The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/888498
NOVEMBER 2017 THE WOLVERINE 25 Michigan stood 5-1 and in fourth place of the Big Ten East with a 2-1 conference mark heading into a night game with Penn State. U-M was still in the hunt, but probably needed to win out to have a shot at a title. Here's what they have left: At No. 2 Penn State (6-0), Oct. 21: The Wolverines owned the trenches on both sides last year in a 49-10 rout, and still have an advantage on defense vs. PSU's offense. The big ques- tion — can they score enough points to win? Penn State will score a few times on offense with its elite skill position talent. Rutgers (2-4), Oct. 28: The Scarlet Knights lost at home to Eastern Michigan, but pulled off a surprise road win over Il- linois. Still, this is as sure a win as there is in college football that week. Minnesota (3-3), Nov. 4 : Head coach P.J. Fleck might be considered one of the up-and-coming coaches in the country, but he's off to a rough start. The Gophers lost at Purdue and dropped both home games, to Michigan State and Maryland, after a pretty impressive non-conference run (3-0). At Maryland (3-3), Nov. 11: The Terrapins play hard for head coach DJ Durkin, but they've been decimated by injuries. They're literally on their fourth-string quarterback and might have a problem even scoring against the Wolverines at home. At No. 5 Wisconsin (6-0), Nov. 18: The Badgers just line up and play good, solid, fundamental football. Their lines will be the toughest the Wolverines play all year, and this could be one of the lower-scoring games of the season — just like last year's 14-7 Michigan win in Ann Arbor. No. 6 Ohio State (6-1), Nov. 25: The Buckeyes have found their groove halfway through the year, as they usually do under head coach Urban Meyer. They scored 49 or more in each of their first four Big Ten games, albeit against weaker competi- tion, and were doing a lot of it with a dynamic ground game. FIVE KEYS TO A STRONG FINISH 1. The passing game needs to im- prove: And that's not just on the quar- terback, though fifth-year senior John O'Korn said he knows he needs to play better. Harbaugh said as much during his Monday night radio show Oct. 16. "I know we can get better. We have to challenge everybody. We need more people open and need to hit when they are," he said. The receiving corps is young, but there are no excuses, he added. "Sure, there's a learning curve," he said. "But we need to get better." Freshmen Oliver Martin and Nico Collins could still get a look here. 2. Turnovers and negative plays need to be eliminated: The Wolver- ines were tied for 91st in turnovers lost through six games (12), and five miscues cost them the Michigan State game. A first-quarter fumble changed the game, and when the weather ar- rived, the Wolverines trailed … then threw three interceptions in the rain. Michigan also ranked a dismal 112th nationally in tackles for loss allowed with 43 (7.2 per game). 3. The return games need to be bet- ter: Jabrill Peppers and Jehu Chesson were outstanding in their return roles the last few years, aiding the offense with field position a number of times. U-M hasn't been good in either area this year, though freshman Donovan Peoples-Jones has been solid on punt return (9.1-yard average). The Wolverines haven't blocked kickoffs well enough to even give their return men a chance and ranked 104th nationally with only 18.5 yards per re- turn through six games, while punt return checked in at 49th (8.65). 4. Playmakers need to emerge: It's hard to piece long drives together and score by always dinking and dunking down the field. Michigan had a 16-play drive to start the Mich- igan State game, for example, but had to settle for a field goal. The Wolverines were tied for 97th nationally in plays of 10 yards or more (79) and were 67th in 20-plus yard plays (29). They've had oppor- tunities, but a long touchdown was called back by penalty against MSU, and several long passes failed to con- nect when receivers were behind the defense. 5. Finish: Last year, the Wolverines dropped three games by failing to finish on offense. They lost to Michi- gan State this year on a game that came down to the last play, thanks in part to a dropped pass at the MSU 30 with 20 seconds remaining, and went to overtime at Indiana because the offense couldn't pick up a first down on its last possession of regulation … a familiar feeling. ❏ THE WOLVERINE'S PREDICTION Michigan will beat one of Penn State or Wisconsin and will, at the very least, take Ohio State to the wire in Ann Arbor. The U-M defense matches up well with both Penn State and Wisconsin and should give the Wolverines a fighting shot — and this group hasn't forgotten about what happened last year in Columbus. U-M's defense owned OSU up front for most of the game and might be even better this year. U-M's Path The Rest Of The Way Regardless of what happens in the next five games, Michigan's double-overtime loss against Ohio State and 0-2 mark versus the Buckeyes under Jim Harbaugh will be on every Wolverines' mind entering the regular-season finale. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN