OL looks to carry improvement

As Michigan’s offense entered 
the 
season 
with 
sky-high 
expectations, every conversation 
was rooted in one assumption: 
The Wolverines would have a 
steady, reliable offensive line.
It was built into the widespread 
confidence in Shea Patterson’s 
growth and was the foundation 
behind the lack of concern in a 
run game that lost its top two ball-
carriers.
And the assumption made 
sense. Everyone except redshirt 
freshman 
right 
tackle 
Jalen 
Mayfield was a returning starter. 
Senior Ben Bredeson was a 
preseason All-American at left 
guard. Jon Runyan, Cesar Ruiz 
and Michael Onwenu had all 
blossomed into steady presences 
over the second half of 2018, 
earning 
varying 
All-Big 
Ten 
honors.
Then Runyan missed the first 
two games with a hand injury, 
creating instability in a unit that 
was supposed to be anything 
but. The result wasn’t pretty. The 
Wolverines struggled to pass 
protect against two overmatched 
defensive 
lines 
in 
Middle 
Tennessee State and Army.
Against Wisconsin, the unit 
finally burst. Shea Patterson rarely 
had time to look past his first read, 
and the running backs couldn’t 
find running lanes in a 35-14 
loss. It forced Jim Harbaugh into 
an assessment he couldn’t have 
dreamt of three weeks earlier.
“Offensive line, we talked about 
that being an experienced group,” 
Harbaugh said. “They gotta play 
good, they gotta hustle and they 
gotta protect the quarterback 
and they gotta play physical in 
both areas, in pass protection 
and the run game. It’s our job to 
get them to do that. We’ve got 
backs that need holes. We expect 
our offensive line to move people 
and that didn’t happen this past 
game.”
So as Michigan prepared to 

move beyond Wisconsin and 
salvage the rest of its season, 
physicality and hustle were heavy 
focuses in practice in the lead up to 
Saturday’s win over Rutgers. “We 
had a good week last week from a 
physicality standpoint,” Bredeson 
said. “I thought we really upped 
that from the week before against 
Wisconsin.”
But the Wolverines’ struggles 
went beyond that. An offensive 
line 
whose 
reputation 
was 
predicated on familiarity couldn’t 
get out of its own way, mixing pre-
snap penalties with holding calls 
and missed assignments.
“Just trying to make sure we 
get all our calls situated, trying 
to stay out of third-and-long 
situations,” 
Bredeson 
said 
of 
the focuses in practice after the 
Wisconsin game. “If we can get 
some yards on first and second 
down, then we won’t have to be 
in such obvious passing situations 
and that helps our protection a 
lot. Just working with (Ruiz) and 
getting the communication from 
all the positions on the line, letting 
everybody know where things 
need to be, where to slide, where 
we’re IDing things.”
The result was an offensive line 
performance that finally lived up 
to expectations. Patterson was 
still brought down for one official 
“sack,” but it came on a scramble 
out of bounds, just short of the line 
of scrimmage.
Pressure, in the traditional 

sense, was virtually non-existent. 
And for a team that was never 
supposed to worry about its 
offensive line, that’s a promising 
sign, even against Rutgers.
“I 
thought 
the 
pass 
pro 
improved a lot,” Bredeson said. 
“We were able to make some 
big in-game adjustments in the 
middle of the drive, which was 
something that we were really 
happy to see. And we had some 
small mistakes, came together, 
corrected it and were able to keep 
moving with no issues.”
Added Harbaugh: “That’s some 
of the things that we’ve been 
seeing in practice for a couple 
months now. And it was good to 
see that in the game.”
Now, the question becomes 
whether Michigan can replicate 
that performance against Iowa. 
When a reporter described the 
Hawkeyes as a “measuring stick” 
for the Wolverines’ growth since 
Wisconsin, Bredeson said, “You 
hit it right on the head.”
That, of course, can go two 
ways. Replicating its performance 
in Madison would be a death blow 
to Michigan’s season goals. But 
right now, that’s not what this 
offensive line is thinking about.
“Going against a strong defense 
like (Iowa) — I thought we had 
a good offensive week this past 
week,” Bredeson said. “And just 
carrying that on and getting to 
that next step would be huge for 
us.”

