4B — Monday, April 15, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday

During spring ball, injuries lead to new opportunities for freshmen

Mike Sainristil got the ball on 
a crossing route at the 23-yard 
line, beat his defender and 
coasted into the end zone.
It was the first drive of 
Michigan’s Spring Game on 
Saturday, and though there was 
no real scoring, it wasn’t lost on 
the crowd that the freshman 
wide receiver had scored the 
opening touchdown — well, 
insofar as there are touchdowns 
in a no-tackle scrimmage.
Sainristil is supposed to still 
be in high school now, preparing 
for exams, going to prom and 
planning graduation escapades. 
Instead, he early-enrolled and 
joined the Michigan football 
team. There, he was thrust into 
a role bigger than he could have 
imagined.
Under 
new 
offensive 
coordinator Josh Gattis, spring 

ball was supposed to feature a 
heavy dosage of the Wolverines’ 
three top receivers — junior 
Donovan 
Peoples-Jones, 
redshirt 
sophomore 
Tarik 
Black and junior Nico Collins. 
But Black is the only one of 
those that’s been 
healthy. With the 
other two out, it 
gave 
Sainristil 
a 
chance 
to 
get 
reps 
with 
the 
first-team 
offense 
— 
an 
opportunity 
he 
wouldn’t 
have 
had otherwise.
There, 
he’s 
dazzled, earning 
praise from players and coaches 
alike as the freshman that’s 
stood out the most. Though the 
spring game itself means very 
little, the experience players 
like Sainristil have gained has a 
much greater significance.

“For a lot of people to come 
out and get their spot, come out 
there and show everybody on 
offense … and show everybody 
what they can do,” said senior 
defensive tackle Carlo Kemp. 
“And it’s been a lot of fun seeing 
how many guys 
have been able 
to come and get 
that 
play 
just 
because it’s been 
unfortunate 
with how many 
people have been 
hurt.”
As 
for 
the 
injured 
players 
themselves, 
they’ve 
stayed 
involved in other ways. In 
between rehab sessions, they 
feature heavily in meetings with 
their respective position groups, 
learning the playbook, keeping 
the energy up and encouraging 
camaraderie.
In the running back room, for 
instance, there’s a full layout 
of 
the 
field 
where 
they 
draw up plays 
for simulation. 
Injured 
veterans 
can 
still take part 
and 
impart 
their 
wisdom 
on 
the 
new 
crop of players 
coming up.
“(Running 
backs coach Jay Harbaugh) 
preaches mental reps a lot,” 
said senior running back Tru 
Wilson. “And they’re really, 
they’ve gotta hold the ball on 
the sidelines, they gotta see the 
call from the side, they gotta go 
through the play like they’re in. 
So it’s helpful for them because 
everybody 
knows 
the 
play, 
everybody’s getting work in on 
every play.”
And when the young players 
do take the field in place of an 
injured starter, those veterans 
have the opportunity to pull 
them aside and act almost as a 
second coach, telling them what 
to work on or what to do when 
they see certain formations, 
encouraging them and learning 
what they’re capable of.
Senior 
defensive 
tackle 

Michael Dwumfour, out with 
a 
torn 
plantar 
fascia, 
has 
especially 
taken 
that to heart. He’s 
aided 
freshman 
defensive 
tackle 
Mazi 
Smith 
on 
and off the field 
and 
helped 
the 
entire 
defensive 
line learn their 
roles.
“(Dwumfour’s) 
done it with all of 
us,” said redshirt 
sophomore 
defensive 
tackle 
Donovan Jeter. “Mike’s been 
in every big game. Ohio State, 
Penn State, Michigan State, 
Notre Dame, he’s been in all 
the big games, so if he’s telling 
you 
something, 
he’s telling you 
something 
from 
experience.”
Defensive line 
and wide receiver 
are two of the 
positions 
with 
the biggest depth 
concerns. 
So 
while the rash of 
injuries at those 
two 
positions 
are in one way a bad sign for 
the Wolverines, those injuries 
have at the same time given 
reps to players who may not 

have gotten them otherwise. 
That helps build up a steady 
stream of backups waiting in 
the wings should one of those 
players go down. Spring camp is 
a big step up from high school, 
giving those players valuable 
development time.
“Adapting real fast to spring 
ball, the practices are longer, 
everything’s 
longer,” 
said 
redshirt sophomore offensive 
tackle Andrew Stueber. “So it’s 
kind of more brutal. And if you 
get through that, then practices 
in the fall and the camps, it’s 
shorter, and you’re kind of used 
to how the play goes and how 
the practice goes.”
And with Black, Peoples-
Jones 
and 
Dwumfour 
all 
expected 
back 
for the start of 
the season, the 
young 
players 
will face tough 
competition in 
fall camp.
Then, 
when 
they 
get 
the 
chance 
to 
step 
into 
the 
spotlight 
— 
whether 
in a year or two when their 
predecessors 
graduate, 
or 
because of an injury — they’ll be 
ready to shine.

