The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Sports Wednesday, November 6, 2019 — 7A Nico Collins and the test of reaching a ceiling Three years after Nico Collins graduated Clay-Chalkville High School in the suburbs of Birmingham, Ala., Jerry Hood’s pride still bubbles up every time he watches Michigan play. For four years, Collins terrorized defenses with the athleticism and imposing frame that made him one of the most talented players Hood has coached. Watching from the stands all those years, Hood’s kids idolized Collins and watched in awe as he accounted for 2,773 yards and 40 touchdowns in his career with Clay-Chalkville. So now, when they watch Michigan together, their pride is a family affair. “My kids still look at the TV, ‘Where’s Nico?’ Hood said. “… It’s really fun to watch.” Thousands of miles away in Ann Arbor, Michigan fans find themselves asking the same question every week. For them, it’s a matter of frustration, sparked by the contrast of Collins’ generational talent paired against his inconsistent usage. It’s a frustration that rears its head when Collins inevitably breaks downfield, positions himself perfectly and pinpoints a deep ball against an overmatched defensive back, before going untargeted for drives at a time as the Wolverines’ offense sputters. “He adds a dynamic element to our offense to where you have to pay attention to him every snap,” senior quarterback Shea Patterson said after last week’s win over Maryland. “And most of the time when he’s one-on-one, he’s going to go up and get it.” That afternoon summed up Collins’ season, as he brought down a key 51-yard reception late in the second quarter — and then finished with no catches the rest of the way. Against Maryland, Collins knew when his opportunity was coming. All week, Michigan had gameplanned to exploit the Terrapins’ Cover-6 defense, with Collins having half the field to work against freshman safety Treron Williams. “That was just the coverage we’ve been game-planning for all week, and we just hit it over the top,” Patterson said. The play, of course, worked, going for 51 yards off play-action and setting up a rushing touchdown two plays later. It also epitomized how Michigan likes to use Collins as a deep threat — sparingly and against looks that the Wolverines know he can exploit. Of Collins’ three 40-plus yard receptions this year, two came in the first five minutes of games, when a team’s offensive plays are often scripted. All three times, the deep shots were isolated plays in games where he was mostly used underneath, providing a departure from his high school days when Collins’ size meant he could be targeted at will. “We felt like, if they were not double-covering him, that we were available to take a shot at any time,” Hood said. “… He’s just a mismatch, man.” Developing beyond his trademark size has been Collins’ primary focus throughout his three years at Michigan. He arrived in 2017 as an enticing but raw prospect, with the athleticism that made him the rare four-star wide receiver recruit who hadn’t posted a single 1,000-yard season in high school. In a largely anonymous freshman season, he finished with just three catches for 27 yards, but set the path for a breakout sophomore year by developing into an all-around receiver. Now working with offensive coordinator Josh Gattis — a renowned wide receivers coach at previous stops — Collins has continued that process with a focus on his route-running, foot placement and pad level. “I learn a lot from coach Gattis,” Collins said. “He really harps on details, technique, pad level. So he really knows what he’s talking about, we just gotta trust it.” The results, though, have remained well short of Collins’ high ceiling, with his 439 yards and three touchdowns through nine games putting him on a near- identical pace to last season. And with flashes that he could be so much more, that’s an unsatisfying reality. “What surprises me a little bit is that they sometimes don’t run curls or different short routes for him that would set that kind of (deep shot) up,” Hood said. “(Michigan has) so many great receivers that it’s hard for a team to double-cover him.” Hood is careful to note that he’s not criticizing the Wolverines’ coaching staff. Even watching from afar, the strides in Collins’ game are obvious — “Goodness gracious, those guys do an awesome job coaching,” he said. But his point meshes with the general consensus: use Collins more and the results will follow. Ask Collins himself and his agreement is implicit. “A lot of people say I’m a deep threat, (and) it’s kinda true, but I can run a lot of routes,” Collins said. “Slants, curls, whatever. Any route on the route tree, I can do it all.” Still, Collins’ ability as a deep threat remains his calling card. It’s what makes him a likely Day Two NFL Draft pick in the future and the focus of opposing defenses in the present. And as he stood on an empty field at Maryland Stadium on Saturday, it’s what brought a smile to his often-stoic face. “I feel my go-to is the deep ball,” Collins said. “I love deep balls, man. I like getting my team, the offense, an opportunity to score the ball.” The challenge for Michigan is optimizing that ability. And as Collins enters what could be the last three games of his college career without a 100-yard game and 144th in the country in receiving yards, that’s the issue the Wolverines have to solve. THEO MACKIE Daily Sports Editor MILES MACKLIN/Daily Junior receiver Nico Collins made just one catch against Maryland, but it went for 51 yards on a deep ball. Wolverines studying NHL power plays to improve When Bill Muckalt cues up film for his power-play units to watch, he doesn’t always turn to the film bank Michigan maintains of its own games and practices. Instead, the associate head coach pulls together clips from the highest level of the sport. As the Wolverines work with a new power-play system under Muckalt’s guidance — moving from a unit with three forwards and two defensemen to four forwards and one defenseman — Michigan’s time in the film room has been spent watching how NHL teams run their power plays. “I think it’s no secret, people and pucks to the net, take the goalie’s eyes away,” Muckalt said. “That’s a good recipe to generate, but I think specifically, when we watch NHL teams and watch what they’re doing is — part of our job is to develop players to the National Hockey League and watching the best players, the game is still the same but it’s at a different speed and a different execution. … You watch smart offensive players and it’s kind of a copycat league and you take ideas.” Michigan has spent the most time watching the Vancouver Canucks, who run a similar system, but Muckalt was quick to clarify that he thinks there’s something to be learned from every team in the league. While most teams run variations of a 1-3-1 formation, each team has its own spin on it and creates different