Ronnie Bell – Page 12 – Syndication Server

Focused on details, Giles Jackson emerging as a tough-to-cover wideout

What the first-year Wolverine has worked on the most and why his teammates see him as a versatile threat for the offense.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When Josh Gattis signed on to be Michigan’s new offensive coordinator back in January, he already had some perfect players to fit his ‘speed in space’ scheme.

While sophomore Ronnie Bell has been the major benefactor this year, it’s the younger crop that embody what he’s looking to do offensively, and perhaps no others look the part like true freshman Giles Jackson.

Jackson hasn’t been heavily featured in the offense just yet, but he’s getting a lot of run on kick return, where he already took one to the house at Maryland two weeks ago. He does have a receiving touchdown, having reeled one in from Joe Milton earlier in the season, late against Rutgers.

In Jackson, Bell sees a player who’s coming into his own, especially given his versatility and varied skill set.

“He fits the offense really kinda anywhere,” Bell said. “Just put him on the field and (let him) make a play. That’s his role in the offense, wherever we need him and he’ll make it happen.”

With that in mind, he can be an absolute terror to cover.

Cornerback LaVert Hill is a seasoned vet at this point, and one of the best defensive backs in the conference, a frequent mention by scouting site Pro Football Focus at disallowing passes to be caught when they’re thrown his way.

Hill says that, even as a first-year player, Jackson is a little more difficult to cover than some of Michigan’s touted wideouts, given his diminutive stature at 5-foot-9, 188-pounds.

“He’s pretty fast, he’s pretty quick,” Hill said. “He’s just little, so you can’t get your hands on him. He’s a pretty good player.

“He’s very quick. He’s faster and more twitchy than (Nico Collins, Tarik Black and Donovan Peoples-Jones). It’s pretty hard (to cover).”

As far as Jackson is concerned, he’s had a lot to work on since arriving in Ann Arbor in June.

But one thing stood out more than others, and it’s something Gattis immediately honed in on.

“Definitely my start to stance – my start to stance was actually terrible when I got here. It was so terrible,” Jackson said. “He fixed that right away. That was the first thing he was doing. Details, that’s all he preaches about: details matter about everything. If you don’t show details on the route, you’re not gonna win the route.”

This year isn’t the year that Jackson will be a key contributor on that side of the ball, with just two games left.

At the moment, he has four receptions for 35 yards and the one receiving touchdown. But he has his eyes on the future, and is working to — as the team has said all year — stack brick-by-brick.

“I just have to keep working hard, keep paying attention, keep taking it day-by-day and I’ll get better,” “We just take it week-by-week.”

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Michigan football quick film hits: Michigan State

Michigan football defeated Michigan State 44-10 in the battle for the Paul Bunyan trophy. When rewatching what was noticed in the win?

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Coming off their bye week, and the game before Michigan State last week, Michigan defeated Maryland 38-7. This week the extra week of preparation would be huge as the Wolverines dominated the Spartans 44-10 as they win their second-straight against MSU.

The offense woke up as quarterback Shea Patterson threw for over 300 yards for the first time at Michigan as he led the group down the field multiple times throughout the game. The defense gave the MSU offense a tough go at it and even the special teams had some big plays. Check out what I found during my re-watch of the game.

