connor jones

2022 OT

[Patrick Barron]

Previously: The StoryQuarterbackRunning BackWide ReceiverTight End. Interior OL.

TACKLE: I HOPE YOU DIDN'T EXPECT TO GET SOME OF THAT BACON BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY OFFENSIVE TACKLES IN THIS ROOM THAT THEY'RE PROBABLY GOING TO EAT ALL OF THE BACON AND WHY ARE YOU HAULING BACON AROUND LIKE THIS ANYWAY IF YOU ASK ME THAT'S PRETTY WEIRD BEHAVIOR

RATING: 4

[Bolded player rules: not necessarily returning starter, but someone we've seen enough of that I'm no longer talking about their recruiting profile (much, anyway). Extant contributor.]

LT Yr. LG Yr. C Yr. RG Yr. RT Yr.
Karsen Barnhart Sr.* Trevor Keegan Sr.* Drake Nugent Sr.* Zak Zinter Jr.* Trente Jones Sr.*
LaDarius Henderson Sr.* Gio El-Hadi So.* Greg Crippen So.* Reece Atteberry So.* Myles Hinton Jr.
Jeffrey Persi So.* Amir Herring Fr. Raheem Anderson So.* Connor Jones Fr.* Andrew Gentry Fr.*

Well… it's going to be a little weird. Harbaugh liked his quarterback competition from last year so much he's going to replicate it wherever he can:

“There’s four starting tackles that we have and it'll go through camp. I envision starting two tackles one game — the first game — and two tackles the second game."

Those four guys are Karsen Barnhart and LaDarius Henderson on the left with Trente Jones and Myles Hinton on the right. Compounding the lack of clarity is that guys are perfectly capable of flipping sides—Barnhart played right tackle last year plenty—and this is really just a pile of tackles that Michigan will select two from. Our chart above has to say something, so we're going with the current depth chart, but this space believes that Henderson will move into the starting lineup after a few games, leaving Barnhart and Jones fighting over the right tackle spot. Hinton is a longer-term play. Probably.

In any case, Michigan has five different tackles with college starts and four different guys with extensive experience. Nobody is an established, elite college tackle but short of having one of those this is about the best possible scenario to find yourself in.

[After THE JUMP: So many "OR"s you'll think you're at a seal convention]
The red sea parts [Bryan Fuller]

Previously: The StoryQuarterbackRunning BackWide Receiver. Tight End

INTERIOR OL: YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY

LT Yr. LG Yr. C Yr. RG Yr. RT Yr.
Karsen Barnhart Sr.* Trevor Keegan Sr.* Drake Nugent Sr.* Zak Zinter Jr.* Trente Jones Sr.*
LaDarius Henderson Sr. Gio El-Hadi So.* Greg Crippen So.* Reece Atteberry So.* Myles Hinton Jr.
Jeffrey Persi So.* Amir Herring Fr. Raheem Anderson So.* Connor Jones Fr.* Andrew Gentry Fr.*

Michigan's offensive line is coming off back-to-back Joe "Sherrone" Moore awards. They get back six guys who started games last year and added two of the Pac-12's best OL, plus a former five-star with a season and change of starting experience. Cocky? Nah. Call it confid

On Zinter's proposed formation with 10 offensive linemen and a running back

You know, I get ... every day the linemen are sending me plays and formations. I'm like, 'can you guys just worry about what you got to do?'

Ok, cocky.

I am rapturous about Sherrone Moore rolling into the building every morning only for Keegan and Zinter to confront him with their latest ludicrous offense against God and football. They are both wearing full pads and helmets. Keegan sports his trademark faceful of eyeblack. They show him a play where three offensive linemen pull in different directions and then the ball is lateraled to a fourth OL. Moore tries very hard to remember that these guys are his ticket to a head coaching job next year and says he'll take it under advisement. Zinter and Keegan high five, elated. Exit stage right, repeat every day of the summer.

