6A — Thursday, October 31, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
‘Cees in Space’: Ruiz hitting stride
Cesar Ruiz sat atop the
podium,
smirking
frequently
and bantering with junior guard
Michael Onwenu to his right.
The confidence oozed — perhaps
due to the 57-carry, 303-yard
demolition his unit had just
orchestrated, perhaps simply a
product of his happy-go-lucky
attitude.
“We said in the locker room
we knew what kind of game
it was going to be,” Ruiz said
after the game. “We changed
the openers a little bit. We knew
we were gonna be ground and
pounding a lot today. It’s the
game we’ve been waiting for. We
love running the ball. And just,
we knew today was gonna be
the day we were gonna be able to
showcase it.”
It wasn’t simply that Ruiz
and the rest of the offensive
line had its way with a physical
Notre Dame defense, but the
manner in which it happened. In
a persistent rain, the Irish knew
Michigan was going to run.
The Wolverines did so anyway,
putting hat on hat, winning
individual matchups, completely
taking over the game en rout to a
45-14 win.
When
Ruiz
arrived
at
Michigan, the offensive line
was
among
this
program’s
biggest flaws; his commitment
was a major boon. Now, that
group appears to be the team’s
foundation, and the Notre Dame
game was just the latest evidence
of the group’s evolution. The
coaches said Ruiz graded out the
highest among a group of highly-
graded linemen on Saturday.
“I thought he had his best
game as a Michigan Wolverine,”
said
Michigan
coach
Jim
Harbaugh on his radio show
Monday night. “He was doing
so many athletic things in this
ball game. He had a touchdown
block. And on that one, where he
did pull and got the block on the
linebacker, you actually see him
checking the gap before he went
on his pull.”
Ruiz
has
started
from
day one, arriving with the
Wolverines after a year at IMG
Academy in Florida. He was
a top-tier recruit, as close to a
finished product as they come.
He appeared in 10 games in
2017, his freshman season, and
started at guard in the final five
— both merited by pure talented
and warranted by necessity.
Still, there are times in every
successful
collegiate
career
when things really click — when
the speed and complication
ceases, and football becomes
football again. Ruiz always
had too much talent to fail,
but there have been times of
inconsistency in the first couple
years of his career.
Any such struggles appear to
be ways of the past now.
“I have two starting centers
in
the
National
Football
League, both started as rookies.
He has that kind of ability some
day to get to that point,” said
Michigan offensive line coach
Ed Warriner in April 2018, the
spring preceding Ruiz’s second
season. “Not yet, he’s just a
young kid. But if he keeps going,
I know what they look like.”
That was, presumably, mere
months after the two had met.
All Warriner had to do was
flash Ruiz’s high school tape to
know he’d be relying on Ruiz
early and often. All Ruiz had
to do was toss a cursory Google
search of Warriner’s history to
understand why that need went
both ways.
The comfort level with Ruiz
is now obvious, and all parties
are reaping the benefits.
“He’s good in space — we
tease him, ‘Cees in space,’ We
joke around about that. We
got into a situation with the
defenses where we were playing
where we were able to pull him
some, get him on the perimeter,
and he likes doing that.”
Added Harbaugh: “The level
of him understanding the game
has really grown where he can
know the front, see rotations
now and even when he goes
to put his head between his
legs to snap the ball back to
Shea,” Harbaugh said. “He’s
got a pretty good idea where
his man is going to be even if
that linebacker moved or that
down-lineman
moved.
It’s
extraordinary.”
After Saturday’s game, Ruiz
and Onwenu were asked a
question about whether this
kind of performance had been
building. Onwenu went first,
providing a diplomatic answer.
Ruiz nodded immediately,
smiled and nudged toward his
microphone.
“I knew it was coming sooner
or later.”
Defense mixing in more zone looks
Five
months
after
The
Game happened, Don Brown
was still getting asked about
it. His vaunted defense, one
that dominated 10 straight
teams and seemed like a train
rolling into Columbus last year,
couldn’t stand up to Ohio State.
The
Buckeyes
whipped
Michigan, scoring 62 points on
the back of crossing route after
crossing route, with the basic
man-coverage
beaters
doing
their jobs. And when spring ball
came around last April, Brown
was still answering for it.
It was clear at the time
that Brown, the Wolverines’
defensive coordinator, wasn’t
about to back away from his
philosophies. Not now, not at
age 64, not when he’s piloted
one of the best defenses in the
country since first stepping
into Schembechler Hall in 2016.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t
going to address the issue at
hand.
That
brings
us
to
last
Saturday, as Notre Dame dialed
up play after play designed to
beat man coverage. When he
saw zone, quarterback Ian Book
reeled.
