8A — Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
PLUS MORE EVENTS THROUGHOUT OCTOBER, INCLUDING:
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10–11:30 AM | HILL AUDITORIUM
2019
DIVERSITY,
EQUITY &
INCLUSION
SUMMIT
VAN JONES
OCTOBER 1 — 6–8 PM | TROTTER MULTICULTURAL CENTER
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OCTOBER 16 — 1–2:30 PM | MICHIGAN LEAGUE BALLROOM
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OCTOBER 21 — 12–2 PM | RACKHAM AUDITORIUM
“An Ingenious Way to Live”: Fostering Disability Culture in
Higher Education
OCTOBER 22 — 5–6:30 PM | PALMER COMMONS, FORUM HALL
DEI and Faith in Secular Spaces: Respecting Religious Identity
OCTOBER 23 — 12–2 PM | MICHIGAN LEAGUE BALLROOM
From #MeToo to #NowWhat: Cultivating Safe, Harassment-Free
Learning and Working Environments
OCTOBER 24 — 8:30 AM–5 PM | MICHIGAN LEAGUE BALLROOM
Young, Gifted, @Risk and Resilient: Promoting Mental Health
and Well-Being Among Students of Color
OCTOBER 7
Community Assembly & Discussion featuring CNN’s
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When
people
spewed
prognostications this offseason
about
Michigan’s
new-look
offense they generally centered
around
one
foundational
assumption: The offensive line
was going to be a strength.
Four of five starters returned
from a year ago. The fifth
starting spot was a choice of
luxury — between an athletic
young talent in Jalen Mayfield
and an experienced commodity
in Andrew Stueber — rather than
desperation. Michigan coach Ed
Warriner was set to return for a
second season. For the first time
in years, the trenches would be
of no concern.
At
least
that’s
how
the
thinking went.
Amid the litany of issues
plaguing the Michigan offense
this
year,
the
inexplicable
struggles up front have not been
lost on players and coaches.
“The offensive line, we talked
about that being an experienced
group,” said Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh on Monday. “They’ve
got to play good, they’ve got to
hustle, protect the quarterback,
they’ve got to play physical in
both areas, pass protection and
the run game. It’s our job to get
them to do that.”
The return of senior left
tackle Jon Runyan from injury,
fresh off a first-team All-Big Ten
campaign, promised to bring
stability back to the unit. If the
35-14 loss in Madison is any
indication, it will take more than
full health to restore order.
According to one unofficial
count, senior quarterback Shea
Patterson was hit 19 times
in Saturday’s blowout loss at
Wisconsin. After dealing with
an oblique injury the first two
weeks, Patterson left Saturday’s
contest with a shoulder ailment,
only to return in the fourth
quarter. All the while, the
Wolverines’ two quarterbacks
completed just 17 of 42 pass
attempts.
“That’s
another
area,
we
have got to do a better job of
protecting the QB,” Harbaugh
said. “Shea’s a tough guy, but you
have to give him time to throw
and make reads.”
Meanwhile,
the
rushing
attack was stifled from the get-
go, ostensibly quitting on itself
before too long. In total, the
team rushed for just 40 yards
on 19 carries, the fewest rushing
yards in a game since a 2013 loss
to Nebraska.
“I thought me coming back in
this rotation on the offensive line
would help see our struggles the
first two games,” Runyan said,
“and it was really disheartening
that I felt like I wasn’t really able
to to do anything extra out there
to help us do any better.”
Through three weeks, the
rebranded
Michigan
offense
has toiled in all-too-familiar
confusion. Intended to be an
offense predicated on options,
it has instead been defined by
indecision and incoherence. The
unit has averaged just 5.1 yards
per play and has accumulated
nine turnovers. Even against
two teams with drastic talent
gaps, the offense has struggled
to move the ball downfield with
any balance or regularity.
Some
of
these
offensive
struggles
fall
on
scheme.
Others on play-calling. But no
small share has been delegated
to an offensive line that has
categorically
under-achieved
thus far.
“We’ve got backs that need
holes. We expect our offensive
line to move people, and that
didn’t happen this past game,”
Harbaugh said. “We weren’t as
physical as our opponent on the
offensive line or the defensive
line.”
