2B — Monday, September 23, 2019
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
M
ADISON — Among
the many platitudes
uttered after one of
the worst losses Michigan has
suffered in the Jim Harbaugh
era was a pre-
vailing echo
that this was
not the end.
One loss
in the Big
Ten does
not doom
anybody,
especially
one to an out-
of-division
opponent.
There is still time to turn things
around and meet whatever
goals the Wolverines harbor.
“Everyone’s really deter-
mined and focused,” senior left
tackle Jon Runyan Jr. said. “Our
season’s not over.”
And technically speaking,
he’s right. Michigan’s season
is not over, at least not in the
literal sense. Its goals of a Big
Ten title, and even a College
Football Playoff berth, are still
in play. The team will not spend
the next 10 weeks on a slow
death march, waiting for the
season to end and for a free trip
to somewhere warm.
But after Saturday, and Wis-
consin’s 35-14 beatdown of the
Wolverines, it’s hard to believe
it won’t end that way. Not
because anyone is consigned to
anything. But because of what
we saw on the field — a team
that, right now, can’t hang with
the class of the Big Ten and isn’t
particularly close to being able
to do so.
It’s not that Michigan lost.
It’s the way Michigan lost.
Josh Gattis’ offense, adver-
tised with #SpeedinSpace,
looked overwhelmed, the only
points coming in garbage time.
Michigan’s defense was physi-
cally outmatched as Wisconsin
ran for a collective 359 yards.
Jonathan Taylor alone went
for 203, more than any Michi-
gan player has run for over the
entire season to this point. The
Wolverines lost by three scores
and the margin could have been
larger had Wisconsin not taken
its foot off the gas or had Taylor
not missed some time with an
injury.
After the game, there was
talk of identity and improve-
ment. It meant about as much as
the talk beforehand about mak-
ing a statement.
“It’s up to us to find an iden-
tity,” senior tight end Nick
Eubanks said. “We got a game
coming up next Saturday. We
gotta find it quick.”
The bottom line is this: If
you haven’t figured out your
identity three games into the
season, that problem can’t be
solved with a press conference
soundbyte.
It’s been six months since
spring practice opened. It’s
hard to believe six more days
will make the ultimate differ-
ence.
An identity, it turns out, can-
not be reduced to a hashtag.
Jim Harbaugh, Josh Gattis and
Michigan have learned that les-
son the hard way.
As for the other side of the
ball, the Wolverines at least
seem to know what they want
to be. The problem is, they’re
nowhere near it.
“I think we pride ourselves
on being the best defense in
college football,” senior safety
Josh Metellus said. “And these
last couple weeks, we haven’t
shown that.”
On Saturday, they showed the
opposite. It’s easy to look at the
stats and assume this was the
Jonathan Taylor show. And to
be sure, Taylor played as well
as you’d expect, bouncing out of
trouble for big gains more than
once. But the Badgers ran the
ball as well as they did because
they dominated in the trenches.
As much as the offseason focus
centered on losing defensive
ends Chase Winovich and
Rashan Gary, losing Lawrence
Marshall and Bryan Mone
might have caused the most
noticeable drop-off.
The Wolverines don’t have
the depth, size or strength to
compete on the interior against
a team like Wisconsin.
“We got our backs against
the wall,” soph-
omore defen-
sive end Aidan
Hutchinson
said. “We just
gotta fight.”
On Saturday,
there was no
fight. No will-
power and no
physicality. The
Wolverines got
pushed around
and bullied.
Their 14 points came because
Wisconsin decided not to kick
them when they were down.
This team is talented — tal-
ented enough to live up to the
hype that surrounded them for
six months. But it showed noth-
ing on Saturday
to indicate it
can go to Penn
State and win. It
showed nothing
to prove it can
move the ball
against a defense
like Michigan
State’s. Good
luck beating
Notre Dame or
Ohio State play-
ing like it did
against Wisconsin.
This doesn’t look like a Big
Ten contender. It looks like a
group on the fast track to 7-5.
In the past, winning games
against ranked teams has been
the difference between a conso-
lation bowl and title contention.
This year, it might be the dif-
ference between a consolation
bowl and a flaming disaster —
five of their remaining games
are against top-25 teams.
There’s time to fix it, but
there’s a lot to fix and an unfor-
giving schedule.
