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Sports
Thursday, January 31, 2019 — 7

Postition review: running backs

With the Michigan football

team’s 2018 regular season in
the books, The Daily looks back
at the performance of each unit
this year and peers ahead to the
future in 2019. In this edition:
running backs

In the two weeks leading up

to Michigan’s 41-15 Peach Bowl
loss against Florida, with Karan
Higdon having announced he
would skip the game to focus
on preparation for the NFL
Draft, the program kept an air of
calmness about the running back
position. The thinking went:
Freshman
Christian
Turner

would get a chance to showcase
his
ability
and
placate
any

concerns for 2019.

On the Wolverines’ opening

drive, as Turner took a jet sweep
for a 41-yard score, that optimism
seemed proven correct. Then,
after a review, it turned out
Turner stepped out of bounds
right after the line of scrimmage.
The touchdown was wiped out,
and with it, any momentum
Michigan’s running game had.

Turner finished that game

with 32 yards rushing, nine
fewer than he appeared to accrue
on that first play. As a team, the
Wolverines finished with 77
yards on the ground, their worst
mark since the season opener at
Notre Dame — leaving a slew of
questions to be answered.

HIGH POINT:
All
week,

Michigan heard nothing but how
Wisconsin would be a different
kind of test — one that could
determine whether five straight
wins after that loss to the Irish
was a mirage or the start of
something real.

By that point, offensive line

coach Ed Warinner’s grip had
already taken hold on the run
game, a move from the power-
heavy game that defined Jim
Harbaugh’s first three years in
charge to a zone-blocking game
in full swing. The early results

looked good, but the Badgers —
a team that stifled Harbaugh’s
run game in Madison the season
prior — were on a different level.

Not only did the Wolverines

blow the doors off Wisconsin in
a 38-13 win that catapulted them
to sixth in the rankings, but they
did so behind a revitalized run
game.

Not only did Higdon notch

105 yards and a touchdown,
but junior quarterback Shea
Patterson came up with 90 and a
touchdown of his own, including
an 81-yard run to set up Higdon’s
score.

The
zone
read
had,

emphatically, made its way to
Ann Arbor.

“A lot of people have a lot of

questions about who we are as
a team, our offensive line, our
run game, we don’t show up in
big games,” Higdon said that

night. “I think we laid that to rest
today.”

Higdon went on to say that

Michigan’s
offensive
line,

heavily criticized after a poor
performance at Notre Dame
weeks earlier, was the best
in the country. As much an
overstatement as that was, it
served to highlight a massive
improvement that took place in a
short span of time.

This is an article about the

running back position, but it’s
hard to run the ball without
an offensive line and a sound
philosophy.
The
Wolverines

found both against Wisconsin.

“If
a
team
is
playing

undisciplined, we’re going to use
that to our advantage,” junior
safety Josh Metellus said after
the win over the Badgers. “The
edges were squeezing in too
hard on the inside zone, so Shea

felt like he had a chance to pull
it and he did. They kept being
undisciplined, so Shea just kept
taking advantage of that.”

LOW POINT: It would be

easy to draw back to that night
in South Bend here when the
Wolverines ran for 58 yards,
the offensive line looked like a
season-killing disaster and there
was no solution in sight.

But what happened next — a

run game finding itself, then
becoming a key cog in a 10-game
win streak — makes it hard to
describe the Notre Dame game
as a low point as opposed to a
launching pad.

The Peach Bowl, well, that’s

another story.

Against the Gators, and more

importantly, without Higdon, the
Wolverines had no answer in the
running game. That game served
as a preview for what the position

will look like in 2019, and it didn’t
look pretty.

It turns out that Higdon, a

leader who rushed for a combined
2,172 yards in the last two seasons
— 1,178 of which came in 2018 —
will be pretty tough to replace.

“We’re going to be a dominant

force (next season),” Turner said.
“We’re going to be hard to stop.
We’re going to be really good. All
we can do is just improve off of
what we have so far. I’m not going
to downplay anybody’s skills
or downplay anybody’s ability,
because we have the skills to be
great. Just need to tune it up and
keep going.”

Despite an offensive line that

returns four of five starters
with the highly-touted Jalen
Mayfield stepping in at tackle,
it’s hard to project optimism
after a performance like the one
Michigan had in Atlanta.

The same, of course, could

have been said on Sept. 2 — and
the Wolverines proved anyone
who did echo those sentiments
wrong. Perhaps they’ll do so
again, but a month after the
Peach Bowl, it’s hard to say the
low point has really ended.

