Michigan hammered Western Michigan, 47-14, in the season opener. Was it as impressive as it looked live? We break down the film here …
First things first — with the caveat that “it was only Western Michigan,” this is how you expect a Michigan team to look: well-prepared, fired up, disciplined (with one or two exceptions). This easily could have been a shutout if not for a dumb penalty by end David Ojabo on WMU’s first drive and a terrible, running into the punter call by referee John O’Neill in garbage time.
The Ojabo penalty was legit. You don’t get to run from 10 yards away on a play in which you’re not involved and get in a guy’s face, taunt him while he’s on the ground after your teammate (corner Vince Gray, in this case) makes a great play. He essentially erased his teammate’s great play, and while it was good to see the excitement, he needs to be more disciplined. We’re guessing he will be going forward.
We said going into this game it wouldn’t surprise if WMU had some early success, followed by a message board freak out. They scored on the first drive, and it took a quarter for U-M to get going, but other than the passes to the flats against a soft zone (to which coordinator Mike Macdonald adjusted well), guys were in position to make plays. Corner Gemon Green needed to knock down a pass on third down — he was in position — but Kaleb Eleby is a good quarterback, too. He made some nice throws.
We also said you need your stars to play like stars if this team is going to reach its potential. Again, with the WMU caveat, they did. Aidan Hutchinson was outstanding, especially as a pass rusher. He’s going to get some added attention in the weeks to come, we imagine, so other guys are going to have to emerge, too. Taylor Upshaw was a bit quiet. Ojabo had a couple pressures but wasn’t as disruptive as we’d hoped. Keep in mind, the Western offense is designed to get the ball out quickly, too, and QB Kaleb Eleby was good at that.
The WMU offense was hamstrung by receiver Skyy Moore’s loss early. They didn’t have the playmakers to stretch the field when he went out early. Regardless, the Michigan defense played well. Other than the early underneath success in the flats and a third down throw in which D.J. Turner got spun around, they were always around the ball.
Dax Hill, another of the guys who needs to be elite, absolutely was, as head coach Jim Harbaugh pointed out. He was dominant in getting off blocks on the edges to blow up the bubble screens. His speed stands out — and really, the whole defense looked and played fast.
We were concerned a bit about the WMU running game, and the backs did averaged 4.6 per carry, but most of the time the Wolverines only played with two players with their hands down. Western had a few plays hit in the middle of the defense as a result, and even the commentators questioned why they didn’t take more shots, but the bulk of their success (but for two plays) actually came when backs bounced outside, with Ojabo usually the culprit in losing contain.
Macdonald has talked about mixing up his defenses based on the opponent. We’ll be seeing more three, maybe even four-down stuff against teams that like to run the ball (see: Wisconsin), and on second glance, both Mazi Smith and Chris Hinton held the line well, keeping the linebackers clean (for the most part). Even Kris Jenkins did pretty well in that role in his first serious taste of action, and Mike Morris looked strong on the edge.
One of their most noticeable moments came early in the second quarter. The Wolverines punted from deep in their own end, setting up a short field for WMU, but the defense got a stop at the 50 on a great move by Hutchinson, Morris’ penetration and push from Hinton. That forced a punt, U-M scored on the next possession and the rout was on.
On offense … we talk about stars, and receiver Ronnie Bell looked like he was ready to become one. His one-handed catch after a poor, offensive pass interference call (it looked as though the official was influenced by the WMU sideline and was baited into that flag) was sick, and he was by far the Wolverines’ best receiver. He’ll be missed, assuming the injury is as bad as feared.
On that … the game was 17-7 at the time, and his injury was a freak one that could have happened had he simply been running after a catch. He cut, it gave and that was that. You play to win the game, and special teams are a huge part of it. His 31-yard return on which he got injured set up a touchdown that really opened the floodgates — that’s exactly why he was back there.
One of the complaints we’ve had over the past few years is situational awareness and when they’re taking shots, and when the ball was in the air on Bell’s 76-yard touchdown reception (that made it 17-7), there was a “why?” element when the ball was in the air. It was third and only three, and you’re thinking, ‘get the first down and live to fight another day.’
At the same time, this isn’t Joe Milton throwing a laser over someone’s head, or Shea Patterson throwing a line drive. Quarterback Cade McNamara, albeit with a smaller sample size, seems to have much better touch on the deep ball, and the confidence to take his shot. That was a huge play in the game.
Risk vs. reward, and it paid off this time.
