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Sports
Wednesday, September 8, 2021 — 9

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KEN KOLLMAN 
Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor
Professor of Political Science

Why You Should 
and Should Not 
be Worried About

AMERICAN 
DEMOCRACY

Tuesday, September 21, 2021 | 4:00 p.m. 
 | Weiser Hall, 10th Floor

LSA LECTURE

The last time Cade McNa-

mara took the field in Michigan 
Stadium, little went according to 
plan. 

Facing Penn State in his first 

collegiate start last November, 
McNamara finished just 12-of-
25 through the air for 91 yards 
before leaving the game early 
with a shoulder injury. Unable 
to muster any offense, Michigan 
slogged through a 10-point loss. 

Saturday told a different story. 
In 
the 
Wolverines’ 
2021 

season-opener, 
McNamara 

flourished, going 9-of-11 with 
136 passing yards and a pair of 
touchdowns, leading Michigan 
to a 47-14 victory. By the time he 
departed with 5:48 minutes left 
in the third quarter, the Wolver-
ines had a comfortable 26-point 
lead with McNamara having 
engineered 
four 
touchdown 

drives. 

“He moves our team,” Michi-

gan coach Jim Harbaugh said 
after the game. “All the drives 
he’s been in — we score points 
when he’s out there.”

Entering the season, some 

anticipated a quarterback com-
petition would unfold between 
McNamara, prized 5-star fresh-
man J.J. McCarthy and Texas 
Tech transfer Alan Bowman. 
Instead, the Michigan coaching 
staff handed the reins to McNa-
mara without much of a contest. 
One game in, the returns are 
undeniably positive. 

McNamara’s 
performance 

against the Broncos was not 
flawless, but growing pains are 
to be expected from a first-time 
full-time starting quarterback. 

A pair of McNamara’s passes 
were batted down at the line of 
scrimmage, perhaps a product of 
poor pass protection; on a sepa-
rate series, McNamara missed 
a wide-open Roman Wilson for 
a would-be touchdown, instead 
electing to dump the ball off in 
the flat. After the game, McNa-
mara noted that the offense 
had one communication mishap 
which he took fault for. 

For now, Michigan has no 

choice but to ride out McNama-
ra’s learning curve. The miscues 
are certainly palatable when 
accompanied by the consistent 
production that McNamara pro-
vided on Saturday. 

From the onset, McNamara 

appeared comfortable. On Mich-
igan’s first drive, the Wolverines 
set the game’s tone, steamrolling 
their way 75 yards down the 
field in 3:51 minutes. McNama-
ra completed his only two pass 
attempts, ran the offense with 
tempo and helped complete a 
fourth down conversion. 

As the Wolverines continue 

to place an emphasis on the run 
game — which multiple play-
ers have labeled as the team’s 
offensive identity — McNama-
ra’s opportunities to sling the 
ball downfield may be limited. 
Yet, when called to do so against 
Western Michigan, he execut-
ed with precision, a trait that 
plagued his predecessor, Joe 
Milton. 

Early in the second quarter, 

McNamara dropped in a beau-
tiful pass down the sideline for 
senior receiver Ronnie Bell, 
who made a tremendous catch 
that was called back due to a 
dubious offensive pass interfer-
ence call. On the very next pos-
session, McNamara found Bell 

again, floating in a perfectly 
placed spiral that Bell took the 
distance for a 76-yard touch-
down. 

“They were showing us a few 

different things that we were 
expecting,” McNamara said. “I 
was able to recognize it and was 
able to see the 1-on-1 with Ron-
nie. He made a great route, and 
all I had to do was put it out front 
for him.” 

McNamara makes it sound 

simple, but for a Michigan 
offense hoping to assert itself in 
the running game, he may not be 
asked to do much more. In the 
second half, McNamara attempt-
ed just two passes on two total 
drives. Still, one of those drives 
resulted in a touchdown follow-
ing a 74-yard jet sweep to sopho-
more receiver A.J. Henning. 

If McNamara can continue to 

complete passes like the one to 
Bell on a consistent basis, Michi-
gan would appear to be in good 
hands. 

“I think whatever the game-

plan sees fit will determine our 
run-to-pass ratio,” McNamara 
said. “I don’t mind — I thought 
the calling today was perfect. 
We got the job done. Running 
the ball a little bit more, I don’t 
mind that, it makes my job a lit-
tle bit easier.” 

