RIVALRY EDITION

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN x OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

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BEGINNING 11.26.19

8— Thursday, November 21, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

How Juwan Howard’s push for faster pace of play has affected Jon Teske

Jon Teske is a busy man these 
days. 
As the starting center for the 
Michigan men’s basketball team, 
Teske has done it all so far this 
season. Through three games, the 
7-foot-1, 265-pounder has played 
93 minutes and averaged 16.7 
points, nine rebounds, 2.7 blocks 
and shot 55.9 percent from the 
field. 
Teske has developed from only 
playing 61 minutes as a sophomore 
into one of the Wolverines’ most 
reliable players and one of the 
best bigs in the conference. 
Even during his time as an 
assistant coach for the Miami 
Heat, 
now-Michigan 
coach 
Juwan Howard admired Teske’s 
game from afar. Now, under 
Howard’s tutelage, the hope is 
Teske takes another leap as a 
senior. 
“With Jon, his game has 
improved year by year,” Howard 

said after the Wolverines’ 70-50 
win over Elon on Friday night. 
“He played a lot away from the 
basket so when I got the job here, 
I was like, ‘I want to utilize his 
post presence.’ He embraced it. 
We worked on it this summer. 
We’re gonna use him in that post, 
as well as from the outside.” 
So far, it’s gone according to 
plan. It’s still early and Michigan 
has yet to enter the meat of its 
schedule, but Teske has asserted 
himself both offensively and 
defensively. No one has been able 
to challenge Teske in the paint 
and while his perimeter shooting 
isn’t on par with last year’s 
percentages, opposing teams are 
still forced to respect his range. 
In addition to focusing more 
on Teske’s post game, Howard’s 
emphasis on up-tempo, transition 
offense has also benefited Teske’s 
statline. He was already a capable 
rim-runner for his size, but the 
Wolverines’ quick pace highlights 
that aspect of Teske’s game and 
has made for an entertaining 
brand of basketball. 

“Everyone can run the floor,” 
said sophomore guard David 
DeJulius. “Even (Teske), he’s 
7-foot-1, is running and beating 
guys up the floor. It feels real 
good, once I get the rebound, I 
push it out to (Zavier Simpson). 
Zavier takes two dribbles and 
then throws the lob to Jon. Just 
the atmosphere, it’s very fun 
basketball. Not just for us, but 
also for the spectators.” 
With 
that 
said, 
Howard’s 
offensive philosophy does have a 
downside: It wears on his team. 
Teske specifically has looked 
visibly winded after spurts of 
transition offense. 
With little frontcourt depth 
though, Michigan can’t really 
afford to have him not on the 
floor. Sophomore forwards Colin 
Castleton and Brandon Johns Jr. 
provide some length off the bench 
but are too inconsistent to rely on 
for long periods of time. Redshirt 
junior center Austin Davis has 
some experience, having played 
in some important games under 
John Beilein, but doesn’t appear 

to be a go-to option for Howard. 
Against Creighton, the best 
team the Wolverines have faced 
and another fast-paced offense, 
Howard had to replace Teske 
seven minutes into the game due 
to fatigue. 
“Big fella was working hard,” 
Howard said after the Bluejays 
game on Nov. 12. “Big Jon at times 
got a little tired. You’re playing 
against a team who plays with 
pace. They loved to get up and 
down in transition. They also 
shoot threes in transition and 
want to put our ‘5s’ in a lot of ball-
screens, to make them guard. It’s 
a lot of movement.”
Going forward, Michigan will 
have to grapple with the fact 
that a play style that accentuates 
some of Teske’s best qualities 
may also pose problems for him 
later in games. As of now, the lack 
of reliable length behind Teske 
— and his stellar performances 
— means the more he plays, the 
better.
In up-tempo games though, 
that’ll surely be a balancing act. 

