FootballSaturday, September 9, 2017
8
What to Watch For: Cincinnati
By ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan quieted some of
its naysayers last week with a
resounding 33-17 victory against
then-No. 17 Florida at AT&T
Stadium. The Wolverines are
back in Ann Arbor this weekend,
where they’ll play their home
opener against Cincinnati.
Michigan will find a familiar
face on the opposing sideline
in first-year head coach Luke
Fickell, formerly the defensive
coordinator and interim head
coach at Ohio State. While the
Wolverines are well along in their
rebuild under Jim Harbaugh, the
Bearcats aren’t — meaning it
may be difficult for them to beat
Michigan and ‘shock the world,’
as their senior running back
Mike Boone said they could.
Here’s what to watch for when
Cincinnati and Michigan kick
off:
1. The base defense
In a departure from last
season, defensive coordinator
Don Brown heavily employed
the 3-3-5 stack against Florida,
opting to use redshirt junior
SAM linebacker Noah Furbush
in place of redshirt junior nose
tackle Bryan Mone for much of
the game.
Last season, Michigan was
happy to stay in a 4-2-5 shell
whenever the defense was on
the field. What the 3-3-5 may
sacrifice in pure girth and
power along the line is made up
by the addition of a linebacker-
type player such as Furbush or
redshirt freshman Josh Uche.
That player can put his hand
in the dirt on passing downs,
flexing sophomore strong-side
end Rashan Gary inside, or play
in the box alongside sophomore
middle linebacker Devin Bush Jr.
and fifth-year senior weakside
linebacker Mike McCray.
The
new
look
confused
Florida, allowing Michigan to
pressure the quarterback despite
only
rushing
three
linemen
at times, but it remains to be
seen whether the new scheme
was a gimmick — meant to be
used sparingly — or whether
it’s the new base defense. If the
Wolverines use the 3-3-5 heavily
once more this week, that may
indicate the latter.
2. Who will earn the
majority of snaps at tight end?
Going into the season, this
position
group
was
deemed
deep and the season opener did
nothing to dispel that notion. In
fact, the veterans of the group
— redshirt junior Ian Bunting
and redshirt sophomore Tyrone
Wheatley Jr. — may have been
overshadowed
by
younger
players who were thought to be
behind in the pecking order.
Sophomore Sean McKeon and
redshirt freshman Nick Eubanks
both flashed their tantalizing
potential in the passing game
and run-blocking game while
redshirt
sophomore
Zach
Gentry, a converted quarterback,
saw plenty of snaps as well.
It’s unclear whether there’s
a true No. 1 option among the
group right now. It was assumed
one of Bunting or Wheatley
would be ‘the guy.’ There’s a lot
more uncertainty now after the
first week; whoever sees the
field the most, or can convert
their snaps into production, may
end up being the leader of the
pack following this week.
3. Will Speight continue
looking for the big play?
The
redshirt
junior
quarterback took several shots
downfield against Florida and
connected on a few of them,
including a 46-yard touchdown
to
freshman
receiver
Tarik
Black and a 48-yard completion
to Eubanks. Earlier this week,
though, Jim Harbaugh spoke
of the need to allow the deep
passing
game
to
develop
naturally, and not to force things
downfield.
While
Cincinnati
allowed
just 89 passing yards on 19
attempts against Austin Peay,
it’s doubtful the Bearcats will
be able to dictate what Michigan
does in the passing game. It’ll
be interesting to see whether
Speight continues to look for
big plays — they were certainly
there against the Gators — or
whether there’s an emphasis on
hitting targets in the short and
intermediate passing game.
4. Rashan Gary Sack Watch
It
isn’t
common
for
Jim
Harbaugh to call for a stat
correction. But he did so Monday,
telling reporters that Rashan
Gary should’ve been issued a
half-sack from Saturday.
Perhaps it’s hard to believe
that
Gary,
the
much-hyped
former top recruit, has yet to
record a full sack through his
first 14 games. It’s not for a lack
of ability — he’s gotten to the
quarterback plenty of times, and
even recorded a half sack last
year against Central Florida. In
the win over the Gators, Gary
constantly terrorized Florida’s
offensive
line,
making
life
difficult for quarterbacks Malik
Zaire and Feleipe Franks. Once
again, though, he was unable to
turn those pressures and hurries
into an actual sack.
This week, Gary should have
plenty of opportunities to fill
the stat sheet. The Bearcats’
offensive line should be a step
down from Florida’s, and given
Michigan seems likely to shut
down Cincinnati’s run game
while simultaneously jumping
out to a big lead, quarterback
Hayden Moore may be dropping
back to pass for much of the
afternoon. It seems likely that at
some point, he’ll end up on the
ground, looking up at Gary.
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan vs. Cincinnati
4
Fumbles forced by Michigan against
Florida
11
Rushing yards allowed by Michigan
against Florida
100
Yards gained by Cincinnati running
back Mike Boone in opener
313
Yards Cincinnati gave up to Austin
Peay in its season opener
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Senior linebacker Noah Furbush and the Wolverines will likely bring out their new 3-3-5 defense once again Saturday after it worked so well against Florida.