McNamara was what you hoped and expected he’d be. He was poised, efficient and took his shots. He doesn’t have J.J. McCarthy’s arm — his out to Cornelius Johnson took a long time to get there on a first quarter pass, for example — but he’s got moxie and throws a catchable ball. We like that combination, and McCarthy, despite rushing a couple throws, looks like he’s going to be the real deal.
McNamara did miss a wide-open Roman Wilson for what would have been a score on a second and one play in the second quarter, but Zak Zinter had gotten beat at guard and McNamara had to get rid of it a bit earlier than hoped.
McCarthy’s bomb to Daylen Baldwin, who is going to have to step up in Bell’s absence, was the kind of play you expect elite quarterbacks to make. It wasn’t a dangerous throw. He led Baldwin open and took his shot.
It will be tougher against better competition, but he looked poised and confident.
Up front, Andrew Vastardis was outstanding, by far the most improved player over a year ago. He was physical and decisive — again, there are bigger tests to come — and Harbaugh said he looked like former center Graham Glasgow out there at times. We could see it, especially on the block that sprung A.J. Henning on the 74-yard touchdown run. Just great effort and execution.
We’ll see how he does against the 320-pounders he’ll face in Big Ten play, but he was really good.
Right guard Chuck Filiaga was inconsistent. He got stood up and blown back a few times, especially in the first quarter and then at the goal line on a third down play just before the half. He had played better on that drive just before the half filling in for an injured Zinter, who started the game in a jumbo package (outside right tackle), but played only 16 snaps. He looked a bit rusty, but they’ll need him for Washington.
He and Vastardis had a combo block in the third quarter that was textbook and opened a huge hole for Blake Corum, whose patience was night and day from last year. All of the backs, in fact, looked more patient to the hole … the Mike Hart effect?
Frosh Donovan Edwards didn’t break any, but his feet and acceleration … you can see it.
U-M didn’t throw enough to know how good the receivers can be in Bell’s absence. We want to see if they can get separation against a good team, but the perimeter blocking was outstanding, especially junior Mike Sainristil. He blocks with a purpose — for the veterans, he looked like Chris Calloway out there.
Special teams were an absolute plus, and not just the return men. It was great to see Jake Moody convert on his two field goals. He’s a huge ‘X’ factor this year.
Overall … a great start, and with Washington looking not so great (to say the least), an opportunity next week to grab some serious momentum before heading to Wisconsin in early October.
Onward.
First things first — with the caveat that “it was only Western Michigan,” this is how you expect a Michigan team to look: well-prepared, fired up, disciplined (with one or two exceptions). This easily could have been a shutout if not for a dumb penalty by end David Ojabo on WMU’s first drive and a terrible, running into the punter call by referee John O’Neill in garbage time.
The Ojabo penalty was legit. You don’t get to run from 10 yards away on a play in which you’re not involved and get in a guy’s face, taunt him while he’s on the ground after your teammate (corner Vince Gray, in this case) makes a great play. He essentially erased his teammate’s great play, and while it was good to see the excitement, he needs to be more disciplined. We’re guessing he will be going forward.
We said going into this game it wouldn’t surprise if WMU had some early success, followed by a message board freak out. They scored on the first drive, and it took a quarter for U-M to get going, but other than the passes to the flats against a soft zone (to which coordinator Mike Macdonald adjusted well), guys were in position to make plays. Corner Gemon Green needed to knock down a pass on third down — he was in position — but Kaleb Eleby is a good quarterback, too. He made some nice throws.
We also said you need your stars to play like stars if this team is going to reach its potential. Again, with the WMU caveat, they did. Aidan Hutchinson was outstanding, especially as a pass rusher. He’s going to get some added attention in the weeks to come, we imagine, so other guys are going to have to emerge, too. Taylor Upshaw was a bit quiet. Ojabo had a couple pressures but wasn’t as disruptive as we’d hoped. Keep in mind, the Western offense is designed to get the ball out quickly, too, and QB Kaleb Eleby was good at that.
The WMU offense was hamstrung by receiver Skyy Moore’s loss early. They didn’t have the playmakers to stretch the field when he went out early. Regardless, the Michigan defense played well. Other than the early underneath success in the flats and a third down throw in which D.J. Turner got spun around, they were always around the ball.
Dax Hill, another of the guys who needs to be elite, absolutely was, as head coach Jim Harbaugh pointed out. He was dominant in getting off blocks on the edges to blow up the bubble screens. His speed stands out — and really, the whole defense looked and played fast.
