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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — One of the unheralded aspects of the Michigan offense is that you really never know on a weekly basis who’s going to shine.
On Saturday against Ohio State, it was Hassan Haskins who stood out the most, with Roman Wilson, Blake Corum, and Cornelius Johnson all chipping in. The week before against Maryland, it was Donovan Edwards who made the biggest impact, with a team record (for a running back) 10 catches for 170 yards. Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson shined against Wisconsin. Hassan Haskins and Erick All against Penn State. Andrel Anthony against Michigan State. Blake Corum in the season opener. Luke Schoonmaker and Haskins against Indiana. You never really know which player is going to step up.
Contrast that with some other teams. With Ohio State, as talented as it is, really it will be one of five players that will kill you any given Saturday. Michigan’s next opponent, Iowa, primarily tries to get production from running back Tyler Goodson, while the receivers and tight ends chip in just a little. MSU relies mostly on tailback Kenneth Walker III and the two primary wideouts, Jalen Nailor and Jayden Reed.
Michigan, on the other hand, has about 10 players you have to worry about at any given time. That may be the trio of running backs, the litany of wide receivers or two of the tight ends, or quarterback J.J. McCarthy if he’s inserted, since he’s a run threat, but also has a big arm.
There really is no ‘take this player away on offense, and it’s a win.’ Because even with the run game, get used to Haskins’ bruising style, and Corum will come in and show you speed. Or now, Donovan Edwards, who has a combination of both and can also catch it out of the backfield.
That makes this offense, ranked No. 19 in the country and 15th in touchdowns scored, dangerous, and difficult to prepare for. Which is entirely by design.
“That’s something that we stress as an offense,” junior wide receiver Cornelius Johnson said. “Our coach always tells us if you just continue doing your assignments well, the football gods will somehow work out in your favor. Even if you’re on a backside of a play you don’t think is coming to you or you don’t think you’re getting the ball on a certain play, just continue playing hard, practicing hard, and eventually, it will all come around full circle and you’ll get your time to shine. What you do in the dark is eventually going to find its way to shine on a national stage.
“We all know with team success will come individual recognition.”
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So coaches can take away a player, sure, or limit the run game, for instance. But it won’t take away the entire offense. Because even if it limits the run game, Michigan is committed to it, thus play-action opens up all things.
“There’s so many components that we have and so many things we can do with it,” Schoonmaker said. “It definitely can challenge the game planning. You have so many guys that can do so many things and do it at a high level and definitely have fun with it.”
Something we’ve seen in recent weeks is symmetry in play designs. A play may be on tape as being a run, but now Michigan may pass out of the same look. Or it may run some kind of different action out of said look.
Against Ohio State, we saw that a few times. On the first touchdown of the game, assuredly Ohio State was prepared for a screen to Donovan Edwards, given that Michigan had lined up in the same formation and did the same thing the week previous. However, instead, A.J. Henning came in motion, running behind the action, and Cade McNamara executed a statue of liberty play that resulted in a score.
Likewise, we saw a diamond formation that hinted strongly at a run. J.J. McCarthy was in which sold it further. But the Wolverines passed out of the formation, showing that anything really is possible.
Johnson says the coaching staff’s hard work behind the scenes and recognition of different aspects that can be exploited have played a major role in the creativity we’ve seen as the season’s progressed. Anecdotally, he pointed to a coach that didn’t go out and celebrate the Ohio State win, opting instead to start preparing for Iowa on Saturday night.
“Big credit to our coaching staff and all those guys behind the scenes after the game,” Johnson said. “One of our coaches stayed after the last game. Everyone was out with their families and everything, he just stayed until almost midnight just practicing for the next opponent and breaking down the film and everything. That stuff behind the scenes always finds a way to help our team. And, like you said, showing schemes that look like each other, it’s really a chess match out there. We have to execute what’s given to us and whatever route I’m given, whatever the play call is, I’ll make sure I attack that because it’s all a part of the scheme.”
No team has scored more than 27 points on the Hawkeyes yet this season. In fact, the last time Iowa has given up more than that in a game was the 28 given up to Nebraska in 2018. Iowa has given up more than 400 yards twice this year (464 to Purdue in a loss and 409 to Minnesota in a win). Michigan averages 451.2 yards per game, with the season low being 275 against Rutgers (the high was 606 against Northern Illinois). Something will have to give on Saturday in the Big Ten Championship Game.
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