Run game proves vital for identity

The 
football 
theory 
of 
establishing the run has been long 
disproven. There’s no correlation 
between running the ball early 
and winning games, no matter 
how many coaches or players 
insist otherwise. And there’s no 
statistical reason to particularly 
care about establishing the run.
But stats aren’t everything. And 
for Michigan, it’s about something 
more than finding a statistical 
correlation to winning.
All last week, in the wake of 
Wisconsin 
manhandling 
the 
Wolverines, 
we 
heard 
about 
how Michigan wanted to be 
more physical. How when the 
Wolverines lost that, rushing for 
just 40 yards on 19 tries against the 
Badgers, they lost their identity.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise 
that Michigan came out running 
against Rutgers, and it shouldn’t 
come as a surprise that it did so 
successfully.
“It’s important,” said senior 
guard Ben Bredeson. “You gotta 
establish the run, like you said, to 
(set up) our passes. Thought we did 
a good job with that, thought we 
ran the ball well on Saturday.”
The 
Wolverines 
scampered 
for 141 yards on the ground, their 

highest mark since the opener 
against Middle Tennessee, as their 
offense found a coherent rhythm 
for the first time all year. The runs 
set up Josh Gattis’ option game, and 
senior quarterback Shea Patterson 
looked comfortable making reads 
in the new offense for the first time.
Unlike in week two against 
Army, 
when 
freshman 
Zach 
Charbonnet carried the ball 33 
times, Michigan kept its rotation 
mixed. That’s in part due to a 
lingering injury to Charbonnet, 
who had just five carries, but 
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh 
indicated that a committee setup 
could be here to stay.
“I liked the fact that you can 
split it up, maybe 20, 20, 20, maybe 
a few for a fourth guy,” Harbaugh 
said. “But Zach played really well. 
Christian Turner played really well 
in this game, had some really fine 
runs. And Hassan Haskins really 
played well.”
That fourth guy, presumably, 
would 
be 
Tru 
Wilson, 
who 
returned from a broken hand with 
four carries for 13 yards. Wilson 
said Monday he played with a pad 
on his hand, but it didn’t affect him.
Even against Rutgers in a 
relatively successful game on the 
ground, the numbers weren’t 
completely 
there. 
Michigan 
averaged just 3.4 yards per carry, 

and even with the caveats of 
garbage time, sacks and a lot of 
carries in the red zone, that number 
should raise eyebrows.
That’s where, to buy that the 
Wolverines found the success they 
were looking for on the ground, 
you need to buy that it was as much 
about the mentality as the bottom-
line number.
“I think we just got in a rhythm 
early and like I said, this offense 
gets in a rhythm, you can see 
the big plays that we can create,” 
Bredeson said. “That’s something 
we were able to do and we kept 
rolling with it.” 
Certainly, that much is true.
A healthier Charbonnet will 
presumably make the stats look 
better. But like everything in 
Saturday’s 52-0 win, 3.4 yards per 
carry comes with the asterisk of 
being against Rutgers, arguably the 
worst team in the Power Five.
Iowa, a team that’s giving up 
just 78.5 yards on the ground per 
game, will provide a stiffer test this 
Saturday. Don’t expect Michigan to 
stray away from its principles.
“Being a Michigan running back, 
it’s really important (to establish 
the run) because throughout the 
years, you see that they’re just a 
punishing running team,” Wilson 
said. “Just building an identity of 
being a physical team.”

ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor

KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Freshman running back Zach Charbonnet was limited against the Scarlet Knights due to a lingering injury.

