The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Offense is up around college football. 

Can Michigan adapt?

Of 29 FBS games played last 

week, 21 had 50 or more total 
points scored. The previous week, 
that number was 20 out of 32. Even 
teams known for defense have 
struggled to contain the scoring 
— just look at Pitt’s 31-30 loss to 
Boston College or Alabama’s 63-48 
shootout with Mississippi.

Whether 
it’s 
a 
pandemic-

induced blip on the radar or a 
further transformation of college 
football into a game dominated by 
offense, there’s no doubt offense 
is up this year across the board. 
According to MLive, 55% of teams 
that have played at least one game 
are averaging 30 points or more per 
game, up from 45% in 2019.

If that trend carries over 

to the Big Ten, it would be a 
transformation 
in 
a 
league 

somewhat infamous for its low-
scoring games.

Michigan players and coaches 

have their own theories on why 
this is and how to adapt to the new 
trend. Defensive line coach Shaun 
Nua thinks that the lack of spring 
ball and a fall camp without pads 
affected defense more than offense 
because defense requires more 
cohesion. But that doesn’t explain 
everything.

“It was harder to build a team 

thing and defense is all team,” 
Nua said Wednesday. “If you don’t 
have all 11 guys bought in, that’s 
hard to do. It’s hard to play sound, 
aggressive defense if you don’t have 
all 11 guys bought into it. … (But) we 
can’t always blame it on, oh they 
missed spring ball or fall camp, 
because the offense is doing good. 
So hopefully we can figure it out.”

Even with teams passing more 

frequently and utilizing up-tempo 
no-huddle offenses, Nua believes 
the key to his unit’s performance 
still lies in stopping the run. An 
offense can only go so fast, Nua 
said, if its run game isn’t working.

According to senior defensive 

end Kwity Paye, Michigan coach 

Jim Harbaugh reads the team 
statistics before practice. One 
of those stats is that the team 
that scores first has the definite 
advantage in the game. For a 
defensive player like Paye, that’s 
a matter of execution: Stop the 
opposing offense and hope your 
own guys can get points on the 
board.

For the offense, this scoring 

trend means a renewed focus on 
explosive plays. Last year, the 
Wolverines saw the importance 
of big plays from both sides; Penn 
State’s execution of such plays 
helped lift it to a win against 
Michigan, while a failure to finish 
drives against Alabama proved 
to be the offense’s undoing in the 
Citrus Bowl.

“As an offense, we know what 

we need to do to be able to score 
more points, move the ball the 
way we want to and beat the 
teams that are gonna be on our 
schedule and one of those things 
is being more explosive,” running 
backs coach Jay Harbaugh said 
on Oct. 7. “ ... Playcalling is harder 
when you’re just inching down the 
field, that’s where I think myself 
and (offensive line coach Ed) 
Warinner and (tight ends coach 
Sherrone) Moore collectively, all 
of us plus (quarterbacks coach 
Ben) McDaniels, we buy into the 
vision of the offense, we love what 
(offensive coordinator Josh) Gattis 

puts on the game plan for us, we 
love the way he sees the game. We 
gotta create more explosive plays 
as a unit to be able to take some of 
that pressure off of him.”

Jay Harbaugh also spoke to 

a philosophical shift in teams’ 
defensive approaches. Back when 
college football was predicated 
on the run, teams often stuffed 
the tackle box with eight linemen. 
That’s 
no 
longer 
a 
realistic 

approach in most situations given 
the growing threat of the pass. 
Now, with defenses forced to cover 
more of the field, the likelihood of a 
conversion goes up.

That’s the theory behind the 

spread offense, which first came 
into use in college football in the 
early 2000s. Now, though, more 
and more teams are using some 

variation of the spread — including 
Minnesota, the opponent the 
Wolverines will face in just over a 
week.

“It’s the spread offense, run 

principles, spread offense, RPOs,” 
defensive coordinator Don Brown 
said Sept. 30. “That’s what we 
anticipate getting.”

The Big Ten has in general 

been slow to adapt to the growing 
offensive trend in college football. 
But maybe a long layoff for the 
league this year will help. Now, 
its teams have seen the rising 
offensive tide and with it, have 
their own chance to adapt.

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

Harbaugh indicates Gemon Green likely 

to start at cornerback

Ever since Ambry Thomas 

announced he would opt out 
of the season back in August, 
uncertainty at cornerback has 
loomed 
over 
the 
Michigan 

defense.

Other than Vincent Gray, who 

appeared in every game last 
season, the Wolverines don’t 
have a single returning corner 
with 
substantial 
experience. 

The names floated as possible 
starters 
opposite 
him 
have 

ranged from freshman Andre 
Seldon to sophomore safety 
Daxton Hill — “Maybe the most 
talented player on the team,” 
according to Jim Harbaugh 
on WTKA’s Inside Michigan 
Football, but one with no viable 
replacement at safety.

On Monday, Harbaugh and 

linebacker Josh Ross finally 
hinted at the real answer: junior 
Gemon Green.

