8 — Friday, November 1, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
T
he thoughts are scat-
tered. Let’s get right
to it.
1. I’m not sure I’d rush to
anoint Hassan Haskins the bell-
cow back just
yet. Haskins’
20-carry,
148-yard
performance
against
Notre Dame
was revela-
tory — it was
the highest
rushing total
by a Michi-
gan back
since Karan Higdon tallied
156 yards 419 days ago. But
Zach Charbonnet continues
to quietly pace himself as the
second-best freshman running
back in school history. Tru
Wilson’s pass-protection (and
rush prowess!) make getting
a handful of snaps absolutely
worthwhile. Not to mention,
save a Higdon-esque back in a
Higdon-esque 2018 situation,
Jim Harbaugh tends to shy
away from workhorse backs.
An aside: It’s unfathomable to
me that this staff ever thought
Haskins should be a linebacker.
2. This would seem an
opportune week to get Dylan
McCaffery and/or Joe Milton
some quality time. Everything
now should be
viewed through
the lens of gear-
ing up for Ohio
State. There
is no world
in which the
Wolverines are
best positioned
to compete
against the
Buckeyes if
Shea Patterson
is, in any way, ailing. Not to
mention, the McCaffery/Milton
battle will be “a thing” quite
soon — might as well have some
real-game, semi-meaningful
snaps to harken back to.
Speaking of hiding in a shell
until Ohio State …
3. It’s not hard to imagine
Michigan’s offense dialing up
a relatively vanilla gameplan.
This rushing attack seems to
be real, and not rooted in much
deception. If the Wolverines
have anything up their sleeves,
they surely won’t pull it out in
College Park against a reeling
Maryland team. There are more
important games coming soon.
Run the ball 45 times. Control
the clock. Win by a few touch-
downs. Get out healthy.
4. Snap counts are not pub-
licly available, but Dax Hill
should continue to see them
rise. You aren’t beating Ohio
State unless you match — or
at least mitigate — its speed.
It’s no secret Hill will be an
asset in doing so. Cornerbacks
coach Mike Zordich practically
foamed at the mouth this week
when asked whether Hill could
play corner for him. It’s time
to gradually turn the keys over
to the kids. Keeping with that
metaphor, Hill is the Golden
Child.
5. Zordich also said this
week he saw a real team hiding
under … whatever’s going on
in Maryland. “I think they’re
scary, because I think there’s a
lot of talent there.
I watched the
Howard game,
just got done
watching the
Syracuse game,
they’ve just miss-
ing a click some-
where,” he said.
“…Underneath
whatever hap-
pened to them,
there’s a good
football team underneath that.
We just have to come out of the
locker room swinging and get
ready to play a good game.”
Is he being diplomatic? Abso-
lutely. Do I believe him? Not
entirely. Is there at least a pos-
sibility this staff is a hint more
concerned than the general
public about going on the road
and playing a team with noth-
ing to lose? Yes.
To that point
...
6. Quarter-
back Tyrell
Pigrome
appears likely
to play Satur-
day. Ann Arbor
native Josh
Jackson will
also certainly
have some
added incentive
to play well. Neither of them
should stoke fear in a Michigan
defense that has held Ian Book
to 2.9 yards per attempt. But,
again, weirder things have hap-
pened.
7. Ronnie Bell’s injury has
been kept mysteriously under
the radar this week. Harbaugh
did not entertain an update
Monday. The media (yes, fin-
gers pointed inward) have
offered little
interest. Call me
crazy, but I think
losing your lead-
ing receiver — in
both catches and
yards — during
the stretch run of
the season should
cause some con-
cern. Perhaps Bell
will suit up Satur-
day and none of it
will matter. Regardless, that’s a
concerning development worth
monitoring.
8. Is Josh Ross healthy?
Do we have an answer as to
whether he will re-assume
a major role? Can he possi-
bly play with Cam McGrone?
Is this all weirdly quiet? It’s
relatively clear that McGrone
just Wally Pipp’d his elder at
the MIKE linebacker spot, but
Ross is not the
kind of player
worth deliber-
ately alienating.
Finding a way
to get both on
the field seems
feasible, and
Don Brown has
never shied
away from too
much speed or
physicality.
I think those thoughts are
scattered enough for today.
Should the Wolverines take care
of business on the eastern sea-
board this weekend (stunningly
inconsiderate to traveling stu-
dent newspapers to add a team
to the Big Ten that geographi-
cally does not belong, but I
digress), we’ll all be gearing up
for an emotion-filled Michigan-
Michigan State game soon. The
Spartans appear
on the verge of
catastrophe, but,
as we all know,
that all goes out
the window when
Mark Dantonio
gets his annual
shot at Harbaugh.
First, though,
a leisurely trek
down to College
Park.
Marcovitch can be reached
at maxmarco@umich.edu or on
Twitter @Max_Marcovitch.
Scattered thoughts ahead of the stretch run
As Michigan prepares for its last four games of the season, The Daily lays out some random thoughts
MAX
MARCOVITCH
ALEC COHEN/Daily
The Michigan football team beat Notre Dame last week and is expected to win easily on Saturday when it goes to College Park to play a reeling 3-5 Maryland
The
McCaffery/
Milton battle
will be A Thing.
Run the ball 45
times. Control
the clock. Win
by a few (TDs).
Can (Josh
Ross) possibly
play with Cam
McGrone.
What to watch for: No. 14 Michigan at Maryland
For Michigan football, the
next three weeks should serve
as a steady march to the one
that really matters — No. 3 Ohio
State’s visit to Ann Arbor on
November 30.
