6A — Thursday, October 1, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Offensive line relishes improvement in 2015

By JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

In last week’s game against 

Brigham Young, the Michigan 
football 
team’s 
offensive 

line walked up to the line of 
scrimmage and saw something it 
had been waiting to see for a long 
time.

The Wolverines looked across 

and saw the Cougars’ defense 
sweating and panting, with hands 
on hips from sheer exhaustion.

Michigan’s offensive line has 

taken a bulk of the criticism 
for rough seasons in 2013 and 
2014, and in that time, they were 
usually the ones in the position 
the Cougars found themselves in 
on Saturday.

“We haven’t really had much 

of that in the recent past, but it’s 
an awesome feeling knowing 
that when you go up to the line 
of scrimmage, you’re looking 
into a guy’s eyes (and) you know 

you have him beat already,” said 
redshirt junior guard Kyle Kalis 
on Monday. “That’s something 
that we haven’t had. We have 
it now in full effect, and it feels 
good.”

Another 
benefit 
comes 
in 

the form of big plays, of which 
Michigan has had many in 
the run game. Junior running 
back De’Veon Smith’s 60-yard 
touchdown 
run 
Saturday 

provided one such highlight.

Smith did most of the heavy 

lifting on that particular run, but 
Kalis sprung ahead and was the 
first lineman into the end zone to 
celebrate, quickly joined by four 
other players.

“It’s nice,” Kalis said. “It’s the 

reason why we’re all here. It’s 
the reason why I came here, the 
reason why a lot of guys came 
here. When I saw him in the end 
zone and embraced him, that was 
a good moment for both of us. It 
just feels good. It’s the way it’s 

supposed to be.”

The Wolverines have begun 

to taste more of those rewards 
this year as they have shown 
improvement. They went three-
and-out 
on 

their 
first 

possession 
Saturday 
but 

then 
went 

to 
work 
and 

scored on their 
next five (four 
touchdowns 
and 
a 
field 

goal) to take a 
commanding 
31-0 lead.

In those five drives, they 

gained 344 yards on 38 plays, 
spanning 18:23. For the game, 
they possessed the ball for 38:38, 
wearing out BYU’s defense to the 
point of submission.

“If you go get a play and 

you pancake somebody, your 
adrenaline is going through the 

roof, so that carries into the next 
play,” Kalis said. “The next play, 
if you do good, more adrenaline, 
and it keeps carrying on. That’s 
how you develop an identity, just 

having 
good 

plays over and 
over again.”

After 
the 

past two years, 
Michigan’s line 
had to build 
its 
reputation 

little by little. 
After all, the 
Wolverines’ 
domination 
of BYU came 

three weeks after a 24-17 road 
loss to Utah in which they rushed 
for just 76 yards.

Part of that progress can be 

attributed to Tim Drevno, the 
team’s offensive line coach and 
offensive coordinator, whom head 
coach Jim Harbaugh brought 
from Southern California in the 

offseason. Kalis said Monday 
that the current linemen — many 
of whom made up the line last 
year — had made good plays in 
the past, but not all together and 
not often enough. This year, they 
have come together as a unit.

“I think as you go through 

game to game, you get used 
to 
everybody 
and 
how 
you 

communicate 
and 
how 
they 

handle adversity and you get to 
know one another,” Drevno said. 
“That’s part of the process of 
trusting one another. The quicker 
you can trust, the quicker you 
have success, so I think that’s 
been a real big part of where we 
are today.

“It’s gradual. They get used 

to your coaching techniques 
and how you coach and how you 
prepare and what you demand 
from them. It’s just them getting 
to know you, you getting to know 
them — and the quicker you can 
do that, the quicker you have 

success.”

The line has come along 

smoothly for Michigan, without 
many issues along the way. The 
Wolverines have rushed for more 
than 200 yards in every game 
since Utah and allowed just three 
sacks on the season. Eight teams 
have allowed fewer in the same 
number of games.

Drevno was hard on his unit 

after a lackluster performance 
against the Utes, but he and 
Harbaugh 
haven’t 
been 
shy 

about singing the offensive line’s 
praises as it has improved. They 
grade each player after every 
game and note the improvement.

