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By William Shakespeare

8 —Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

2017 Season in Review: Offensive Line

One step forward, one step 

back. 

That 
described 
the 
state 

of Michigan’s offensive line 
this season. The Wolverines’ 
running 
game 
blossomed, 

featuring as the clear focal point 
of the offense. At times, if you 
squinted hard enough, you could 
see shades of Jim Harbaugh’s 
Stanford outfits — more so than 
through his first two years in 
Ann Arbor.

After 
a 
few 
inconsistent 

performances 
early 
in 
the 

season, during which Michigan 
seemed to run an equal amount 
of 
gap-blocking 
and 
zone 

schemes, the Wolverines hit 
their stride midway through the 
year.

It 
wasn’t 
very 
nuanced. 

Michigan 
found 
success 
by 

becoming less diverse, running 
mostly powers and counters. But 
it got the job done.

Pass protection, meanwhile, 

was another story.

Quite 
simply, 
Michigan 

regressed badly. Through 12 
games, the Wolverines gave 
up 34 sacks, ranking No. 112 in 
the nation. Last year, Michigan 
ranked No. 27, allowing just 18 
sacks total.

This year’s struggles haven’t 

just manifested themselves in 
sacks allowed, though. Time 
after 
time, 
the 
Wolverines’ 

quarterback — whether it was 
Wilton Speight, John O’Korn or 
Brandon Peters — had to evade 
heavy pressure.

That dictated what Michigan 

could do on offense, from the 
routes receivers and tight ends 
could run to how many extra 
blockers the Wolverines had to 
use.

Of 
course, 
allowing 
your 

quarterback to take so many hits 
isn’t optimal. That’s something 
Michigan learned twice this 
year, with both Speight and 
Peters suffering injuries after 
big hits.

Much like blocking itself, 

everything 
on 
offense 
is 

interrelated. The carousel under 
center made it difficult to run 

the ball, as tougher opponents 
could key in on it. Despite how 
well the Wolverines ran the ball 
at times, their struggles in pass 
protection show that a blend 
of the two is needed to field a 
successful offense.

HIGH 
POINT: 
The 

Wolverines spent plenty of time 
paving holes in the run game.

Those 
efforts 
began 
at 

Indiana 
on 
Oct. 
14, 
when 

Michigan gashed the Hoosiers 
for 271 rushing yards on 44 
carries with three touchdowns. 
That day, Karan Higdon became 
the first Wolverine since Denard 
Robinson in 2012 to run for 200 
yards — and the first running 
back since Mike Hart in 2007 to 
reach that mark.

Against Rutgers, Michigan 

totaled 
334 
rushing 
yards 

and 
four 
touchdowns. 
The 

Wolverines improved upon that 
only one week later, averaging 
10 yards per carry against 
Minnesota en route to 371 total 
rushing yards.

“It 
was 
a 
stalwart 

performance,” Harbaugh said 
after that game. “... I’ve never 
seen that many plus 50-yard 
runs in one game, any team I’ve 
ever coached or been on.”

LOW POINT: Well, 
this 

could either have been the 
lasting image of Speight lying 
crumpled on the ground, three 
of his vertebrae having been 
cracked, or Peters knocked out 
cold after a jarring hit. 

Against No. 5 Wisconsin, 

Michigan gave up two sacks and 
seven tackles-for-loss. One week 
later, No. 9 Ohio State racked up 
five sacks and seven tackles-for-
loss.

The ground game couldn’t 

get going against any of the 
Wolverines’ tougher opponents, 
either.

Michigan ran the ball 39 

times for 102 yards in a 14-10 
loss to Michigan State, 37 times 
for 58 yards in a 24-10 loss to 
the Badgers and 36 times for 
100 yards in a 31-20 loss to the 
Buckeyes.

THE FUTURE: Michigan’s 

problems with pass protection 
might not be immediately solved. 
Michigan will lose Mason Cole, 
a dependable four-year starter at 
left tackle, without any obvious 
replacements. 
Right 
tackle 

also remains a question mark 
entering next year.

The interior of the line does 

appear to be set, with some 
combination of Ben Bredeson, 
Cesar Ruiz and Mike Onwenu. 
With those three, Michigan 
has a strong foundation to 
build upon in the run game. 
All three fit perfectly in a gap-
blocking scheme, with each 
displaying the requisite agility 
and strength to block powers 
and 
counters 
successfully. 

Mental errors — which plagued 
Bredeson his freshman year and 
Onwenu earlier this year — were 
cut down as the year progressed.