Amid criticism, D-Line bounces back

A 
week 
ago, 
Michigan’s 
defensive line — so vaunted a 
year ago — left Madison among 
the most beleaguered units on 
a team that faced criticism at 
every position.
The criticism centered on 
the run game, in which the 
Wolverines allowed 359 yards 
and five touchdowns. Hidden 
behind 
those 
eye-popping 
numbers, Michigan’s pass rush 
also struggled, finishing with 
only one sack and allowing 
Wisconsin quarterback Jack 
Coan ample time to throw all 
game en route to a 13-for-16 
performance.
“(Wisconsin) controlled the 
game,” Michigan coach Jim 
Harbaugh said after the game. 
“With the running game, it was 
easy to see that and make the 
big plays as well, so (running 
back Jonathan Taylor) was 
impressive.”
Any 
bounceback 
the 
Wolverines provided against 
Rutgers was always going to be 
shrouded in the caveat of the 
opponent. 
While 
Wisconsin 
features one of the nation’s best 
offensive lines, Rutgers was 
overmatched 
by 
Michigan’s 
athleticism.
Still, 
dominating 
Rutgers 
beats the alternative.
Early on, it looked as if the 
easiest remaining game on 
Michigan’s 
schedule 
might 
not be as simple as promised. 
Quarterback Artur Sitkowski 
completed five straight passes, 
taking Rutgers into the red 
zone as Michigan’s defense 
unexpectedly 
found 
itself 
on the ropes on its second 
possession of the day.
As 
Sitkowski 
rolled 
out 
on 
fourth-and-5 
from 
the 
Wolverines’ 8-yard line, there 
was a sense that the play 
carried a greater importance 
than seven meaningless points 
in what would soon become a 
blowout. This was Michigan’s 
chance to put a week of talk 
about bouncing back to the test. 
So when sophomore defensive 
end 
Aidan 
Hutchinson 
stopped Sitkowski at the line 

of scrimmage, the Wolverines’ 
defense reacted accordingly.
“It 
was 
great,” 
said 
sophomore 
linebacker 
Cam 
McGrone. “You always bring 
your best on those fourth downs 
when they try to disrespect you 
and say that they can get this 
first down and get in the end 
zone so it was really good to get 
that. We needed that.”
For the rest of the day, 
Rutgers’ offense reverted to 
what was expected of it. All 10 of 
the Scarlet Knights’ remaining 
drives ended in their own 
territory. Just three featured 
first-down conversions.
Though 
Michigan’s 
pass 
rush finished with just one 
more sack than it did against 
Wisconsin, 
its 
constant 
pressure 
was 
obvious 
throughout. After looking at 
ease during points in the first 
quarter, Sitkowski rarely had 
time to look beyond his first 
read, 
forcing 
incompletions 
and dump-offs when Rutgers 
needed chunk plays.
“Man, the pressure they 
got, they made it easy on the 
secondary and the linebackers,” 
McGrone said. “It was just 
great from them and helped us 
... cause they couldn’t throw it 
anywhere, they had no time.”
The 
run 
defense 
also 
rebounded, limiting the Scarlet 
Knights to 46 yards on 29 
attempts. Their biggest run of 
the day went for just six yards 
— a touch below Wisconsin’s 
average of 6.3 per carry last 
week.
“That’s a position group 
that 
was 
really 
challenged 

during the week — the inside 
players, the nose, the three-
techniques,” Harbaugh said. 
“And I thought that group 
really responded well.”
And yes, the biggest reason 
for that response was the 
opponent. 
McGrone 
even 
admitted to needing to replicate 
Saturday’s performance next 
week, “against a better team” 
in No. 14 Iowa.
One difference that will carry 
over to Iowa is the presence of 
senior defensive tackle Michael 
Dwumfour. While Dwumfour 
sat for most of the first three 
games, a hodgepodge of players 
playing out of position failed 
to make up his production 
beside Carlo Kemp, leaving 
gaping holes in the middle 
of Michigan’s defense. In his 
return to significant playing 
time, 
the 
difference 
was 
instantly notable.
“Mike had a huge impact,” 
said junior defensive end Kwity 
Paye. “Mike’s one of our best 
pass rushers so to have him in 
there on our stunts, to be able 
to pressure the quarterback 
was huge. So I’m happy he’s 
back.”

Where 
Michigan’s 

performance on the defensive 
line against Iowa next week falls 
on the vast spectrum between 
its showings against Wisconsin 
and Rutgers remains to be seen. 
But against the Scarlet Knights, 
the Wolverines did all they 
could, quieting criticism for at 
least one week.
“We got that goose egg on 
the board,” McGrone said. “And 
that’s what we needed.”

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor

KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Kwity Paye was part of a much-improved defensive line against Rutgers.

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor

RUCHITA IYER/Daily
Guard Ben Bredeson called Iowa a measuring stick for Michigan’s offensive line.

8 — Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

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