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RIVALRY EDITION
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN x OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
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BEGINNING 11.26.19
8 — Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Ahead of matchup with Hoosiers, Wolverines shrug off ‘trap game’ cliche
There are tropes that should
naturally come along with this
week, narratives pre-constructed
to fill a certain template.
The week after… The week
before… Trap game in between…
In the aftermath of a 44-10
drubbing
of
in-state
rival
Michigan State and less than two
weeks from The Game, there is a
propensity to look past Indiana —
the foe sandwiched in between.
That’s also, in some ways,
become an expired cliché.
In the four times the Wolverines
have played the Hoosiers in the
Jim Harbaugh era, two of those
matchups have ended in overtime.
The other two were close games
in which the host pulled away late.
At Monday’s press availability,
reporters thus lined up to ask how
Michigan would avoid looking
past its opponent. What was
lacking was the natural follow-
up: Is it really a trap game if the
players and coaches pretty clearly
see the bait?
“I don’t think it’s difficult to
look past this week at all,” said
fifth-year senior left tackle Jon
Runyan. “Indiana was ranked in
the AP Poll last week, they were
down by three to Penn State
with, I think, nine minutes to go.
... They’re a good offense, kind of
similar to what we do. It’ll be fun
to see how they match up with our
defense, but definitely can’t look
past this Indiana team. Last few
times we’ve been to Bloomington
and gone to overtime.
“There’s just something about
them that they kind of always get
the best of us.”
This year, in particular, few in
and around Schembechler Hall
are under any illusions about the
challenge of going to Indiana. The
Hoosiers boast the top passing
offense in the Big Ten, now led
by senior quarterback Peyton
Ramsey,
who
has
completed
over 72 percent of his passes and
tossed 10 touchdowns to just
three interceptions in five games
this year.
Indiana has totaled at least
27 points in each of its last six
games. The Hoosiers will be one
of the most difficult offenses —
schematically and talent-wise —
Michigan faces all year.
That’s the only real trap here.
“Sometimes,
the
Indiana
offenses have been a little bit of
a departure from what we’ve
played throughout the year — the
potential of hurry-up, the threat
of that,” said fifth-year senior
linebacker
Jordan
Glasgow.
“Obviously spacing you out as
much as they can. We need to
prepare for that.”
Added Harbaugh: “I think
it’s challenging as any offense
in the Big Ten. Receivers that
are dynamic and can make plays
down the field. Fast. Catch the
ball and run with it.”
For now, the Wolverines are
riding high, undoubtedly playing
their best football of the season.
Saturday’s win marked the high
point for an offense that had
slowly grown from its early season
mishaps.
In an honest moment, players
would admit the rest of this
season boils down to the outcome
of the Ohio State game. As that
allure draws closer — the chance
to re-configure narratives and
dynamics — it’s mere human
nature
to
prepare.
That’s
accentuated in a year where the
self-assigned
“game-by-game”
mentality is cheapened by a lack
of viable postseason aspirations.
Asked
whether
suppressing
that
foresight
needs
to
be
expressed verbally, Harbaugh did
not even entertain the premise.
“Yeah, I mean, we come off a
big game against Michigan State,”
he said, “and you come back to
work, regroup, refit, retool, get
ready for your next opponent.”
It just so turns out that the
next opponent comes with a set
of challenges all its own. A game
that could sneakily make the case
for most impressive road win of
the Harbaugh era, were it to come
to fruition.
“They
kind
of
have
this
momentum
carrying
them,
having a good season,” Runyan
said. “I’m sure they’re going to
have a lot of fans come out, more
than usual. I haven’t watched too
much film on them yet, but I know
there’s something really special
going on over there.”
Which is to say, if anyone’s
peering down the track past
Saturday,
they
sure
seem
cognizant of the hurdle waiting in
between.
Cam McGrone growing beyond speed
Every time Cam McGrone took
to the practice field during the week
leading up to Michigan’s game
against Rutgers, his body shook
with nerves.
A
few
days
earlier,
junior
linebacker Josh Ross went down
with an injury against Wisconsin,
thrusting
the
Wolverines’
established
starting
linebacker
trio into peril. As the top choice to
step in for Ross, McGrone’s first
impressions weren’t resoundingly
positive
—
his
highlight-reel
goal-line stuff contrasted missed
assignments in a 35-14 loss to the
Badgers.
Still, the redshirt freshman
linebacker was the clear choice to
take over as Michigan’s starting
middle linebacker when Ross’
injury developed into a multi-
week absence. The message from
defensive coordinator Don Brown
was simple: Just be ready.
Two months later, McGrone
has done that and then some,
developing into a permanent starter
as a now-healthy Ross watches
from the sidelines to preserve his
redshirt.
“(McGrone brings) physicality,
speed,” said Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh. “And getting better and
better with understanding all the
adjustments to the defensive calls.
His responsibilities and the others
around him. Just playing really
good football.”
Those attributes — namely his
speed — are what pop off the field
on Saturdays. They’re what draw
comparisons to Devin Bush and
have the Wolverines salivating
about what McGrone could become.
To get there, he had to become
more than just speed.
“Seeing him as a freshman, I
thought that he was very mature
for where he stood when he came
in,” said fifth-year senior linebacker
Jordan Glasgow. “I felt, physically
and mentally, that he was at a
pretty high level already. And then
he made a big improvement from
freshman to sophomore year. And
obviously you can see how good of
a player he is now.”
As
the
MIKE
linebacker
in
Brown’s
defense,
McGrone
is
sandwiched
between
the
experienced duo of Glasgow and
senior VIPER Khaleke Hudson.
And yet, he carries the most
responsibility,
diagnosing
an
offense’s formation as it unfolds.
“As a MIKE linebacker, you have
everything on your shoulders,”
McGrone said. “So it hasn’t gotten
any worse, any better. But it’s
definitely just been fun to be there,
kinda like the middle of the defense,
helping everybody out.”
It’s a responsibility seemingly at
odds with McGrone’s inexperience,
but through seven career starts,
that’s the marriage he’s making.
“Just being out there, running
the plays that I’ve been running for
over a year and really seeing it in
real time on the big stage, it kinda
clicks like that,” McGrone said.
“Because it has to because the next
play, it could be the same thing.”
Ask McGrone himself and he’ll
tell you he’s a slow learner — the
type of player who needs a year
of experience before being ready
to jump into heavy playing time.
Ask anyone else and they’ll extoll
his ability to step in for Ross and
immediately become the linchpin of
Michigan’s defense.
It’s why, when Glasgow — a
Butkus Award semifinalist for the
nation’s best linebacker — was
asked about his personal accolades,
he deflected, saying, “I feel like I
play with better linebackers than
myself.”
Throughout his career, that’s
been true because of players more
experienced than him — players
who were expected to be stars
entering the season.
Now, it’s true because of a
redshirt freshman.
“Cam, if he started all the
games,” Glasgow said, “I wouldn’t
be surprised if he was up there
instead of myself.”
MAX MARCOVITCH
Managing Sports Editor
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
The Michigan football team plays Indiana between two rivalry games, against Michigan State and Ohio State.
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Redshirt freshman linebacker Cam McGrone has become a focal point of Michigan’s defense in recent weeks.