Allison Engkvist & Miles Macklin / Daily Design by Jack Silberman

The night Nico Collins fused talent with production

Monday, November 25, 2019 | michigandaily.com

Nico Collins took his time walking 

off the field Saturday night. Helmet off, 

Collins peered up at a cluster of visiting 

Michigan fans. He heard a few “Let’s 

Go Blue” chants mixed in with “Beat 

Ohio,” a smattering of yells rendering 

both incoherent.

Collins looked up and pointed his 

right arm at the fans. They responded 

in kind.

It was the final act — disappearing 

into the locker room shortly after — on 

a night Collins likely won’t forget any 

time soon. One in which the talents 

that have been plainly apparent to any 

casual fan finally met the expectations 

that came with them, when potential 

fused with production and became a 

tantalizing reality.

“Nico was just ridiculous out 

there today,” said Michigan coach 

Jim Harbaugh. “Great game for Nico 

Collins.”

As Collins and senior linebacker 

Josh Uche sat down to speak to the 

media following Michigan’s 39-14 

drubbing of Indiana on Saturday, Uche 

grabbed hold of the stat sheet, gestured 

to Collins and pointed to what could 

only have been Collins’ line. 

As he saw it — six catches, a career-

high 165 yards and three touchdowns 

— Uche’s eyes widened in excitement. 

Collins shook his head and smiled.

It’s a smile that the junior has worn 

through questions about targets and 

opportunity, frustration and struggles. 

One that’s stayed steadfast as he’s been 

handed the mantle of explaining the 

inexplicable: How a 6-foot-4 receiver 

with All-American-level ball skills 

had just 66 career catches coming into 

Saturday.

There will be no such questions any 

longer.

“Man’s a beast,” Uche said. “I 

been know that. Everyone in the 

organization, we knew that. But it’s 

like, anyone can be a practice All-

American. But to see it come to fruition 

on game days is magical. Knowing 

what somebody’s capable of doing and 

seeing them execute, it’s just great to 

see.”

For Collins, it wasn’t a night that 

seemed preordained for anything 

out of the ordinary — at least, at first. 

His outsized performance began, in 

earnest, in the middle of the second 

quarter, shortly after he and his unit 

had made some tweaks.

“As the game went on, we found 

ways to attack the defense. And that’s 

what we did,” Collins said. “It was 

kind of just, like, going to the sideline, 

(offensive coordinator Josh) Gattis 

asked us, ‘What do we see out there? 

What plays are working?’ And we told 

him.”

That gave Collins the chance to 

vocalize what he saw: Frequent one-

on-one coverage with scant safety help 

over the top. Against an overmatched 

Hoosiers’ secondary, Collins knew 

what he could do if given the chance.

“I was like, ‘The cornerback, I’m 

left one-on-one. (There are) back-

side opportunities,’ ” Collins recalled 

saying. “(Senior quarterback) Shea 

(Patterson) believed in me, and I 

believed in him.”

He and Patterson subsequently 

connected on a 24-yard touchdown, 

leaping over a cornerback after a simple 

“go route” into the end zone for a 21-14 

lead. 

But he was just getting started.

Late in the third quarter, the game 

teetering for Indiana, Collins darted 

over the middle on a slant route. 

Patterson delivered a bullet before 

the safety could cut it off, and Collins 

did the rest, galloping 76 yards for the 

knockout blow. 

“It was good to get Nico on some 

crossing routes, some slant routes, 

some deep ins,” Harbaugh said. “He’s 

very good at it, he’s a big target, a big 

catch radius, and his assortment of 

routes that he’s running has picked up 

quite a bit. And he’s coming through.”

His third and final touchdown came 

on a play that has become a staple in 

Michigan’s red zone arsenal, with 

Collins running a post over the middle, 

posting up like a power forward and 

using his big body to box out the 

cornerback. When executed, there 

are few cornerbacks that can win that 

battle one-on-one.

This particular instance — the 

exclamation point on the night — was 

a 19-yard connection to extend the 

Wolverines’ lead to 39-14, where it 

would end a quarter later. Collins stood 

up and flexed both arms. He walked 

to the sidelines, where he’d remain the 

rest of the night. Collins’ 165 receiving 

yards spearheaded a receiving corps 

that accounted for 366 in total.

Things won’t come nearly as easily 

next week against Ohio State, perhaps 

the nation’s best team. But as the 

Wolverines try to pull off a feat few 

expect, facing a challenge that requires 

the best performance of the season and 

then some, there is one main source of 

hope.

“Shea’s going through the reads, 

finding all the receivers,” Collins said. 

“That’s pretty much it. He’s just going 

through the progressions, finding the 

open receiver. He’s giving us a chance.”

Saturday, Nico Collins took his 

chance. Next Saturday, Collins will be 

instrumental in helping his team take 

theirs, too.

MAX MARCOVTICH
Managing Sports Editor

MICHIGAN
39

INDIANA
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