THE FUTURE: With Higdon

gone, the starting job next year is
up for grabs.

After all the hype leading

into the Peach Bowl and a
performance
that,
albeit

disappointing,
was
an
inch

away from exciting the fanbase,
Turner will likely come into
spring ball with a chance to take
the job. Competition, however,
will be tight.

Chris Evans will come in as a

senior, and with some pedigree
— making him the favorite. It’s
easy to forget, but before Evans
missed three games with injury
this season, he got nearly as many
carries as Higdon in a win over
Western Michigan. Even with
the injury — and over 50 fewer
carries than he had in 2017 —
Evans averaged a rock solid 5.2
yards per carry.

Elsewhere, four-star recruit

Zach
Charbonnet
figures
to

get a chance for playing time.
A product of Oaks Christian
Schoool and a top-50 overall
recruit
whose
rating
has

bordered on five-star territory,
Charbonnet ran for 4,741 yards in
four years of high school and his
tape is as good as the numbers
suggest.

Tru Wilson, who earned 62

carries as a walk-on last year,
will figure into the rotation as
well. Harbaugh complimented
Wilson’s ability in pass protection
multiple
times
last
season,

and the junior threw multiple
pancake blocks throughout the
season. If he keeps that up, it will
be enough to continue earning
playing time.

As for the position as a whole,

the Wolverines come into 2019
with
more
questions
than

answers.

ETHAN SEARS

Managing Sports Editor

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

Freshman running back Christian Turner figures to take on a bigger role next season, with senior Karan Higdon departing after a strong career with the Wolverines.

‘M’ ready for rematch with

Two
years
ago,
Nick

Blankenburg was a forward.

Two weeks ago, the freshman

was a defensive force on the blue
line against Ohio State.

But two days from now,

the freshman will more than
just go back to his roots —
during practice on Tuesday,
Blankenburg
skated
with

Michigan’s top line for the first
time since converting back to
being a forward.

“We’re changing things up a

little bit there,” said Michigan
coach Mel Pearson. “It’s partially
because
we
handicapped

(redshirt sophomore forward)
Luke Morgan a little bit by
playing him at center. He’s a guy
who likes to go up and down the
ice as a wing and get to work.”

Blankenburg’s
straight-

line speed is somewhat akin
to Morgan’s, so it makes sense
that he will be out on the wing
as opposed to center. In this
scenario, it seems likely that
junior forward Jake Slaker will
play center for the top line, given
that he played that position
as
a
freshman.
Michigan’s

offense has been productive
enough since the turn of the
calendar year despite the loss of
sophomore forward Josh Norris
for the remainder of the season,
but it doesn’t hurt to maximize
speed wherever possible.

Strauss Mann might get

some more playing time again:

Michigan seemed to settle

into starting junior goaltender
Hayden Lavigne after four solid
performances
against
Notre

Dame, Ohio State and Penn
State. However, Pearson opted
to pull Lavigne for Mann against
the Nittany Lions in New York
when the former let in five goals
in less than two periods.

Many of those were almost

unguardable — the product
of odd-man rushes following
Michigan turnovers deep in
the defensive zone. Regardless,
leaving Lavigne in and further
submarining his confidence in
an already-decided game served
no good purpose. Enter the
New York-native Mann, who
recorded 19 saves and didn’t let
in a single goal against Penn
State’s top-ranked offense.

“Whenever you can get into

games after a while off it feels
good,” Mann said. “To make
some saves and play how I did,
where I did, it’s a good feeling.”

Pearson knows that he has

two different commodities in
Lavigne and Mann — Mann
tends to wander out of the goal
a little more and take risks on
shots, while Lavigne prefers to
sit back in the net and operate
from there out. And while
Lavigne
is
somewhat
more

emotional as a player who rides
his positive momentum, Mann
maintains an even keel, whether

Michigan is up by three goals or
is getting pummeled, like it did
at Madison Square Garden. For
now, the question of who gets
the start each night seems to be
opened again, if just for a little
bit.

Breaking
down
where

Michigan stands (and wants
to stand) in the Big Ten:

Michigan sits in fourth place

in the Big Ten with 21 points,
but the team is in an unstable,
if not perilous, spot. While the
Wolverines are just four points
behind
second-place
Notre

Dame and can realistically catch
it with a few wins, Michigan
is also only one point ahead
of Wisconsin, Penn State and
Michigan State for last place in
the conference.

