The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2021 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 85 He's seeing it more and more. He's expe- rienced it personally, on several occasions so far. Offensive linemen are always hungry, but this marks a different level of hunger. Zinter looks to help create a banquet of broken wills and no small share of pancakes across the line of scrimmage. "There are a few in every game," he said. "Even starting in high school, you just know. I've always wanted to have that drive and finish guys. Having that experience and spring ball, I think our offensive line has what it takes to do that, and help the team win." Zinter harbors a building dream, beyond just turning vertical defenders into horizon- tal turf eaters. He's ready to see Michigan take a major leap forward, putting all the frustrations of 2020 behind and reaching forward to a future that denizens of The Big House will find more familiar. "We just got the clearance for a full Big House, which is really exciting," he mused. "That [2020] experience is really going to help me excel this year, when these stadiums are going crazy. "I think we're going to be a dominant football team. Not a lot of people out there believe in us. A lot of the guys use that to fuel them in the offseason. I think people will be surprised when we come out this year." ❏ Zinter has the ability and mentality to set the tone for his linemates, helping the U-M blockers become a physical, "nasty" unit. PHOTO COURTESY U-M ATHLETICS Doug Skene played on tough, mauling, massively physical Michigan offensive lines. That's why he owns five Big Ten championship rings, from 1988-92. He's all about seeing those return, and hoping freshman interior lineman Zak Zinter can be a key component of them. Zinter started four games at right guard as a true freshman, and caught Skene's attention right away. "It might have been in the second game he played, he got under somebody, and absolutely put them on roller skates and put them on their back — and finished," Skene recalled. "Finished them into the ground. "That is not all that common anymore, with offensive linemen. It stands out more than ever, but he did that. I saw him do it a couple of other times." Skene witnessed young-player moments as well with Zinter, when the rookie got caught high and knocked back. But those were far from the rule. "There were flashes of that kid last year where I thought, look at this!" Skene expanded. "There were plays where his footwork was really good, his eyeballs and his hands were going where they needed to go. He's seeing second-level stuff as he's blocking first-level stuff. "That's advanced lineman capabilities. He showed flashes of that as a super young guy. If he can do it now, he can get better, and he should do it even bet- ter come this fall." The former All-Big Ten blocker proved heartened to know the finishing aspect of Zinter comes with intent. The second-year Wolverine talks about it, stresses it and aims to do it on every play. "I hope he understands the impact that his doing that has on his fellow linemates," Skene stressed. "One of the collateral benefits of him doing it with regularity — assuming that Coach [Sherrone] Moore is going to highlight this, put the laser dot on him and praise him to the team when he does these finishing blocks, putting guys on the ground — is that other guys will want to do that, too. "Other guys that maybe don't know how or want to do it now will start to want to do it, if Zinter's doing it all the time. That can have an enormous posi- tive impact on the O-line room." Two-time Michigan captain and All-American Jon Jansen said the same, about creating an envious desire in others. "I know how much that motivated me early on," Jansen said. "When Joe Marinaro would have a great block, I would want Mike DeBord to say the same things about me. Jon Runyan would do something, and I'd think, how do I get to that position? How do I make a block like that, or I hustle on a play or I drive a guy downfield, so he talks about me like he's talking about Runyan, or Marinaro, or [Rod] Payne, or [Zach] Adami? "That is a tremendous motivator. The better Zak Zinter is, the better this offensive line is going to be." It can make all the difference in the world, Skene reiterated, especially when it spreads. "It can be the difference between holding a trophy and not holding a trophy at the end of the season," Skene assured. "It's that important. "The debilitating effect that kind of play can have on an opponent is a differ- ence maker before you even take the field, against the inferior teams. Imagine you're an opponent, and you're scouting Michigan's line. "You're watching five guys beating the living stuffing out of guys all game long — putting them on the ground, destroying people, bludgeoning them and beating the spirit right out of them. "How do you feel going into that game? Against inferior teams, you stomp them out, and the game's over by halftime. And when you play against really good teams, that will be the difference to get you up over the top at the end of the game to win." — John Borton Doug Skene and Jon Jansen Weigh In On Physicality, O-Line Impact