The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 47 at Kansas in 2003 and ran a variation of a spread attack at Notre Dame in the early 2010s. They ran power spread at Ohio State, where he was coordinator a few years later, and employed another spread variation at Minnesota in 2017 under head coach P.J. Fleck. The Michigan line had no problem picking it up, Jansen said. "That's the offense Ed is used to," Jansen said. "Until he was in Harbaugh's offense last year, that's the offense he ran at Ohio State, at Minnesota. He's always been in this type of offense. He's meshed extremely well with [offensive coordinator Josh] Gattis." Though they'll likely throw more to play to quarterback Shea Patterson's strengths and employ more run-pass option in which it's up to the quarterback to decide what to do during the play, the running game won't be all that different. The Wolverines utilized a zone-blocking scheme more often than not last year, and that shouldn't change. Gattis also insisted the offense would still be built around a strong running game, the way it was at both of his last two stops (they had Saquon Barkley at Penn State, and Ala- bama featured a plethora of elite running backs last year), and Warinner is on board. Getting the plays from the sidelines will be new to his group and is a first for a Harbaugh offense, but the players picked it up quickly in the spring. They also enjoyed it, Warinner insisted. They used a wrist band system last year, which meant the play would get called in and then the player had to find it on his arm. "Everybody looks at the signals from the sidelines, but we also use decoys and have other things going on as well," Warinner noted. "It's like baseball where you have fake signals from a third-base coach. It's also a good way to run plays 10 seconds faster — we're not trying to feature a two-minute offense or anything, but we're also not trying to snap the ball with only three seconds left on the clock. "The linemen have really liked it, because it gives them more time at the line of scrim- mage to think about the plays being run as they wait for the skill position guys to get lined up." It's not like he's the Lone Ranger when it comes to teaching it either. Harbaugh has sur- rounded Warinner with a number of coaches who have seen some variation of the spread over the years. "I've run this offense as a coordinator at two different places, so there isn't much I haven't seen," Warinner said. "Gattis has also run this at different schools, and so has [quarterbacks coach] Ben McDaniels. "[Tight ends coach] Sherrone Moore also coached in spread offenses at CMU and Lou- isville, so it certainly isn't foreign to him. The staff is working together so well in this offense." Patterson, too, played in it for two years at Ole Miss before transferring in last year, while redshirt sophomore backup Dylan Mc- Caffrey (who will play in every game this year, Harbaugh insisted this summer) also has experience in a spread from his high school days. "This is made for Patterson's skill set, and McCaffrey and [redshirt freshman quarter- back Joe] Milton are learning it as well," Warinner said. "There's nothing we're miss- ing to be a 'speed in space' spread offense. There's nothing we need to recruit. "We need to find out what Shea is best at and what the running backs are best at, and then we'll focus on those areas. That's what spring was for." The residual effect of the switch, too, could be felt in the years to come. The increase in the number of plays means everyone up front is getting more reps than ever before. Even the backups are seeing snaps and getting bet- ter as a result. "All they want is a chance," Warinner said. Increased reps are helpful, of course. But the improvement started with a guy who's been around the block a few times and de- mands excellence. Warinner's presence might just be the big- gest factor in Michigan getting back to what it used to be known for — which, in turn, should help the Wolverines end the Big Ten championship drought. ❏ Five Most Memorable Offensive-Line Performances Of The Last 30 Years The 2019 season marks the 30th year since Bo Schembechler walked the sidelines for the Michigan football program. Schembechler, a former offensive lineman himself at Miami (Ohio), was known for his team's out- standing play up front, fueled by incredibly tough practices and attention to detail. Great line play continued for many years after he retired. Here are five of the most memorable games by Michigan's men up front since Schembechler's retirement: 5. Michigan 38, Washington 31 (1992 Rose Bowl): The Wolverines made up for a 34-14 loss to the Huskies a year earlier with a dominant performance up front, to the point that the Washington defensive linemen were asking the U-M blockers to take it easy on one of their exhausted teammates. "That game was so well called and planned for. Those holes were so big, and the Washington guys were so far out of position," 1992 guard Doug Skene recalled of the Jan. 1, 1993 contest. "We were just gashing them." Tyrone Wheatley ran for 235 of U-M's 308 yards in the win, including touchdown dashes of 56, 88 and 24 yards behind (left to right) Trezelle Jenkins, Skene, Steve Everitt, Joe Cocozzo and Rob Doherty. 4. Michigan 41, Florida 35 (2007 Capital One Bowl): On Jan. 1, 2008, the Wolverines spread Urban Meyer's team out in head coach Lloyd Carr's last game and dominated offensively, both on the ground and through the air. Running back Mike Hart uncharacteristically fumbled twice at the goal line or the Wolverines would have won by three scores. Regardless, Hart ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Chad Henne had time to pick the talented Gators' defense apart, throwing for 373 yards and three scores. The Wolverines amassed 524 yards behind Jake Long, Adam Kraus, Justin Boren, Alex Mitchell and Stephen Schilling. 3. Michigan 34, Penn State 8 (1997): The numbers were big, but they didn't do this mauling justice. The Wolverines jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead and went on autopilot in the second half, cruising to a road victory that would propel them to a national championship. U-M rushed for 265 yards, led by Chris Howard's 120 (5.5 yards per carry) and — just as importantly — didn't allow a sack of quarterback Brian Griese in a win that shook up the college football world that Nov. 8 (PSU was ranked No. 2 by the AP and boasted the longest active winning streak among major colleges, while U-M was No. 4). Jeff Backus, Steve Hutchinson, Zach Adami, Chris Ziemann and Jon Jansen dominated from the first snap. 2. Michigan 31, Ohio State 23 (1995): Michigan tailback Tshimanga Biakabutuka told head coach Lloyd Carr early in game week he wanted to prove he was the best running back in the Big Ten — better than OSU's eventual Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George — and he responded, shredding the No. 2 Buckeyes' defense for 313 yards, the second- most rushing yards in a single game ever for a U-M back. George finished with 105 and a score. Afterwards, Biakabutuka credited his men up front — Jon Runyan, Zach Adami, Rod Payne, Joe Marinaro and Jon Jansen — for making it possible, even though he broke several tackles and carried defenders with him at times. "I've been playing football for six years, and even in high school I never saw holes that big," he said. "Anybody here could have run through those holes and gained all those yards." 1. Michigan 35, Ole Miss 3 (1990 Gator Bowl): It's not often that an offensive line is honored with game MVP honors, but the 1990 group earned it (and then some) by bludgeoning Ole Miss up front, 35-3, in the Gator Bowl played on Jan. 1, 1991. Michigan backs Jon Vaughn (128 yards) and Ricky Powers (112) both eclipsed 100 yards, while fullback Jarrod Bunch added 54. U-M racked up 391 yards on the ground. "We just exploded," Bunch said. "The truth is, we practiced so hard we were getting on each other's nerves." Michigan racked up 715 yards and 35 first downs, both Gator Bowl records, and play-actioned the Rebels to death. Left tackle Tom Dohring, left guard Dean Dingman, center Steve Everitt, right guard Joe Cocozzo and right tackle Greg Skrepenak dominated from start to finish. "It's really nice to be recognized," Dohring said. "We wanted to be recognized as one of the best." — Chris Balas