Until then, it’s a simple
matter of proving that the
Wolverines’ last six quarters
— in which they’ve outscored
a pair of top-10 opponents,
59-21 — are no mirage and that
maybe, somehow, this is the
year Michigan can finally take
down the vaunted Buckeyes.
Against Michigan State and a
quietly 6-2 Indiana, that will be
a challenge. Both teams, despite
their
flaws,
carry
enough
weaponry
to
challenge
the
Wolverines’ presumed growth,
even in losses.
Against
Maryland,
there
should be no such troubles. Once
the surprise of early September
behind
an
unexpectedly
explosive offense, the Terrapins
have lost five of their last
six
games,
their
starting
quarterback and any positivity
this season once carried.
But
in
Michigan’s
three
road
games
this
season,
reality
has
rarely
matched
lofty expectations. Even as a
20-point favorite at Illinois
three weeks ago, the Wolverines
nearly squandered a 28-point
second-quarter
lead,
leaving
Champaign with more questions
than answers.
As Michigan looks to avoid
doing the same in College Park
on Saturday, The Daily breaks
down what to watch for:
Michigan’s
offensive
balance
All offseason, the promise for
Michigan’s offense was “speed
in space.”
The Wolverines’ pound-it-
down-your-throat,
pro-style
offense from Jim Harbaugh’s
first four years was dismissed as
the antiquated style of football
that could win you 10 games, but
carried a capped ceiling. With
Shea Patterson under center
and a trio of supremely talented
junior receivers catching the
ball, the personnel was perfect
to install a spread offense and
offensive
coordinator
Josh
Gattis,
newly
arrived
from
Alabama, was just the man to
carry it out.
So, naturally, Michigan’s run/
pass split in last week’s 45-14
win over Notre Dame — easily
its most impressive performance
of the season — was 14 pass
attempts,
57
carries.
That
game, of course, carried the
caveat of starting in a torrential
downpour and finishing with
the Wolverines running out the
clock on a shocking blowout.
The
trend,
though,
has
footing in the beginning of
Michigan’s recent turnaround.
After attempting 12 passes and
six carries in the first quarter
against Penn State two weeks
ago, the Wolverines ran more
times than they passed in
the second half, even as they
attempted to climb out of a 21-0
hole.
Against Maryland, the final
split will likely match last
week’s
imbalance
regardless
of gameplan, thanks to game
script. But in the first quarter,
before the game devolves into a
blowout, watch for Michigan’s
new-meets-old
offensive
identity.
Hassan Haskins’ growth
At the center of Michigan’s
reborn faith in its run game is
redshirt freshman running back
Hassan Haskins.
All season, the headlines —
at least when it comes to the
Wolverines’
running
backs
—
have
surrounded
Zach
Charbonnet,
the
freshman
sensation
whose
nine
touchdowns are tied-most for
a
Michigan
freshman.
And
Charbonnet, regardless of how
this season ends, is the future at
the position.
But
despite
Charbonnet’s
4.9 yards per carry, Michigan’s
coaches
have
continually
expressed a desire to share the
workload at running back. The
problem through five games was
that no one stepped up.
Tru
Wilson
broke
his
hand
in
the
season-opener
and has struggled to regain
form. Christian Turner lost
the coaching staff’s faith in
pass protection, regained it
and
started
fumbling.
Ben
VanSumeren has nine carries
for 20 yards.
Now,
in
Haskins,
the
Wolverines finally seem to have
found a viable second option,
punctuated by two 100-yard
performances in his last three
games.
And
that,
as
good
as
Charbonnet may be, is what
makes running 50 times a game
possible.
Can the defense get its
second shutout of the year?
Normally, in this section, I
write something about what
Michigan
can
prove
going
forward.
The
problem
is,
playing
Maryland doesn’t provide the
opportunity to do much of
that. The Terrapins are missing
starting
quarterback
Josh
Jackson and have scored more
than 17 points just twice in their
last six games.
To really prove something
against
Maryland,
the
Wolverines will have to do
something that’s eluded them
in
back-to-back
impressive
performances: avoid mistakes
and shut out the opposition.
And sure, the Terrapins’ offense
isn’t the same as Penn State’s
or Notre Dame’s, but neither is
Illinois’ and Michigan gave up
25 points to the Fighting Illini.
The common thread between
all three of those games has been
minor defensive lapses — such
as the missed communication
on Penn State’s game-winning
touchdown — that sullied the
final
scores
of
otherwise-
shutdown showings.
Doing the same thing against
Maryland won’t spell disaster.
Winning 49-0 or 49-14 means
little in the grand scheme of
things. Doing the same thing
a month from now — or even
against Indiana’s potent offense
— could bring the same ending
as it did in State College.
Score Prediction
Michigan,
as
has
been
established by now, should have
little trouble taking care of
Maryland. The question for the
Wolverines is where Saturday
afternoon falls on the spectrum
of a 42-25 escape against Illinois
to a 52-0 rout over Rutgers.
Given the dominance this team
has displayed on both sides of
the ball over its last six quarters,
I’m taking the latter.
Prediction: Michigan 45-3
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Redshirt freshman running back Hassan Haskins ran for 149 yards last Saturday against Notre Dame as the Wolverines dominated the Irish, 45-14.
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan football
57/14
Michigan’s run/
pass split in the rain
against Notre Dame
last weekend.
302
Hassan Haskins
rushing yards in
Michigan’s last
three games.
10
Defensive categories in
which Michigan ranks
in the top 25 nationally.
1.59
Yards per carry allowed
by Michigan over its last
five games.