Several observations following Michigan football's dominant, 63-10 win over Northern Illinois ...
First off, what a performance by the offensive line. I don't care who you're playing — three games in a row over 300 yards, huge holes (stacked box or not). These guys are playing better together than we've seen in years, and there are several reasons for it.
One, they're being asked to do things they can do. As analyst Doug Skene has said many times, some of the blocks guys were being asked to make the last few years were damn near impossible for even the best, most agile linemen, and frankly, as good as they were, that wasn't previous lines' forte.
As Rick Neuheisel, several other national analysts who have seen Jim Harbaugh teams up close in the last few decades have said, this running game has Harbaugh's fingerprints all over it. So yes — finally — it is 'Harbaugh's offense.' And while it needs to be diverse against better teams, it looks a hell of a lot better than one that throws 40 times in a driving rainstorm against MSU, for example.
Those of us who watched the Stanford teams Harbaugh coached (and who loved the way that team played) see a lot of similarities. We imagine we're going to see a lot more play action, etc. off it — hopeful, anyway — because that would be the next step.
As it pertains to Saturday, these guys were outstanding. The combo blocks were crisp. They were holding their blocks, especially left tackle Ryan Hayes on Blake Corum's second half touchdown run, center Andrew Vastardis (always). It's the little things that win big games, and these guys are doing them. Vastardis, for example, on the same Corum play, took his guy out, but also cut him off in running with the defender when he started sprinting toward Corum, slowing him down to ensure he wouldn't be in the play.
That's championship line play. And no, we're not predicting a title, but those are the things that need to be done to have a chance.
Zak Zinter is starting to maul people, and Trevor Keegan is getting better each week. Andrew Stueber is solid as a rock, and the tight ends had their best blocking day Saturday. Fourth-stringer Matthew Hibner had the best block we've seen all year in taking out a linebacker on the edge on A.J. Henning's reverse for a big play, a little high but violent. That was one of the better blocked plays of the year, and it was textbook.
Again, it looked like old school Michigan, and former line coach Jerry Hanlon would have been proud.
And again again ... can't say enough about the backs' improvement under Mike Hart. The patience waiting for the pulling linemen to get to their blocks (and there's a lot of that in this version of the offense ... lots of counters) has been outstanding, and it's all of them. Hart's influence is obvious, and it's tremendous. His backs look like him back in the day when he was waiting on a hole to open.
We still want to see what happens against lines like Wisconsin, with big linemen trying to eliminate gaps. These guys still need to get lower (our observations and Skene's) to root out the big uglies on defense, but they are playing well under Sherrone Moore and having fun. As our Doug Karsch observed, they are laughing on the sidelines and get along so well.
Hart, though, is all business. On the Corum touchdown, when he stuck the ball out over the goal line rather carelessly and lost it (after he broke the plane), everyone on the sidelines was celebrating but Hart. He had a stoic look on his face, called his back over and explained to him that that's a fourth down play, not a first down play. In fact, Hart doesn't celebrate any TDs. He's got the 'that's what you're supposed to do here' expression ... and we love it.
Can't stress enough how important an addition this was.
We've said so many times how we hoped to see the 'old' Jim Harbaugh back, hoping last year was an anomaly. We think that's the case. This looks like his first few teams, and he's as engaged now as he was then. It's clear and obvious he wasn't the same guy the last few years — here's hoping he's back for good.
Last year was a crapshow for everyone, and both P.J. Fleck and Greg Schiano have now likened it to an exhibition season with the no fans, etc. Harbaugh has never said that, and there's still no excuse for the awful culture and losses last year, but you can tell how different it is for the kids playing in front of a home crowd instead of an empty stadium. Jon Jansen, Karsch, parents and everyone else said it was like playing in a mausoleum last year and tough to get kids up. Part of that was poor leadership, too, and it's much, much better this season.
It's clear, too, that there is more star power on this team than we though. Corum's footwork on some of the holes on Saturday, making cuts 'in flight' so to speak, was spectacular. They are making the line look even better than it is with their vision (Hassan Haskins and Donovan Edwards, too). One of the 'whoa' moments came when receiver Daylen Baldwin, now 100 percent, put the little David Terrell shake on a corner in a pass to the flat and turned it up for 15 or 20 yards.
