The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, October 11, 2013 - 7
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Friday, October 11, 2013 - 7
Breakdown: Which Gardner
will show up in Happy Valley?
By LIZ VUKELICH
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan football team is
off to a 5-0 start. But that doesn't
sit easy with fans who are still
waiting to see the resurgent Wol-
verine squad they've been prom-
ised.
Now, Michiganheads to Happy
Valley for its first true road test of
the season - and arguably one of
its toughest - to face Penn State
in the 17th meeting between the
programs.
Michigan pass offense vs. Penn
State pass defense:
Redshirt junior quarterback
Devin Gardner reached a mile-
stone in his Michigan career by
completing his first game as start-
er without throwing an intercep-
tion. It should be pointed out,
though, that offensive coordina-
tor Al Borges waited until the sec-
ond quarter against Minnesota
before having Gardner throw the
ball.
Gardner was all smiles this
week, talking about having con-
fidence in his arm again. That
being said, the Nittany Lions
have notched five interceptions
this season, and if Gardner-gets
flustered - as is very possible in
one of the loudest stadiums in col-
lege football - it won't be hard for
Penn State to tally another.
Saturday will be an indication
of whether Gardner's turnover
woes are truly under control, or
if last weekend was an aberration.
Edge: Penn State
Michigan rush offense vs. Penn
State rush defense:
After weeks of discussion
about splitting the load between
the running backs, Michigan
has finally found a better bal-
ance between fifth-year senior
,Fitzgerald Toussaint and fresh-
man Derrick Green.
The rushing yards are still
lopsided in Toussaint's favor, but
since Green has shown he can
effectively run the ball, it's not
unreasonable to expect him to
get more carries this weekend -
lessening the load on the one-man
Toussaint show.
The Nittany Lions hold their
opponents to an average of 111
rushing yards per game and rank
18th nationally in total defense.
Michigan's revamped interior
line has only been together for
one game, but against Minnesota
last week they were already more
effective at opening up holes for
Toussaint.
Edge: Michigan
Penn State pass offense vs. Mich-
igan pass defense:
Penn State's freshman quar-
terback Christian Hackenberg
for most passing attempts.
Saturday should be a perfect
opportunity for the Wolverines'
pass rush to establish itself and
live up to the preseason hype.
It won't be that easy, though, as
Penn State is big on max protec-
tion, keeping its backs and, tight
ends in.
a Defensive coordinator Greg
Mattison expressed concerns this
week about how to best defend
against Hackenberg, especially
with the blitz. In order for Michi-
gan to get its hands on Hacken-
berg, it has to beat its opponents
one-on-one. Though Mattison
didn't doubt that the Wolverines
could do it, nothing has been
shown so far this season to sug-
gest it will actually happen.
Edge: Penn State
Penn State rush offense vs. Mich-
igan rush defense:
The Wolverines still haven't
allowed a rushing touchdown
this season, but since Penn State
mostly relies on the passing game,
it's unlikely Michigan's rush
defense would have much to see
anyway - Penn State threw the
ball 55 times as opposed to 38
rushes against Indiana Saturday.
Running back Zach Zwinak is
the Nittany Lions' leading rusher,
with eight touchdowns this sea-
at one point had all but lost the
confidence of the coaches a few
weeks ago, proved himself a little
more last week against Minne-
sota. He now averages almost 40
yards per punt. Fifth-year senior
Brendan Gibbons is 4-of-5 on field
goals on the season.
Penn State's punter matches up
the same way, and its kicker has
the same field-goal percentage as
well.Veteran punt returner Drew
Dileo's seven yards per return
matches up evenly with the Nit-
tany Lions as well.
Edge: Push
Intangibles:
It doesn't get much bigger than
a prime-time white out at Beaver
Stadium.
For as much as Michigan said
it prepared using Borges' s whis-
per technique to compensate for
the ground-shaking noise, it still
doesn't make up for the fact that
very few of the Wolverines have
ever traveled to such an electric
environment.