OFFENSE

In the first quarter with 7:17 to go, Michigan got away with three false start penalties as both left tackle Jon Runyan Jr. and right tackle Jalen Mayfield, and tight end Sean McKeon moved before the ball was snapped. Michigan wouldn’t score on the drive, but that could’ve been another early penalty for the Wolverines. Early mistakes gave MSU life and in rivalry games like this, you can’t let simple mistakes happen.
The jet sweep with wide receiver Giles Jackson was a great play call by offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, using Jackson’s speed along with great blocking can open up the field. That was an example of the kind of offense he wants to run at Michigan.
Still not a fan of the wildcat play calls and when they are made. In the second quarter, Michigan runs back to back wildcats inside the five and while they did score on the second attempt, I still don’t get why when you are down and so close to scoring to you risk anything crazy happening in a rivalry game. If they were up by 14+ then the call is safe but inside that five-yard line Patterson can be dangerous with his arm or leg, running a wildcat usually means you run. Maybe one of these times Haskins will pass as a trick, but until it happens it still isn’t a good call this early in the game and in the situation they were in.
Patterson using his legs to get out of the pocket and still get a throw off is huge for this offense. Earlier in the year, Patterson couldn’t do that much with his oblique injury and he rarely ran it on the option plays. Now having him as a threat in those plays, and to escape the pocket and gain yards with his legs instead is huge for this team.
Both catches by wide receiver Mike Sainristil were impressive, as he had to dig deep and catch both before they hit the ground. Great effort and plays by him.
Michigan ran another wildcat play with less than five minutes to go in the first half, again inside the five as it was a loss of three on the play. Tied 7-7 and close to taking the lead it still was a poor decision to call that there.
Something not talked about much in the win was the blocking by the wide receivers on the outside on the screen passes and sweeps. Wide receiver Ronnie Bell didn’t just catch the ball well, he blocked well also as he played lights out in this game.
I like the idea of the trick play with backup quarterback Dylan McCaffrey near the end of the third quarter. Both options were shut down but it was still a nice play call. Up by two scores near the end of the quarter, that is a lot better to call something like that then the wildcats called earlier.
The fumble by wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones on the punt return in the fourth quarter was one a few mistakes made by the Wolverines in this game. That could have set up the Wolverines to possibly score again, but it came at a time where the game was already out of reach so it isn’t as crucial as it would be if it was closer. Still, he needs to clean that up for the future.

Now onto the defense and their performance…

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Michigan football grades from Week 12 win over Michigan State

Michigan Football defeated Michigan State 44-10 on Saturday, how did each position grade out in the dominating rivalry win?

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Michigan had an extra week to prepare for Michigan State, as they had a bye week last week. The extra week of preparation seemed to be a big help for the Wolverines as they ended up dominating the Spartans, winning 44-10.

The offense exploded with points as quarterback Shea Patterson had his best game ever at Michigan, the defense kept the MSU offense in check, and special teams got involved in the game as well. Check out how each position graded out in the team’s big rivalry win.

OFFENSE

Quarterback: A

Patterson played lights out against his rival, in a game where he started out going 3/8 and already getting sacked once, it looked like it would be a long day for Patterson. Well, it was a long day, a long day of dominance as Patterson finished the game going 24/33 for 384 yards and four touchdowns as he had his best game as a Wolverine. He would throw for over 300 yards for the first time at Michigan, and he even broke a record that Tom Brady had against MSU.

Patterson used his legs when he needed too but he couldn’t make anything of it as he was sacked three times to knock his rushing yards into the negatives. The way he was throwing the football though was impressive as he made some quick, deep, and tough throws. Along with the throws, he made some good reads to set up those throws as he looked comfortable with multiple RPO plays.

The offense finally seems to be intact and what offensive coordinator Josh Gattis dreamt of and it started with Patterson. This offense was supposed to help him greatly and fit his style of play. It started out rough, but now it’s starting to come together at the right time.

Running Back: C+

While passing the ball worked really well against MSU, running wasn’t as effective but it still did some damage. Hassan Haskins was the only running back to find the endzone as he finished with six carries for 13 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Zach Charbonnet had the best day of any running back, finishing with seven carries for 30 yards. Tru Wilson had the most carries with 10, but for 26 yards.

Wide Receiver: A+

There hasn’t been a better game for the wide receivers than yesterday as six different wide receivers caught a pass, and if you include the other positions the number increases to nine. Ronnie Bell was the star receiver, finishing with nine catches for 150 yards, a career-best for him. While he wasn’t able to get into the endzone, three other wide receivers were able too.

Donovan Peoples-Jones finished with four catches for 48 yards and a touchdown. Nico Collins had three carries for 45 yards and a touchdown, while freshman Cornelius Johnson had one catch for 39 yards and a touchdown. Tarik Black had a nice 27-yard catch, while freshman Mike Sainristil had two good catches for 21 yards.

Tight End: B

Starting tight end Sean McKeon was a big help in the receiving game for Patterson has he had two big catches for 46 yards, while Nick Eubanks had one catch for five yards and a touchdown. The tight ends weren’t used often in the passing game but when they were they were effective. Their blocking was helpful as well.

