The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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guy backwards and closed off two gaps by pushing him back. Then you ruin the play or force it to cut back completely. "The problem was those didn't happen consistently and didn't happen across the line consistently, so the cutback, instead of meeting someone else, may go for five yards. There were other times you saw them get tired and moved backwards, lanes opened up that should never open up at Michigan." The light had gone on a bit for sophomore tackle Ondre Pipkins before he went down in the Minnesota game — he'll have plenty of time to get stronger in the weight room as a result, Heininger said in singling out a bright spot — and Henry flashed All-Big Ten potential at times in seeing more action. "In Willie, anyone who is 6-4 or 6-5 and can move the way he does and move opponents the way he does off the ball, he absolutely has All-Big Ten ability," Heininger said. "If he did some of the things he did this year every play, he might have been All-Big Ten this year." Wormley showed signs of being able to get to the quarterback, albeit not consistently, finishing with 2.5 sacks. "He's a huge young man who is developing, making all-conference players look bad sometimes when he throws them around," Heininger said. "At other times, he looks like a freshman. He's getting a taste this year knowing what it takes to do it every play." The coaches say the talent is there, but it has to reach its potential. Pass rush, for example, was an emphasis last offseason, and Heininger expected more production, especially from the rush ends. "The urgency needs to improve," he said. "Pass rush is so important in this game. It generates negative plays, makes a quarterback uncomfortable. You saw guys starting to understand that toward the end of the year. You don't even have to get a sack — just need to move the quarterback off his spot, disrupt what he wants to do, which is step into a throw and make it in a comfortable area." EXPERIENCE GAINED IN 2013 SHOULD PAY OFF FOR LINEBACKERS Michigan's linebacker corps had been enjoying a productive campaign, ranking among the Big Ten leaders in rush defense. Then, Ohio State came to town and bulldozed the Wolverines, skewing the overall perception of the Maize and Blue backers. "This year there were high expectations and we kind of fell short, but as a linebacker unit, for a while there, we were stopping the run and generally giving the defense what you'd expect," said Obi Ezeh, who started 37 games at Mike linebacker for U-M from 2007-10. "Where our issues were is when it came to pass coverage. When you have younger guys in there, like [sophomores] James Ross and Joe Bolden, or you have inexperienced players at certain positions in terms of game reps like [senior] Cam Gordon and [junior] Brennen Beyer, you're going to get issues with