Michigan has struggled might-
ily on the road thus far in Hoke's
tenure. Happy Valley won't likely
be the place where that turns
around. And though the Wol-
verines pan out better on paper,
statistics won't mean anything if
they can't keep their composure
in a hostile environment.
Edge: Penn State
ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
Redshirt junior linebacker Jake Ryan has missed the first five games of the sea-
son healing a torn anterior cruciate ligament but could return against Penn State.
Beaver Stadi1um, will
test retooled offense
was a five-star recruit out of high son.
school. And Penn State coach Bill Edge: Michigan
O'Brien relies on his arm as much
as possible - the Nittany Lions Specialte;
are tied for second in the Big Ten Junior punter M
ams: Prediction: Penn State 27,
att Wile, who Michigan 24
By MATT SLOVIN
ManagingEditor
After promising improvement
on offense, a new-look Wolver-
ines squad delivered with a lop-
sided 42-13 win over Minnesota
last weekend. In order to remain
undefeated, Michigan will need to
find more ways
to move the ball Michigan at
against one of Penn State
the best defens-
es they have Matchup:
faced' this sea- Michigan 5-0;
son, in the most Penn State 3-2
hostile environ- When: Sat-
ment they will urday 5 P.M.
have entered Where: Bea-
- Penn State's ver Stadium
Beaver Stadium. TV:
The Nittany ESPN
Lions have won
the last two
meetings in State College, and
the last three overall. Before that,
though, Michigan had won nine in
a row. To prepare for the unfriend-
ly environment, the Wolverines'
offense slfent Tuesday's practice
by speaking in whispers to simu-
late how difficult it will be to hear
over the crowd.
Michigan's offense made seri-
ous progress against the Golden
Gophers, spurred by several
changes, both tactical and person-
nel-related.
First, and most notably, sopho-
more tight end Devin Funchess
spent significantly more time
than usual split out wide. His
size - Funchess stands at 6-foot-
5 - allowed him to exploit mis-
matches against the Minnesota
secondary as he exploded for a
career-high151 receiving yards.
"His role is expanded a little
bit," said offensive coordinator Al
Borges on Tuesday. "But it's still
pretty much in line with what
we've been trying to do with him
since he's been here."
Whether Funchess will con-
tinue to be on the outside, return
to his usual tight end position or
line up behind the line of scrim-
mage in what Michigan calls the
'H' position remains to be seen.
But Funchess figures to have a sig-
nificant height advantage over the
Nittany Lions secondary as well,
which could mean a similar role
for him this week.
Likewise, the offensive line
combination strung together over
the bye week - with redshirt
sophomore Chris Bryant enter-
ing the mix at guard, and redshirt
junior Graham Glasgow sliding
over the center to replace redshirt
junior Jack*Miller - appeared to
be a step -in the right direction.
Borges said Bryant "had some first
start stuff that I think any guys
would experience, but he played
hard."
It seems likely that the offen-
sive line will remain the same-this
weekend, hoping to finally spring
fifth-year senior running back
Fitzgerald Toussaint to his first
100-yard rushing game.
Another way the offense will
look to test Penn State's defense,
particularly its always-solid line-
backing corps, is with freshman
tailback Derrick Green. After
eating clock in the season opener
against Central Michigan, Green
received some meaningful car-
ries against Minnesota, especially
early in the game before the out-
come had been decided.
The coaching staff would love
to be able to mix in Green to keep
Toussaint as fresh as possible.
How he fares early against Penn
State could determine he contin-
ues to carry the ball late in the
game if it's close.
"Here's the deal with that:
when you have a young back,
you're going to play him earlier if
you're going to play him," Borges
said. "If the game's close, you're
going to get scared."
Saturday could mark the 2013
debut ofredshirt juniorlinebacker
Jake Ryan, who tore his anterior
cruciate ligament in spring prac-
tice. The status of Ryan, who is
likely the team's best defensive
player, remains questionable, and
Hoke said a decision might not
come until Saturday.
ADA M G ANZM AN/Daiiy
Sephemere tight end Devin Funchess had the host receivirng performance of
his career Saturday. when he split oat wide and played fewer snaps at tight end.
