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All the off-season chatter of how explosive the wide receivers would be this season can finally be seen by everyone. The offense was struggling for the first five games of the season when it came to passing the football. Michigan was 4-1 with a close win against Army and got their only loss to Wisconsin. Michigan was coming off their 10-3 win over Iowa and head coach Jim Harbaugh had an interesting comment on the offensive performance in the close win against Iowa.
He said the offense was “hitting its stride.”
Hitting its stride after just putting up 10 measly points against Iowa? In a game where your defense won you the battle? Nobody believed what Harbaugh was saying. Now Harbaugh is laughing at everyone for doubting him.
Michigan would beat Illinois 42-25 in a close game, but the offense saw some explosive play and a pulse in the offense. Next week against Penn State, Michigan did lose 28-21, but the second half of that game has been the starting point of something special as Michigan has been dominant on the offensive side of the football.
Since the comment made by Harbaugh, Michigan has drastically reduced the number of turnovers they have had, with only five total in seven games. Turnovers were a major talking point early on in the season, but since then they have cleaned up their act.
Not only have the turnovers have gotten better, but the offense is putting up yards and they now average 439.5 yards and 38 points per game. How does that happen? Get your wide receivers involved and showcase the offense you hyped up all offseason long.
Today against Indiana, Michigan kept putting their foot on the gas and today’s star receiver was Nico Collins, who finished with six catches for 165 yards and three touchdowns. Last week it was wide receiver Ronnie Bell who blew up for over 100 yards. Wide receiver Giles Jackson has been getting more involved in the offense too, getting a catch for 50 yards today.
You can’t forget about the other stud wide receivers, Donovan Peoples-Jones had a phenomenal snag for a touchdown today, finishing with five catches for 73 yards and the lone score. Tarik Black had three catches for 30 yards and freshman Mike Sainristil had a beauty of a catch for 35 yards.
Michigan has weapons in the passing game and the depth behind the starting three wide receivers is deep. The youngsters have gotten involved in the offense this season and giving quarterback Shea Patterson just more options to throw to when on the field. With these receivers constantly getting some big games, it’s hard for Patterson to share the ball fairly between everyone.
Patterson has seen an increase in his play and part of that is because of the play by these wide receivers. They are creating separation and making big catches when needed. Earlier this season you couldn’t see much separation between them and the defenders. Now they are making the moves to get open, and catching the 50/50 balls and coming down with the grab.
This offense was led behind Patterson once again today and Collins just happened to be the lucky winner by constantly getting open and making plays when needed. All of the hype about “speed in space” from offensive coordinator Josh Gattis is finally showing. It’s here and dealing with some damage to its opponents. Now that Michigan has hit their stride on offense, can it continue into next week?