The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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28 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2018 sound, fundamental football. I'm im- pressed." They came back down to earth a bit the following week against an SMU team that was tougher than ex- pected. The running game, playing without senior captain and running back Karan Higdon, managed only 88 yards on its first 30 carries against a team that had given up 88 points in its first two games. It was tough sledding throughout, especially on short yardage in the first half. Junior Chris Evans finished with 85 yards on 18 carries before leaving the game with an injury of his own, and junior Tru Wilson man- aged 53 yards on 11 rushes, most of it in the fourth quarter. There is plenty of work to do in the run game, too. Seven of Michigan's first-half runs against the Mustangs went for one yard or less, and the Wolverines av- eraged only 2.8 yards per carry in the first half. U-M netted only 58 yards on 33 carries against the Fighting Irish, and the Wolverines ranked only 60th na- tionally with 187.7 rushing yards per game after three contests, bolstered by its performance against WMU. Harbaugh, though, was somewhat encouraged by his team's direction after watching film of the SMU game. The biggest problem hadn't been anything physical. It's been missed assignments, according to the coach. "It's been good, productive," he said. "We still have some timing is- sues there … but we're successful when we're on the right guy. That's encouraging, but not where we want it to be yet. We're chasing perfection. "Improved? Yes. By any standard in the way you can measure im- proved, they're improving." Wilson's emergence as a pass blocker, meanwhile, had been a pleasant surprise. He was the best of the three by far in the non-conference and showed an ability to cut block like former great Mike Hart. "He continues to grow and grow as a player," Harbaugh praised. Frosh Christian Turner, who is playing with a cast on his wrist, will be working in there as well. "Christian really opened a lot of eyes from the very first practice," Harbaugh said. "He's doing really well. I'm excited to see him play. He's right there now in the mix." RECEIVERS ARE STEPPING UP The passing game has taken a great leap not only because of Patterson's emergence, but also due to improved wide receiver play. Redshirt freshman Tarik Black went down with a broken foot the week be- fore the Notre Dame game, but soph- omore Nico Collins — one of the fall camp surprises — was the big-play guy in his absence. He stepped up in each of the first two games, hauling in a 52-yarder at Notre Dame and then a 44-yard score against Western Michi- gan, his first career touchdown. A week later, sophomore Dono- van Peoples-Jones added three more touchdown receptions, including a 41-yarder, to the first scoring catch of his career the game before, living up to his lofty reputation as a five-star playmaker out of high school. The tight ends, too, have had their ups and downs. Gentry had been quiet in the first two games before breaking out with four catches for 95 yards against the Mustangs. He caught seven passes and averaged 16.6 yards per catch in the first three games. "Zach's a very special player, 6-7, 6-8," Patterson said. "Even when he's got a guy on him, you're just putting it high for him to go up and grab it. That helps. He's a huge aspect in this offense, especially in the run game. "He's a great blocker. That sets up the play action, and the drop-back passes to him as well." He's also a work in progress, Har- baugh said, but he's close to being one of the team's top all-around players. "Physically, he's really excelling," the coach said. "The only times you can say there was an exception to that was where he blocked the wrong as- signment. But he's very close to being a complete player." However, the Wolverines were still waiting for the other tight ends to get involved entering Big Ten play. Ju- nior Sean McKeon and redshirt soph- omore Nick Eubanks had only five catches for 43 yards between them in three games, and both are capable of more. However, there are plenty of weap- Senior Karan Higdon rushed for 228 yards and two scores in the first two games, but did not play in week three. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN