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.”