Offensive Line: A-

Despite Patterson getting sacked three times and the rushing attack only putting up 83 total yards, the offensive line did a good job in giving Patterson time to throw the football. They also did a good job of blocking on some of the jet sweeps and wide runs/screen passes. They helped the offense do what they were able to do.

Now onto the defense and special teams…

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Ronnie Bell’s 2019 season showing he’s the true number one WR

Michigan football wide receiver Ronnie Bell had a career game against MSU today, showing he’s the top threat in the passing game.

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Ann Arbor, MI — Last year, freshman wide receiver Ronnie Bell wasn’t a part of the plans for Michigan as they planned to have wide receiver Tarik Black back from his season-ending injury from last season. That plan was derailed as he would have a similar injury happen to him before the season started, and he would miss the first half of the 2018 season.

With that said, Bell moved up in the depth chart, but he didn’t see much action until late against Nebraska when he caught a 56-yard touchdown pass. He would get involved with the offense minorly, only getting eight catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

Headed into 2019 the storyline at wide receiver was the same as it was headed into the 2018 season. The talk was mostly about Nico Collins, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and Tarik Black and how those three could thrive under new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ offense in his speed in space attack.

The addition of freshman wide receivers Giles Jackson, Cornelius Johnson, and Mike Sainristil also overshadowed Bell. He was lost in the mix to begin the season, but he certainly wasn’t forgotten about.

While he was quiet in the season opener, Bell had a solid game against Army, getting seven catches for 81 yards. It was after that game you started to see some kind of connection with quarterback Shea Patterson and Bell.

“Over the past few weeks, think we developed a certain kind of chemistry,” Patterson said. “I just think we play well together.” Patterson then credited Peoples-Jones, Bell, and all the other receivers for creating plays when he gets pushed out of the pocket and says it’s like backyard football at that point.

The connection between the two was huge today against MSU, as Bell finished with a career-best nine catches for 150 yards. Despite him putting up big numbers this week, he once again couldn’t find the endzone, something he hasn’t done this year despite being the top receiver on the team.

“That’s weird,” Patterson said. “I think he had 150 (yards) today. Just as far as his production and playmaking abilities, I think that makes up for not having a touchdown, but yea I didn’t even know that.”

While Patterson thought it was weird that Bell hasn’t seen the end zone yet, Bell knows he will get in there sooner or later.

“Yea, I don’t know if there hasn’t been a time yet where I came back to the sideline, like 20 seconds to go let me know like I still ain’t got in there,” Bell laughed. “It hurts every time, but it’s alright I’m a get in there.”

Bell is proving to not only the coaches but to the fans, especially the ones that turned their back on him after the drop against Penn State. He is more than just a depth wide receiver, he can be a top threat in this offense.

So far this season, Bell is the leading receiver with 36 catches for 610 yards. Collins is tied for second in catches with Peoples-Jones, but Collins has 25 for 484 yards and four touchdowns. Peoples-Jones has his 25 catches for 259 yards and four touchdowns. Black has 21 catches for 284 yards and a touchdown.

The way Bell has been able to get involved with this offense and rebound after that huge drop is something special. The same people who were booing Bell and sending horrible things his way, probably were quiet today and maybe even cheering for him.

Bell is having a career-best year so far, and it could certainly open the door in his final two years at Michigan. So while Peoples-Jones, Collins, and Black get all the attention, Bell is quietly having himself a season he will never forget. Another year under this offense will be huge for Bell and if he can continue the trend from this season, he could be the top threat once again in 2020.

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5 Takeaways from Michigan’s 44-10 win against Michigan State

Michigan football destroyed Michigan State today 44-10. What are the main five takeaways from the Wolverine’s big rivalry win over MSU?

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Ann Arbor, MI — After a bye week Michigan came into this game against Michigan State refreshed and ready to go. They didn’t play like it though to start the game as within the first five minutes the Wolverines had three penalties called on them. Michigan soon figured out the MSU offense and calmed themselves down to dismantle MSU, winning 44-10.