Why has the Wolverines’ offense 
clicked? It’s all in the little things

Over the last month, as 
Michigan’s offense has rounded 
into shape — finally starting 
to look like the high-powered 
machine that was promised 
during the offseason and what 
it so plainly wasn’t during the 
season’s first five weeks — the 
explanations from the program 
have been simple.
Better execution. A lack of 
turnovers. The natural learning 
curve that comes with a new 
offense over the course of the 
season.
It’s not rocket science, or 
even a wholesale change on 
coordinator Josh Gattis’ part, 
to hear the Wolverines tell it. 
Merely, it’s just the little things.
“Just playing good. Playing 
better,” said running backs coach 
Jay Harbaugh. “I think steadily 
over the course of the year, 
we’ve gotten better and better 
and cleaned things up that were 
— things that weren’t going our 
way early, whether it be taking 
care of the ball or just being 
assignment-sound. 
“Gradually as we’ve gone on, 
individuals have gotten better. 
The units, the running backs, the 
line, receivers, the quarterbacks. 
Everyone’s kinda elevating their 
play, and you’re just seeing that 

happen here at the end of the 
season, what it looks like when a 
bunch of different individuals do 
it together.”
During the early part of the 
year, when the offense couldn’t 
get started against the likes of 
Army, Wisconsin and Iowa, 
Michigan couldn’t seem to stop 
fumbling. After an Oct. 12 win at 
Illinois in which the Wolverines 
nearly let the Illini claw back 
after jumping out to a seemingly 
decisive lead, Michigan led the 
nation with 17 fumbles. Senior 
quarterback 
Shea 
Patterson, 
dealing with an oblique injury, 
seemed reluctant to run the ball. 
The offense itself didn’t run 
smoothly.
Since the following week, 
when 
the 
Wolverines 
came 
tantalizingly close to a comeback 
at Penn State, all of that has 
shifted. In the last 14 quarters, 
they’ve 
scored 
141 
points, 
including blowing the doors off 
rivals Notre Dame and Michigan 
State. Patterson has made use 
of his legs like he did in 2018, 
keeping zone-read looks when 
defensive ends have overplayed 
the run and forcing them to 
acknowledge the threat. And 
Michigan has lost just one 
fumble, which came toward the 
end of a blowout win.
It’s undeniable that certain 
tweaks have been made in the 

offense — that much is plain 
for any onlooker to see. But the 
little things, those that don’t 
come through Gattis’ headset 
on Saturday, are what seem to 
matter most.
“A lot of people say the Penn 
State game (was when things 
changed), second half, and I 
think it definitely started there 
for sure,” said senior tight end 
Sean 
McKeon 
on 
Monday. 
“Kinda just eliminating all the 
turnovers was a big thing. Really 
being able to finish drives with a 
kick, like coach Harbaugh says, 
either a punt, field goal or extra 
point.”
Senior left tackle Jon Runyan 
Jr. was asked Monday if the 
preseason characterization of 
the offense — that it would walk 
into the opener against Middle 
Tennessee State ready to light 
the world on fire — was unfair in 
retrospect. He didn’t give a yes or 
no, but noted that an adjustment 
period was needed. He didn’t 
need to add that those outside 
the building weren’t particularly 
willing to acknowledge that at 
the time.
Now, though, it’s obvious not 
only that an adjustment period 
was needed, but that it has 
passed. The Wolverines moved 
the ball on Michigan State with 
ease last Saturday, scoring 44 
points and finishing with 470 
yards. They ended every drive 
but two with a kick, and things 
have looked that way for nearly a 
full month of games.
It’s not what people envisioned 
in August. But it bodes well 
nonetheless.
“It’s a little bit expected to 
get better as the course of the 
year goes,” Jay Harbaugh said. 
“Obviously you’d like to do that 
from the get-go and play your 
best, but unfortunately that’s not 
how it goes all the time. 
“You’re always gonna start 
somewhere and graduate, gotta 
build from there.”

