The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1438965
JANUARY 2022 THE WOLVERINE 21 erybody said, 'Oh, Wisconsin is not that good.' I was like, yeah, I don't care. Win- ning at Wisconsin is not easy, even if they do have a team that's struggling a bit right now. "That's a good win up there." HUSKER HARDSHIP AND AN UH-OH WEEKEND Michigan's 32-29 cliffhanger win at Nebraska — including the first U-M deficit of the year — provided the next brick in a wall of positive proof regarding change. "Michigan was down in the fourth quarter, and I thought, okay, here we go, road game, loud crowd, down late in the game," Skene recalled. "This is where the previous Jim Harbaugh teams have melted and fallen to pieces. "They did the opposite. They found a way to get a victory and get out of there." Skene liked the on-field body language between players, noting: "The indicators had changed." He also loved seeing blocking schemes the Wolverines ran under Bo Schem- bechler in the late '80s and early '90s. "That blocking scheme is so familiar to watch," he said. "They were getting better and better and better at it. Then their curveball was some play-action off of it that was effective and the wide zone. Zone blocking is not the bread and butter of this offense — it's their curveball. "It's a back-to-the-future kind of thing. We have a quarterback who is not making stupid turnover mistakes, although at Nebraska he threw one. But this guy is protecting the football. "The defense is showing signs that they can be tough. Maybe, just maybe, this team is different. That was after the Nebraska game, for sure." Of course, the 37-33 setback at Michi- gan State gave all those waiting for the bubble to burst reason to despair. Skene wasn't in that group, but he drew huge concern over MSU taking advantage of U-M personnel switches on defense. "They scored two touchdowns while we were exchanging personnel," he said. "We weren't calling timeouts to get settled and adjust to that. So hats off to Michigan State for taking advantage of that." No hats off to the Big Ten, which played a role in Michigan not heading into the College Football Playoff at 13-0. "We did get the jam job by the Big Ten, with the terrible replay overturn, which I believe the Big Ten later admitted was the wrong decision," Skene pointed out. "That always seems to happen in that game. Michigan gets screwed once. "But you know what? The players openly talked about that. They said, going up there, we are fully expecting to get screwed at least one time, on a major call — and they did, so they were right. They had to play through it, and they did it." But even amid the misery in East Lan- sing, the bearer of five Big Ten champi- onship rings saw signs of growth. "There were a few stars that were born in that game," Skene said. "Cade McNamara went to the next level. Even [freshman quarterback] J.J. McCarthy had a bullet in the end zone to [fresh- man receiver Andrel] Anthony, on a rollout to his right. "Again, the pass rush was maturing. We just couldn't stop the run, because we weren't settled defensively." And of course, the loss to a rival al- ways carries its own implanted doubt. "I thought, okay, here we go. We can't win the big game," Skene ruminated. "That was a huge game at the time. It was a sobering weekend, because I thought, where does this team go from here? We'll see — but they certainly an- swered." STEEL SPINES IN HAPPY VALLEY Two games later, the Wolverines faced an equally tough task at Penn State. De- spite controlling the game defensively, Michigan saw its 14-6 lead vanish quickly in the fourth quarter, the Nittany Lions taking a 17-14 advantage with only 5:55 remaining. A 47-yard touchdown pass from Mc- Namara to sophomore tight end Erick All pulled that one out in dramatic fashion, and once again, the Wolverines survived on the road. "That's a really tough place to play, even if it was an afternoon game," Skene pointed out. "I don't care. That's a tough place to go get a W. "They showed indicators at Wisconsin, even at Michigan State and certainly at Nebraska. But it was total confirmation Rookie wideout Andrel Anthony broke out for 155 yards and two touchdowns on six catches against Michigan State, but it wasn't enough to help the Wolverines to victory. However, the team responded in the best way possible and outscored its foes 193-72 in its ensuing five contests. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL