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.

