The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/629217
plan and does exactly what he wants to do. We might question that if he wasn't successful, but clearly he has a formula that has been working for him, and he brought that to Michigan and that's doing things his way. Ray: Jim Harbaugh's ability to game plan and scheme opposing defenses impressed me the most. The way he uses multiple formations, personnel groupings, motions, shifts and varia- tions of run-blocking schemes makes him hard to defend. Jim found creative ways to feature the fullback and multiple tight ends, which is a lost art in college football today. The Wolverine: What was the biggest success story offensively? Skene: Pro-style quarterback play returned to the field for the first time since Chad Henne (2004-07) in the form of senior Jake Rudock. Previous coaches tried to develop the QB posi- tion with great athletes that did their very best. However, Michigan has not had the quarterback play that Rudock provided in many years. In addition, when Rudock left the Minnesota game with an injury, a qual- ified backup quarterback came in and led the team down the field for a score. That has not happened in many years either. It's a great credit to the young men that took the coaching and performed when the team needed them most. Copenhaver: Obviously for me, quar- terback. I thought that was one of the biggest surprises, Jake Rudock and his progression after starting off the sea- son against Utah with three intercep- tions. Everyone had question marks