The offense had themselves a good day against a top 25 defense in MSU as quarterback Shea Patterson seemed to be insulted that MSU took the lead at first 7-0. He looked really well today as the offense was executing on all cylinders and the defense was able to force MSU to air it out as the running game wasn’t working for them.

Check out my five takeaways from the big Michigan victory in the annual in-state rivalry game.

1. The offense has finally bought into Speed in Space

To begin the season we saw some different plays from the Wolverines offense, but nothing was notable as a big change. There was more RPO involved, but nothing that looked like this was a different style of offense. Then after some poor execution, it seemed like Michigan was reverting back to last year’s offense where it was run-heavy.

Ever since the second half against Penn State, Michigan has seemed to have adjusted their offense to the kind offensive coordinator Josh Gattis wanted to have when arriving in Ann Arbor. Today against MSU, we saw the offense look really different and knock out some solid plays against a top 25 defense in MSU, putting up 467 total offensive yards.

Patterson has been playing some good football lately and today was another solid performance by the senior, going 24/33 for 384 yards and four touchdowns. He has transformed as the season progressed as his fumbling issues are behind him, along with the nagging injuries. Patterson has finally been looking like his old self from last season. This was his first-ever 300+ yard passing game at Michigan, something people were expecting out of him this season.

2. The Kicker battle is over

The season-long battle at kicker between Quinn Nordin and Jake Moody seems to have finally finished. While the position started with a rotation between the two kickers, it would then move to Moody having the job for two games straight. After going 1-3 on field goals against Penn State, Notre Dame, and Maryland though, the job looked to be back open as Nordin finished the Maryland game as the kicker and was 2-2.

During the bye week, a big question would be if the rotation would return or if Nordin was able to pull ahead over Moody due to his recent struggles. That question was answered in the first half as Nordin was out for both extra-point attempts and he was the kicker for the 28-yard field goal attempt, which he made.

It seems like Nordin is now the Michigan kicker for the rest of the season unless he starts to struggle, then Moody could be put back in. Nordin finished the game going 3/3 on field goals, his longest from 49 yards out along with being 5/5 on extra-point attempts.

3. Ronnie Bell looks like the number one wide receiver

Despite receiving a lot of unneeded hate after dropping the game-tying touchdown against Penn State, wide receiver Ronnie Bell has exploded onto the scene as a clear number one receiver in this offense this season. All the talk before the season was about the trio of Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins, and Tarik Black at wide receiver. There was the chatter of Bell having an impact, but nobody expected this kind of result.

Today against MSU, Bell led the team in catches and receiving yards, finishing with nine for 150 yards. So far this season, Bell has 35 catches for 610 yards and while those numbers aren’t earth-shattering they are still impressive for a player who was looked at like the number four option heading into the season.

This offense uses the speed of the wide receivers effectively and Bell is possibly the fastest wide receiver on the team. Collins is a big man, and Black and Peoples-Jones are quick but don’t have the type of separation that Bell can have. 2020 with these four wide receivers could be really special as the team seems to have grasped the offense Gattis has tried to implement.

4. Jim Harbaugh finally gets back-to-back wins over Michigan State

For the first time since 2006-2007, Michigan has won back-to-back games against MSU. From 2008-2011 MSU went on a four-game winning streak. Michigan got a win in 2012, but then MSU went on a three-game win streak from 2013-2015. Since 2015 when Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh arrived in Ann Arbor, the away team has won each game and neither team won back-to-back games.

That changes this year and now Harbaugh has a winning record over the Spartans as he is 3-2 in this rivalry game. Fans were tired of being beaten by MSU and Harbaugh was brought in to regain control of the rivalry, along with the Ohio State one but that hasn’t been done yet.

MSU is in rough shape for their future, with multiple players transferring, multiple seniors graduating and with their head coach Mark Dantonio on the hot seat possibly, Michigan might be in the driver seat with this rivalry for the next few years. This two-game winning streak could be the beginning of another long one for the Wolverines.

5. While it wasn’t 94 yards, Michigan’s defense contained MSU’s offense

Last year, the big talk after the game besides the pre-game antics by both teams, was how the Michigan defense held MSU to just 94 yards of offense. MSU quarterback Brian Lewerke didn’t play well at all and seemed to be playing injured. This year Lewerke was healthy and despite him playing better, MSU wasn’t able to move the chains besides on two drives against the Wolverines.

