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Let’s Get Moving Again, Together!

For the Michigan football program, the 

start of fall camp in 2021 carries a different 
tone than it has in years past. 

The general mood, of course, remains 

the same: optimistic. With the blank slate 
of a new season comes new visions and 
new possibilities. The shortcomings of 
the previous campaign are distant enough 
in the past — and the threat of Ohio State 
distant enough in the future — to believe 
they’ve been potentially fixed enough for 
the Wolverines to take a step forward in 
the new year. 

But for 2021, that step forward comes 

from unfamiliar territory. Whereas in 
Harbaugh’s previous campaigns, Michi-
gan hoped to finally bridge the gap with 
the nation’s elite (and, to an extent, some 
level of success felt certain), the vast disap-
pointment of 2020 means this season’s fall 
camp carries more tempered expectations. 
Whether or not the coaches want to admit 
it, the Wolverines aren’t destined for a con-
ference title in 2021. Mostly, they’ll just be 
looking to compete. 

A lot of that improvement will have to 

start in the run game. Last season, Michi-
gan mustered just 131.5 rushing yards per 
game, good for 95th in the country and 11th 
in the Big Ten. Even worse, the Wolverines 
put up those numbers with a running-back 
room that was, by all accounts, fairly deep. 
From there, the run game becomes a ques-
tion of coaching and offensive line play. 

“I think we were productive at times,” 

offensive coordinator Josh Gattis said. “The 
issue is, we didn’t run the ball enough. … 
We just had two or three games where we 
had under 20 carries a game, and so your 
numbers, comparatively, when you look at 
them at the end of the season, they’re gonna 
be low.”

Gattis is correct that there were two 

games in 2020 — against Indiana and 
Wisconsin — where Michigan ran the ball 
fewer than 20 times. But looking at the 
numbers, choosing to throw the ball more 
at the time made sense, as the Wolver-
ines averaged 0.7 and 2.5 yards per carry 
against the Hoosiers and Badgers, respec-
tively. They finished both of those games 
with under 50 yards on the ground, but 
even if they had run it more, that wouldn’t 

have made any difference in the offense’s 
success. 

Realistically, growth will have to come 

on the offensive line, and although there’s 
a decent amount of depth in that position 
group, the most talented players remain 
young and unproven. Some, like current 
sophomore Zak Zinter, whom Gattis has 
anointed as potentially being Michigan’s 
best offensive player, were thrown into the 
fire last season after injuries derailed the 
starting lineup, while others, like junior 
Trente Jones, have yet to see significant 
playing time. Their development will be 
crucial to any growth in the run game in 
2021. 

“Our depth at the offensive line position, 

I think that’s a strength,” Gattis said. “… We 
feel like we’ve got almost eight guys that 
can compete for a starting job, and obvious-
ly we’ve got some high-level players there.”

There’s also, of course, Sherrone Moore’s 

move to coaching the offensive line. His 
predecessor — Ed Warinner, now the run-
game coordinator at Florida Atlantic — was 
generally well-respected in college football 
as a skilled tactician, so Moore does have 
some pretty big shoes to fill. Still, at just 35 
years old and as a former offensive lineman 
himself, he brings a different perspective to 
his unit that could help with player devel-
opment. 

“I think the younger guys really appre-

ciate it,” fifth-year senior offensive line-
man Andrew Stueber said in March. “It’s 
become a more open-room environment, 
you can ask a lot more questions, and he 
knows from experience, too. I think also 
the older guys are liking the new kind of 
energy and vibe he’s bringing to the room, 
the practice field, and just his overall ener-
gy.”

Whether that translates into success, 

though, is yet to be seen. Even if the Wol-
verines aren’t expected to compete for a 
national championship in 2021, the run 
game cannot remain stagnant. That could 
be complicated by injuries and youth 
on the offensive line, but sooner or later, 
that unit will need to find something that 
works. 

“The 2020 offense is gonna look dif-

ferent than the 2021 offense,” Gattis said. 
“Because you have to shape that to the 
identity of your team.”

One way or another, that identity will be 

forged in the trenches. 

Gattis, Wolverines look to build 

run game in the trenches

BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Editor

Following last season’s heart-

breaking overtime loss in the 
National Championship Game to 
North Carolina, the No. 2 Michigan 
field hockey team entered this week-
end’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge with a 
chip on its shoulder.

This time, the matchup against 

the Tarheels would end differently.

