8 — Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Stats dive: ‘M’ third-down offense
Last season, the Michigan
football
team
had
well-
documented
offensive
issues:
quarterback
injuries,
inconsistent pass protection
and play calling that was forced
to become less complex. You’ve
heard some version of that
before.
But lost in the fold, perhaps,
was
how
ineffective
the
Wolverines
were
on
third
down. They moved the chains
at just a 33-percent rate in
2017,
which
ranked
112th
nationally — the worst during
coach Jim Harbaugh’s tenure.
That was one of several factors
that prompted an offseason
full
of
assistant
coaching
changes, including the hiring
of offensive line coach Ed
Warinner and wide receiver
coach Jim McElwain, on top
of the departure of offensive
coordinator Tim Drevno.
The
moves
have
helped
Michigan
transpose
that
unseemly third-down statistic.
The Wolverines are converting
just over 47 percent of their
third-down opportunities, up
97 spots from last season.
“It’s nobody’s fault for what
happened last year and the last
couple years,” said fifth-year
senior defensive end Chase
Winovich on Monday. “But I’d
just say in general this year,
it’s a big relief knowing we can
actually score touchdowns on
a pretty consistent basis and
move the ball and control time
of possession.”
More of that responsibility
has
fallen
on
junior
quarterback Shea Patterson’s
running
ability
in
recent
weeks. On a 4th-and-2 during
the
Wolverines’
eventual
game-sealing
drive
against
Michigan
State,
Patterson
faked to 245-pound sophomore
fullback Ben Mason and picked
up the conversion himself.
Excluding sacks, Patterson
has 242 yards and a touchdown
on the ground this season.
Over 60 percent of that has
come in his last two games,
per SB Nation’s Bill Connelly.
Lopsided scores took the load
off Patterson early in the
season, but his scope has been
widened with more zone read
and run-pass-option looks.
“(Patterson’s running) opens
up a lot in the offense — it’s
something the defense has to
defend,” Harbaugh said after
Patterson ran for 113 yards
against Wisconsin on Oct. 6.
“I thought he did a heck of a
job with his fakes, with his
ball handling, with his running
ability, all facets.”
Improved run blocking has
also opened up Michigan’s
offense. Karan Higdon, despite
missing
the
season’s
third
game, has already amassed 831
yards.
The senior running back’s
production continues to be the
backbone of Michigan’s offense.
20 percent of the Wolverines’
third downs come in short-
yardage situations, which ranks
first nationally. Getting 5.4
yards-per-carry from Higdon is
undoubtably pivotal to that.
“Karan deserves a lot of
credit,” Harbaugh said Monday.
“He’s gotten tough yards and
yards after contact and yards
more than what the play is
blocked for.”
Hidgon’s efforts appear even
more critical when you consider
the flip side of the Wolverines’
third-down
coin.
Michigan
has the country’s third-worst
conversion rate — 14.6 percent
— when faced with 3rd-and-6
or longer.
It reveals another linchpin
to the Wolverines’ offense:
staying on schedule. By giving
itself manageable situations on
third down, Michigan keeps the
chains moving to wear down
defenses eventually. It’s second
to only Texas A&M in time of
possession among Power Five
teams.
Perhaps that is not a surprise
considering Harbaugh’s style.
His background lies within
the West Coast offense, which
is predicated on the short-to-
intermediate
passing
game.
That allows Michigan chances
to keep the ball and chew the
clock.
But system aside, a simple
truth remains: When they work
themselves into manageable
third-down
situations,
few
teams are better than the fifth-
ranked Wolverines.
Penn State next on “Revenge Tour”
Last we saw Chase Winovich,
he was parading off the field in
East Lansing, calling Michigan
State little brother after a win over
the Spartans.
“On one hand, it’s like I’m
moving on from it,” the fifth-
year senior defensive end said on
Monday.
But it’s Chase Winovich, so,
naturally, there’s another hand.
“But on the other hand, it’s like
— which, I still am moving on from
it, distancing myself from it — but
it’s like, in my eyes, I didn’t start
the fight. … For them, they called
us Little Sister in the summer.
They came there and tried the
antics with the helmet, you guys
know how that went. From there,
they wanted us to take the low
road, maybe I took the bait. But
like I said, I don’t mean any harm
from it. I’m just having fun.”
Then a pause.
“I’m moving on. I’m focusing on
Penn State now.”
The bye week has done little to
quell Winovich’s self-proclaimed
“revenge tour” or its gregarious
torch-bearer.
It’s
a
phrase
Winovich coined in the offseason
while reflecting on a disappointing
8-5 season a year ago, one in which
he felt other teams, “were kind of
bullying” Michigan.
