The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 — 17

YOUR WEEKLY

ARIES

The Full Moon urges gratitude for 
what you already have, rather than 
what you would like to have. With 
Venus shifting into your love zone 
too, Aries, it’s the obvious time to 

show your sweetheart 
how much you care for 
them.

AQUARIUS

GEMINI

Venus arrives in your dating zone, 
Gemini, but the Full Moon shines 
from the most private part of your 
chart, so don’t b surprised if you 
don’t feel all that sociable. Face to 
face meetings may not on the cards, 

but messaging a potential 
new date could be fun.

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

SCORPIO

CANCER

Venus’ arrival in your home zone 
encourages you to tidy up, 
redecorate or beautify your home, 
Cancer. Meanwhile, the Full Moon in 
your social zone suggests plenty of 

entertaining – but be aware that 

one particular friendship 
may have run its course.

TAURUS

The arrival of Venus, your ruling 
planet, in your own sign, is a real 
confidence-booster for you. This 
should be a very laid back and relaxed 
week, Taurus, with Venus arriving in 

your indulgence zone too. 
Watch out for too much of 
a good thing!

VIRGO

PICES

LIBRA
LEO

The Full Moon in your career zone 
suggests a crisis where you’re forced 
to take charge. As un-fun as that 
sounds, Leo, it showcases your skills, 
and is a good thing in the long run. 

Meanwhile, Venus helps you 
to turn on the charm just 
when you need it.

Read your weekly horoscopes from astrology.tv

Venus’ arrival in your money zone 
finds you focusing on ways to create 
extra income – or indeed to spend it. 
You’re in an unusually materialistic 
frame of mind, Virgo, but the Full 

Moon in your philosophy 

zone may cause some 
guilt over your level of 
privilege.

With Venus, your ruling planet, now 
back in your own sign, you’re at your 
confident best. This is a brilliant week 
to date someone new, attend a job 
interview or otherwise make a 

fabulous first impression – 

but the Full Moon proves 
unexpectedly emotional.

The Full Moon shines from your love 
zone, Scorpio, highlighting a 
relationship issue which needs urgent 
attention, compassion and honesty. At 
the same time, Venus shifts into your 

privacy zone, so be careful 

how much you share on 

social media.

A Full Moon in your health zone 
suggests a minor health scare – just 
enough to get your attention, 
Sagittarius, so that you can start 
paying better attention to your 

wellbeing. Socially, the Full 

Moon puts a friendship in 

the spotlight.

Charming Venus in your career zone 
now does you no harm when 
climbing the professional ladder. 
However, you’re not as cautious as 
you normally are – the Full Moon in 

your risk zone brings out 

your reckless streak. Be 

careful, Capricorn!

Charming Venus in your career zone 
now does you no harm when climbing 
the professional ladder. However, 
you’re not as cautious as you normally 
are – the Full Moon in your risk zone 
brings out your reckless streak. Be 

careful, Capricorn!

Venus moves into your intimacy zone 
this week, which is good news for a 
blossoming relationship or for 
reviving the magic in a long-standing 
partnership. But, Pisces, the Full Moon 
suggests some minor communication 

issues.

WHISPER

“Bao Boys is the best food 
truck in Ann Arbor.”

“progressivevotersguide.com”

“GO VOTE!”

Erick All shows promise at tight end

Even on a night that saw 

a 
surefire 
touchdown 
slip 

through 
his 
fingers, 
Erick 

All still showed promise in 
the Michigan football team’s 
season-opener.

In 
the 
13th-ranked 

Wolverines’ 49-24 win over 
Minnesota, 
the 
sophomore 

tight end finished as one of 
four Wolverines with multiple 
receptions 
— 
hauling 
in 

two catches for 33 yards as 
Michigan opened its season 
without senior tight end Nick 
Eubanks.

Beyond the box score, the 

drop sticks out like a sore 
thumb. Offensive coordinator 
Josh Gattis set him up about 
as well as he could have, using 
a 12 personnel set to dupe 
the Gophers’ defense. Junior 
quarterback Joe Milton took 
the shotgun snap, tucked the 
ball and drifted to his right. But 
instead of keeping it himself, 
Milton planted his left foot, 
reared back and threw a strike 
to All as he streaked through a 
gap between Minnesota’s two 
deepest defensive backs.

Milton’s throw hit All square 

in the hands, but he turned his 
head upfield before he could 
reel it in. In one of a couple 
blunders on an imperfect night 
for All, who also failed to bring 
in a back-shoulder throw in the 
end zone a few drives earlier, 
the ball fell to the turf.

“He had the opportunity for 

a touchdown,” Michigan coach 
Jim Harbaugh said Monday. 