Strong defense and precise goal-

keeping put the Wolverines in the 
driver’s seat for much of its 3-2 victo-
ry over No. 1 North Carolina on Fri-
day. That same aggressive defense 
helped Michigan blank No. 11 Wake 
Forest 2-0 on Sunday.

Against the Tarheels, familiar 

foes felt each other out as the game 
began, and it seemed like both 
teams waited for an opportunity 
to strike. Michigan found one first 
when freshman midfielder Alana 
Richardson chipped in a rebound 
from senior forward Tina D’Anjolell 
shortly before the first period 
expired. 

D’Anjolell added her own tally 

around ten minutes later, and she 
notched a goal and an assist against 
the Demon Deacons on Sunday. 
However, it wasn’t just her ability to 
score that helped her team capture 
difficult wins.

“She’s very fast, and she’s a senior 

so she’s very experienced,” Michi-
gan coach Marcia Pankratz said. “… 
She set the tone on defense because 
she can close them down, which 
helps our defense create turnovers.”

Much of D’Anjolell’s success came 

from overwhelming opponents with 
quick passes and unpredictable foot-
work. Each time a defender shifted 
their positioning and prepared to 
stymy a Michigan threat, she — and 
the rest of the team — changed on 
the fly to create shots. Time after 
time, opposing defenders came up 
with no answer.

This game plan originated largely 

from Michigan’s energy. The Wol-
verines used speed and aggression 
to control the game, frustrating 

opposing forwards.

“Our team embraces that type of 

play,” Pankratz said. “… We know if 
we get the other team’s head down, 
that they’re not going to be able to 
perform the tactics that they want 
because we put them under so much 
pressure.”

Early on, the defense was able to 

keep up with opposing threats and 
get the ball out of their zone. But, by 
the third and fourth quarters, North 
Carolina and Wake Forest main-
tained possession for longer, stretch-
ing out Michigan’s defenders and 
looking for seams in tight coverage. 
The Wolverines started falling a step 
behind attackers and struggled to 
make clean exits from their 25-yard 
zone.

Michigan had to lean on the depth 

of its defenders to overcome this, 
shifting to a more reserved style 
against later possessions. Junior mid-
fielder Nina Apoola and sophomore 
back Serena Brimacombe both used 
their positioning to slash the angles 
that opposing forwards could choose.

This overall defensive structure 

complemented transitions back to 
the Wolverines’ normal, aggres-
sive play. As the team collapsed into 
tighter zones, both the Tarheels’ and 
Demon Deacons’ explosive offenses 
came up empty-handed on chance 
after chance, and the Wolverines 
started playing tighter coverage as 
the opponents tired. 

This wasn’t just the Wolverines 

showing off their offseason train-
ing; this showed targeted growth 
of their defensive capabilities. They 
scored the same amount of goals this 
time against North Carolina as they 
did last season, but they slashed their 

goals-against in half.

“… Even if the ball does get 

through the forward line, I know 
I can trust my midfielders enough 
for them to step up,” D’Anjolell said. 
“And then we can counterattack and 
score the goals that we need.”

Perhaps the greatest indicator of 

this was Michigan’s containment of 
two-time NFHCA National Player 
of the Year Erin Matson. The for-
ward scored two goals in last year’s 
championship game — including the 
game winner. This time around, the 
defense stopped her from putting a 
shot on net.

For the opponents who managed 

to squeeze off shots, senior goal-
keeper Anna Spieker stood like a 
brick wall, challenging forwards as 

they came into her zone all weekend. 
This brazen strategy forced many 
high shots that soared over the net.

Michigan’s performance wasn’t 

all perfection, as the Tarheels were 
able to score goals by pinning the 
Wolverines twice and pouncing on 
minor positioning mistakes, includ-
ing a close call as time expired 
against North Carolina.

These proved to be the exception, 

not the rule. Momentum swayed 
back toward the Wolverines after 
each goal, and a loss seemed surpris-
ingly out of the question against two 
of the best teams in the country.

For Michigan, this weekend 

wasn’t about proving it can handle 
the nation’s best, nor was it about 
simply establishing a good start to 
the season. It was about proving that 
the Wolverines were a new team on 
both sides of the field.

And Michigan’s performance 

shouted that message.

Michigan makes statement in Big 

Ten/ACC Challenge sweep

CONNOR EAREGOOD

Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily 

The Michigan Field Hockey team avenged last year’s championship game loss to North 
Carolina, one of two wins this weekend. 

12 — Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com