8A — Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Film breakdown: How Michigan’s first drive set tone for Gattis to follow

Of all the contrasts to draw 
between Michigan’s first three 
games and its win over Rutgers 
on Saturday, the most striking 
was also the first.
For the first three games of 
the season, the Wolverines put 
the ball on the ground on their 
first drive. And all three times, 
it foreshadowed a disappointing 
offensive performance.
Against Rutgers, Michigan 
came out firing. The Wolverines 
played mistake-free football to 
start, stuck to their guns and 
scored in five plays. Then they 
marched down the field again 
on the second drive, going up 
14-0 before 10 minutes of game 
time had passed. Call it a result 
of Josh Gattis calling plays from 
the field or a result of simply 
playing a defense as porous as 
Rutgers’. But, as the Wolverines 
worked off their script for the 
opening 
drive, 
the 
offense 
looked the way it was advertised 
for the first time all season.
The Daily dove into the tape of 
that drive to find out why.
First-and-10: 
Zach Charbonnet 6-yard run 
In the wake of last week’s loss 
at Wisconsin, we heard a lot about 
offensive identity. Specifically, 
the Wolverines wanted to run 
the ball more after throwing 
more than 40 times against the 
Badgers.
Against Rutgers, Michigan 
starts by running a counter, 
clearly with establishing the 
run in mind. But this play has 
jet motion attached, so the 
linebackers get caught going the 
wrong way. In theory, senior 
quarterback 
Shea 
Patterson 
could turn this into an option 
with receiver Ronnie Bell, the 
player in motion, as well. 
Second-and-4: Ronnie Bell 
14-yard catch
This is a slight tweak to the 
way Gattis ran things for the 

first few weeks. It’s a run-pass 
option, but instead of Patterson 
standing 
back 
in the pocket, 
the play turns 
into 
a 
naked 
bootleg, as the 
offensive 
line 
goes left while 
Patterson 
goes 
right, 
without 
any protection.
Patterson 
has 
looked 
uncomfortable 
running RPOs with dropbacks 
attached. Rarely had he gotten 
to break the pocket and throw 
on the move, an area in which 

he excelled in 2018. Here, Gattis 
puts Patterson in a position to 
do that without 
compromising 
his 
own 
philosophy.
First-and-10: 
Christian 
Turner 2-yard 
run
Gattis 
keeps 
it basic on first 
down again, this 
time with a pin-
and-pull. 
Like 
the first run of the game, it 
seems to have an RPO attached 
with 
Bell, 
but 
Patterson 
hands the ball off and Rutgers 

linebacker Avery Young makes a 
nice play on the stop.
Second-
and-8: Christian 
Turner 10-yard 
run
This is the first 
run of the game 
that 
appears 
to be a straight 
give, 
with 
no 
read of any kind 
attached. It’s just 
inside zone, hat 
on a hat — the 
kind of thing Michigan excelled 
at doing last season, which is 
apparent here.
The 
line 
moves 
people, 

Turner hits the hole and it goes 
for a considerable gain. This is 
just as you draw 
it up.
First-
and-10: 
Nico 
Collins 
touchdown, 
48-yard catch
There’s 
nothing 
complicated 
going on here, 
and 
that’s 
the 
beauty 
of it. Collins is matched up 
against a smaller, less athletic 
cornerback. Gattis isolates him 
with a flat route while freshman 

tight end Erick All runs the 
other way. It’s what everyone 
clamored for Collins to get — a 
chance to win a 1-on-1 matchup 
with his physical ability.
And 
he 
does 
just 
that, 
getting initial separation on 
the route, then runs right by 
the defensive back and has a 
clear path to the end zone.
Gattis’ problem for the first 
three weeks of the year was 
that he couldn’t find a way to 
imprint his philosophy onto 
Michigan’s 
personnel. 
For 
all the talk about identity, all 
you had to do to see what the 
Wolverines wanted to be was 
go on Twitter at any point in 
the last six months. Actually 
doing it in a game, though, is 
a different matter altogether.
On Saturday, from the first 
play, Gattis seemed to have it 
figured out.
That all comes with the 
asterisk that it was against 
Rutgers. But the emphasis 
on 
getting 
Patterson 
out 
of the pocket was obvious 
throughout. So was using their 
best receivers in the passing 
game. 
Collins, 
Donovan 
Peoples-Jones and Tarik Black 
were noticeably more involved. 
More than that, Gattis put 
them in positions to use their 
physical skill, like that throw 
to Collins, or a fade to Peoples-
Jones on the next drive.
The first drive set a tone 
that went on for the rest of 
the game — Gattis’ ideology 
tailored to this roster. It’s no 
coincidence 
that 
Michigan 
scored 52 points once the 
coaching staff started to think 
about how those two elements 
could work in tandem instead 
of forcing one on the other.
Whether 
the 
Wolverines 
can replicate it against Iowa 
or Penn State is another story. 
But for now, they at least know 
what the plans should look 
like.

ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor

RUCHITA IYER/Daily
Senior quarterback Shea Patterson displayed his ability to make a bevy of different throws and rushes, scoring four total touchdowns in a 52-0 win over Rutgers.

The first drive 
set a tome that 
went on for 
the... game.

Against 
Rutgers, 
Michigan came 
out firing.

Collins remains patient with offense

Nico 
Collins 
leaned 
back 
against the ledge at Schembechler 
Hall and smiled. His semi-
sarcastic laugh didn’t nullify the 
validity of his answer, though.
“I’m always open,” he joked, 
before the next question came 
flying in.
It’s a phrase many players 
say, with varying degrees of 
seriousness. But it’s easy to get 
the sense that the 6-foot-4 Collins 
believes it.
“I feel like as a receiving 
corps, 
we’re 
always 
open,” 
Collins reiterated. “I believe in 
our guys, and Shea believes in 
us. And I believe he can give us 
opportunities to go make a play.”
Collins’ answer, though basic, 
stripped down the essence of a 
potentially potent passing attack 
to its bare bones. It underscored 
the 
optimism 
that 
was 
so 
pervasive around this unit before 
the season, and even offered a hint 
of what Collins and others believe 
could still be coming.
Collins himself posted 632 
yards and six touchdowns in 2018, 
seemingly a sign of an impending 
breakout year before a legitimate 
NFL 
decision 
would 
arrive. 
Then Michigan hired offensive 
coordinator Josh Gattis, who 
brought a history of producing 
current and future NFL talent, 
like Chris Godwin, DaeSean 
Hamilton, Jerry Jeudy and Jordan 
Matthews, among others.
He brought a concept of “speed 
in space”, which was quite an 
appealing vision. Put your best 
players in the best position to 
make plays. 
By any measure, Collins is one 
of Michigan’s best players. And by 
those same objective measures, 
his 10 catches though four games 
tell the tale of scant usage in what 
was supposed to be a defining 
year.
In the Wolverines 35-14 loss 
at Wisconsin, Collins was among 
those who outwardly displayed 
signs of frustrated On one 
particular route in the fourth 
quarter, Collins’ cornerback fell 
down mere yards past the line of 
scrimmage. Collins, hand raised, 

watched with the entire crowd as 
Patterson’s pass sailed well over 
the intended receiver, draped in 
double-coverage. 
“We were losing — there’s 
always going to be frustration 
when you lose,” Collins said. “Not 
really, it was just open, it’s alright, 
it is what it is, next play. I’m not 
going to hold a grudge. There were 
times I was open, but I know Shea 
is going to find me next time.”
Late in that game, Collins 
started to become more involved. 
On one drive in the fourth quarter, 
he caught three targets for 79 
yards, though one of the catches 
was nullified for pass interference. 
Still, the downfield sequence left 
fans wondering where that was 
two hours prior.
That loss led to a week of 
introspection, both with the 
receiving corps and with the 
offense writ large. Collins said 
the group honed its emphasis 
on attention to detail, which 
translated to a clean 52-0 win 
against Rutgers. The win included 
a 48-yard touchdown for Collins, 
who caught a seven-yard out 
route, turned upfield and sprinted 
down the sideline for the score. 
It looked easy. Speed met space. 
Almost as though finding your 
best players is both simple and 
smart.
Still, Gattis has been adamant 
that this offense, at its best, does 

not force-feed anybody. When 
it’s 
humming, 
everyone 
and 
everything will be an option, he 
emphasized.
“We talk about being balanced; 
balance for us is not run or pass,” 
Gattis said. “Balance is how many 
guys touch the ball. We want to 
be balanced from that standpoint; 
that the ball is being distributed 
to all of our playmakers and all of 
our skill guys.”
But when a player of Collins’ 
caliber only has 10 catches, there 
is a reasonable question as to 
whether everything has been 
over-thought. Collins and juniors 
Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tarik 
Black are among the three best 
weapons — if not the three best — 
this team has. 
To not use them repeatedly, 
particularly 
amid 
offensive 
troubles, would be to self-restrict 
this group’s ceiling.
Asked where this offense can 
still go, Collins started down a 
laundry list.
“Trusting the play-calling,” 
he said. “Receivers working on 
our details. Watching film from 
Wisconsin, what can we do 
better? We can always improve 
as a receiving corps, and Shea can 
always improve as a quarterback. 
We can always improve.”
What 
wasn’t 
said, 
though 
seemingly implied: He’s always 
open.

