The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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BY MICHAEL SPATH ix games into the season, with Michigan 6-0, there was little to stress about offensively. U- M's defense had some early stumbles, but its offense was thriv- ing, averaging 38.0 points and 457.5 yards per game. Junior quarterback Denard Robinson had experienced miscues — he completed fewer than 50.0 percent of his passes in three of six contests and had nine intercep- tions compared to 10 touchdowns — but the Wolverines were riding the high of a dominant rushing attack netting 257.0 yards every Saturday. who tried to turn Steve Threet and Nick Sheridan into dual-threat sig- nal-callers — now had ammunition. Hoke, Borges and Robinson never wavered. There was good and there was bad over the next three games. Michigan totaled 535 yards in a 36-14 win over Purdue Oct. 29, but aver- aged just 342.5 yards, while going 6 of 11 inside the red zone, in a split with Iowa Nov. 5 and Illinois Nov. 12. Rob- inson's rushing numbers, meanwhile, fell off precipitously — he averaged 49.3 yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry — and his passing was still filled with too many mistakes. — the goal is to win games. What- ever it takes to win the game. If we need 500 yards and that's what it takes, that's what we're going to do. If in another game it's 250 yards but not turning it over and we win 14-10, everyone might criticize the offense, but we won." Whatever it takes, and Michigan was winning … standing 8-2 after 10 games, with a chance at a 10-win campaign if U-M could score enough points against Nebraska and Ohio State. Two Saturdays later, with two vic- tories, 862 yards of total offense (in- Inconsistent At Times Early In The Season, U-M's Offense Found Its Groove In November Bubbling to the surface, however, was an underlying concern that Michigan's Robinson-centric offense would falter against better Big Ten opponents like it had in 2010, and that offensive coordinator Al Borges had not yet figured out how to utilize his most dangerous weapon prop- erly, asking the dynamic running quarterback to be more pocket passer than play-making athlete. Every round-peg, square-hole con- spirator was building a case, and with one game — a 28-14 loss at Michigan State Oct. 15 in which U-M had a season-low 250 yards of of- fense — the torrent of anti-pro-style offense rhetoric was unleashed. It didn't matter that Borges and head coach Brady Hoke preached patience. It didn't matter that the annual in-state battle wasn't lost by Robinson, but by an inability to block MSU's ferocious front seven. All that mattered was Michigan's offense had stuttered. Those who questioned the melding of Borges and Robinson — believing Borges was stubborn enough to re- peat the mistakes of Rich Rodriguez, After barely topping 500 yards (503) through the end of October, redshirt sophomore run- ning back Fitzgerald Toussaint piled up 508 yards in November (127.0-yard average for those four games) to post 1,011 in the regular season. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL The din for backup Devin Gard- ner grew louder after the sophomore, filling in for an injured Robinson, directed U-M to 14 fourth-quarter points, completing a 27-yard touch- down strike, in a 31-14 victory at Il- linois. Again, though, Hoke and Borges stuck by their quarterback, and is- sued a reminder to the legions of Maize and Blue fans growing impa- tient with the progress of the offen- sive attack. "Whatever it takes to win, that's what we've got to do," Borges said. "People sometimes lose sight of what the most important thing is. Brady preaches that from day one. "Some coordinators can get protec- tive and territorial, and feel like they want to hold up their end of the deal. You've got to put your ego on the shelf as a coordinator. Sometimes it means sacrificing numbers. Some- times it means guys are not catching as many passes. "Your ability to adjust and make good battlefield decisions that could be sacrificial in nature will determine if you win football games. In 36 years of coaching, I've seen guys not do that. They say, 'We aren't holding up our end, we've got to score more points,' and they end up messing it up and losing the football game. "This comes from the top. Brady is like this, and he hired guys like this cluding 515 on the ground), 85 points, a perfect 9 of 9 in the red zone and two convincing performances from Robinson, now even the harshest crit- ics are beginning to believe. Michigan's offense, after a daz- zling debut and a midseason tumble, showed what it is capable of under Borges, with Robinson at quarter- back. The offense realized its im- mense potential, offering a glimpse of what it might look like week after week in 2012. "I think you saw a good part of what this offense can do," fifth- year senior center David Molk said. "There is always room for improve- ment, always ways to get better. There were still plays against Ne- braska and Ohio State that should have been successful. This is a grow- ing offense, and it will be something we work through for years to come. But I like where it's going, what it's done." A year ago, Michigan set a school record for offensive productivity, fin- ishing with 488.7 yards per game to eclipse the 1992 pace of 466.9 yards per contest. U-M also averaged 32.8 points, one of only 13 seasons in the modern era with 30 or more points per game, and the highest since av- eraging 35.4 in 2003. The Wolverines' adjustment to a new offense this fall was not cata- clysmic, though, as some feared. DECEMBER 2011 THE WOLVERINE 33 S P i n n a c l e P e r f o r m a n c e