8 — Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

With real tests still on the horizon, offensive line showing improvement

Junior 
defensive 
end 
Rashan 
Gary 
has 
noticed 
a trend with the opposing 
offensive line in practice. 
If Gary and his crew of All-
America-level defensive line 
talent win a rep, the offensive 
group wants another.
“ ‘Let me get that rep back,’ 
” Gary recalls hearing. “ ‘We’ll 
do it again.’ ”
Added Gary: “Iron sharpens 
iron.”
It’s 
part 
of 
a 
broader 
attitude Gary and much of the 
team have started realizing: 
the offensive line is confident 
and only gaining confidence 
each week.
“We’ve been saying it all 
year,” said junior guard Ben 
Bredeson, 
“that 
we’ve 
all 
gotten a lot better.”
Bredeson isn’t wrong; they 
have been saying it all year. 
Some — those in the media 
included — just haven’t been 
willing to listen. Last week, 
senior tackle Juwann Bushell-
Beatty pushed back against 
fans who judge offensive line 
play without understanding 
its nuance. 
“The public doesn’t really 
understand 
the 
inner-
workings of how things go 
on in here. I think there were 
mistakes, 
and 
when 
there’s 
mistakes — and 
there’s 
always 
— 
everyone 
wants to point 
fingers 
and 
there are things 
that happened,” 
he 
said. 
“It’s 
football. 
I 
understand, 
regardless 
of 
what happens, O-Line is going 
to take blame for whatever.”
In week one, that criticism 
was 
defeaning, 
after 
the 
offensive line took the brunt 
of the heat for a 24-17 loss 
against 
Notre 
Dame. 
The 
Wolverines averaged just 1.8 
yards-per-rush in that game, 
and managed to score 10 

offensive points. 
In the three games since, 
Michigan has averaged over 
278 yards rushing and 50 
points per game. And after 
being 
sacked 
three 
times 
(and pressured 
countless 
more) 
in 
the 
opener against 
the 
Fighting 
Irish, 
junior 
quarterback 
Shea Patterson 
has been sacked 
just three times 
in 
the 
three 
games since.
You might say it’s unfair 
to 
judge 
the 
offensive 
line against three inferior 
opponents. 
Bushell-Beatty 
and other offensive linemen 
might say it was just as unfair 
to judge them after one game, 
the season-opener. 
It works both ways, which 

is why the group up front 
doesn’t get too bogged down 
in outside perception.
“We don’t have any stats to 
go with the work that we do, 
but just seeing 
it 
on 
film,” 
Bredeson said. 
“If 
you’re 
an 
O-Lineman, you 
understand, you 
can 
see 
what 
you’re 
doing 
well, 
what 
you’re not doing 
well.”
While 
increased 
repitition among the starting 
unit 
— 
Bushell-Beatty, 
Bredeson, sophomore Cesar 
Ruiz, junior Michael Onwenu 
and 
fifth-year 
senior 
Jon 
Runyan — has players and 
coaches encouraged, much of 
the optimism regarding the 
offensive line has to do with 
those working behind the 

starters.
In 
Saturday’s 
56-10 
annhiliation of Nebraska, 10 
reserve 
offensive 
linemen 
saw game action, including 
promising 
freshmen 
tackles 
James 
Hudson 
and 
Jalen Mayfield. 
The 
duo 
— 
often 
grouped 
together 
for 
convenience — 
has been coming 
along 
well, 
even 
sniffing 
potential 
starting roles. It seems both 
will be starters at Michigan, 
whether that’s one week or 
one year from now. Last week, 
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh 
said each was taking roughly 
25 percent of the reps with the 
first-team offense. 
Bredeson 
has 
seen 
significant 
potential 
with 

both, in practice and limited 
game action.
“James 
(Hudson) 
is 
an 
outstandingly 
athletic 
kid. 
Once 
he 
cleans 
up 
some 
technique 
things and gets 
his consistency 
down, it’s scary 
how 
far 
that 
kid could go,” 
Bredeson said. 
“Measurables, 
you can’t really 
measure it, but 
you can see it 
every 
single 
day when he’s 
making progress. And he’s 
made a ton of progress. If you 
watched film from this spring 
all the way to now, it’s night 
and day.
“Jalen 
(Mayfield) 
made 
huge 
strides, 
coming 
in, 
especially as a freshman. It 
was a big learning curve, but 
I think we’re past that now 