“You guys weren’t in our
huddle,” sophomore defensive
end Aidan Hutchinson told
the media at large. “You guys
weren’t on the sideline with us.
You guys don’t know what goes
on in our defense.”
It’s true — Michigan doesn’t
let the media into practice. We
don’t know what’s said in the
locker room and we’re nowhere
near the sideline or huddle. But
we do see the end product every
Saturday. And that’s where the
Wolverines have fallen woefully
short.
If that doesn’t change, it’ll be
a long 10 weeks ahead.
Sears can be reached at
searseth@umich.edu or on
Twitter @ethan_sears.
SportsMonday Column: Identity fraud
ETHAN
SEARS
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has consistently struggled to beat ranked teams on the road, as exemplified by the Wolverines’ 35-14 loss at Wisconsin.
Running game absent in ugly loss
MADISON — On its first
drive Saturday, Wisconsin rode
its Heisman-candidate running
back all the way down the field.
On Michigan’s, it handed the
ball to a converted defensive
lineman who didn’t have a carry
this year.
Jonathan Taylor scored a
touchdown. Ben Mason lost
a fumble. And that one drive
was a perfect microcosm of the
game as a whole.
The Wolverines came into
Camp
Randall
Stadium
on
Saturday and got embarrassed,
35-14. The reason for that can
be summed up many ways,
but one stat was particularly
telling: Michigan had 40 yards
rushing, Wisconsin had 359.
Two weeks ago against Army,
the Wolverines averaged 2.4
yards per carry. This week, they
had 2.1. And suddenly, a team
once known for its propensity
to run the ball couldn’t run the
ball.
“First
three
games,
we
haven’t been able to dictate
the game and how we wanted,
being able to throw the ball
when we want, being able to run
the ball,” said fifth-year senior
offensive tackle Jon Runyan.
“We got into tough situations.”
Junior
quarterback
Dylan
McCaffrey was the Wolverines’
leading rusher. He ran for a
game-high nine yards in a
meaningless drive right before
halftime before leaving with a
concussion in the third quarter.
Taylor, meanwhile, gained
more yards — 72 — on a
touchdown run in the first
quarter than Michigan did all
game.
“When you play against us,
we’re gonna stop the run,”
said
Wisconsin
linebacker
Chris Orr. “We’re gonna force
you to play a one-dimensional
offense, we’re gonna get after
your quarterback and create
turnovers.”
That’s
exactly
what
the
Badgers did.
When you think of the
Wolverines
having
a
one-
dimensional
offense,
you’re
probably thinking of one of the
many big games in past years
where Michigan ran the ball
and ran it again, eschewing
downfield passing and getting
nowhere. Saturday, it was the
exact opposite.
The Wolverines did have
some success passing — actually
finishing
with
259
yards
to
Wisconsin’s
128.
Senior
quarterback
Shea
Patterson
had five completions of over 20
yards, including a 68-yard pass
to sophomore wide receiver
Ronnie Bell, and another that
was originally ruled a catch but
controversially overturned.
Instead, the Badgers stopped
the run in its tracks and forced
Michigan into passing downs.
After Mason’s red-zone fumble,
the running game was feeble, all
semblance of confidence gone.
The offensive line struggled
to
open
up
holes
against
Wisconsin’s
stout
defensive
front.
And
the
fact
that
freshman running back Zach
Charbonnet,
was
“limited,”
according to Michigan coach
Jim
Harbaugh,
only
made
matters worse. The Wolverines
turned to sophomore Christian
Turner. But unlike Wisconsin,
which kept up the ground-and-
pound even after Taylor briefly
left the game due to cramps in
the second quarter, Turner was
quiet.
“It’s tough in those second
and
long,
third
and
long
situations when we’re not on
the path we want to be on,”
said fifth-year senior offensive
tackle Jon Runyan. “And you
get those second and long, third
and longs it’s tough because
you’re thrown off track and
you’re gonna have to throw the
ball.”
After the game, the Badgers
talked about their gameplan,
how they were confident they
would dominate the line of
scrimmage, how they rallied
around
the
other
running
backs when Taylor left. They
used words like “dynamic” and
“explosive.”
Harbaugh, meanwhile?
“Things they did really well,
we were unable to do as far as
establishing a running game,
having the play-action come off
of that,” he said. “They blocked
better, they tackled better, they
had a better plan and executed
it extremely well today.”