In addition to those two guys, Michigan added a two year starter and All Pac-12 honorable mention center to go with two more guys who I'd be perfectly comfortable starting. And the top backup at guard looked like he'd start at a majority of Big Ten schools last year, when he was a redshirt freshman.

Sometimes I think back to that time Rich Rodriguez got the Michigan job and arrived to find out he had a total of seven scholarship OL, one of whom was immediately lost for the season. This section's title is a riff on old lady cigarette ads, and I assume Rodriguez smoked several packs of lady cigarettes upon beholding the roster. That's over! ALL OF THAT IS OVER.

Michigan's offensive line is now a zombie apocalypse. You can shoot as many guys in the head with a shotgun as you want but the pile is gonna lurch forward with you under it.

[After THE JUMP: there is a PFF intern who deserves a whoopin']

Everyone was celebrating with JJ in the game [Patrick Barron]

All eyes were on JJ McCarthy tonight as he led the Michigan Wolverines on the field in his first career NCAA start. Never mind that it came an hour later than anticipated due to lightning in the area, all 100,000+ fans in Michigan Stadium wanted to see what McCarthy could do. The answer they got: against a putrid Hawaii defense, it was spectacular. McCarthy went 11/12 for 229 yards and 3 TDs. He rushed one time for 16 yards and his lone incompletion was a drop by Ronnie Bell. The sophomore QB was poised, he was dead-on accurate, and his physical talents popped up under the evening Big House lights. In the process, McCarthy boosted Michigan to a 42-0 halftime lead and an easy 56-10 victory over the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. 

Michigan's McCarthy-led offense didn't need long to dazzle. On their opening possession, Blake Corum took a hand-off for 24 yards on the first play, and then McCarthy hit Roman Wilson for a 42 strike and a TD. Two plays, 66 yards, seven points. The next drive was nearly all rushing plays with the occasional McCarthy check down, and the 'Bows did nothing to stop the Wolverines or Corum. Drive #3 included the lone McCarthy keeper and was finished off with a fancy 21-yard end-around for Wilson. Less than 11 minutes into the game, it was already 21-0 Wolverines. 

The first half would not entirely be that easy, but almost. Michigan did punt on their next offensive possession due to a series of Ronnie Bell errors, a drop followed by a fumble during a catch-and-run third down sequence. Michigan recovered but sent out Brad Robbins to boot it away. The next two drives after that were more McCarthy magic. He uncorked a missile to Bell, then hit Cornelius Johnson on a 54-yard strike, and capped it with a 13-yard laser to Bell for a TD. The drive after that saw a 25-yard rush for Donovan Edwards, a 33-yard pass by McCarthy to Edwards, who was lined up as a WR, and then a 1-yard TD dive by Edwards to put Michigan ahead 35-0. 

The Hawaiian showed out against Hawaii [Patrick Barron]

After a Cade McNamara drive that will be discussed in a minute, McCarthy was sent back out for a two-minute drill before halftime. He gave the ball to CJ Stokes twice for a combined 29 yards, then connected with Ronnie Bell for six yards, and then patiently waited in the pocket, rolled to his left, and uncorked another dart to Cornelius Johnson for a sixth Michigan TD. 42-0 at halftime. 

As you can guess from that score, Michigan's first team defense did its part in the first half. Hawaii had eight full possessions and gained two first downs. They gained 47 total yards, 14 on 14 rush attempts, and 33 passing yards on 17 attempts. They ran 31 plays for an average of 1.5 yards per play. The Rainbow Warriors did better than previous weeks at protecting the football, but otherwise, they were completely overmatched. The yardage numbers sat at 410 for Michigan and 47 for Hawaii at halftime. When both teams were playing their first-stringers, Michigan was lightyears better, as expected. That's the only story of the game, to be frank. 