“Gemon 
Green’s 
doing 
a 

very good job,” Harbaugh said 
in a Zoom press conference 
when asked about the second 
cornerback 
spot, 
before 

mentioning 
Sammy 
Faustin, 

D.J. Turner and Jalen Perry.
In Harbaugh’s world, that’s
as concrete of a depth chart
proclamation as exists (a few
minutes earlier, he demurred
when asked whether surefire
starter Joe Milton will indeed
be Michigan’s QB1).

Later in the afternoon, Ross 

seemed to agree.

“Coming into this year, we 

had a lot of questions about who 
our second guy was going to be, 
especially with Ambry leaving,” 
Ross said. “Brad Hawkins, Dax 
(Hill), Vince (Gray), Gemon 
Green, too. Those guys have 
been playing really, really well.”

Hawkins, 
Hill 
and 
Gray 

have been presumed secondary 
starters since January. If Green 
is the fourth name in that group, 
it’s fair to presume Michigan’s 

biggest defensive question mark 
has found its answer.

That’s not to say the questions 

end there — Green has seen 
action on defense just once, last 
year against Notre Dame. For 
most of his time in Ann Arbor, 
his duties have rotated between 
the scout team and occasional 
appearances on special teams.

Still, if he starts against 

Minnesota 
on 
Saturday, 
it 

indicates an offseason of rapid 
improvement. Earlier this fall, 
Turner and Perry were the 

hottest names set to replace 
Thomas. Green starting would 
mean he’s impressed sufficiently 
to pass them.

There are other uncertainties 

in Michigan’s defensive depth 
chart, of course — chiefly at 
defensive tackle and VIPER. 
But the Wolverines’ cornerback 
situation has always stood out 
as unique. Gone is Thomas, an 
NFL talent who was among the 
Big Ten’s best corners last year. 
So too is Lavert Hill, a two-time 
first-team All-Big Ten selection 
in 2018 and 2019.

Between 
them, 
Michigan 

boasted one of the country’s 
most formidable secondaries 
a year ago, finishing 10th in 
passing 
yards 
allowed 
and 

providing cover for an often-
porous rush defense. This year, 
the Wolverines face an uphill 
battle to have the same luxury.

Regardless of who starts 

across from him, the path 
to getting there starts with 
Gray. Arriving as a relatively 
unheralded three-star in 2018, 
Gray 
quickly 
became 
key 

secondary depth, seeing time 
in nickel packages and starting 
against Illinois when Hill was 
out injured.

“One guy that’s standing out 

to me, it’s a big year ahead of him 
… is Vince Gray,” Ross said. “He’s 
been doing everything the right 
way. He’s covering so well.”

On Saturday, that offseason 

development will be put to the 
test against Minnesota’s Rashod 
Bateman. A year ago, Bateman 
led the conference with 20.3 
yards per reception, finishing 
with 1219 receiving yards and 
11 touchdowns on the season. 
It’s the type of matchup that 
could have seen Thomas shadow 
him around the field had he 
returned.

Instead, the burden will lie 

on Gray and, at times, whoever 
lines up opposite him. As of 
Monday, that seems most likely 
to be Green.

THEO MACKIE

Managing Sports Editor

MILES MACKLIN/Daily

Gemon Green is likely to fill the hole at Michigan’s second cornerback 
spot.

Welcome to the strangest game

week of your life

A

round 2:15 p.m. on 
Sunday, an email 
from a Purdue 
spokesman 

landed in my inbox with the 
subject line, “Jeff Brohm Tests 
Presumed Positive for CoVid-
19.”

Welcome to game week in 

the Big Ten.

Until now, it’s been easy 

to feel a little removed from 
things 
as 

the rest of 
the country 
has 
played 

college 
football. Not 
anymore.

We 

watched 
Georgia and 
Alabama on 
Saturday, 
but 
at

this point, Tuscaloosa and 
Ann Arbor feel like they’re 
in separate countries. That 
sentiment 
is 
even 
more 

pertinent when the camera 
cuts to the stands at Bryant-
Denny Stadium and Crimson 
Tide fans are lined up in 
columns, as if the coronavirus 
doesn’t 
spread 
vertically, 

with their masks in several 
variations of on. 

Football 
has 
been 
a 

sideshow to distract as we’ve 
worried 
about 
the 
virus 

here on campus, where even 
the 
administration 
at 
the 

University 
has 
started 
to 

publicly admit there might 
be a problem as quarantine 
housing hits 50 percent and 
keeps 
climbing 
and 
Mary 

Markley 
Hall 
goes 
into 

pseudo-quarantine 
for 
two 

weeks.

The University said this 

week that an announcement 
on the format of the winter 
semester would come by Nov. 
1. It’s not particularly easy to
argue that the fall has been 
a 
success, 
unless 
they’re 

only looking at the death toll 
(thankfully, zero) or their own 
bottom line. 

Now, we’re supposed to 

worry about … how Joe Milton 
plays at quarterback? 