“We have been playing a lot
more zone,” said cornerbacks
coach
Mike
Zordich
on
Wednesday. “I think it’s helped
in a lot of aspects, especially in
the passing game, cause they’re
not expecting it.”
Michigan doesn’t need to
be a zone team to be effective
running zone. Football is a
chess match — if you can throw
something different at your
opponent than what they’re
expecting,
you’re
probably
going to come out on top.
That was what happened
Saturday, as Book stared into
the zone coverages like a test
he hadn’t studied for. It didn’t
help that there was a monsoon
during the first half, or that
Brian Kelly’s playcalling didn’t
seem to account for the weather.
But Book finished 8-for-25
with just 73 passing yards. “I
definitely think he was a little
confused,” said junior safety
Brad Hawkins on Monday.
Brown’s base zone coverage
is called “Eagle.” It’s not new
— he’s had it in his playbook
for a long time — but he’s now
deploying it more liberally.
As far as self-scouting goes,
any evaluation of Michigan
under Brown would have shown
a team married to single-high
coverage with a tendency to
blitz liberally. That, to be clear,
is not a bad thing. Anything
that gets you to the sustained
success Brown has had is the
opposite.
But a lack of ability to do much
else well put the Wolverines on
the back foot in Columbus last
year. And ultimately, beating
teams of that caliber is still the
hump Michigan still needs to
get over.
Against
Notre
Dame,
a
rival and a top-10 team, the
Wolverines managed to shut
things down with a healthy
mix. They still know who they
are, and they certainly aren’t
about to stray from Brown’s
aggressive philosophy. “Within
all that zone coverage, there’s
still pressure,” Zordich said.
“So that is a big plus for us.”
Still,
adapting
to
each
opponent has been an emphasis.
“Every week, Don does add
a little different flavoring into
it,” Zordich said. “Little change
in the pattern, here or there.
You have to make changes
weekly, but the core of it pretty
much stays the same, and that’s
how you get better.”
As Michigan tries to bridge
the gap that has defined the
program, going from a team
that makes its living against
lackluster
competition
to
one that can beat anyone,
adjustments like that are a
necessity.
Ohio State exposed that hole
last year, and Brown seemed
to slam it shut against Notre
Dame.
“It
definitely
has
teams
guessing,” Hawkins said. “Has
quarterbacks guessing.”
It
doesn’t
solve
every
problem for the defense, and
the Fighting Irish should not be
mistaken for the Buckeyes. But
it is clear that while everyone
was still dwelling on Michigan’s
problems last spring, Brown
was working on a solution.
“Don Brown called a great
game,” said Michigan coach
Jim Harbaugh on Saturday. “He
really had it wired. Can’t say
enough about that.”
Wednesday night’s exhibition
against Division II Northwood
offered an opportunity for the
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team to showcase its talent
working at peak level.
Leaning on their superior size
and tough defense, the Wolverines
ran
with
that
opportunity,
dominating the Timberwolves,
97-46.
Michigan opened the night
on a 12-0 run and finished the
first quarter up 30-11, behind
senior forward Kayla Robbins’
eight points on 3-for-3 shooting.
Keeping up the pressure, it put
Northwood into foul trouble early,
drawing four fouls in the first three
minutes of the game. This forced
the Timberwolves into a more
tentative approach defensively,
opening up space down low.
As a result, the Wolverines’
bigs feasted, spearheading the
team’salmost unfathomable 58
points in the paint.
“I think (scoring in the paint) is
something that our team has got to
do this year,” said Michigan coach
Kim Barnes Arico. “Because our
post game is our strength, and our
ability to score in the paint.”
Senior guard Akienreh Johnson
aided the Wolverines’ dominant
offensive attack early on, adding
seven first-quarter points of her
own, including a 3-pointer that
helped Michigan balloon its lead
at the end of the first quarter.
In
the
second
quarter,
sophomore forward Naz Hillmon
and freshman forward Izabel
Varejão stepped up. Hillmon
tallied seven points on 3-for-3
shooting before she was subbed
out midway through the quarter.
She and Varejão, who notched 10
points of her own in the second
quarter, proved to be a lethal one-
two punch on both sides of the
ball. Their length helped them
to anchor defense that held the
Timberwolves to just eight points
in the second quarter.
“I feel like me and Naz have
a really good game together,”
Varejão said. “Because I can shoot,
and she can post up.”
Varejão was just one example
in a game full of young players
seizing the opportunity to shine
against inferior talent. Sophomore
forward Emily Kiser — who
didn’t see much playing time as a
freshman — tallied 10 points on
4-of-4 shooting, and freshman
guard Michelle Sidor notched
eight points on 2-of-6 shooting.
Freshman guard Maddie Nolan
added four points of her own — all
from the free-throw line.