Last year, a Michigan team
with the same All-Big Ten
offensive linemen ran for 353
yards — and ran Wisconsin off
the field. A year later, it was the
polar opposite.
When Harbaugh was asked
what he wanted his team’s
offensive identity to be, he
answered: “To be able to run
the ball and be able to throw the
ball, both equally and effective
and efficient.”
This time, it was the running
game that was inexplicably
absent.
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor
Amid loss, WRs show their talent
MADISON — Tarik Black
stopped on a dime, situated
himself between two defensive
backs
and
spotted
Shea
Patterson’s
high-arching
long ball. As it fell, he leapt
to wrestle the ball from both
defenders, securing a 32-yard
gain and moving Michigan into
Wisconsin territory.
It was exactly what the
Wolverines
had
envisioned
all
offseason,
using
their
physical,
talented
receiving
corps to invigorate a dangerous
downfield passing game.
One
problem:
Michigan
trailed 35-8 with seven minutes
left, and any hope of escaping
Madison with a respectable
result had long since dissipated.
On the worst day of his
Michigan
career,
Shea
Patterson’s passes were rarely
where Black or Nico Collins
or
Donovan
Peoples-
Jones
would
have
wanted
them,
but
it
didn’t
matter.
They went up
to
pinpoint
them
anyway,
out-jumping
overmatched
defenders
and
finding
gaps
in coverage where it seemed
impossible to do so.
“(Made)
some
plays
downfield,”
said
Michigan
coach Jim Harbaugh. “Both
Nico, Tarik. Shea got the ball —
we threw some deep balls and
made some plays. Guys kept
fighting.”
None of it mattered.
Because in the first half —
back when there was some
supposition Michigan might
play decently — the Wolverines’
three star receivers combined
for one catch and five yards on
three targets.
Sophomore
Ronnie
Bell
had
a
68-yard
breakaway
catch
on
Michigan’s
first
play. Good for him. But the
Wolverines’ passing attack isn’t
supposed to be built around
a
sophomore
who
finished
as
the
212th-ranked
wide
receiver in his class and nearly
played college basketball. Not
when it has three NFL-caliber
receivers, each of whom has
proven his mettle when given
the opportunity.
And
yet,
through
three
quarters,
Bell
had
nine
targets.
The
other three had
five
combined.
Between
Bell’s
opening 68-yard
catch
and
the
start
of
the
fourth
quarter,
Michigan’s
passing
offense
— labeled as the backbone of
an offensive revolution in the
offseason
—
managed
2.95
yards per pass attempt on 22
tries.
In
the
fourth
quarter,
when
it
targeted
Black,
Collins and Peoples-Jones 11
times, that number rose to a
respectable 7.41 before two
late incompletions from third-
string quarterback Joe Milton.
“Yeah,
most
definitely,”
said senior tight end Nick
Eubanks, when asked whether
the
late-game
explosiveness
would impact the offense going
forward. “We’ll see it on film
and I believe the coaches will
see it as well and we’ll go from
there, in terms of who needs to
get the ball and what we do on
offense.”
Whenever
players
are
posed with gameplan-related
questions
postgame,
there’s
a common theme to their
responses.
The
gameplan,
they say, is above their pay
grade. They need to watch the
film, they’ll tell you, before
pinpointing the root of any
struggles.
And it’s a fair response —
mid-season strategic changes
are
typically
nuanced
and
require
more
than
a
few
minutes worth of reflection.
So amid a sea of pre-packaged
quotes about continuing to
fight and keeping your head up
and believing in your brothers,
it stands out when Eubanks
says change is needed.
Saturday evening, as the
scar of Michigan’s loss began
to form, the question shifted to
its offensive identity. Fifth-year
senior left tackle Jon Runyan
said it’s “fair to say” they don’t
have one. Harbaugh, after a
start in which the Wolverines
have rushed for 3.5 yards per
carry, said, “To be able to run
the ball, to be able to throw the
ball both equally, effective and
efficient.”
Eubanks, again notable for
his candor, said, “I think of it,
as a whole group, we don’t have
an identity yet.”
Deep in the fourth quarter, it
may have been sitting right in
front of them.
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Christian Turner had just six carries for 17 yards in Saturday’s loss at Wisconsin.
We got our
backs against
the wall. We
just gotta fight.
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Wide receiver Nico Collins played well towards the end of Michigan’s loss.
I think of it, as
a whole group,
we don’t have
an identity yet.