“That’s definitely an awesome 

feeling,” 
Kalis 
said 
of 
the 

encouragement. 
“That’s 
fun. 

That’s why you play. It’s to get the 
respect of your brothers, to get 
the respect of your coaches and 
look good playing out there. Just 
have fun. That’s why you play the 
game of football.”

FOOTBALL

“It just feels 

good. It’s 
the way it’s 

supposed to be.”

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Jake Butt (#88) and A.J. Williams (#84) play critical roles for Michigan, which has made good use of its tight ends.
Chemistry key for tight ends

By MAX COHEN

Managing Sports Editor

If you ask tight end A.J. 

Williams, his position group 
is a cast of characters, all with 
different 
personalities 
and 

backgrounds.

He 
mentions 
redshirt 

sophomore Henry Poggi, a recent 
convert to the position, with 
his “crazy flow,” and redshirt 
sophomore Khalid Hill, who 
just 
returned 
from 
anterior 

cruciate ligament surgery and 
until recently had a haircut that 
Williams described as a box.

Add in junior Jake Butt, 

the star with the funny last 
name; redshirt freshman Ian 
Bunting, who tight ends coach 
Jay Harbaugh says “looks like 
a big tree”; and Williams, the 
senior who has been a blocking 
specialist for the last three years, 
and the Wolverines have quite a 
deep and diverse tight end group.

And those are just the players 

who caught a pass in Michigan’s 
win against Brigham Young on 
Saturday.

Playing tight end for Michigan 

feels different this year, Williams 
said Tuesday. He has been in 
offenses where tight ends have 
been 
overlooked, 
particularly 

in his primary role of blocking. 
But when Michigan coach Jim 
Harbaugh arrived last December, 
Williams and his position mates 
knew they were in for a treat. 

During his tenure at Stanford, 
Harbaugh was known for his 
development 
of 
tight 
ends, 

most notably Zach Ertz and 
Coby Fleener, both significant 
contributors in the NFL.

Michigan’s tight ends want to 

get there some day, Williams said, 
and they rely on one another to 
achieve their goals. Studying the 
playbook is nearly a constant — 
even on group trips to Chipotle. 
If any of the players ever feels as 
though Michigan’s playbook is 
too long or too in-depth to study, 
they are reminded that it will be 
even more so in the NFL.

“We have a group text, which 

is constantly going, and we 
communicate,” Williams said. 
“I know certain people, we like 
to hang out, we’ll watch football 
together all the time, watch tight 
ends in the NFL who we want to 
advance our game to.”

Williams 
thinks 
that 

Harbaugh’s age — he is just 26 
years old — is a benefit to the 
unit, laughing at the notion that 
Harbaugh 
would 
have 
been 

a senior in high school when 
Williams was in seventh grade. 
But still, he has no problems 
listening to a coach who is less 
than five years his senior.

“Coach Jay is wise beyond his 

years,” Williams said.

Harbaugh does not believe his 

age really helps him coach his 
unit.

“I mean, certain references 

and all that I get that maybe are 
over other guys’ heads, but I just 
think that that’s kind of a little bit 
overrated,” Jay Harbaugh said. 
“But that’s just my opinion.”

Where Harbaugh does agree 

with Williams, though, is that 
watching and learning from the 
NFL can be a key to Michigan’s 
success. Harbaugh had spent the 
last three seasons working with 
his uncle, John Harbaugh, as an 
offensive quality control coach 
for the Baltimore Ravens.

Michigan’s style of offense, 

Harbaugh said, is more similar 
to those of NFL offenses than 
other college offenses. He studies 
film of NFL teams he believes use 
tight ends well to improve his own 
unit, including the Kansas City 
Chiefs, the Carolina Panthers and 
the New England Patriots.

As it continues to develop 

over the course of the season, 
Harbaugh’s unit will have its 
opportunities.

“I think we’ve thrown the 

ball eight times per game to my 
group, and I don’t think anyone 
else is that high in the country,” 
Harbaugh said. “I don’t think 
anyone else is even close.”

