The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Sports Thursday, September 5, 2019 — 7 How Eubanks unlocks the offense A spread offense, as with any other, is usually defined by its personnel. Philosophically, the idea of forcing opponents to defend all 53.5 yards of horizontal space on a football field translates to getting athletic guys to run routes and spreading them out. Usually, that means wide receivers. The proliferation of the spread means that the three receiver, or 11 personnel (one back, one tight end) looks have fast become the norm. In the NFL last year, teams used it 64 percent of the time, per Football Outsiders’ Almanac. More traditional looks with two backs (21 personnel) or two tight ends (12 personnel) — the kind Michigan fans have become accustomed to under Jim Harbaugh — were used 7.3 and 16 percent of the time, respectively. More relevant, the last three offenses with Josh Gattis on staff have used 11 personnel 96, 94 and 61 percent of the time, per Pro Football Focus. Hiring him with the promise of a pro-spread offense seemed to imply that the 35 percent of the time Michigan spent in 11 last year would rocket upwards. This did not account for Nick Eubanks. Eubanks, a senior tight end, came to Michigan at 236 pounds. He checked in this year at 6-foot- 5, 256 pounds, or in other words, the same height and four pounds smaller than Travis Kelce of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. Athletically speaking, that means Eubanks can line up next to a tackle and block. It means he can split out wide and run a route. It means he’s probably bigger than most defensive backs and faster than most linebackers, which in turn means that when defensive coordinators prepare for the Wolverines, they need to spend time figuring out how to deal with Nick Eubanks. Football is a never-ending game of chess where if you can force an opponent to react to what you’re doing, you’re probably winning. Eubanks can force a reaction. “I think it really clicked at the end of the summer and then training camp it started to show up,” tight ends coach Sherrone Moore said. “Cause he was starting to make play after play after play, but that was not only in the passing game, it was in the run game.” Even without a high volume — just 10 catches in three years — Eubanks’ ability had always been obvious. In those 10 catches, he went for 218 yards. This summer, he met with Moore as much as possible and put in extra work in the run game. Last Saturday in Michigan’s opener, the fruits of that labor started to become apparent. The Wolverines, new offense and all, spent more time in 12 personnel, with Eubanks and Sean McKeon at tight end, than in 11. On an early second quarter drive where two RPOs and a post route to Nico Collins resulted in a touchdown that seemed to personify Gattis’ speed in space philosophy, they were in 12 personnel the whole time. In an offense where the purpose of everything is to create conflict for the defense, Eubanks just raises more questions for opposing coordinators to try and solve. On that Collins post route, Eubanks is lined up as the H receiver, a threat to either run block or run a route — conflict exacerbated by Michigan having run RPOs on the two previous plays. Eubanks runs a wheel route, taking two defenders including a safety with him and helping create a 1-on-1 for Collins. Later in the game, this time as the lone tight end on the field, Eubanks lined up as the H receiver again on second-and-2. At any prior point in his career, that would have been a smoke signal telling the defense it’s going to be a pass. Instead, the Wolverines ran a split-zone read with Patterson keeping the ball as Eubanks arced around the formation as a lead blocker. McKeon said Monday that part of the reason Michigan used so much 12 personnel was specific to the matchup against Middle Tennessee. “But I think Nick as the H tight end, he’s so versatile, he can line up as a receiver or come in and block,” McKeon said. “So really got to defend everything out of that personnel with us.” The Wolverines aren’t about to take it out of their rotation, and the percentages are unlikely to dictate a more traditional spread. As long as they have Eubanks, they don’t need to. “We can get in any formation we have in the offense in that personnel and do whatever we want,” Moore said. “We can use him as a fullback, we can use Sean as a fullback. We can use them both split out wide, as receivers. We can use them on the line. “So it’s just going to create problems for defenses.” ‘NASCAR’ package gives versatility All offseason, the hype surrounding Michigan has been a product of its offensive promise. The phrase at the core of that hype, of course, has been Josh Gattis’ mantra of “speed in space.” Saturday night against Middle Tennessee State, Don Brown made sure his defense didn’t get left behind, adding speed with regular NASCAR packages — looks with four defensive ends. A year ago, the Wolverines never needed the look to generate pressure. Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary, with the occasional third-down appearance from Josh Uche, filled that task with ease. But with Winovich and Gary gone, Michigan’s strength at defensive end lies in its depth. Sophomore Aidan Hutchinson and junior Kwity Paye are the starters, but Uche — typically a linebacker — can slot in as an edge rusher. Behind them, senior Michael Danna, a transfer from Central Michigan, brings a skillset that produced the nation’s second-highest success rate on pass rushes in 2018, according to Pro Football Focus. So when Brown looked at the personnel in front of him, his solution became clear. “When you realize you got guys you can run and you want all of them on the field, that’s when we’re like, ‘We got to get them on the field,’ ” said defensive line coach Shaun Nua. “So coach Brown does a great job of making sure that we identify good players, their strengths and design packages to get them on.” Saturday, the look’s first appearance brought a mix of confusion and intrigue — the sight of Uche and Hutchinson’s speed on the interior makes that inevitable. On the MTSU offensive line, confusion prevailed, with a pulling guard leaving a gaping hole for fifth- year senior linebacker Jordan Glasgow to blast through. After one NASCAR package, MTSU’s statline against it: one sack, negative-eight yards. The