with him. Really happy with 
him.”
As any offensive lineman 
will tell you, though, there’s 
tremendous 
intangible 
value 
in 
the 
development 
of 
cohesion. 
When 
asked 
where the unit as a whole 
has improved most, Bredeson 
pointed to communication. 
“I felt like we didn’t talk 
enough early weeks, especially 
in the Notre Dame game,” 
Bredeson said. “Now, we’re 
not 
only 
communicating, 
we’re 
over-communicating. 
Things are going really well 
for us on the line. Once we’re 
able to talk through the looks 
and see what we have, that 
gives Cesar the full picture of 
what’s going on; he can make 
all the adjustments.”
And as all the other pieces 
seem 
to 
fall 
into 
place, 
as an All-Big Ten caliber 
quarterback starts to come 
into his own, as a young 
receiving 
corps 
continues 
to blossom, as the group of 
tight ends round out what’s 
nearing a complete offense, 
the offensive line seems to be 
the final piece to the puzzle. 
It’s certainly no guarantee 
the maligned group ever gets 
to 
an 
above-average 
level 
against other top-end Big Ten 
teams — it seems nobody will 
know until the mid-season 
matchups 
against 
Wisconsin, 
Penn State and 
Michigan State.
But Bredeson, 
the 
de 
facto 
leader 
of 
the 
offensive 
line, 
is confident his 
unit will excel, 
even if those on 
the outside are 
still scarred from week one.
“I think we’ve matured 
a lot, more than you should 
in three games,” Bredeson 
said. “The way normal teams 
mature through the season, 
I think we’re past where we 
should be on paper. I think 
that’s going to pay dividends 
later on.”

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior guard Ben Bredeson believes that the offensive line is still improving with teams like Wisconsin, Michigan State and Penn State on the horizon.

MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor

“... O-line is 
going to take 
blame for 
whatever.”

“James 
(Hudson) is an 
outstandingly 
athletic kid.”

“Jalen 
(Mayfield) 
made huge 
strides.”

Michigan dominates, settles for tie against PSU

Two minutes is rarely enough 
time to determine the better team in 
a soccer match. Sometimes, though, 
it’s enough to impact the result.
Unfortunately for the Michigan 
men’s soccer team (1-0-1 Big Ten, 
5-1-1 overall), Friday night was one of 
those times, as it drew Penn State 1-1.
Just 130 seconds into the game, it 
fell a goal behind when the Nittany 
Lions’ Christian Sload collected a 
pass near the penalty spot, turned 
and fired past the Wolverines’ 
sophomore 
goalkeeper 
Henry 
Mashburn.
“It did catch us off guard but that 
shouldn’t be happening,” Mashburn 
said.
Added Michigan coach Chaka 
Daley: “Those mistakes and that 
focus in the first couple of minutes 
might have been the difference in 
getting three points or one point.”
The Wolverines, though, quickly 

settled into the game, dominating 
the rest of regulation.
Just two minutes after the goal, 
sophomore forward Jack Hallahan 
put Michigan on the front foot 
by taking the ball in midfield and 
beating a few defenders on his way 
into the Penn State box, although 
his eventual cross inched too close 
to goalkeeper Josh Levine.
Though 
it 
didn’t 
lead 
to 
anything, that burst of energy was 
foreshadowing of things to come for 
the Wolverines.
Over the next 65 minutes, 
Hallahan was the their best player, 
penetrating the Nittany Lions’ 
defense from the right wing all 
night.
“I’m smart enough to know that 
when someone’s playing well, let’s 
make sure to get it to him,” Daley 
said.
“One day it’s Umar (Farouk 
Osman), the next day it’s (Hallahan), 
one day it’s (Mohammed) Zakyi.”
On Friday, it was Hallahan. And 

finally, after spending the evening 
whipping in crosses that couldn’t 
find a man or shots that just missed 
the target, he was the one who broke 
through for Michigan in the 70th 
minute.
He cut onto his left foot and put 
a dangerous cross into the penalty 
box, where it deflected off a Penn 
State defender and into the net.
“We put them under a ton of 
pressure and I think at some point, 
something’s gotta give,” Daley said. 
“And I thought we just continued to 
press and press and put stuff in on 
tip of the goalkeeper and something 
had to give and we found one. We’ll 
take it any way we get it.”
Four minutes earlier, though, 
came the biggest of a string of 
missed chances for the Wolverines 
that could have turned into goals.
Hallahan was at the center of 
Michigan’s attack again, as he broke 
down the right wing before cutting 
a pass back to senior forward Noah 
Kleedtke, whose shot was kick-