looks. And as the Wolverines try to figure out how to make the new system work for them, watching teams across the NHL is helping them see what their options are. “We’re just trying to simplify on the power play, get pucks on net and move it quick,” said sophomore defenseman Nick Blankenburg on Oct. 25. “Film has been a big thing for us that we’ve been doing is watching how other teams are scoring goals on power plays. I think we find areas to score through film and whatnot and just seeing what’s open.” The transition hasn’t gone perfectly. Michigan has six power-play goals on 34 opportunities though its first eight games — good for a 17.6 percent conversion rate with a man advantage, which ranks No. 28 of 60 teams in the country. Michigan coach Mel Pearson has said he cares more about when the power- play goals come than the percentage at which the units convert, but eight games in, neither metric is reflecting the performance Pearson would like to see. In Saturday’s game at Ohio State, the Wolverines had two power plays in the third period while trailing by a goal. Michigan notched a combined three shots across both opportunities, and only one of those shots came directly in front of the net. “We’ve gotta find something that works, because these games are coming down to one goal and special teams are so important,” Pearson said. “We’ve lost the special teams battle in the last three games. We’ve lost every game.” Both units have seen their personnel change depending on health and the different line combinations Pearson puts together. Freshman defenseman Cam York has solidified himself on the top unit, as has fifth-year forward Jacob Hayhurst. But everything else is in flux — including the system itself. At the beginning of the season, both groups featured a lone defenseman and four forwards. Now, sophomore defensemen Jack Summers and Nick Blankenburg are usually sent with the second unit alongside three forwards. On Friday, it was that second unit that produced the weekend’s lone power-play goal for the Wolverines. “I think most teams are kinda transitioning toward (having two looks) because then you have to study two different types of film,” said senior forward Nick Pastujov. “Like for Ohio State, for instance, the way we studied them was the first and second unit, they run two different things, so your (penalty kill) always has to kinda kill differently against the two and sometimes you can get out of sorts if you get confused. “It just gives that extra little edge where if we give them two different looks, they might not catch on as fast and we might be able to catch them.” While Michigan works to find the successful formula for both power-play units, the systems and the personnel will be fluid. But as the Wolverines study the NHL to figure things out, they may find just the right thing to copy. BAILEY JOHNSON Daily Sports Writer ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily The Michigan hockey team has looked to the National Hockey League for help with its struggling power play. Part of our job is to develop players to the (NHL). We’ve gotta find something that works (on the power play). What Slaker’s injury absence meant for ‘M’ There was a heightened sense of urgency at Yost Ice Arena late Tuesday afternoon. Throughout practice, voices were louder, whistles more purposeful, huddles more frequent, and then, to top it off, the Michigan hockey team closed out with intense goal- line-to-goal-line conditioning. The Wolverines are coming off three road losses. First, a 4-1 loss to then-No. 18 Western Michigan in a hostile environment, where the team fell behind moments after the puck drop. And last weekend Michigan got swept by No. 9 Ohio State, losing both affairs by one goal and looking somewhat out of sorts. “There’s not much room for mistakes right now, especially coming off three losses,” said senior forward Will Lockwood. “Attention to detail is huge. I think our coaches are just holding us accountable to that.” Finding the root cause of the losses is challenging, as each game was unique. One commonality, though, is that senior forward Jake Slaker was absent due to an undisclosed injury. Last season, he tallied 25 points. He looks suited to return this weekend for the home series against Minnesota, but over the last two weekends, his absence made a mark. Offensive struggles were quite apparent in the recent series. The Wolverines couldn’t keep control of the puck in the attacking zone and thus had a hard time generating consistent scoring chances. Lockwood notes that with the chances they did get, capitalizing was a hurdle. Slaker sees himself as a vocal, high-energy player for whom speed is a key asset. While it’s unlikely he would’ve solved all of Michigan’s problems, that skill set could have provided the offense a key burst. “Just from knowing him well he’s a natural goalscorer,” Lockwood said. “Even in practice recently, he’s been lighting up our goalies pretty much all practice, and I think when he comes back he’s gonna be hungry. He hasn’t scored yet, but he’s someone who can put the puck in the net at ease. So I think those one-goal games could have been different if he were in the lineup.” Watching from the sidelines is something new for Slaker. He was a contributor ever since joining the program, and in his first three years missed just one game. Missing extended time has taken some getting used to. “It’s definitely tough, especially after the last few games,” Slaker said. “We haven’t won, so it’s tough not to be able to be out there and try to help the team come out with a win or something. But there’s a lot of learning you can do from watching the games.” Slaker hasn’t watched many hockey games, only tape. Sitting out lets him weigh what works well for other players with what doesn’t, and he understands this could improve his own game. Off the ice, Slaker has made sure to stay involved with the team. He was quick to offer his thoughts on the Wolverines’ play. “I know Slaker was critiquing,” Lockwood said. “He’d come in between periods and say this and that, and after games he’d have different opinions on things because you kind of get a different perspective when you’re up in the stands, and you can see the game a little bit better. So he had a lot of insight to that and it was a good help to the team.” As an alternate captain, Slaker continues to be outspoken while not playing. He’s central to team meetings and always tries to give his teammates the energy and advice that they need. Regardless, Michigan prefers having him on the ice. “He’s a big leader for our team, and he brings a lot to the table offensively and defensively,” Lockwood said. “To have a senior leader out of the lineup always hurts you. We look forward to him coming back.” ROHAN KUMAR Daily Sports Writer ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily Senior forward Jake Slaker plans to return from injury this weekend.