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Freshman wide receiver Mike Sainristil has impressed in spring camp with Nico Collins and Donovan Peoples-Jones out.

(Jay Harbaugh) 
preaches 
mental reps a 
lot.

Mike 
(Dwumfour’s) 
been in every 
big game.

The practices 
are longer, 
everything’s 
longer.

Moments before the start of 
Michigan’s spring game Saturday 
afternoon, a plane flew over 
Michigan Stadium. Behind it flew a 
sign reading, ‘Hey Jim, this is God. 
It’s OK to pass on first down. Let’s 
try it.’
An 
hour 
later, 
when 
the 
Wolverines lined up for their 
first 11-on-11 play of the day, Shea 
Patterson took the snap, sprinted 
to his right and pitched to senior 
running back Tru Wilson. Then 
came a jet sweep to freshman wide 
receiver Mike Sainristil before a 
zone run up the middle. Only on 
the fourth play from scrimmage 
did Patterson finally drop back and 
fire off his first pass of the day — 
one that went for a 15-yard gain to 
sophomore wide receiver Ronnie 
Bell.
The pre-game plane carried the 
optimistic hope for change that 
has defined Michigan’s offseason 
since it hired Josh Gattis as its 
new offensive coordinator on Jan. 
10. And while aspects of that hope 
may be rooted in reality, Saturday’s 
spring game was a reminder that 
the Wolverines’ running game isn’t 
going anywhere.
“Gattis came in and did a great 
job adapting his own mindset 
and the offense,” said redshirt 
sophomore right tackle Andrew 
Stueber. “But he was very specific 
to say, it’s not his style, it’s our style 
as a team. So he’s not coming in 
playing strictly his own style, he’s 
kinda changing it to the whole 
team adapting their style. What 
worked last year will continue to 
work and what he can bring to the 
table, he will.”
But 
Saturday 
was 
also 
a 
reminder that this running game 
is different. For every remnant of 
the old — think redshirt freshman 
running 
back 
Julian 
Garrett 
getting stuffed on a third-and-goal 
carry up the middle — there were a 
handful of signs of the new.
Those first two plays of the 

game, a read option with Patterson 
and a jet sweep to one of the 
Wolverines’ 
fastest 
receivers, 
weren’t non-existent a year ago. But 
they wouldn’t have been Michigan 
coach Jim Harbaugh’s first two 
plays of any game, scrimmage or 
otherwise.
“We see a lot more long 
zone, a lot more stretches,” said 
sophomore 
defensive 
lineman 
Aidan Hutchinson. “It looks like 
he’s trying to stretch the field out 
and that’s what I’ve seen when I’ve 
gone against the offense.”
The 
available 
personnel 
certainly lends credence to hopes 
of a shift toward a pass-first 
offense. Karan Higdon and his 224 
carries are off to the NFL, Chris 
Evans and O’Maury Samuels are 
no longer with the program and 
sophomore Christian Turner and 
early enrollee Zach Charbonnet 
have spent the spring injured, going 
through plays on a layout of a field 
that Michigan has in its running 
backs room.
But instead, the focus has 
merely shifted onto Wilson — the 
only running back who played last 
year to feature on Saturday — and 
the inexperienced underclassmen 

behind him. “I’m just building 
confidence,” Wilson said. “Just 
trying to be a leader more for some 
of the younger guys in the room 
and just be able to make plays, play 
fast. … But I’m really enjoying it, 
I’m really enjoying the style of play 
we’re in.”
And that — the style of play 
— is the key. Five months out 
from kickoff, it doesn’t matter 
that the personnel isn’t there yet. 
Charbonnet will inevitably be 
a major part of the offense and 
Turner likely will too.
For now, what matters is that 
Michigan’s offense is still going 
to run the ball. And when it does, 
it’s going to be a whole lot more 
exciting than it has in the past.
All you need to do to find that out 
that is ask the one defense who’s 
faced it:
“I’m tired of them going hurry 
up. It’s annoying,” said redshirt 
sophomore 
defensive 
lineman 
Donovan Jeter.
“… It’s a blessing and a curse 
cause there’s days when you’re 
dead tired but it’s gonna be like 
that on Saturdays. So I’m glad our 
offense has just changed the way 
they do everything.”

