The Wolverine

2022 Michigan Football Preview

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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30 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2022 FOOTBALL PREVIEW Skene witnessed that intent as well. "That team, last year, led by Hutch and the quarterback and the other leaders on that team — Dax Hill, you name it — that team had enough," Skene insisted. "They'd just had enough of getting their nose smashed by Ohio State. "That offensive line, specifically, and the tight ends, they'd had enough. Early in that game, when they had some success, they started moving the football. That was the blood in the water. That offensive line and that offense knew they could do this. "They were like sharks on a dead whale. They were all over those dudes the rest of the day. You could see it — Michigan's of- fensive line and offense gathering positive body language, and Ohio State's defensive front body language sinking, going the op- posite direction." Jansen compared the victory over the long- dominant Buckeyes to reinventing the wheel. "They didn't know how to beat Ohio State," Jansen mused. "They didn't know how to win a Big Ten championship, because they weren't here when it was done." The practical elements — physicality, dom- inance by Michigan's offensive and defensive lines, and the mindset to continue pouring it on — all made a huge difference, the former Wolverines agreed. "It was just the physical mindset," Jansen marveled. "It was the identity of that offen- sive line. It was all the guys moving in concert with each other. It was a work of art. "You saw the return of the counter. We saw guards and tackles pulling. We saw [tight end] Erick All coming over to replace the tackle, as a pulling offensive lineman. It was beautiful to see double-teams at the point of attack, moving guys off the ball. "The right guy coming off onto the line- backer, keeping shoulders square, the foot- work was there, the pullers coming around, identifying linebackers, kicking out, driving up in the hole. It just was absolutely beauti- ful." "We ball-controlled them and ran it down their throats," Hutchinson added. "I told Aidan the week of the game, 'You guys have about a 20 percent chance of winning.'" Aidan, fellow edge terror David Ojabo (one sack and a QB hurry), safeties Brad Hawkins and Rod Moore (nine tackles each), and the rest of the U-M defense increased those odds dramatically. "They're the No. 1 offense in the country," Hutchinson said of Ohio State. "While they scored some points, we didn't allow these big, huge, chunk, breakaway plays. We kept them in front. "When you have Hutch and Ojabo abso- lutely torturing their quarterback and throw- ing offensive linemen on their backs on their way to hit the quarterback, I don't care how good the quarterback is," Skene said. "And Stroud is really, really good. He had three NFL receivers to throw to. "But when your quarterback is constantly worried not if he's going to get hit, but how bad he's going to get hit, that has a devastat- ing impact, He's just not going to have a good day. "Finally, that defensive line did the same thing as the offensive line. They had had enough. They were absolutely brutalizing that Ohio State offensive line." Michigan overcame an early interception thrown by McNamara, deep in Ohio State territory. When the Wolverines survived that mistake, Skene witnessed the next step with his own eyes. "The blood had already been put in the water, with the first score," he said. "All they had to do was keep grinding, and it would have been 14-0. But when that happened, un- like previous Michigan teams — and I mean Jim Harbaugh teams — when the adversity came, just like throughout that season, they didn't melt. Quarterback Cade McNamara was 13 of 19 passing for 159 yards, but only had to throw the ball three times in the second half with U-M scoring rushing TDs on all four drives. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN "Like people said, from spring ball on, something was different about this team." FORMER U-M ALL-AMERICAN CHRIS HUTCHINSON, FATHER OF AIDAN

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