He's going to be a key part of this offense going forward. Watch.
On defense, Aidan Hutchinson and Dax Hill are as good a duo as any top two on defense in the Big Ten, and Josh Ross is also playing at a very high level. That's essentially a star at each position (though Hutchinson is technically a LB now), and that's a great start to any defense. The common denominator in the three wins and on display Saturday is speed. These guys get to the ball in a hurry, and they play very well together.
The communication is a big reason for that. Brad Hawkins hasn't been talked about too much, but he's been the backbone of the back seven, and he's played outstanding football.
NIU had one sustained drive, really, against the first team, and that was in the first quarter on the way to a field goal. They ran the ball too easily when U-M employed the same look it did for much of the Western Michigan game, with only two guys with their hands in the ground — it was smart, and something WMU probably should have done more often — but D.C. Mike Macdonald adjusted.
He's been all over that in three weeks. Now, the bigger tests are still to come — Rutgers is well coached and will make them earn it on both sides of the ball — so Wisconsin is still the litmus test. We're anxious to see what the Badgers do against Notre Dame this week.
The corners are playing with great confidence, but they need to wrap up a bit better, particularly Vince Gray. Still, his improvement is palpable.
Mike Morris is a specimen on defense, and he's only going to get better. He loves the challenge of playing inside, but can he do it against the bigger lines (Wisconsin, MSU, etc.?). Mazi Smith has gotten better each game, and Chris Hinton, too. We like Kris Jenkins and Morris, but those two are still going to be the difference makers on defense in the big games.
Linebacker Junior Colson is the one of the best true frosh linebackers we've seen in a Michigan uniform in terms of knowing his assignment and getting off blocks. He's a future All-American (yep, we said it).
And hats off to Jay Harbaugh and his special teams. These guys are playing at a high level across the board, and having A.J. Henning back on punt return gives the Wolverines weapons both at KR (with Corum) and PR. That's going to play a factor in some of the big games.
Lots of reason for cautious optimism, but we're still in wait and see mode. Still, it's clear the culture and energy is much better, and that the ceiling for this team is probably higher than we thought just a few months ago.
Onward.
First off, what a performance by the offensive line. I don't care who you're playing — three games in a row over 300 yards, huge holes (stacked box or not). These guys are playing better together than we've seen in years, and there are several reasons for it.
One, they're being asked to do things they can do. As analyst Doug Skene has said many times, some of the blocks guys were being asked to make the last few years were damn near impossible for even the best, most agile linemen, and frankly, as good as they were, that wasn't previous lines' forte.
As Rick Neuheisel, several other national analysts who have seen Jim Harbaugh teams up close in the last few decades have said, this running game has Harbaugh's fingerprints all over it. So yes — finally — it is 'Harbaugh's offense.' And while it needs to be diverse against better teams, it looks a hell of a lot better than one that throws 40 times in a driving rainstorm against MSU, for example.
Those of us who watched the Stanford teams Harbaugh coached (and who loved the way that team played) see a lot of similarities. We imagine we're going to see a lot more play action, etc. off it — hopeful, anyway — because that would be the next step.
As it pertains to Saturday, these guys were outstanding. The combo blocks were crisp. They were holding their blocks, especially left tackle Ryan Hayes on Blake Corum's second half touchdown run, center Andrew Vastardis (always). It's the little things that win big games, and these guys are doing them. Vastardis, for example, on the same Corum play, took his guy out, but also cut him off in running with the defender when he started sprinting toward Corum, slowing him down to ensure he wouldn't be in the play.
That's championship line play. And no, we're not predicting a title, but those are the things that need to be done to have a chance.
Zak Zinter is starting to maul people, and Trevor Keegan is getting better each week. Andrew Stueber is solid as a rock, and the tight ends had their best blocking day Saturday. Fourth-stringer Matthew Hibner had the best block we've seen all year in taking out a linebacker on the edge on A.J. Henning's reverse for a big play, a little high but violent. That was one of the better blocked plays of the year, and it was textbook.
Again, it looked like old school Michigan, and former line coach Jerry Hanlon would have been proud.