Shea Patterson was buried 
in the corner when Donovan 
Jeter’s turn came to answer 
questions.
Michigan’s spring game was 
still going on, and about 100 
yards up the tunnel, Patterson 
was standing in a room off to 
the side wearing a tank top and 
a cap turned backwards, the 
reins at quarterback turned 
over to early enrollee Cade 
McNamara.
Jeter looked over at the 
senior quarterback, or what 
he could see of him behind a 
scrum of reporters that reached 
four deep.
“They got Shea,” Jeter said, 
loud enough to hear over the 
clamoring. “They ain’t worried 
about me.”
And, well, he wasn’t wrong.
A few weeks ago, offensive 
line coach Ed Warinner called 
Josh Gattis’ offense, “tailor-
made” for Patterson — and on 
the first drive of the spring 
game, Patterson hit Ronnie Bell 
on a crossing route, then Mike 

Sainristil for a touchdown, both 
balls thrown exactly where 
they needed to be.
Spring games are inherently 
farcical, 
even 
without 
the 
added stipulations Michigan 
football puts onto them. Trying 
to extrapolate anything from 
a scrimmage is hard. Trying 
to extrapolate anything from 
a handful of drills with some 
non-tackling scrimmage snaps 
tacked onto the end is fool’s 
work.
Later though, with the pocket 
collapsing, Patterson stepped 
up, saw Oliver 
Martin 
alone 
near the end 
zone. 
Another 
dart. That play 
got blown dead 
on an artificial 
sack, 
and 
it 
was in a setting 
that 
shouldn’t 
matter. But, of 
course, it does.
Last 
year, 
Jim Harbaugh’s offense hit a 
wall. Good. Not good enough 
— especially when it counted. 
The 
Wolverines 
shredded 
Wisconsin and Penn State. 
They fell short at Ohio State 
and did next to nothing against 
Florida.
Whether or not this offense is 
where Patterson will thrive is a 
question that will be answered 
in November and December. To 
hear him tell it, there already 
seems to be a conclusion.
“It’s just, it feels natural,” 
Patterson said. “… I think the 
game’s slowed down a little bit.”
This offense, at least for now, 
lived up to all the hype built in 
the form of pent-up frustration. 
Michigan went fast. Michigan 
didn’t huddle. Michigan ran 
shotgun. Michigan ran speed 
options and RPOs. Michigan 
seemed to click on all cylinders, 
doing something completely 
different than it has in the 
duration of Harbaugh’s time in 

Ann Arbor.
So, 
when 
Patterson 
was 
asked about the truthfulness of 
Warinner’s description, it really 
wasn’t all too surprising when 
he gave a one-word answer.
“Yeah.”
As Patterson pointed out, 
Gattis is the sixth offensive 
coordinator to coach him in the 
last six years. He ran something 
similar at Ole Miss, but at this 
point, he’s used to learning 
something 
different 
every 
spring.
“(Patterson) looked pretty 
comfortable 
today,” 
said 
senior tight end 
Sean 
McKeon. 
“He’s 
been 
licking his chops 
all spring with 
this 
offense. 
Just getting new 
stuff right now. 
He said it was 
pretty similar to 
some stuff he did 
at Ole Miss, so he was already 
pretty used to most of the stuff 
we ran.”
Gattis’ system makes things 
simple for everyone else, but 
the quarterback needs to do 
a little more compared to last 
year. There’s more reading 
the 
defense 
— 
on 
RPOs, 
Patterson needs to pick out the 
option player, often based on 
alignment, then figure out what 
he’s doing. He’s required to 
know the protections, the runs, 
the running back’s footwork, 
the receivers’ routes.
Harbaugh’s 
offense 
was 
complicated, 
too, 
albeit 
in 
a completely different way. 
Everyone had to think about 
everything, all the time, which 
meant things could get too slow 
and too complex. This, at least 
for now, is different.
“It’s night and day,” Patterson 
said. “… As far as similarities, I 
think there’s very few.
“It’s gonna be fun.”

New offense, new hope
Led by Shea Patterson, Michigan puts new OC Josh Gattis’ speed in space philosophy on display at spring game

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer

ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior quarterback Shea Patterson returns for his final season at Michigan after a year in which he threw 22 touchdowns.

I think the 
game’s slowed 
down a little 
bit.

