The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/213966
U-M's NCAA Rank In Offensive Categories Through 10 games/out of 123 BCS teams Category Stat NCAA Rank 1,357 t96th Total Rush Yards Rush Yards Per Game 135.7 95th 3.24 112th Yards Per Carry Long Rush Plays* 13 72nd Sacks Allowed 31t113th Sack Yards Allowed 230 117th Tackles For Loss Allowed 92 123rd Tackles For Loss Allowed Per Game 9.2 123rd * Runs of 20 yards or more Brady Hoke came aboard in January. Hoke then proceeded to land Chris Bryant. Jacob Fisher was a commitment that season, but he decommitted because he wanted to play in a spread offense (and he has started two seasons for Oregon). So in the three classes that would lend the most experience to the 2013 team, Michigan signed only seven players, of which, a mere four are still playing offensive line at U-M. In a perfect world, all four — Lewan, Bryant, Miller and Schofield — would be starting, but even if they were Michigan would have to start at least one redshirt or true freshman. "It is ideal to have at least four-fifths of your line upperclassmen," TheWolverine.com analyst and a former two-year starter at right guard and center David Moosman said. "You're never going to have all fifth-year seniors, and you won't always have all seniors and juniors, but you like to minimize the redshirt freshman and sophomores because younger players, especially along the offensive line, are inconsistent and take a lot longer to develop into the players you need them to be." Still, if everything broke right, Michigan would have entered its week-eight game against Michigan State with two fifth-year seniors and two redshirt sophomores making their eighth starts of the season, and a redshirt freshman making his eighth start. Instead, the Maize and Blue went into the game with two fifth-year seniors (Lewan and Schofield), a walkon sophomore (Graham Glasgow, in his eighth start but playing out of position at center, rather than guard), a redshirt freshman (Magnuson) making his second start and a true freshman (Bosch) making his first. The results were catastrophic. Michigan set a single-game record for futility, finishing with negative-48 yards rushing on 29 carries. The Wolverines surrendered seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss, and at one point following an interception that put U-M at the Michigan State 41-yard line, the Maize and Blue lost 21 yards — a rush for minus-five, a sack for minus-nine and