And again again ... can't say enough about the backs' improvement under Mike Hart. The patience waiting for the pulling linemen to get to their blocks (and there's a lot of that in this version of the offense ... lots of counters) has been outstanding, and it's all of them. Hart's influence is obvious, and it's tremendous. His backs look like him back in the day when he was waiting on a hole to open.
We still want to see what happens against lines like Wisconsin, with big linemen trying to eliminate gaps. These guys still need to get lower (our observations and Skene's) to root out the big uglies on defense, but they are playing well under Sherrone Moore and having fun. As our Doug Karsch observed, they are laughing on the sidelines and get along so well.
Hart, though, is all business. On the Corum touchdown, when he stuck the ball out over the goal line rather carelessly and lost it (after he broke the plane), everyone on the sidelines was celebrating but Hart. He had a stoic look on his face, called his back over and explained to him that that's a fourth down play, not a first down play. In fact, Hart doesn't celebrate any TDs. He's got the 'that's what you're supposed to do here' expression ... and we love it.
Can't stress enough how important an addition this was.
We've said so many times how we hoped to see the 'old' Jim Harbaugh back, hoping last year was an anomaly. We think that's the case. This looks like his first few teams, and he's as engaged now as he was then. It's clear and obvious he wasn't the same guy the last few years — here's hoping he's back for good.
Last year was a crapshow for everyone, and both P.J. Fleck and Greg Schiano have now likened it to an exhibition season with the no fans, etc. Harbaugh has never said that, and there's still no excuse for the awful culture and losses last year, but you can tell how different it is for the kids playing in front of a home crowd instead of an empty stadium. Jon Jansen, Karsch, parents and everyone else said it was like playing in a mausoleum last year and tough to get kids up. Part of that was poor leadership, too, and it's much, much better this season.
It's clear, too, that there is more star power on this team than we though. Corum's footwork on some of the holes on Saturday, making cuts 'in flight' so to speak, was spectacular. They are making the line look even better than it is with their vision (Hassan Haskins and Donovan Edwards, too). One of the 'whoa' moments came when receiver Daylen Baldwin, now 100 percent, put the little David Terrell shake on a corner in a pass to the flat and turned it up for 15 or 20 yards.
He's going to be a key part of this offense going forward. Watch.
On defense, Aidan Hutchinson and Dax Hill are as good a duo as any top two on defense in the Big Ten, and Josh Ross is also playing at a very high level. That's essentially a star at each position (though Hutchinson is technically a LB now), and that's a great start to any defense. The common denominator in the three wins and on display Saturday is speed. These guys get to the ball in a hurry, and they play very well together.
The communication is a big reason for that. Brad Hawkins hasn't been talked about too much, but he's been the backbone of the back seven, and he's played outstanding football.
NIU had one sustained drive, really, against the first team, and that was in the first quarter on the way to a field goal. They ran the ball too easily when U-M employed the same look it did for much of the Western Michigan game, with only two guys with their hands in the ground — it was smart, and something WMU probably should have done more often — but D.C. Mike Macdonald adjusted.
He's been all over that in three weeks. Now, the bigger tests are still to come — Rutgers is well coached and will make them earn it on both sides of the ball — so Wisconsin is still the litmus test. We're anxious to see what the Badgers do against Notre Dame this week.
The corners are playing with great confidence, but they need to wrap up a bit better, particularly Vince Gray. Still, his improvement is palpable.
Mike Morris is a specimen on defense, and he's only going to get better. He loves the challenge of playing inside, but can he do it against the bigger lines (Wisconsin, MSU, etc.?). Mazi Smith has gotten better each game, and Chris Hinton, too. We like Kris Jenkins and Morris, but those two are still going to be the difference makers on defense in the big games.
Linebacker Junior Colson is the one of the best true frosh linebackers we've seen in a Michigan uniform in terms of knowing his assignment and getting off blocks. He's a future All-American (yep, we said it).
And hats off to Jay Harbaugh and his special teams. These guys are playing at a high level across the board, and having A.J. Henning back on punt return gives the Wolverines weapons both at KR (with Corum) and PR. That's going to play a factor in some of the big games.
Lots of reason for cautious optimism, but we're still in wait and see mode. Still, it's clear the culture and energy is much better, and that the ceiling for this team is probably higher than we thought just a few months ago.
Onward.
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