It’s undoubtedly about avenging
losses to Wisconsin, Michigan
State,
Penn
State
and
Ohio
State. But it’s also, more broadly,
Winovich says, “an attitude.”
“They kind of took advantage of,
we were kind of in an in-between
year,” Winovich said. “Something
about that gave a bad taste in my
mouth. I knew, me personally, I
wanted our lunch money back, and
I wanted them to pay interest.”
Perhaps no one bullied the 2017
Wolverines team worse than Penn
State did, marching its way to a
42-13 win at night in Happy Valley.
Michigan allowed over 500 total
yards in the rout.
That demolition started when
running back Saquon Barkley
galloped to a 69-yard touchdown
less than a minute into the game
and ended with Penn State
snapping the ball near the goal line
in an attempt to add yet another
touchdown to extend the lead
to 37 points with mere seconds
remaining.
Players regarded the latter play
as a slight. This week, Winovich
and Michigan want that “interest.”
“(That game) lingers with
us every day,” Winovich said.
“It lingered with us in winter
conditioning. Obviously, we don’t
like what they tried to do at the
end of the game; they tried to score
that touchdown again.”
Defensive
coordinator
Don
Brown echoed a similar senitment
last Monday night on the Inside
Michigan Football radio show.
“I wake up every morning and
think about (that game),” Brown
said. “Honest.”
Added
Winovich:
“I’d
say
(Brown) is definitely a little bit
more amped up this week than
he’s been, and that’s saying
something.”
But just as this isn’t that
Michigan team, this season’s
Nittany Lions team is not the
same.
The fifth-ranked Wolverines
opened up in most sportsbooks
as a double-digit favorite. They
are riding a seven-game winning
streak with legitimate College
Football Playoff aspirations in
sight. The 14th-ranked Nittany
Lions have two last-minute losses
to Ohio State and Michigan State
and are all but eliminated from
title talks.
Win Saturday and Michigan
can start to peer ahead at a
potential de facto playoff game
in Columbus in three weeks. It
would have three of four legs on
the “revenge tour” checked off.
Lose Saturday and much of that
flies out of the window.
“The wins are definitely more
satisfying,” Winovich said. “Just
seeing our transition from last
year’s team to this year’s team, and
how much growth we’ve had. It’s a
really cool thing to see.”
And for Winovich, each passing
Saturday carries more and more
meaning. He came back to play
his fifth season at Michigan to be
in this very position. It’s all right
there as he envisioned it.
“For me personally, it’s like I can
look up and I’ve got eight quarters
left in the Big House, and my time
is coming to an end here,” he said.
“And it’s very special to me to see
Michigan in a position where, if I
leave it, and we do big things here
hopefully, it’s just leaving on a
great note.”
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Chase Winovich says last year’s Penn State game lingers with Michigan.
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Editor
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Karan Higdon already has 831 yards on the ground this season.
What we’ve learned about the Michigan men’s basketball team so far
It has become a trademark
of John Beilein-coached teams:
They’re hard to figure out. At
least at first.
But that doesn’t mean we
can’t try.
The
Michigan
men’s
basketball
team
has
now
opened parts of three practices
to the media, and most recently
opened the last hour of practice
Monday night to the public.
Fans were treated to various
drills,
a
30-minute,
full-
court five-on-five scrimmage
between Maize and Blue teams
and a three-point shooting
contest between sophomores
Isaiah Livers and Jordan Poole.
(Poole drained twelve treys in
a row to cruise to the victory.)
With the obvious caveat
that the Wolverines have yet
to play a game, here are five
observations to draw from
the last month of availability,
and
Monday’s
practice
in
particular:
This is Zavier Simpson’s
team
He might not be Michigan’s
best player, and he certainly
doesn’t have the most pro
potential on the team. But
the
junior
point
guard’s
importance is unmatched.
During five-on-five drills
after the Wolverines’ media
day on Oct. 22. Simpson was
his typical ball-of-fire self,
constantly barking at players
after defensive stops and all
the while leading with his
signature ferociousness.
While he was much more
toned down on Monday, his
influence was still obvious. In
one sequence, he leapt to snare
an errant pass with both hands,
before
finding
sophomore
guard Eli Brooks with a perfect
outlet pass, leading to a Livers
alley-oop finish.
Defensive
intensity
will
always be Simpson’s calling
card, but Michigan’s practices
have shown a player very much
in control of the offense, who
at the same time is aware of his
limitations.