McNamara’s 
difficulty 
is 

only amplified from this point 
forward. A primetime matchup 
against No. 20 Washington on 
Saturday, Sept. 11, and with 
Bell’s status suddenly precari-
ous following a right leg injury, 
he may be without his most-
dependable option for the long 
haul. 

But for one game, at least, 

McNamara gave the Wolverines 
all they could have asked for. 

In season opener, McNamara 

performs as hoped

JARED GREENSPAN
Daily Sports Editor

At first, it looked as if noth-

ing had changed. 

On 
Western 
Michigan’s 

first drive against the Michi-
gan football team on Satur-
day, it had no trouble picking 
apart defensive coordinator 
Mike Macdonald’s “new-look” 
defense. On the first play, a 
receiver found himself open on 
a crossing route but dropped 
the open pass. Moments later, 
senior 
cornerback 
Gemon 

Green — the team’s strongest 
corner in 2020 — got beat over-
the-top for a 28-yard gain. As 
the Wolverines continued to 
struggle in coverage, the Bron-
cos easily marched down the 
field and quickly evened the 
score at seven. 

But somewhere en route to 

Michigan’s 
47-14 
thumping 

of Western Michigan, those 
problems 
dissipated. 
As 
if 

spurred by the possibility that 
significant 
struggles 
could 

derail the entire season, the 
Wolverines’ defensive backs 
glued themselves to opposing 
wideouts and paralyzed the 
Broncos’ initially lively pass-
ing game. Those seven points 
on the first drive ended up as 
their only non-garbage-time 
points of the game. 

“I thought (Macdonald) did 

a great job mixing the coverag-
es,” Michigan coach Jim Har-
baugh said. “Right before the 
second half, (he) started going 
to more of a two-high shell as 
we were stopping the run and 
playing more coverage, which 
made their quarterback hold 
the ball a little bit longer, and 

we were able to apply some 
pressure.”

Those adjustments made an 

immediate impact. After for-
feiting 89 yards and 8-for-12 
passing in the first quarter, 
Michigan held Western Michi-
gan to just one completion for 
no gain on six attempts in the 
second quarter. In total, the 
Wolverines allowed 11 comple-
tions for 102 yards in the final 
three quarters. 

Central to that improve-

ment was junior Daxton Hill, 
who played mostly as a nickel 
corner after starting as a deep 
safety last season. Playing 
closer to the line of scrim-
mage, Hill was more regularly 
involved in the pass defense 
and used his athleticism not 
just to disrupt passes that 
went his way, but also to dis-
guise coverages and confuse 
Broncos 
quarterback 
Kaleb 

Eleby. Even when he looked 
beat, Hill managed to make 
plays, such as late in the third 
quarter when he dove to break 
up a pass over the middle near 
midfield. 

“That position makes a big 

difference for us in the back 
seven,” 
senior 
cornerback 

Vincent Gray said. “Because 
his disguises and what he 
does with his disguise plays a 
big role in the quarterback’s 
checks. … Whether he’s blitz-
ing or whether he’s not blitz-
ing, the coverage he’s playing 
or not playing, they’re pretty 
much looking at him to see 
what we’re in, so him moving 
around and giving him differ-
ent looks is really good for us 
in the back seven.”

The defensive front, too, 

played a major role in Michi-

gan’s improved pass defense. 
After struggling to get enough 
push early on, the Wolverines’ 
blitzers — led by senior defen-
sive end Aidan Hutchinson 
and junior defensive lineman 
Mazi Smith — wore down the 
offensive line and put more 
pressure on Eleby as the game 
wore 
on. 
Ultimately, 
that 

effort was highlighted by a 
third quarter strip sack from 
Hutchinson. 

There were, of course, still 

some 
shaky 
moments. 
On 

Western Michigan’s last drive 
of the first half, Gray found 
himself beat over the top by 
Broncos receiver Jaylen Hall. 
Hall ended up dropping the 
pass, but the play still demon-
strated how, even when Michi-
gan drops into zone, opposing 
offenses will find ways to get 
the 
one-on-one 
matchups 

they want. Regardless of the 
scheme, the cornerbacks still 
need to be able to run with 
receivers, and if they can’t, the 
problems of 2020 will persist.

Still, the Wolverines’ staff 

seems to recognize that. The 
willingness to adjust after 
those first quarter struggles 
marks a departure from the 
defenses of years past. A win 
over Western Michigan only 
says so much about the team’s 
overall 
improvement, 
but 

any remaining questions will 
almost certainly be answered 
next week against Washing-
ton. 