Added
Runyan:
“We
got
punched in the mouth, early and
often, and we were never really
able to recover from that. I take
credit in being part of that and
not being able to help this offense
move in the way that I wanted.”
None of this is to say the group
cannot find its footing. Just over
a year ago, fans agonized over
problems up front perceived to
be irreversible. Led by an overall
simplification from Warriner,
the group steadily improved
throughout the year. By the end,
it was a bona fide strength.
That
trajectory,
though,
makes the shaky start even more
confounding.
“Coming
into
the
season,
we thought we weren’t going
to be back in this boat, kinda
struggling,” Runyan said. “I
don’t think we’re struggling too
bad, how we were last year, with
all the experience we got coming
back. But, you know, you can’t
credit Wisconsin enough.
“... Like I said, we’re just trying
to focus on us now. That game is
behind us.”
Monday afternoon, a predictably
stoic Jim Harbaugh stood in front
of reporters, lamenting Michigan’s
physicality and hustle in Saturday’s
35-14 loss to Wisconsin.
A few minutes later, across the
room, fifth-year senior left tackle
Jon Runyan echoed his coach’s
sentiment.
“Looking back on the film, not
trying to call out anyone, but I feel
like there were some plays where
the effort could’ve been better,”
Runyan said. “I think along with
effort comes execution.”
With the root cause of Saturday’s
debacle
pinpointed,
Harbaugh
didn’t shy away from outlining his
plan for this week’s practices.
“Emphasis
on
physicality,
emphasis
on
toughness
and
emphasis on hustle,” Harbaugh
said. “We’ll make that part of the
practice plan more and also playing
the players that are dedicated and
playing physically at all times. Get
those players in the ballgame.”
On the surface, it’s a striking
indictment of his players. But
Harbaugh wouldn’t call it that,
instead looking introspectively
and promising improvement from
himself and the coaching staff.
That process, he said, would
start with this week’s practices.
So when senior linebacker
Josh Uche spoke with the media
Tuesday evening, it took less than
a minute for the topic of practice to
come up.
“Oh, it was amped up,” Uche
said. “We were ready to go, ready
to hit somebody. Had some 9-on-7.
Got real physical today.”
As for who brought that energy?
“Everybody,” Uche said. “Let
some steam off, hit each other,
man. Got real physical. Had a great
practice today. … All our practices
are physical, but today we made
it an emphasis to come out and
make this one of our really good
practices.”
Of course, Uche knows that
Saturday’s scar won’t be erased by
practices. That part will have to
wait until gamedays — specifically
those against Penn State, Notre
Dame, Michigan State and Ohio
State.
But the road to getting there
starts now, with an improved
focus on the practice fields. So
while talk throughout the bye
week surrounded fixing the “little
things,” it now centers on the
macro — physicality, toughness,
hustle.
According to fifth-year senior
defensive end Michael Danna,
that process of re-focusing started
with
the
Wolverines’
senior
leaders. Their weekly players’
meeting hasn’t happened yet, but
the seniors have made their voices
heard in the immediate aftermath
of Saturday’s loss.
“We were all devastated,”
Danna said. “We didn’t want to
go out like that. We didn’t want to
put that on national TV. We didn’t
want that on our record or on our
label or whatever. Cause that’s not
our identity and that’s not how
we play football. So you know,
it’s all about bouncing back when
adversity hits.”
Among Michigan’s senior class,
Danna is in a unique position,
having transferred from Central
Michigan as a graduate transfer
last offseason. It gives him less
experience in the Wolverines’
defense, sure, but it also gives
him a wider perspective through
which to view the unit’s identity.
“We’re a physical, hard-nosed
defense,” Danna said. “There’s
no doubt in my mind about that. I
spent all camp being here, seeing
it. There’s no doubt in my mind
we’re a hard-nosed defense.”
Saturday afternoon, Michigan
didn’t show it. Any Wolverine you
ask will tell you as much. Now,
the goal is to make sure it doesn’t
happen again.
“Some things just didn’t go
our way just because it didn’t, but
some things were fundamental
errors,”
Danna
said
of
the
Wisconsin game. “But like I said,
that’s what practice is for. We’re
gonna correct some things and
we’re gonna perfect some things.”
Hill to climb
Michigan’s bounceback week begins, as intense practice spearheads focus heading into Rutgers game on Saturday
MAX MARCOVITCH
Managing Sports Editor
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Senior left tackle Jon Runyan was disappointed in his inability to lift the level of play along the offensive line in his return.
