The Wolverine

December 2019

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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18 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2019 BY JOHN BORTON J im Harbaugh made more than a few jaws drop when he declared Michigan's offense to be "hitting our stride" following a 10-3 win over Iowa. A headline on a story by The Michi- gan Daily characterized that game's of- fensive performance as "abysmal," cit- ing the low points and yardage (267). Even the most charitable media out- lets wondered where the confidence was coming from. Michigan's head coach insisted he saw gains in practice, and flashes in games, that convinced him the Wolver- ines were moving forward. He reem- phasized that he saw the offense "on the cusp" of achieving more. Then it happened. The very next week, the Wolverines put 42 points on the board at Illinois, featuring 100-yard rushing perfor- mances by redshirt freshman tailback Hassan Haskins and true freshman Zach Charbonnet. Some dismissed the effort, because it was "only Illinois" — at least until the Illini knocked off previously unbeaten Wisconsin 24-23 a week later. In a raging whiteout at Penn State, Michigan didn't score until 2:55 re- mained in the first half, after digging a 21-0 hole. But the Wolverines rallied to eventually lose only 28-21, coming within a dropped pass in the end zone and a couple friendlier flags of send- ing the game to overtime or winning it in regulation. Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis' crew then led the 45-14 destruction of Notre Dame in the rain. The Wolver- ines piled up 303 yards on the ground and 437 overall in literally running away from the Irish. U-M kept it up at Maryland, easing away for a 38-7 win and completing 10 straight quarters of football without a turnover — a massive turnaround from earlier in the year. Michigan didn't offer any general media access in the week leading up to Michigan State in its second bye of the season. But on his Inside Michigan Football radio show with former U-M All-American Jon Jansen, the head coach indicated he's seeing improve- ment in the offensive line as well. "It needs to be [improving] because the defensive lines that we're going to be facing against the next three op- ponents are very formidable," Har- baugh said. "Michigan State, Indiana and Ohio State have tremendous de- fensive fronts." Harbaugh also praised the effort at Maryland, leading into a two-week prep for MSU. "Overall, I thought it was really sound," Harbaugh said. "No turn- overs. The streak of not having any turnovers [is] a great thing." A BALL-SECURITY BONUS Michigan senior quarterback Shea Patterson tossed an unusual intercep- tion — amid several U-M blockers on a screen pass — at the 9:54 mark of the second quarter against Penn State. Even that turnover likely doesn't hap- pen, had officials not called junior wide receiver Nico Collins for offensive pass interference two plays earlier. Collins' effort appeared on replays as simply good positioning — but, like Harbaugh noted two days later, "the only fair is the county fair." Sev- eral potential game-changing plays got whited out in that contest and the pickoff happened. The Wolverines didn't turn the ball over in their second-half comeback attempt, in what Harbaugh described as a "heroic" effort by Patterson. They didn't cough it up once in the four rain-drenched quarters of dominating the Irish. They didn't turn it over against Maryland, either. Heading into the Michigan State game, the Wolverines hadn't committed a turnover in 157 minutes of football. In short, Gattis' crew turned off the turnover spigot that appeared wide open over the first several weeks of the season. The Wolverines lost seven fumbles in their first three games. Since that time, they've only given the ball away via fumble twice, both at Illinois. U-M went from the worst fumbling team in the nation to tied for 112th as of Nov. 12. Hardly a stat about which to brag, but a move up. Meanwhile, the Wolverines threw five interceptions through those first nine games, but only the one at Penn State in the last three contests. Patter- son entered the bye week with four of those picks. The handful had Michigan tied for 28th in the nation for fewest intercep- tions, just one pickoff away from the top 15. For Gattis, who also appeared with Jansen on Inside Michigan Foot- ball, the improvements have been game-changing. It started with Patterson's confi- dence, he noted. "I think week one, he put a lot of pressure on himself," Gattis said. "He was kind of down on himself with turning the ball over. The thing he had to realize is it wasn't all his fault. "He just had to eliminate that pres- sure he put on himself in the begin- ning of the year. He had to relax and get back to playing football, being confident with his decision making and that's allowed him to play at his best." Overall, Gattis observed Michigan is doing a much better job taking care of the ball. That aspect of the game provided the biggest upswing in the Wolverines' offense, he assured. "I think the only thing I see dif- HITTING THEIR STRIDE The U-M Offense Makes Strong Improvement Against Illinois, Penn State, Notre Dame and Maryland, redshirt freshman Hassan Haskins rushed 58 times for 362 yards and two scores, an average of 6.2 yards per carry. He had rushed 14 times for just 64 yards (4.6 average) in the first five games of the year. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL

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