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner played a turnover-free game last
week against Minnesota. Michigan will need him to limit mistakes Saturday.
What to Watch For: Penn State
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
1. What does Michigan's early
game play-calling look like?
Last week against Minnesota,
Michigan didn't throw a single
pass in the first quarter. Offen-
sive coordinator Al Borges said
it was the first time in his Michi-
gan career that he didn't call a
pasg play for the first 15 minutes.
Part of that was the time of
possession - Minnesota had the
ball for more than 10 minutes in
the first quarter, which limited
Michigan to eight plays - but
part of it was a rededication to
the power run game. Michigan's
six-play first drive went 35 yards
for a touchdown, and all six plays
were runs.
This rendered redshirt junior
quarterback Devin Gardner basi-
cally useless for the first quarter.
When he did start throwing,
though, he played one of the most
efficient games of his career. He
had a turnover-free game for the
first time ever and had just four
incompletion en route to 235
yards and a touchdown.
For the first time this sea-
son, Michigan's offense wasn't
dependent on Gardner making
plays. All the Wolverines need-
ed him to do was be an efficient
game manager, a role that he
thrived in.
So on Saturday, in one of
Michigan's biggest road contests
of the year, where will Borges
put the ball? Into the hands of a
quarterback with a habit of turn-
overs buta propensity for incred-
ible plays, or into the hands of
the running backs?
2. Does Derrick Green get more
than 10 carries?
Yes, that was "running backs"
with an "s." It's no longer strict-
ly fifth-year senior Fitzgerald
Toussaint - freshman running
back Derrick Green has officially
arrived as a change-of-pace back
guaranteed to get some carries.
Against the Gophers, Green ran
the ball 10 times, the most car-
ries he's received since Central
Michigan.
This week, Borges said that
he likes the idea of giving Green
more carries, as a way to make
sure Toussaint - who is a season
removed from a broken leg -
isn't tired by the end of the game.
Green started the season off
a little heavier than Michigan
coach Brady Hoke would have
preferred but has slimmed down
to around 235 pounds. He's still
a cannon ball, hitting holes hard
making him an ideal short-yard-
age or red-zone running back
and an effective complement
Toussaint.
Against Penn State, look for
Green to pick up even more of
the workload early on in the
game. If Borges sticks to the run-
ning game, Green will be a part
of it.
And frankly, Funchess has
never been known for his block-
ing. When he's split out wide and
no longer on the line, blocking
rushers is no longer an issue.
A big issue for the offense all
year is getting production out a
wide receiver that isn't fifth-year
senior Jeremy Gallon. Funchess
in a new role might solve that
problem.
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3. Does Devin Funchess line up 4. How deep do Michigan's line-
primarily as a wide receiver or backers play?
signs ,..en
tight end?
When Gardner did throw, it
was primarily to his sophomore
tight end. Funchess had his
best game in a Michigan uni-
form, catching seven passes for
151 yards and a touchdown. He
caught more catches than the
rest of the team combined.
Much of that success stemmed
from Borges' decision to push
Funchess out wide, playing more
as a wide receiver than a tight
end. At times, he returned to
his traditional tight-end spot,
but his big gains came from the
outside. Funchess is 6-foot-5 and
one of the best athletes on the
roster. Getting him in open space
creates mismatches that even
the best defensive coordinators
can't plan for.
Michigan's defense struggled
against the short passing game
against UConn three weeks ago
because of linebackers playing
too close to the line of scrim-
mage. They couldn't recover.
Last week, Michigan gave
up third-down conversions and
quarterback scrambles galore
because the linebackers were
playing too deep.
So where's the solid middle?
Against Penn State's pocket-
passing quarterback, Christian
Hackenberg, it might be the lat-
ter. He's not a threat to run, and
it might be more beneficial to
have bodies in the passing game.
Ideally, the linebacking corps
finds a way to do both. Whether
that transition happens by Satur-
day, though, remains to be seen.
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