Danna making the most of his chance

Michael Danna had never 
experienced anything close to 
this, running out on the field for 
one of the best-known rivalry 
games in college football, helping 
his team blow that rival to bits 
and hoisting the Paul Bunyan 
Trophy up in the Michigan 
Stadium end zone.
These were the moments 
Danna — who spent the first four 
years of his career at Central 
Michigan before joining the 
Michigan football team as a 
grad transfer — came here for. 
The moments Danna will never 
forget.
And as they’ve come, Danna 
has taken the time to absorb 
them. Even the biggest NFL-
bound stars usually get three 
years at a school. Danna got one. 
He’s known since he got to Ann 
Arbor that he has to embrace 
every last second before they slip 
through his fingers.
“I feel like I just got here and 
it’s coming to the end,” Danna 
said Tuesday. “But it’s been the 
blink of an eye and it’s already 
the end of November and I’m just 
trying to make the most of every 
opportunity I get being here.”
Danna still talks to his friends 
with the Chippewas and has 
been following their quest for a 
MAC West title. But he has no 
regrets of leaving the place that 
was home for four years — after 
all, with the Wolverines, he’s 
gotten to play on the biggest 
stage.
Beyond that, he’s upped his 
game and proved he belongs in 
the Big Ten. When asked in what 
area he’d improved the most, 
Danna listed off the two aspects 
of being a good defensive end: 
pass rush and run stopping. At 
Central Michigan, he played 
almost exclusively as an edge 
rusher. With the Wolverines, 
he’s done that in addition to 
2-technique, 3-technique and 
5-technique as part of a four-
defensive end package defensive 

coordinator Don Brown designed 
because of the wealth of pass-
rushing talent.
Though Danna comes off 
the bench, he’s become even 
more useful simply because 
he’s developed that versatility. 
Coaches know he can play 
anywhere. So they find a spot for 
him.
“Everyone thought he was a 
pass-rusher only, so (impressed 
with) 
how 
he’s 
handled the run 
game and the role 
that he’s played,” 
said defensive line 
coach Shaun Nua 
on 
Wednesday. 
“It’s hard to not 
start and just go in 
there cold.”
He later added: 
“Anytime 
you 
have a great player 
like Mike Danna, you can’t leave 
him on the sidelines.”
Danna’s bright-eyed attitude 
has been key in his ability to 
step in seamlessly. This is his 
only shot, so he can’t miss out 
on anything. Because of it, he’s 
worked that much harder. When 
he first arrived in the offseason, 
Danna got to work in the weight 
room, and others noticed. They 
knew someone with that kind of 
effort would fit right in as one of 
them.
“It’s not easy because you’re 
coming in, first you’re leaving a 

family you have in terms of the 
last team he was with,” Nua said. 
“And then a different culture 
there, adjust to a new culture, 
whatever it is, it’s not easy to 
go in and just be accepted, be 
welcomed with open arms but 
that kid’s attitude is — that young 
man’s attitude is special.”
Since he got to Michigan, 
Danna hasn’t worried about 
tomorrow. He hasn’t worried 
about 
next 
week. He hasn’t 
worried about 
anything 
but 
the 
seconds 
unfolding 
in 
front of him. 
It’s a mentality 
that’s 
allowed 
him to carve 
out a role even 
among a glut of 
pass-rushers — 
the 30 total tackles, three tackles 
for loss, three sacks, a forced 
fumble and two quarterback 
hurries speak to that.
And as the moments come 
and go, one thing is for certain: 
Danna will cherish every one.
“Gratitude is a very special 
thing, and that’s exactly what 
Mike Danna has,” Nua said. “He 
appreciates every single second 
that he gets, every little moment 
that we go through, good or bad. 
And he learns fast from it.
“I just wish I had him for four 
more years.”

CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
Senior center Jon Teske is adjusting to the pace of Juwan Howard’s offense.

ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Michael Danna’s lone year with the Wolverines is almost at its end.

I feel like I just 
got here and it’s 
coming to an 
end.

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
The Michigan football team’s offense has found its rhythm of late.