If there's a second story, it would be about the QBs. McCarthy was indeed as spectacular as the numbers sound. He was strikingly accurate, hitting receivers in stride, right on the numbers. He looked comfortable and the offense's play was electric. The offense felt different with McCarthy in the game. Of course, there are some things I expect the coaches will talk over with him. There were a few moments where Michigan struggled to get lined up with McCarthy in the game, for one. But as a whole, this was the game you wanted to see if you want JJ McCarthy as QB1 this season. 

Not what Cade wanted [Patrick Barron]

Unfortunately, it was also a game to forget from Cade McNamara. Though his lone first half series started well, with a quick completion to Ronnie Bell and a long run from Blake Corum, he got little help after that. The first team offensive line's lone wobbly series ensued on several consecutive plays, in addition to a drop from CJ Stokes. After McNamara was sacked for a loss of 10 on 3rd down, Michigan was forced to punt. Grumbling over Cade's performance was heard after that, but it really escalated in the second half. 

Michigan got the ball first, ran it once, McNamara dumped it off to Matthew Hibner for five yards, and then Tavierre Dunlap was stuffed on 3rd down. Another punt with Cade in the game. His second chance of the second half didn't go any better. Again he got little help from his OL, as backup G Connor Jones allowed a sack, and McNamara opted to check-down to Colston Loveland rather than throw down the field on 3rd & 13. Another punt. His fourth and final drive was a reversal of that conservative tendency: McNamara was extremely un-McNamara and took a shot down the field, but he massively under-threw it. The pass, intended for Andrel Anthony, was intercepted by Hawaii's Virdel Edwards II. In total, Cade finished 4/6 for 26 yards (4.3 YPA) with no scores and 1 INT. 

The struggles of the McNamara offense were exacerbated on the first series after his exit. With third-string QB Davis Warren in, Michigan moved the ball swiftly, with Warren throwing a beautiful ball to TE Max Bredeson, followed by a significant run after the catch. CJ Stokes scored on the next play, and Michigan had another TD. After the Wolverines scored again on the next possession, thanks to a 38-yard TD run from Isaiah Gash, the final numbers were pretty stark: Michigan had 13 real drives in this game and they scored TDs on eight of them. None came with Cade McNamara at QB, and McNamara was on the hook for 4 of 5 drives without a TD. 

[Barron]

The second half was entirely played by the second and third team defense, which was pretty clearly not ready for prime-time. Credit to Hawaii, who left their starting QB Joey Yellen in the game, and refused to mail it in despite being run out of the building against Michigan's 1s. Hawaii kept battling and got some quality reps in against Michigan's reserves, who are still learning. The Rainbow Warriors stitched two double-digit play drives together, one ending in a FG and one in a turnover on downs, in addition to a 6-play, 75-yard drive that got them their only TD of the contest.

That came on a 54-yard run from Tylan Hines, thanks to breakdowns at all three levels of Michigan's reserve defense. However, it should be noted that it came only after a Rayshaun Benny drive-ending sack was nullified due to a questionable defensive holding call tacked to Amorion Walker, Michigan's freshman WR who was wearing #1 and playing corner for some reason. The odd nature of that previous sentence tells you all you need to know about the second half defensively for the Wolverines, as it pertains to the rest of the season: nothing. 

Michigan was miles better than Hawaii on the whole, and exceptionally so when both teams had their starters in. That was expected, and the giant margin of victory reflected that. Most of the focus coming out of this game will be on the QB battle, and rightfully so. There's little else that can be learned in a game where the two teams should not be on the field with each other. Unfortunately, that will be the case next week as well, when Michigan hosts 1-2 UConn, who was defeated soundly by Syracuse today. That game is slated for noon and will be broadcast on ABC. 

There is no content after the jump.

Time it was, and what a time it was, it was. A time of innocence, a time of confidences. Long ago, it must be. I have a photograph. 

Player in his class mostly likely to read MGoBlog.

DON'T PANIC

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No we haven't forgotten Michigan's X-mas day gift.