“He’s such a good catcher, 
so natural to catch it that he 
pulled his head away as the ball 
was coming in. He just expects 
to catch everything and always 
does.”

Maybe not always. But on the 

next play, the Wolverines went 
right back to him. As Milton 
rolled left, he found All in the 
flat. He did the rest of the work, 
taking it 27 yards before going 
down at the Gophers’ four yard 
line.

“Oh, man, after that play, 

I thank God because after 
dropping that ball, I was just 
way too excited,” All said 
during a Zoom with reporters 
Monday. “I feel like the coaches 
knew that and they gave me 
the second opportunity. If it 
weren’t for that second play, I 
never would have been able to 
redeem myself and I think it 
would’ve been in my head.

“They just had the confidence 

that I don’t really drop balls. I 
don’t know. But thank God that 
the coaches believed in me and 
I was able to get out there for 
the second play and do what 
was right.”

Though All’s hiccup might 

have been a defining moment 
of the night, his performance as 
a blocker didn’t go unnoticed. 
With All’s help, Michigan’s 
offense firmly controlled the 
line of scrimmage throughout 
the game. It’s something he’s 
worked 
on 
diligently 
since 

arriving in Ann Arbor last 
year, and in the grand scheme 
of things, significantly more 
meaningful than a drop here or 
there.

For All, the most important 

development in his blocking 
came in the weight room. 
He’s gained nearly 15 pounds 
of muscle since playing last 
season at 229 pounds, which 
has allowed him to be more 
physical in the trenches.

The 
result? 
A 
better 

understanding 
of 
concepts 

taught by tight ends coach 
Sherrone 
Moore 
and 
an 

ability 
to 
implement 
them 

immediately.

“When it comes to old school 

and new school blocking, I 
really couldn’t even tell you the 
difference to be honest,” All 
said. “I just know that when 
you hit somebody hard, they 
don’t like it. … Whatever coach 
Moore teaches me, I know it’s 
right because this man is a 
genius when it comes to football 
and blocking and doing things 
the right way as a tight end.”

Added Harbaugh: “I thought 

(All) was really impressive. The 
unheralded player, probably of 
the entire offense, his blocking 
was phenomenal, in line, on the 
perimeter, just tremendous.”

On Saturday, All showed he 

belonged. He’s a player the staff 
has praised for the better part 
of the last year, and even when 
Eubanks returns, his blocking 
could be enough to carve out a 
meaningful role.

“Those first-game jitters are 

finally out of the way and we’re 
ready to roll,” All said.

If Michigan’s 49-point effort 

was merely a way of shedding 
jitters, it makes you wonder 
about its offensive ceiling — 
and All’s role within it.

Run game explosive against Gophers

Of the drums the Michigan 

football team beat publicly during 
this abbreviated fall camp, one of 
the loudest and most resounding 
was the need for more explosive 
plays in the run game.

Running 
backs 
coach 
Jay 

Harbaugh first mentioned it back 
in May. His father, Michigan 
coach Jim Harbaugh, and others 
have harped on the subject while 
sitting in front of their webcams 
with reporters as well. When Jay 
Harbaugh spoke to media again in 
early October, it came up again.

“We just need to take the next 

step forward in terms of creating 
explosive runs,” Jay Harbaugh 
said.

Instead of a step, consider it a 

leap.

And it took all of two drives 

before becoming evident.

Down 
a 
touchdown 
after 

allowing a disastrous punt block 
early in Saturday’s game against 
Minnesota, 
the 
Wolverines 

lined up on their second drive 
and punched open a hole for 
sophomore running back Zach 
Charbonnet. It was wide enough 
for him to run 70 yards all but 
untouched, to the house. 

That spot — down a touchdown 

after an unforced error — is one 
where Michigan has come undone 
in the past. On Saturday, it was long 
forgotten by the time the clock hit 
zeroes and the Wolverines left 
TCF Bank Stadium with a 49-24 
win.

“Their defense was misaligned 

and we were able to get (senior 
guard) Chuck Filiaga, I think 

he blocked the backside safety 
from what I was looking at,” Jim 
Harbaugh said of Charbonnet’s 
run. “You don’t expect that, but 
great job by Chuck to get up on 
the backside safety and make that 
thing go the distance.”

A defensive error, yes. One that 

Michigan would have capitalized 
on in 2019, perhaps not.

Michigan came into Saturday 

with four new starters on its 
offensive line, four running backs 
capable of getting touches and 
little time to have made it all work. 
It left having answered questions 
up front, and having proved 
that questions in the backfield 
are merely semantical. (Junior 
quarterback Joe Milton led in 
carries with eight; of the four 
running backs, it was nearly an 
even split).