Why is it especially significant

that Michigan is in fourth? Seeds
2-4 in the Big Ten tournament
host the first round of the Big
Ten Tournament. With getting
an at-large bid probably out the
window barring a miraculous
winning streak, the Wolverines
are going to need all the help
they can get to get back to the
NCAA
Tournament
for
the

second consecutive year.

Michigan’s
next
two

opponents — the Spartans and
the Nittany Lions — present
good opportunities for the team
to solidify its standing or even
move up the ladder. After two
inconsistent series against both
teams in December, nothing is a
given, but a sweep of Michigan
State likely means one fewer
team that the Wolverines have
to worry about losing home-ice
advantage to in the first round.
Getting four or five points
against Penn State would go a
long way to ensuring home-ice
for the first round, and maybe
even the second round, too.

“I think everybody knows

what’s going on and where we
are, and we want to win a Big
Ten championship,” Pearson
said after Thursday’s 5-1 win
over Penn State. “We do talk
about that and it’s within our
grasp.”

Notebook: Blankenburg to top
line, Mann flashes at goaltender

On
Thursday
night,
the

Michigan women’s basketball
team will get its second shot at
taking down No. 13 Iowa and
star forward Megan Gustafson
at Crisler Center after losing
75-61 just two weeks ago. This
time, though, the Wolverines
may be without senior guard and
captain Nicole Munger.

Munger
exited
Sunday’s

contest against Michigan State
in the first quarter with an
apparent ankle injury and left
the Wolverines with a gaping
void to fill.

In addition to being one

of the team’s vocal leaders,
Munger holds experience and
poise that many on the young
Michigan team lack. And while
Munger has been far and away
the Wolverines’ best and most
efficient deep threat and free
throw shooter — she is shooting
34.5 percent from three with
41 makes and is shooting 94.3
percent from the free throw
line, both best on the team — it
is the intangibles Munger brings
that proves her true value to
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico.

“I mean Nicole (Munger) is not

only one of our top scorers, but
she is the glue to our program,”
Barnes Arico said on Sports Talk
1050 WTKA. “I mean we go as
far as she goes. I’ve never seen
a basketball player go as hard
day-in and day-out as she does,
and that’s in every aspect of the
game. She plays with incredible
passion on every possession and
will do whatever our team needs
to do to be successful.

“So she dives on the floor, she

takes charges, she gets rebounds,
she’s in on every single play and
we need players that are willing
to sacrifice and step in and do
that.”

With
Munger
out,
the

Wolverines will need to look
to
players
like
sophomore

guard Deja Church, sophomore
forward
Hailey
Brown
and

junior guard Akienreh Johnson
for outside shooting.

And need them they will if

Michigan is going to have any
chance of keeping up with the
high-scoring Hawkeyes, who
average just over 80 points per
game, the 17th-highest mark in
the nation.

The Wolverines will look to

slow down the Iowa senior —
who averages the most points
per game in the country at 26.4
— by playing a variety of players
against her such as Brown,
freshman forward Naz Hillmon
and senior center Hallie Thome.

“(Gustafson’s)
a
dominant

force, but we have kids that can
match up against her,” Barnes
Arico said. “I think we did a
good job for a half against her
last game. Now we have an
opportunity to play with our
trio of post players that can go
out and really match up with
her. So she’s the key for them,
but they have tremendous guard
play as well and their guards do
a tremendous job of playing off
of Megan (Gustafson)”

Similar to Michigan, while

the Hawkeyes have ridden
Gustafson to a great season thus
far and a dominant home record,
one area they have struggled
in is their road performance.
Iowa is 4-3 on the road for the
season and just 2-2 against Big
Ten teams. The Wolverines,
meanwhile, are 8-1 at home, 3-1

against Big Ten teams and ready
to welcome Iowa to Ann Arbor.

“We got an opportunity to

get them at home, a place where
we play well,” Barnes Arico
said. “An opportunity for Hallie
(Thome) and Megan Gustafson
to have another matchup. You
know they’ve been matched up
for the last four years. It’s kind
of been a great battle to watch
those two go at each other. And
hopefully we have Nicole back,
but if not I always listen to coach
Beilein and next man up and
who’s going to be able to step up
and give us an opportunity to be
successful.”

RIAN RATNAVALE

Daily Sports Writer

BENNETT BRAMSON

Daily Sports Writer

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Freshman Nick Blankenburg has been moved to forward from defenseman.

MILES MACKLIN/Daily

Kim Barnes Arico has faith in her team’s ability to defend Megan Gustafson.