Lewerke finished the game going 17/30 for 166 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, along with 13 carries for 12 yards. The rushing attack for MSU couldn’t get the ball moving either, as the team finished with 54 rushing yards on 30 carries. The defense also blocked a punt in the fourth quarter from linebacker Khaleke Hudson to help set up a touchdown from Patterson to Collins to put Michigan up 34-10.

Michigan overall held MSU to 220 yards of offense and while that isn’t overly impressive, the two interceptions and the blocked punt were huge as they gave Michigan more time with the football. The defense did allow two solid drives by the Spartans, but on the second one, the Wolverines didn’t break as they held MSU to a field goal. After Michigan figured out the MSU offense after the touchdown, they were able to contain it for a majority of the game.

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Halftime Analysis of Michigan State vs No. 15 Michigan

It’s halftime for Michigan football as they are up 17-7 against Michigan State at the break. What’s working and what isn’t so far?

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Ann Arbor, MI — Coming off their bye week last week, Michigan had an extra week to prepare for the Michigan State Spartans. That extra week seemed to have not been enough for the Wolverines as they started the game poorly with three penalties in less than five minutes. They could clean their act up as the game progressed, but it wasn’t a pretty start for the Wolverines.

After both teams traded punts, Michigan would get a drive going and land at the 40-yard line on fourth down. After an incomplete pass from quarterback Shea Patterson to wide receiver Nico Collins, MSU would get the football and have a solid drive led by their quarterback Brian Lewerke.

Lewerke would find wide receiver Cody White on fourth and one as he would go 29 yards before being tackled at the one. The next play Lewerke found fullback Max Rosenthal on a one-yard touchdown pass as MSU took the 7-0 lead.

Michigan wouldn’t let the score bother them as quarterback Shea Patterson started going on a tear as the offense opened up the playbook for their RPO. Big catches by wide receivers Collins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Ronnie Bell helped move the ball down the field. Patterson went 4/4 on the drive for 48 yards as running back Hassan Haskins would finish the drive for a one-yard touchdown run as Michigan ties the game up 7-7.

Personal fouls by MSU killed their next drive as two on one play pushed them back and despite getting the first down, they would eventually punt back to Michigan. So far there have been three unsportsmanlike/personal penalties in this game, three by MSU, one by Michigan. This game is usually chippy so those numbers aren’t a surprise for either team.

Michigan would get the ball at their own two-yard line and in five minutes and 39 seconds and 12 plays later they would score as Patterson found tight end Nick Eubanks for the touchdown as Michigan took the 14-7 lead. Patterson made some nice reads on that drive, running the football and finding the correct man on the RPO’s.

MSU would stall out on offense again and Michigan would continue to strike. Patterson found Bell for a huge 42-yard catch to put Michigan inside the red zone. Michigan couldn’t find the end zone though as kicker Quinn Nordin would make the 28-yard field goal attempt as Michigan expanded their lead to 17-7. Nordin has been kicking every extra point and field goal so far today, so it looks like he has won the kicking job against Jake Moody.

POSITIVES:

Michigan’s offense started slow but have been using different types of RPO plays and plays where men are in motion. That is something we haven’t seen this season as that looks like some of Josh Gattis’ “speed in space” offense he was trying to bring to Michigan. Patterson has been playing great in it so far, going 14/21 for 182 yards and a touchdown along with three carries for eight yards.
Michigan has done well in keeping the MSU run game in check. Ignoring Lewerke’s runs, Michigan has held MSU to just 23 rushing yards on 12 attempts. MSU had some success last week running the rock but that isn’t the case so far this week.

NEGATIVES:

MSU is doing well at running RPO against the Wolverines defense. Michigan started to figure things out, but it has still been a threat to the Wolverines defense. Lewerke is 6/10 for 79 yards and a touchdown along with five carries for 16 yards. So far as he seems to be leading this offense down the field.
Penalties have been an early problem for Michigan as they had three in less than five minutes to start the game. So far they have had four for 41 yards and they have hurt the Wolverines greatly. They have improved at discipline in the past few weeks, but these are not what you want in this big rivalry game.