next time the Wolverines ran it, they nearly added a safety to the tally, as a potential hold on Uche in the end zone went uncalled. Midway through the third quarter — the package’s fifth usage — it forced MTSU quarterback Asher O’Hara into a lame-duck pass that senior cornerback Lavert Hill dropped with 20 yards of open field between him and the end zone. Despite the miscues, Michigan’s final statline on its NASCAR packages that weren’t nullified by penalties: seven plays, one sack, 3-for-6 passing, 10 yards. “It just adds pressure to the quarterback and something for the other team to think about,” Glasgow said. “And when you think about it, we have a lot of other people that could fill the roles of everyone in that package, or anyone on the field at that time.” For now, the package is largely constrained to 3rd-and-long situations because of the speed the defensive ends provide, but when asked about the possibility of using it on other downs and distances, Nua said: “Coach Brown likes to call it whenever, we just got to be ready.” The one time Michigan used it in another situation Saturday — 2nd-and-9 at midfield — Uche and Paye jumped offside, all the defensive ends stopped and MTSU picked up an easy first down. Those are the unavoidable miscues that will take more than a week to iron out. But the tape is resoundingly positive. And this week, the assessment at Schembechler Hall has followed suit. “It’s great cause it’s a lot of quickness and speed on that front so we can attack every position on the offensive line,” Danna said. “And we got a whole lot more of that coming this season, so I’m excited.” ETHAN SEARS Managing Sports Editor THEO MACKIE Daily Sports Editor Robinson, Pertofsky prove versatile enough to support new system In Friday morning’s season opener, the Michigan volleyball team’s two class of 2019 early signees flashed more than just potential. In their debuts, freshmen Jess Robinson and May Pertofsky were the driving offensive forces in the 15th-ranked Wolverines’ sweep of Oakland. The duo maintained the two highest attack efficiencies on the team, even while leading the offense in total volume. Pertofsky and Robinson finished with nine and eight kills, respectively, on just 22 combined swings. While most freshmen are prone to mistakes, the two committed just three hitting errors in total — good for a collective hitting percentage of .636. For reference, roughly .250 is considered the average for a pin hitter. It’s only August, and the program’s two blue chip recruits are already posting encouraging numbers. Take one play in the second set, for example. With Michigan up 17-10, Robinson’s eyes lit up as an errant Golden Grizzly forearm pass began a trajectory across the net. She took a half- step backward, loaded up and leapt almost immediately. She seemingly levitated and, soon after, celebrated after burying the overpass with ease. “When she jumped, we all thought she jumped early,” said Michigan coach Mark Rosen. “But she kept going up and the next thing we knew, she was perfectly on time. With things like that, you don’t know them real well yet so you see those things and they’re exciting. “… There’s still tons to learn for them. They’re good learners and they’re super competitive, and I think they did a really nice job coming out of the gates.” Expectations for Robinson — the nation’s No. 8 recruit, according to Prep Volleyball — were particularly high over the summer. After finding herself in the middle of a four-horse race for two middle blocker jobs, the 6-foot-2 in-state product’s debut will only keep the hype train rolling. Pertofsky, meanwhile, hails from Los Angeles, where she racked up three All-League Gold Coast MVP awards during her high school career. Though both of them are natural outside hitters, they’ve been seeing the most court time at opposite and middle blocker in what Rosen calls his “three middle offense.” With four legitimate candidates for just two starting middle blocker spots, Rosen got creative. In order to preserve the 6-2 system — a volleyball notation that translates to six eligible hitters and two setters — the Wolverines are able to keep Pertofsky and Robinson at the right side pin. Fifth-year senior middle blocker Cori Crocker and sophomore middle blocker Kayla Bair both perform best with attackers on each side of them, and Rosen is able to sandwich them between two other eligible hitters by keeping his two prized freshmen at the right pin. Bair opened the season sidelined with an injury, but it’ll be a sustainable system even when she returns. It’s the best way to keep each weapon involved without sacrificing one of senior setter MacKenzi Welsh’s options, but the option wouldn’t even be on the table if Robinson and Pertofsky weren’t versatile enough to handle it. Thanks to their experience as outside hitters, adjusting to the new system didn’t take long for the newcomers. “It allows us to put (Bair and Crocker) in a position where they can play straight up middle and never have to worry about being in a 5-1, but you have to have versatile players to do it,” Rosen said. “When Jess and May came in, we could see they can hit second tempo balls, they can block on the right, they can hit in transition and they can hit out of system. So we started cooking up this system because it allows us to hide some of our weaknesses while maximizing our strengths.” Friday morning wasn’t a sign of what Robinson and Pertofsky can do in this system down the road, it was a sign of how they can help take the Wolverines back to the Sweet 16 — if not deeper into the NCAA Tournament — sooner rather than later. “We’re excited about (the system),” Rosen said. “It gives us the best chance to be competitive at a high level. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but they’ll get there.” ALEC COHEN/Daily Senior tight end Nick Eubanks has worked on his run-blocking ability leading up to this season in order to complement his receiving ability. DANIEL DASH Daily Sports Writer FILE PHOTO/Daily Michigan coach Mark Rosen noted the value of two new freshmen — Jess Robinson and May Petrofsky — in their successful debuts with the volleyball team. ALEC COHEN/Daily Sophomore defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is one of the four defensive ends who frequently plays in the package. They’re good learners and they’re super competitive.