Purdue’s 
head 
coach 
is 

likely positive for COVID-
19. Hopefully he recovers in
full. Based on what we’ve
seen in the conferences that
are already deep into their
seasons, though, we can glean
two things:

Brohm won’t be the last 

positive case.

This season is a farce.
In the AAC, Houston has 

had five games postponed 
due to COVID-19. In the SEC, 
Florida coach Dan Mullen 
called for a crowd of 90,000 
at The Swamp after his team 
lost a game, refused to walk 
it back, then tested positive 
for the virus all in the span 
of a week. In the Pac-12, 
California state regulations 
didn’t permit teams to hold 
an actual practice ahead of 
the conference’s Nov. 7 start 
date, then things got changed 
around so they could (though 
Stanford must go to a local 
high school). Two of the 
current AP Top 10, Ohio State 
and Penn State, have yet to 
play a game. 

Exactly 
how 
anyone 
is 

supposed to rank teams in this 
environment is an impossible 
question to answer. So is 
exactly why anyone should 
care who makes the Playoff or 
wins the national title.

Let me expand on that a 

little. I will watch, report 
on and write in detail about 
Michigan 
football 
this 

season. The Daily will have 
as many writers at as many 
games as regulations allow 
for. It’s fantastic to have 
college football back, and the 
distraction it provides from 
everything is wonderful. But 
this feels weird. The entire 

season 
is 
an 
exercise 
in 

cognitive dissonance.

Let’s be real. Has there 

ever been a Michigan football 
game that feels less important 
than this one?

It seems wrong that football 

players can get tested daily 
when regular students have 
trouble getting asymptomatic 
testing. It doesn’t sit right 
that, beyond a brief moment 
in 
August, 
the 
entire 

conversation around football 
coming back failed to include 
the idea that players should 
be paid for what is an obvious 
exchange of service to make 
universities money — and one 
in which their health is even 
more at risk than usual. It 
is bizarre that we’re having 
a 
season 
and 
acting 
like 

everything is OK when games 
are getting postponed every 
week because players have 
caught a pandemic disease. 

Following 
the 
daily 

machinations of a season — 
who’s hurt, who’s healthy, 
how does Michigan match up 
against its opponent this week 
— in this environment feels 
like clinging onto a routine 
when the world is burning. 
It’s hard to blame anyone for 
trying to have games given the 
economic circumstances and 
the general public being OK 
with — even actively wanting 
— football. 

I’m not sure that I can 

blame anyone or be upset, 
given that games happening 
are an objectively good thing 
for me, my career aspirations 
and The Michigan Daily at 
large. 

That doesn’t change how 

weird this feels.

Welcome to game week. 

Stay safe.

Sears can be reached at 

searseth@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @ethan_sears.

Stay-at-home order won’t affect 

Michigan athletics

On 
Tuesday 
afternoon, 

Washtenaw 
County 
issued 

a stay-at-home order for all 
Michigan 
undergraduate 

students. However, the order 
will 
not 
affect 
Michigan 

athletics, 
per 
the 
health 

department press release.

According 
to 
an 
email 

from a University spokesman 
on Oct. 16, there have been 
104 total positive cases from 
11,889 tests administered to 
Michigan 
student-athletes, 

coaches and staff since teams 
began returning to campus in 
June.

Since Sept. 30, the football 

team has been tested daily 
with antigen tests provided 
by the Big Ten. Michigan 

coach 
Jim 
Harbaugh 
said 

Monday that no players are 
currently positive for COVID-
19. Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck
told Minnesota reporters at 
the same time that he would 
not share the number of 
players on his team that were 
out with the virus.

Big Ten protocols dictate 

that 
games 
and 
practices 

will be cancelled if 7.5% of 
personnel test positive within 
a seven-day period. Over 10% 
of scheduled college football 
games played this season have 
been cancelled, though the Big 
Ten’s testing protcols are the 
most stringent in the country.

While 
all 
non-revenue 

fall NCAA sports have been 
postponed 
to 
the 
spring, 

Michigan’s 
football 
season 

is scheduled to begin on 
Saturday at Minnesota. The 

Wolverines’ first home game 
is scheduled for 12 p.m. on 
Oct. 
31 
against 
Michigan 

State. No Big Ten games are 
being played with fans in 
attendance, but parents will 
be permitted to attend. It is 
unclear whether that will 
change with the most recent 
order.

According 
to 
Michigan 

coach 
Jim 
Harbaugh, 
the 

Wolverines do not currently 
have any positive COVID-
19 cases. The University as a 
whole reported 301 positive 
cases last week, though that 
figure only includes testing 
conducted 
by 
University 

Health 
Services. 
66% 
of 

positive cases in Washtenaw 
County over the last two 
weeks have been from 18-22 
year olds, implying a high 
caseload from the University.

THEO MACKIE

Managing Sports Editor

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Washtenaw County’s newly-issued stay-at-home order will not affect the Michigan athletic department.

ETHAN
SEARS

ALEC COHEN/Daily

With a clear increase in scoring across college football this season, 
Michigan and other Big Ten teams will have to keep up.