But that trio, too, will need to 

improve its pass blocking if the 
Wolverines are to make strides 
on offense next year. It all starts 
up front, and Michigan was far 
too inconsistent this season.

Michigan suffers 71-62 loss to Ohio State

COLUMBUS — On the road, 

with the crowd roaring during 
Ohio 
State’s 
14-0 
run, 
the 

Michigan men’s basketball team 
needed a bucket. 

It prompted the predicament 

the Wolverines have faced so far 
this season: Who would come up 
with a basket with adversity in 
their face? 

Gone 
are 
Zak 
Irvin 
and 

Derrick Walton Jr. — two former 
Michigan 
players 
capable 
of 

fending off pressure at the 
most opportune times. When it 
mattered most Monday night, 
no Wolverine proved capable of 
stopping the bleeding in time to 
escape with a win.

“I called every number I could 

call,” said Michigan coach John 
Beilein, “and it didn’t happen.”

Spurred by an energetic 26-3 

second-half run, Ohio State (2-0 
Big Ten, 7-3 overall) overcame 
what 
was 
once 
a 
20-point 

Michigan lead to secure a 71-62 
win. 

The loss sets the Wolverines 

(1-1, 6-3) back to .500 in Big Ten 
play, and sends them into two big 
non-conference matchups with a 
sour taste in their mouth. 

Michigan 
followed 
up 

Saturday’s 16-2 start against 
Indiana with another strong start 
against the Buckeyes, taking a 14-6 
lead early. With similar offensive 
precision, the Wolverines assisted 
on four of their first five field goals 
and 11 total in the first half. 

Eight 
different 
Michigan 

players scored in the first half 
and six hit at least one 3-pointer, 
en route to a frame in which 
the 
Wolverines 
made 
seven 

threes, turned the ball over just 
twice and scored 1.42 points per 
possession.

They appeared to be on their 

way to a comfortable victory — 
their second convincing win in 
the early stretch of Big Ten play.

But Jae’Sean Tate, Keita Bates-

Diop and the Buckeyes had other 
ideas. 

Initiated by a rare, five-point 

possession late in the first half, 
the 
Buckeyes 
carried 
their 

momentum out of the halftime 
break, scoring 19 of the first 22 

points in the half and stymying 
Michigan’s once-potent offense. 

“As good as we were in the first 

18 minutes of the first half, we 
were equally as bad in the second 
half,” Beilein said. “We couldn’t 
make a basket or couldn’t make, 
really, a right play in that time. … 
When things got a little tough, we 
really had trouble stepping up.”

The Wolverines never regained 

their composure, playing a half 
eerily reminiscent of the second 
half against North Carolina.

Midway through the second 

half, Tate attacked the rim with 
vigor, 
lowering 
his 
shoulder 

into the chest of junior forward 
Duncan Robinson, and finished 
through contact to narrow the 
deficit to only one point. Robinson, 
regularly the target of the duo’s 
attack, struggled to handle their 
physicality in the post. 

“We try to be positive (when 

facing opposing runs), kinda 
get back to what got us there,” 
said fifth-year senior Duncan 
Robinson. “That noise happened, 
we have to band together, do 
a better job of that. We kind 
of frayed when we hit some 

adversity.”

Tate and Diop combined for 

21 of their team’s 45 shots and 
32 of their 71 points, challenging 
Michigan’s forwards all night and 
dictating the physical nature of 
the second half.

There were some positives 

from the Wolverines, particularly 
from unexpected sources in the 
first half.

Two days after watching the 

entire Indiana game from the 
bench, fifth-year senior guard 
Jaaron 
Simmons 
looked 
the 

most comfortable he’s been in 
a Michigan uniform, notching 
three assists in his seven first-half 
minutes.

Two days after watching his 

younger counterpart — freshman 
Jordan Poole — steal the show, 
sophomore Ibi Watson earned 
the first minutes off the bench at 
the shooting guard position and 
immediately rewarded his coach 
with a 3-pointer and defensive 
energy. 

And two days after not scoring, 

sophomore 
Zavier 
Simpson 

showed poise in the pick-and-
roll, scoring seven of the team’s 
first 19 points despite coming off 
the bench once again. Simpson 
brought a modicum of composure 
to the Wolverines as they began 
to crumble in the second half. His 
ability to attack the rim off the 
pick-and-roll proved to be one of 
the team’s only sources of scoring 
down the stretch.

Despite those efforts, the game 

was decided in the second half. 
Michigan shot 18 percent from 
the field, scored just 19 points and 
made only one of its last 10 field 
goal attempts — the lone make 
being an uncontested dunk with 
the game essentially over.