“We 
haven’t 
done 
any-

thing yet,” Gray said. “We can 
improve a lot. We made a lot of 
mistakes that probably will go 
unnoticed.”

Added 
Hutchinson: 
“We 

haven’t done a damn thing.”

After shaky start, pass defense settles 

in against Western Michigan

BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Editor

As the offseason dwindled down 

and the predictions for the 2021 
season started to pour in, it didn’t 
take long for the comparisons to 
start. 

Blake Corum — the Michigan 

football team’s athletic 5-foot-8 
sophomore running back — bore 
a strikingly similar figure to Mike 
Hart, the legendary 5-foot-9 former 
rusher who returned this season 
as the Wolverines’ running backs 
coach. Writers, of course, happily 
pointed out that similarity. 

Hart, though, was quick to dis-

miss the narrative. 

“He works a lot harder,” Hart 

said on Aug. 19. “… He’s a lot faster 
than me, a lot quicker than me. If I 
was that fast, I’d probably still be in 
the NFL.”

One of the main questions fac-

ing the Michigan offense enter-
ing the season was how it would 
divide up carries within its talent-
ed, albeit shallow, running-backs 
room. Would it rely on senior Has-
san Haskins — the program’s most 
experienced runner and the leading 
rusher in 2020 — as a de facto work-
horse back or use the Hart-like tal-
ents of Corum and elite athleticism 
of freshman Donovan Edwards for a 
more dynamic rushing attack?

Saturday’s 47-14 win over West-

ern Michigan began to answer that 
question. 

Corum’s performance — which 

featured 111 rushing yards on 14 
attempts, two receptions for 22 
yards, two total touchdowns and an 
electrifying 79-yard kick return — 
showed just how effective he can be 
when used properly. When placed 
alongside Haskins’s 70 yards on 13 
carries, it highlighted the coaching 
staff’s intent to use the two backs as 
virtual co-starters. 

Even more, it showed that Corum 

deserved his place in that one-two 
punch.

“Both (are) standout players,” 

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told 
reporters Monday. “We’ve been 
saying they’re both the starting 
running back. Said we were gonna 
lean on them and ride them. That’s 
the plan.”

For Corum, that step into a 

starting job marks an upgrade from 
last season, where Haskins more 
than doubled Corum’s workload 
and production. Many of the play 
designs were similar to last year — 
lots of swing routes, runs around 
the edge and plays designed to get 
the ball into space — but Corum’s 
role in the offense visibly grew in 
that first game. 

In that starting role, he flour-

ished. The stats communicate that 
Corum had a strong game, but they 
don’t even tell the full story. They 
don’t show how, on his swing-pass 
touchdown, Corum waited for 
junior wide receiver Mike Sainris-
til’s block before bursting into the 
gap. Nor do they say how — on his 
30-yard rushing touchdown later 

on — he knew exactly where to cut 
back to find the most space. 

The film doesn’t just display a 

sophomore back with some excit-
ing athleticism; it tells the story of 
a smart player gaining more con-
fidence in his abilities with every 
rush. 

“I feel like I was more patient 

today,” Corum said Saturday. 
“But when you’re playing, you 
can’t really tell how patient you 
actually are. I feel like I took what 
I did in the offseason and applied 
it today.”

That doesn’t take anything away 

from Haskins, either. Much of the 
discrepancy in yardage between 
the two backs can be attributed 
to how they were used. In three 
different scenarios, Haskins was 

brought in on third-and-one to pick 
up the first down. Although one of 
those plays resulted in a 22-yard 
touchdown run, the use of Haskins 
in third-and-short situations dem-
onstrates how the coaches see 
him more as a short-yardage back 
because of his physicality. Corum’s 
only third-down runs, conversely, 
came on third-and-five and third-
and-15. 

“(Haskins), he’s a strong dude,” 

Corum said. “It’s hard to tackle him, 
so he might run through you. Me, 
I’m more of a finesse guy, so I might 
make you fall. With a one-two 
punch with both of us that can make 
people miss at the second level, it’s 
hard to stop that. 

“It’s kind of like thunder and 

lightning.”

Blake Corum shows his dynamic abilities in first game of season

BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Editor

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily 

Michigan sophomore running back Blake Corum ran for 111 yards against Western Michigan.

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily 

Michigan junior defensive back Daxton Hill used his athleticism to impact the passing game.

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily 

Michigan junior quarterback Cade McNamara ran the offense the way it was meant to be run Saturday.

