AN EVENING WITH SAFA AL AHMAD NOVEMBER 19, 2019 | 7:30 P.M. | RACKHAM AUDITORIUM FREE | NO REGISTRATION | WALLENBERG.UMICH.EDU RIVALRY EDITION UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN x OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY GET HYPE BY SNAGGING A COPY OF THE RIVALRY EDITION 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.