Christian Turner staying level 
after first career touchdown

Ten months removed from the 
hype of the Peach Bowl, in front of 
an emptying stadium as a blowout 
took hold, Christian Turner finally 
scored.
He emerged from the pile, a 
grin visible from inside his helmet 
and briefly celebrated before 
jogging back to the sideline as 
Michigan’s lead over Rutgers grew 
to 31. He didn’t want to bask in it. 
Still doesn’t. “Don’t want to make 
that some spectacular moment I 
think about for the rest of my life,” 
Turner said Tuesday evening.
Turner, a sophomore running 
back, has already experienced the 
fleeting nature of these things. In 
Michigan football’s ecosystem — a 
fan base yearning for the next hit of 
serotonin and a roster constantly 
churned by competition — hype 
doesn’t last long. High praise 
about practice performance is met 
with wariness until anybody sees 
it in a game.
In the run-up to last year’s 
Peach Bowl, Turner was the 
subject of that spotlight. He heard 
it from Jim Harbaugh, from his 
fellow running backs, from the 
rest of the offense. “He’s been 
tearing it up all Christmas camp,” 
Jon Runyan Jr. said in the days 
before, echoing general sentiment.
In the game, for a brief moment 
before everything fell apart, he 
delivered on it, darting across 
the formation, taking a handoff, 
cutting 
upfield, 
hugging 
the 
boundary, going into the end zone 
untouched. Then the touchdown 
got called back on a penalty, and 
Turner finished the game with 
32 yards — less than he would 
have gotten on that play alone had 
it stood. As spring approached, 
conversation turned to a new 
offense and a new running back, 
Zach Charbonnet. It stayed there 
this fall, as Charbonnet racked up 
48 carries, even as Turner notched 
more touches in four weeks (34) 
than the 21 he did all of last season.
On Tuesday, Turner was put 
in front of the media and gave 
a rush of cliches in a low voice. 

Buried underneath them, a quiet 
confidence simmered.
“It took some pressure off,” 
Turner said of his touchdown. 
“I finally got to the end zone, but 
now I just want to get comfortable 
scoring. I don’t want to just get 
complacent.”
Turner said his pass protection 
is still developing, a lingering 
product of the 
transition 
to 
college. 
He 
stressed that he 
didn’t get down 
last year when 
he sat nor when 
he got hurt. He’s 
staying 
level 
now, too, as the 
Wolverines try to 
develop a more 
steady 
rotation 
of carries. All the right things.
In 
high 
school, 
Turner’s 
coach stressed the importance of 
keeping things steady. Turner was 
splitting carries with Anthony 
Grant, now a sophomore at Florida 
State, and Derrian Brown, a Texas 
signee in the 2019 class. They 
had a great backfield, but Turner 
played a lot less than most three-
star recruits who get high-major 
offers. He kept his coach’s advice 
in mind last year. It’s not far from 
his mind now, either.
“You can’t control everything 
that’s gonna happen to you in your 

life, but you can control how you 
react to it and how you respond 
to it,” Turner said. “That’s the R 
factor.”
Still, when he got to Michigan, 
Turner got caught trying to run 
straight forward. Asked Tuesday 
about what he carried into this 
year from those bowl practices 
in December, Turner mentioned 
complacency 
twice. 
“Or 
just 
thinking 
I’m 
already 
there 
when 
I 
hadn’t 
really 
done 
anything yet,” he 
said.
To be clear, he 
knew there would 
be 
a 
learning 
curve, and still 
acknowledges 
that there’s aways to go. Last 
year, Karan Higdon told him to 
be patient. Turner brought it up 
in the context of running the ball 
and waiting for a hole to open up. 
It was hard not to see a bigger 
picture coming into focus.
“I was just trying to outrun 
everybody,” Turner said. “He was 
the one that told me, if you keep 
trying to do that, you’re gonna 
get hit pretty hard.”
On Saturday, instead of going 
down when he got hit, Turner 
moved the pile and crossed the 
ball over the plane.

MAX MARCOVITCH
Managing Sports Editor

ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor

KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Junior Nico Collins caught a 48-yard touchdown pass on Saturday.

KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Sophomore running back Christian Turner scored his first career touchdown.

Don’t want to 
make that some 
spectacular 
moment...