We were concerned a bit about the WMU running game, and the backs did averaged 4.6 per carry, but most of the time the Wolverines only played with two players with their hands down. Western had a few plays hit in the middle of the defense as a result, and even the commentators questioned why they didn’t take more shots, but the bulk of their success (but for two plays) actually came when backs bounced outside, with Ojabo usually the culprit in losing contain.
Macdonald has talked about mixing up his defenses based on the opponent. We’ll be seeing more three, maybe even four-down stuff against teams that like to run the ball (see: Wisconsin), and on second glance, both Mazi Smith and Chris Hinton held the line well, keeping the linebackers clean (for the most part). Even Kris Jenkins did pretty well in that role in his first serious taste of action, and Mike Morris looked strong on the edge.
One of their most noticeable moments came early in the second quarter. The Wolverines punted from deep in their own end, setting up a short field for WMU, but the defense got a stop at the 50 on a great move by Hutchinson, Morris’ penetration and push from Hinton. That forced a punt, U-M scored on the next possession and the rout was on.
On offense … we talk about stars, and receiver Ronnie Bell looked like he was ready to become one. His one-handed catch after a poor, offensive pass interference call (it looked as though the official was influenced by the WMU sideline and was baited into that flag) was sick, and he was by far the Wolverines’ best receiver. He’ll be missed, assuming the injury is as bad as feared.
On that … the game was 17-7 at the time, and his injury was a freak one that could have happened had he simply been running after a catch. He cut, it gave and that was that. You play to win the game, and special teams are a huge part of it. His 31-yard return on which he got injured set up a touchdown that really opened the floodgates — that’s exactly why he was back there.
One of the complaints we’ve had over the past few years is situational awareness and when they’re taking shots, and when the ball was in the air on Bell’s 76-yard touchdown reception (that made it 17-7), there was a “why?” element when the ball was in the air. It was third and only three, and you’re thinking, ‘get the first down and live to fight another day.’
At the same time, this isn’t Joe Milton throwing a laser over someone’s head, or Shea Patterson throwing a line drive. Quarterback Cade McNamara, albeit with a smaller sample size, seems to have much better touch on the deep ball, and the confidence to take his shot. That was a huge play in the game.
Risk vs. reward, and it paid off this time.
McNamara was what you hoped and expected he’d be. He was poised, efficient and took his shots. He doesn’t have J.J. McCarthy’s arm — his out to Cornelius Johnson took a long time to get there on a first quarter pass, for example — but he’s got moxie and throws a catchable ball. We like that combination, and McCarthy, despite rushing a couple throws, looks like he’s going to be the real deal.
McNamara did miss a wide-open Roman Wilson for what would have been a score on a second and one play in the second quarter, but Zak Zinter had gotten beat at guard and McNamara had to get rid of it a bit earlier than hoped.
McCarthy’s bomb to Daylen Baldwin, who is going to have to step up in Bell’s absence, was the kind of play you expect elite quarterbacks to make. It wasn’t a dangerous throw. He led Baldwin open and took his shot.
It will be tougher against better competition, but he looked poised and confident.
Up front, Andrew Vastardis was outstanding, by far the most improved player over a year ago. He was physical and decisive — again, there are bigger tests to come — and Harbaugh said he looked like former center Graham Glasgow out there at times. We could see it, especially on the block that sprung A.J. Henning on the 74-yard touchdown run. Just great effort and execution.
We’ll see how he does against the 320-pounders he’ll face in Big Ten play, but he was really good.
Right guard Chuck Filiaga was inconsistent. He got stood up and blown back a few times, especially in the first quarter and then at the goal line on a third down play just before the half. He had played better on that drive just before the half filling in for an injured Zinter, who started the game in a jumbo package (outside right tackle), but played only 16 snaps. He looked a bit rusty, but they’ll need him for Washington.
He and Vastardis had a combo block in the third quarter that was textbook and opened a huge hole for Blake Corum, whose patience was night and day from last year. All of the backs, in fact, looked more patient to the hole … the Mike Hart effect?
Frosh Donovan Edwards didn’t break any, but his feet and acceleration … you can see it.
U-M didn’t throw enough to know how good the receivers can be in Bell’s absence. We want to see if they can get separation against a good team, but the perimeter blocking was outstanding, especially junior Mike Sainristil. He blocks with a purpose — for the veterans, he looked like Chris Calloway out there.
Special teams were an absolute plus, and not just the return men. It was great to see Jake Moody convert on his two field goals. He’s a huge ‘X’ factor this year.
Overall … a great start, and with Washington looking not so great (to say the least), an opportunity next week to grab some serious momentum before heading to Wisconsin in early October.
Onward.