The Wolverines averaged 8.3 

yards per carry and those explosive 
plays, they came when needed. 
Towards the end of the third 
quarter, junior Hassan Haskins 
broke one for 66 yards, setting up 
a Chris Evans touchdown minutes 
later that ended the competitive 
portion of the proceedings.

In 2019, the first year Josh 

Gattis held the reins as offensive 
coordinator, Michigan ran for over 
250 yards twice in 13 games. On 
Saturday, the Wolverines ran for 
256 and averaged over two yards 
more per carry than they did in 
any game in 2019.

“We got a lot of players that 

can do great things on the field,” 
Haskins said. “We got a lot of 
playmakers on the field in every 
single position group. Everybody 
can do it.”

That it came on the road, 

against a ranked opponent, albeit 
one that was missing a starting 
linebacker and had turnover at 
other positions, should not go 
unnoticed.

“Our backs, all of them played 

extremely well,” Harbaugh said. 
“I don’t know how many different 
people scored touchdowns, but it 
seemed like a lot.”

It was, to be exact, six — with 

Haskins, 
Charbonnet, 
Milton 

and fifth-year senior Chris Evans 
scoring five on the ground.

In a game anticipated to 

showcase Joe Milton’s ability 
as a passer, one of the strongest 
takeaways was ability to affect the 
run game in a way Shea Patterson 
never 
could. 
Gattis 
had 
no 

problems calling designed runs for 
his quarterback, slowly setting up 
a sure touchdown that sophomore 
tight end Erick All dropped when 
Michigan faked the same power 
run it had given Milton all night. 
(All quickly made up for his 
error with a 27-yard catch and 
run that led to a Milton rushing 
touchdown). 

Even freshman Blake Corum, 

the fourth man in most of the 
running back discussions due 
to his youth, got in on the act. 
He took an early bubble screen 
24 yards and finished with 24 
rushing yards on five carries. 

It’s one game, but that it took 

that short a time for Michigan to 
create a new expectation for the 
run game says something unto 
itself.

“Just every time our guys 

needed to step up and make a play 
and get that momentum back, they 
did tonight,” Harbaugh said. “It 
was really impressive.”

Wolverines donning 
social justice decals

On Thursday afternoon, the 

Michigan 
athletic 
department 

announced via a press release 
that all of its varsity teams will 
wear social justice decals on their 
uniforms and pregame warm-ups 
during the 2020-21 academic year.

This 
announcement 
comes 

following the success of a student-
athlete-led initiative to create two 
designs that reflect campus unity 
and diversity, one of which will be 
seen by those watching Michigan 
football take on Minnesota the 
night of Oct. 24.

The Michigan football team 

will be wearing a helmet decal 
depicting six raised fists, each of 
a different skin tone, along with 
the word “EQUALITY” beneath 
them. 

Each team will independently 

vote on whether to wear a similar 
“EQUALITY” logo to that which 
will be debuted this Saturday or a 
“BLM” logo on its uniforms. 

Additionally, Michigan student-

athletes voted to approve seven 
other slogans and themes to be 
worn on warm up apparel: “Stand 
Together,” “WAR (Wolverines 
Against Racism),” “Say Their 
Names,” “No Justice, No Peace,” 

“Justice,” “Hear Us” and “Unity.”

“The thing I love the most about 

this initiative is that they sent this 
out to everyone — not just student-
athletes of color, not only specific 
people — so that everyone was able 
to be a part of the process,” men’s 
track and field graduate student 
Roland Amarteifio said in a press 
release. “Everyone got an email 
that encouraged them to vote and 
suggest their own ideas.”

The addition of social justice 

messaging to Michigan uniforms 
comes in light of the NCAA Playing 
Rules Oversight Panel approving 
rules that allow programs to 
include patches or decals in their 
uniforms in late July.

Since then, the student-led 

initiative, which was coordinated 
by Briana Nelson, a graduate 
student on the women’s track and 
field team, has worked diligently 
to prepare designs for the fall.

“I’m excited because this is an 

opportunity for us to step outside 
of sport and advocate while also 
competing,” Nelson said in a press 
release. “It’s something that will 
draw attention during big games 
and on television. Essentially, it’s 
spreading the message, even to 
people who are just watching us 
for sport, that this is bigger than 
sports.” 

ETHAN SEARS

Managing Sports Editor

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Running back Zach Charbonnet scored a 70-yard touchdown on Michigan’s first play from scrimmage Saturday.

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

Sophomore tight end Erick All started on Saturday with senior Nick Eubanks unavailable due to injury.

DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Editor

JACOB COHEN
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily

The Michigan football team is wearing helmet decals promoting social justice.