Wolverines looking to replace
three key blueliners this season
Things look very different on
the blueline for Michigan this
year.
Last season, the Wolverines
were led defensively by Quinn
Hughes, Joseph Cecconi and
Nicholas Boka. Hughes was
drafted No. 7 overall by the
Vancouver Canucks in June
2018 and spent the vast majority
of last season playing on the
top
defensive
pairing
with
Cecconi, who joined the Dallas
Stars after the season ended.
Boka, while not the headliner
that Hughes and Cecconi were,
held down the right side of the
second pairing and headed
for the AHL’s Iowa Wild after
graduating.
With three of its staple
defensemen
off
to
play
professional hockey, Michigan
now has to figure out how to fill
their roles.
“We’re going to lose a little bit
of everything,” said Michigan
coach Mel Pearson on Tuesday.
“Some offense I think for sure
with Quinn and Cecconi. Nick
didn’t add a lot of offense, but
he did log some minutes on the
power play. I think that’s an area
that we have to make sure we
find someone to come in.”
Senior
defenseman
and
alternate captain Luke Martin
put things a bit more simply.
“We’re just losing a lot of
minutes.”
Martin and classmate Griffin
Luce should fill some of the
void left by Hughes, Boka and
Cecconi, but two players can’t
fill the hole left by three. And the
Wolverines’ other returners are
sophomores Nick Blankenburg,
Jack Summers and Jake Gingell,
all of whom needed to take
serious steps in the offseason to
be ready for their bigger roles.
Gingell, in particular, had
work to do to be prepared for a
bigger role this year. He dressed
for only one game last season
and didn’t see any time on the ice
in that matchup. Last December,
Pearson said the biggest area
Gingell needed to improve upon
was his skating, and Pearson
likes what he’s seen thus far.
“He’s made leaps and strides
from where he was last year
at this point,” Pearson said.
“He’s fit, his footwork’s gotten
better, he’s leaner. To me, the
biggest thing was the skating
and his ability to move and his
quickness. He’s gotten so much
better there. … He just looks so
much more confident and good
for him. You can tell he’s worked
hard.”
Blankenburg and Summers
filled larger roles than Gingell
did last year, but going from
freshmen
with
minimal
expectations
to
sophomores
who are expected to carry some
of the load is a big step.
“That’s really up to them to
decide, you know, how good do
they want to be?” Martin said.
“I think those are three guys
that bring it every day and are
really
passionate
about
the
culture here and bettering this
program. And they’re in a great
position here to really see some
big opportunities.”
To bolster its thin defensive
core after three key departures,
Michigan added three new
defensemen — two freshmen
and a graduate transfer — this
offseason.
Freshman
Cam
York
headlines
the
incoming
blueliners, as would be expected
for the No. 14 overall pick. But
Pearson is nearly just as excited
about freshman Keaton Pehrson
and graduate transfer Shane
Switzer, both of whom should
fill some of that stay-at-home
blueliner role that Boka left
behind.
Despite his enthusiasm about
the new defensive additions,
Pearson made it clear that
he doesn’t want to put undue
pressure
on
the
freshmen,
especially early in the year. His
expectation is for the returners
to shoulder the load, and the
newcomers are expected to fill
in the gaps.
“They’re not coming in to
replace (the returners),” Pearson
said. “It’s our returning guys
who have to take bigger roles,
like Summers and Blankenburg.
Gingell, he’s going to get an
opportunity. Those guys have to
take bigger roles now this year.
The freshmen have to be a good
supporting cast, they don’t have
to lead.”
Two
weeks
and
change
into practice, both Pearson
and Martin are pleased with
the growth they’ve seen from
the returning players and the
contributions the newcomers
are making.
But the loss of two seniors
and a first-round pick isn’t an
easy one to absorb, especially
for a team with limited depth
defensively.
On
any
given
night, Pearson will dress six
or seven defensemen — and
the Wolverines have just eight
defensive options on the roster.
That leaves little room to breathe
if there’s an injury and means
that Michigan will be relying on
all of its defensemen to step up
and fill their designated roles.
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior defenseman Luke Martin plays on the Wolverines’ blueline.