The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, September 20, 2018 — 8
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Junior running back Chris Evans suffered an injury against SMU but is expected to play against Nebraska, according to running backs coach Jay Harbaugh.
In wake of injuries, Jay Harbaugh expresses confidence in running backs
After
the
game
against
Western
Michigan,
junior
running back Chris Evans said
the running lanes created by
Michigan’s offensive line were so
big you could drive a car through
them.
Against
SMU,
you
could
hardly fit a bicycle most of the
day.
The
Wolverines
rushed
the ball 41 times for 197 yards
against the Mustangs. On paper,
those numbers are solid. But 11
of those carries and 109 of those
yards came in two garbage-time
drives, while the rest — which
produced a measly 2.9 yards-per-
carry average — came within a
two-possession game.
Starting running back Karan
Higdon was fully dressed for
Saturday’s contest, but ultimately
sat out due to an undisclosed
injury. Instead, it was the No. 2
back Evans who handled ball-
carrying responsibilities, and
he proved to be less than stellar
compared to the ground show
— 308 yards — from a game ago
as he struggled in short-yardage
situations.
After a 35-yard run late, Evans
came up limping, grabbing his
hamstring. Originally, Evans’
apparent
injury
cast
doubt
on both Higdon and Evans’
availability
against
Nebraska
this weekend.
“Karan
was
a
game-time
decision, didn’t feel like he could
go. Chris, we’ll see what his
situation is exactly, whether it’s a
strain or a cramp,” said Michigan
coach Jim Harbaugh on Monday.
“We’ll see (for next week).”
But on Wednesday, running
backs
coach
Jay
Harbaugh
cleared the air and anticipates
both to see the field.
“That’s what we expect,” Jay
said. “Karan has practiced fully,
and Chris has practiced fully
for what we expect him to do.
(Chris had) been going, it’s just
maybe not the
same
amount.
He did a little bit
yesterday,
and
we’re
building
up as we go as
he comes off that
tweak.”
Even without
the
two
on
the
field,
Jay
expressed
satisfaction
in
the depth of his
unit and their play on Saturday.
That depth includes sophomore
fullback Ben Mason, and third
and
fourth-string
running
backs Tru Wilson and O’Maury
Samuels.
Mason
vultured
a
goal-line touchdown for the first
score of the game, Wilson toted
the ball 11 times for 53 yards and
a late-game touchdown, while
Samuels gashed an 18-yard run
on that same drive.
Wilson
has
been a hot topic to
start the season.
The former walk-
on also had six
carries
for
54
yards against the
Broncos, and has
proved to be a
viable
backfield
option
in
pass
protection.
“He’s
approached
everything
with
pretty
remarkable consistency, fixing
mistakes, improving techniques,
playing
with
great
effort
and physicality,” Jay said. “…
Whenever you challenge him
with something to improve on
and an area to grow, inevitably
you see it show up. If you do that
over months or years, the results
are gonna be pretty good and
everyone’s gonna see that now.
“He’s a tough guy, got some
wrestling background. He’s got a
family of boys, roughhouse quite
a bit, so certainly fearless to his
benefit on the field.”
That hard-nosed sentiment
was
expressed
again
with
Mason, as Jay praised his “smash
everything attitude.”
The Wolverines have had
success with a power-running
style
this
season,
but
this
approach has also been criticized
amid sustained concern about
the offensive line’s ability to
open holes through the middle.
This uncertainty has placed
an unusually public amount of
emphasis on the running backs’
pass protection abilities. With
Mason’s desire to “bludgeon
people and do it really fast,”
according to Jay, his role is
defined. As for the others, it’s an
innate instinct that still appears
to be a work in progress in the
simplified offensive playbook.
“Because we do a little less
schematically, we’re probably
more
proficient
across
the
board,” Jay said. “There’s some
trust there. They build rapport
with the o-line in terms of
understanding how a look is
gonna be blocked up and a little
of what to expect — ‘Okay, I see
this defensive line in this look. I
expect the ball to go in this place
or that place.’ A level of trust that
builds in that regard, because we
have a little more consistency in
scheme.”
In Big Ten play, the order is
taller. But with apparent depth
in the running back room, the
coaching staff can rest easy.
ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer
“He’s a tough
guy, got some
wrestling
background.”