While
not
necessarily
explosive, Simpson has shown
a knack for crafty finishing
— before scrimmage drills at
the past two open practices,
he could be seen working on
unorthodox flip shots from
almost
underhand
angles.
And
during
this
Monday’s
scrimmage, he showed the
physicality necessary to drive
past freshman guard David
DeJulius for layups on multiple
occasions.
Simpson’s main weakness
— his shooting — didn’t seem
to impair his unit’s offensive
production on Monday either,
as efficient passing, off-ball
movement and a solid pick-
and-roll
connection
with
junior center Jon Teske made
up for this deficiency. He’s a
different kind of floor general
than Beilein has had in years
past. That much was clear last
year, but this year, it’s even
more apparent how Simpson’s
molded Michigan’s identity.
Big men will be a focal
point
The
aforementioned
Simpson-Teske
two-man
game dominated the Maize
team’s offensive sets, and if
Monday was any evidence,
the Wolverines may rely on
their big men quite heavily
for production.
What
that
actually entails,
though, is still
up for debate.
Teske
and
redshirt
sophomore
center
Austin
Davis displayed
solid
mobility
after
setting
screens
and
diving to the basket, and both
flashed an ability to finish in
traffic. Neither showed much
ability to score with their
backs to the basket, but post-
ups usually are not a large part
of Beilein’s offenses anyway.
Teske’s improved shooting
has
been
of
interest
this
offseason.
In
Monday’s
scrimmage, he airballed his
first
attempt
from
three-
point range, but later on, he
was able to set his feet and
flush a 17-foot jumper with no
hesitation. More importantly,
though, Beilein could be heard
on
multiple
occasions
yelling
at
the
Maize team to
set up the pick-
and-pop
game.
Even if Teske
isn’t
Moritz
Wagner
from
downtown, the
Wolverines
clearly
are
confident
that
they’ll be able to run offense
through him.
Ignas Brazdeikis will be
counted on
Brazdeikis started at power
forward
during
Michigan’s
closed-door
scrimmage
at
Toledo last Saturday, per The
Athletic’s Brendan Quinn. It’s
a sign that the Wolverines want
to get their prized freshman on
the court in any way they can.
It’s pretty clear why —
Brazdeikis
simply
knows
how to score. Not only is he
athletic, skillful and physical,
but he possesses a relentless
determination
to
attack
the basket and got to the
line
multiple
times
during
Monday’s scrimmage. For a
Michigan team with a dearth
of shot-creators, Brazdeikis’
aggression will be essential.
However,
Brazdeikis
also
functioned as a ball-stopper,
and there was generally less
offensive movement on his Blue
team with him in the game —
almost every time Brazdeikis
got the ball, he put his head
down and drove straight to the
basket. In an offensive system
that relies on constant motion
and generating open shots,
Brazdeikis will still have to
refine his raw scoring ability.
Livers still expanding his
game
Players and coaches alike
have wanted the sophomore
forward to take more offensive
initiative this season. Monday’s
scrimmage was encouraging in
this regard — but it was also a
reminder that it won’t happen
overnight.
In one offensive set, Livers
received the ball alone at the
top of the key, with Charles
Matthews just out of position
to close out. Livers paused for
a second too long, and ended
up passing out of the situation,
prompting Beilein to shout,
“Shoot that, Isaiah!”
One possession later, Livers
made up for his indecision.
Curling to his left, he received
a pass on the right wing and
put
up
a
catch-and-shoot
three without any hesitation,
catching nothing but net. The
Wolverines hope he eventually
won’t need a reminder to do so.
Adrien Nunez might have
a role
The freshman guard from
Brooklyn, N.Y., on the other
hand, doesn’t need to be told
twice to let it fly, which might
explain why he started the
scrimmage for the Maize team
on Monday.
Nunez
might
be
the
least-heralded
member
of
Michigan’s freshman class, but
one could argue he’s already
the best pure shooter on the
team. He has a quick, smooth
release with terrific elevation
and little excess motion. With
Duncan Robinson gone to the
NBA after drilling 237 treys
over the last three years,
Nunez is the closest thing the
Wolverines have to a like-for-
like replacement as a shooter.
Nunez missed all three of
his 3-point attempts in the
30-minute
scrimmage,
but
those three attempts were
diverse — they came from the
left corner, off a screen and
four feet behind the arc — and
displayed what Michigan will
need from him this season.
If those shots start to fall,
Nunez could find himself in an
integral role sooner than later,
considering the Wolverines’
team composition.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein could rely heavily on players like Isaiah Livers, Ignas Brazdeikis and even Adrien Nunez to replace lost production from last season.
JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer
The junior
point guard’s
importance is
unmatched.