The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com 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.