellow freshman Denard Robinson stepped in fluidly, completing three of his four passes. Often typecast as a pure runner, Robinson threw his first career touchdown passes, connecting with redshirt freshman slot receiver Kelvin Grady and junior tight end Martell Webb. The freshman also ran for a score.

“We wanted to get in there and run some of the passing plays and get him to train with his eyes and where he's supposed to look,” Rodriguez said of Robinson. “We wanted more than (four throws) but we got up ahead a little bit. But we were planning on throwing more with him.”

Learning Rodriguez’s playbook is tough for any quarterback who is new to the system, and Robinson and Forcier have looked impressive as freshmen. Forcier sealed the starting job before Michigan’s season opener against Western Michigan because participating in spring practice gave him four extra months to become familiar with Rodriguez's system.

But in recent weeks, Forcier's progress has suffered. Rodriguez said Monday that Forcier had not completed a full week of practice since suffering his shoulder injury.

“If he was a fourth-year or fifth-year guy missing a practice or two, maybe it would not be as critical," Rodriguez said. "When we look back at it, missing those first couple days of practice every week probably didn't help his growth."

During yesterday's Michigan teleconference, Forcier said he practiced Monday for the first time in weeks and plans to practice every day this week.

“I have full range on it,” Forcier said. “I can actually snap my arm down on some of my passes. I'm happy to have it back.”