The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1482097
24 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2022 "I don't know if that's the case here. … We'll put three good days of practice in and keep grinding on this thing. But it does allow us to get a few guys healthy heading into the Iowa game." That's no small consideration for Ohio State, which despite its undefeated rampage through the first half of the slate, has seen its share of roster set- backs. Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has logged roughly two halves of foot- ball so far, following an opening-week hamstring injury. He tried to come back too soon against Toledo, tweaking the hamstring and sitting out the remainder of the Buckeyes' pre-bye contests. Ohio State's offensive backfield also saw some injury shakeups over the early part of the schedule. Running back TreVeyon Hen- derson missed a game two weeks prior to the bye with a foot in- jury, then left the following week's contest after it looked like he aggravated the injury. Fellow back Miyan Williams sat out the Michigan State game with a knee injury. Other early-season injuries to the Buckeyes included wideout Julian Fleming, offensive lineman Matthew Jones and defensive tackle Michael Hall, Jr. The Buckeyes also have seen a host of defensive backs nicked up at times, including cornerbacks Denzel Burke, Cameron Brown and Jordan Hancock, along with safeties Tanner McCalister, Josh Proctor, Lathan Ransom and Cam- eron Martinez. Those aren't the only concerns about OSU's defensive backs. While the Buck- eyes under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles have only surrendered 15.7 points per game, they've been touched by some unnerving big plays against lesser opponents. Arkansas State fired a 58-yard pass against them, Toledo notched a 40-yard touchdown pass and Rutgers completed a 26-yarder, all over Burke. The Rockets added a 50-yard TD over Brown — best known in Ann Arbor for ripping off the helmet of then-sophomore wideout Roman Wilson and getting tossed from last year's game. Day insists one of OSU's areas of fo- cus has to be on making better plays on the football when it's in the air. "When you're identifying in all three phases what needs to improve, the things we've done well, the things we need to improve on, I don't think it's any mystery that one of the things we've got to do is finish some plays out at corner," Day acknowledged. While the Buckeye defensive backs manage to get into position more often than not, Day's use of the word "finish" is telling. "You can say, 'They made a nice catch,' but we made some nice catches, too," Day commented. "That's college football now. Guys are making pretty high-end catches. "We've got to learn to finish, espe- cially in one-on-one situations, be- cause we know that's going to keep coming our way until we can prove that we can. So that will be a huge emphasis this week." Knowles insists the issue starts far- ther back in the big-play snaps. "I think when you go back to some of the plays that haven't gone in our favor, you have to look back to the start of the play," Knowles pointed out. "It's not just that split second at the top of the route. It's football — there's a lot that goes into it and practicing and winning at the beginning of the play, throwing punches and then the play call and what's the quarterback seeing, what's the offensive coordinator seeing? Am I creating the best situation for that guy to be successful?" OSU's offense definitely is creating the best situation for its defense to be successful, occasional big plays not- withstanding. Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for 1,737 yards and 24 touch- downs in the first half of the regular season. He completed 70.6 percent of his throws, with an efficiency rating of 207.6. Williams (99.4 yards per game) and Henderson (87.2) are both on track for possible 1,000-yard rushing seasons. The Buckeyes have appeared unstop- pable since their 21-10 opener with the Irish — just like they did last year. THE WILD, WILD WEST On the other side of the Big Ten ledger, West Division squads have been mak- ing headlines for items other than foot- ball prowess. Nebraska jettisoned head coach Scott Frost after a 1-2 start, while Wisconsin sent head coach Paul Chryst packing after the Badgers began the sea- son at 2-3. Meanwhile, the mad first-half scram- ble left four teams in the West tied with one conference loss and the other three with two losses heading into Week 7. While Michigan was taking care of Penn State, the scram- ble continued. I l l i n o i s b e a t Minnesota in a big showdown, keep- ing Bret Bielema's squad tied at the top of the Big Ten West at 3-1. Minnesota appeared to be worthy of some attention after starting the season at 4-0, domi- nating Colorado and Michigan State. But instead of rowing the boat, P.J. Fleck's Gophers felt it sink in Weeks 2 and 3 of Big Ten play. They lost to Purdue during Minnesota's Homecoming, 20- 10, and to the Illini, 26-14, to drop to 1-2 in the league. The Illini, meanwhile, are growing increasingly confident under Bielema's guidance. "I'm excited to get another one for us," Bielema said. "The guys prepared really well all week. "Today didn't happen because of this week. It happened because of the way we've done things since January. "The last time we beat Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota was 1983. I was 13. We keep chipping away at these num- bers, and I am really excited where we are at." The other survivors in the West — so far — are the Boilermakers of Purdue. They won a wild, 43-37 shootout against Nebraska (3-4) to move to 5-2, 3-1 in the Big Ten. That tied them at the top of the West Division with Illinois. On the other end of the expectations/ Head coach Jim Harbaugh after U-M's 41-17 beatdown of Penn State "It was a good game. I thought the team made a real positive statement today. Call it a statement game? OK, call it a statement game. Then we're moving on to Michigan State."