With no ability to counter Ohio 

State’s punches, the Wolverines 
will have to head back to Ann 
Arbor with its most frustrating 
loss of the season.

“They came at us,” Beilein said, 

“and we did not respond.”

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Inconsistency shows 

again for ‘M’

C

OLUMBUS — If you’ve 
tried predicting much 
about the Michigan men’s 

basketball team, you probably 
haven’t been too successful. 

You’re not to blame, though. 

Coach John Beilein’s squad 
has been a mashup of different 
lineups and star performers on 
a nightly basis. The revolving 
door that has rested on Beilein’s 
psyche has revealed both the 
question marks and the potential 
for the Wolverines this season. 
It’s perhaps the lingering 
uncertainty that keeps him up at 
night.

The closest semblance of a 

hero in Monday night’s 71-62 loss 
to Ohio State was sophomore 
point guard Zavier Simpson. 
Did you guess that? Me neither, 
but no hero should have been 
required — win or loss.

Michigan was up by 20 points 

at one point, and the Buckeyes 
had no answers to combat the 
offensive onslaught. But just 
19 second-half points by the 
Wolverines — their worst half 
output of the season thus far 
— provided Ohio State with 
more chances than it could have 
imagined, and Michigan paid the 
price.

“Anytime you lose in the Big 

Ten, but especially when you 
lose to your rival the way we did, 
it’s just frustrating,” said senior 
guard Muhammad-Ali Abdur-
Rahkman. “We just gotta go back 
to the drawing board.”

In their two-point loss to 

LSU in the Maui Invitational, 
the Wolverines faltered 
late, which overshadowed 
scintillating scoring outputs 
from junior Moritz Wagner and 
redshirt sophomore Charles 
Matthews. In the smackdown 
by North Carolina — a game 
that Michigan was expected to 
lose — underclassmen showed 
promising signs of composure on 
the road.

Against the Buckeyes on 

Monday night, Michigan was 
cruising and no star was needed.

Ohio State finished the half on 

a 7-0 run, closing the Wolverines’ 
lead to 13, injecting signs of life 
into an otherwise lulled crowd.

“I actually told them I’m glad 

we aren’t up by 20 at half,” Beilein 
said. “Because if they make a run, 

they just made a run. Now, let’s go 
out there with some purpose.”

That purpose was realized 

far too late. Right out of the 
gate, the Buckeyes went into 
overdrive. Ohio State hit seven 
quick field goals, while Michigan 
could hardly decipher how to 
put the ball in the basket. And 
after a 26-3 run — with a lone 
3-pointer from Eli Brooks for the 
Wolverines — the Buckeyes were 
staring at their first lead all game 
with 12:29 to go.

“We couldn’t score and we 

couldn’t stop them,” Beilein said 
dejectedly. “This is something, 
it’s gonna be a journey all year for 
us until we grow our young kids, 
right? And our veterans embrace 
their new roles as being the guys, 
right? Being the guy that’s gotta 
make a shot, that’s gotta make a 
play at a certain time.

“Our freshmen and 

sophomores made some baskets, 
but there weren’t many in the 
second half, were there?”

Sure, Michigan quickly 

battled back to make it a tit-for-
tat contest, but Ohio State knew 
it was the better team on the 
court then, and it wasn’t going 
to blow its comeback efforts. 
Jae’Sean Tate and Keita Bates-
Diop were unflappable versus 
the Wolverines’ frontcourt, a 
response that wasn’t met in kind.

When CJ Jackson’s free 

throws gave the Buckeyes their 
final, unadulterated lead with 
2:59 to go, it was a game of 
“hot potato” to resurrect the 
Wolverines, but no winners 
emerged.

“We like to play as a team, 

nobody wants to be considered a 
hero or playing hero ball,” Abdur-
Rahkman said. “We just try to 
play within the offense, and we 
didn’t get good shots and passed 
up some good shots, too.”

Beilein has emphasized that 

it’s still early and that his team 
stumbled against the Buckeyes 
last year and rebounded. The 
players say they will have to have 
short-term memory about this 
game, but Michigan is already 
almost at the halfway point of its 
season.

That begs the question: When 

do results like this happen just 
too late?

Wolfe can be reached at 

eewolfe@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @ethanewolfe.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Sophomore left guard Ben Bredeson and the offensive line had a fair share of ups and downs over the course of the year.

ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Michigan coach John Beilein said his team simply couldn’t stop the Buckeyes on their decisive run in the second half.

The Wolverines held a 20-point lead, but then fell apart in Columbus

MAX MARCOVITCH

Daily Sports Editor

ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Editor