“Michelle is a power shooter,”
Varejão said. “ … She made a few
threes, she was being patient.
Maddie hustling — that’s her
thing, she hustled. So I feel like
we (freshmen) did what we were
supposed to do.”
The Wolverines maintained
their 55-19 halftime lead with elite
defense, holding Northwood to a
dismal 25 percent shooting in the
third quarter and 34.5 percent
over the whole second half.
“(We used) our length to get
steals,
deflections
and
tips,”
Johnson said. “Even something
as small as close out, put your
hands up, really takes away their
shot and makes their shooting
percentage go down.”
Added Barnes Arico: “Our
communication (on defense) was
better (than in practice). We
were way more aggressive from
the tip. We didn’t sustain it for 40
minutes, but that’s our next step
in our development.”
The
Michigan
women’s
basketball team began its season
on Wednesday with an exhibition
against Northwood. With three of
its main rotation players from last
season not returning, it was an
opportunity for the Wolverines’
younger players to earn minutes
before the regular season.
Michigan’s
three
freshmen
— guard Maddie Nolan, guard
Michelle Sidor and center Izabel
Varejão — all took advantage of
their first in-game opportunity to
impress the coaching staff.
Varejão was the standout of
the trio. In 21 minutes, she led
the team with 18 points, shooting
8-for-10 from the floor — tacking
on six rebounds, three blocks
and two steals. When she was on
the floor she made her presence
felt
the
paint,
scoring 16 points
inside, and her
teammates
continued to look
for her for easy
baskets.
“It
feels
great, honestly,”
Varejão
said.
“Before your first
game,
being
a
freshman, you’re
a little nervous.
… It’s my first time playing college
basketball, and then I go out there
and I play well like I did today.
It just encourages me for next
game.”
Varejão also showed that she
can be a threat from 3-point
range. Towards the end of the
fourth quarter she attempted a
three, and while it did not fall, her
shot appeared comfortable from
deep. An ability to score in the
paint and on the perimeter could
make Varejão a difficult player to
defend.
“I usually shoot threes but today
didn’t have many opportunities,”
Varejão said. “...it’s hard to block
(6-foot-4) players especially if it’s
threes, so it just gives me more
options in the game.”
While
Varejão
racked
up
statistics,
Nolan
impacted
the game in ways that didn’t
necessarily show up in the box
score and earned minutes with
four of the starters to start the
fourth quarter. In the second
quarter, Nolan missed a three, but
hustled to get her own rebound
and found sophomore forward
Naz Hillmon under the basket,
which resulted in two free throws.
In the fourth quarter, Nolan dove
on the floor for a loose ball, a play
that caught the attention of senior
guard Akienreh Johnson.
“Maddie came in and got down
on the ball,” Johnson said. “I don’t
know if you guys have seen her,
but she’s got that knee brace, but
she’s still on the ground, she does
not care.”
Of the three freshmen, she was
not as highly-touted of a recruit as
Varejão and Sidor, but Michigan
coach
Kim
Barnes Arico saw
a lot positives in
her game.
“I think any
time
you
can
have
a
player
that understands
their
role
and
buys into what
you need them
to do to help
the
team
be
successful, they
are an unbelievable addition to the
team,” Barnes Arico said. “She’s
just gradually getting better and
better each and every single day,
and I’m gaining confidence in
her ability to really help us be
successful.”
Sidor
showed
how
her
quickness could be a game-
changer
for
the
Wolverines.
Throughout the second quarter,
Sidor had the opportunity to run
the point and consistently pushed
the pace. She scored six points in
her six minutes in that quarter
alone, along with an assist and a
steal.
“I think we really want her
to push the pace, but that kid
is a scorer,” Barnes Arico said.
“She’s a bucket-getter and I
think she really needs to have
that mentality on the floor for us
because she does shoot the three
exceptionally well and she can
score around the rim. So I want
her to be aggressive, and I was
happy with her ability to do that
tonight.”
Not
only
did
the
trio’s
performance impress coaches,
but it also gave Michigan’s
experienced players confidence
that
the
freshmen
can
be
important
contributors
this
season.
“I was so excited,” Johnson
said. “Iz was able to make some
great moves. Michelle has been
getting rebounds … I think they
just played really great, and I was
really very happy for them.”
Northwood, no problem
Michigan cruises past Northwood in exhibition on Wednesday, 97-46, starting on a 12-0 run and never looking back
MAX MARCOVITCH
Managing Sports Editor
BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Writer
JACK KINGSLEY
Daily Sports Writer
ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Junior center Cesar Ruiz graded out as the best offensive lineman on Saturday.
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Defensive coordinator Don Brown has his defense playing more zone.
KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico guided her team to an easy win in Wednesday’s exhibition against Northwood.
She’s just
gradually
getting better
and better...