saved by Levine from close range.
When asked if any missed 
chances stood out to him, Hallahan 
pinpointed that play.
“Noah Kleedtke’s where I’ve 
gone down the line and cut it back 
and their keeper’s got a foot on it,” 
Hallahan said. “It’s just margins at 
that point.”
Ultimately, 
that 
inability 
to 
convert 
chances 
doomed 
the 
Wolverines. With 12 minutes left 
in 
regulation, 
senior 
defender 
Marcello 
Borges 
found 
senior 
midfielder Ivo Cerda six yards out 
but Cerda couldn’t put it on target.
That ended up being Michigan’s 
last major chance as Penn State 
rebounded in a balanced overtime 
period, and for all their dominance, 
Daley and the Wolverines had to 
settle for a draw.
“We’re disappointed because 
that (opening goal) was maybe the 
difference for us,” Daley said. “… But 
fortunately, we got one point. And at 
the end of the day, that’s important.”

CARTER FOX/Daily
Michigan coach Chaka Daley believes his team’s lack of focus in the opening minutes may have cost the Wolverines in their tie against Penn State on Friday.

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer

VOLLEYBALL
Wolverines lose against 
Nebraska, defeat Iowa

Michigan coach Mark Rosen 
called this weekend’s experience a 
new dynamic for the team.
He 
was 
referring 
to 
the 
beginning of Big Ten play, of 
course, but in many more ways 
than one, the seventeenth-ranked 
Wolverines volleyball team had 
to face a new dynamic — losing 
— as it dropped its first match of 
the season against No. 3 Nebraska 
before bouncing back to beat Iowa.
“I thought we played okay at 
times, but we didn’t play at the level 
that we needed to to be successful,” 
Rosen said. “That was the first loss 
for us, how’s the team going to 
respond? How are they going to be 
able to come back from that?
“We don’t know because we 
haven’t done it all year.”
Despite the set count saying 
otherwise, as Michigan fell in four 
sets to the Cornhuskers, the game 
was close-knit, with both teams 
encountering ways to exploit one 
another’s weaknesses.
Though for the Wolverines, 
their weaknesses were an open 
book — and Nebraska read it.
While tough serving will throw 
any team off, Michigan’s passing 
dove in quality due to taking the 
brunt of bad first touches, and 
in turn, the offense as a whole 
struggled. The Cornhuskers were, 
as Rosen emphasized, “huge,” and 
against a mismatch physically, 
mediocre passes won’t get the job 
done.
In many cases where one team 
is more dominant sizewise, it is 
counterable with pinpoint passing. 
 
There are ways to work around a 
stable block if the spiker has flexible 
spiking options once in the air — 
which falls upon the setter to make 
happen. And there was no question 
that Nebraska was bigger and more 
physical.
But by taking away junior 
setter Mackenzi Welsh’s typically 

accurate-passes through aggressive 
serving, the Cornhuskers disrupted 
the Wolverines’ balanced offense 
so that it could only muster a .135 
attack average to a .314 of their own 
— a game-defining differential. 
They 
essentially 
made 
it 
so 
Michigan had no choice but to hit 
where and when they wanted to 
and made the offense predictable.
When you face someone more 
physical, someone who forces you 
out of your game plan and has all 
the adjustments to counter what 
you are good at, there’s little you 
can do.
But the Wolverines found a way 
to keep the match against the third-
best team in the nation competitive, 
and it is every bit a testament to 
their tenacity. But that alone just 
wasn’t enough. Nebraska had the 
edge in every statistical category 
and came out on top accordingly.
The real worry for this Michigan 
team was how it would respond to 
the loss, something it had avoided 
all year. There are many routes a 
team can go after the first loss, but 
the Wolverines took one that Rosen 
thought of as a nice job in bouncing 
back.
In a nearly-equivalent statistical 
game, Michigan found a way to 
tip the balance through standout 
performances from its outside 
hitters. Junior Sydney Wetterstrom 
hit a career-high 21 kills, while 
senior Carly Skjodt and freshman 
Paige Jones added 18 and 14 kills, 
respectively.
Those players proved to be a 
difference maker in an up-and-
down match.
“It was a good, balanced match,” 
Rosen said. “They were good. 
We were good. And it was really 
back-and-forth, and the first set 
was really tight, and I thought we 
competed really well in those last 
few points to finish it out...”

TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer

Read the full story at 
www.michigandaily.com

