Cesar Ruiz looks excited. Probably because he is excited.
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View from the Sidelines: It's time to believe in Michigan's offensive line Comment Count

Ethan Sears October 14th, 2018 at 3:28 AM

By the time Lavert Hill took a one-handed interception into the end zone, ending Wisconsin in every way that didn’t involve a clock hitting zero, every question you had about Michigan coming into a game of this magnitude had already been answered.

 

The run game? Karan Higdon churned through the Badgers in the second half like a hot knife through butter, and that on top of Shea Patterson’s electrifying 81-yard zone read keeper in the second quarter.

 

The defense? Alex Hornibrook went from late in the first quarter through garbage time — well after Hill’s pick-six — without completing a pass.

 

Shea Patterson? Besides some antsy moments in the pocket early, he was just fine.

 

Playing up to the moment, in a big game, under the lights? Not only did Michigan control the game from start to finish in a 38-13 win, but it did so while its opponent imploded, extending an early third-quarter drive that ended in a Patterson touchdown with defensive holding, roughing the snapper and a dropped interception.

 

The offensive line? It looks like a legitimate strength, and if it is, the Wolverines are a legitimate playoff contender.

 

“A lot of people had a lot of questions about who we are as a team,” Higdon said. “Our offensive line, our run game, we don’t show up in big games. I think we laid that to rest today. I think we came out and made some great adjustments and we got the job done.”

 

Then he took things a little bit further.

 

“There’s no further question that we’ve got the best offensive line in the country.”

 

In a press conference that went just over nine minutes, Higdon repeated that sentiment twice more.

 

Now, Michigan does not have the best offensive line in the country. It’s not particularly close to being the best offensive line in the country. But that Higdon can say it is without being laughed out of the room, well, given how things looked in the season-opening loss at Notre Dame, that’s pretty good.

 

Last year, Michigan was so bad at zone-blocking that it abandoned it almost completely, running power and counter with near-exclusivity in a way-too-close win at Indiana. On Saturday, the Wolverines gashed Wisconsin with zone reads.

 

“Coach (Ed) Warinner and the offensive staff put those runs in,” Patterson added. “We trusted in the gameplan all week, but it’s just when it actually happens and there’s nobody in front of you, it was exciting.”

 

This is a team that runs inside zone and Down G more than it runs power and counter — and it looks good doing it.

 

After Higdon struggled in the first half, Michigan decided to attack the C-gap. According to Jim Harbaugh, they took their six best plays from early on and just did those for the rest of the game. It’s hard to argue with the results.

 

As for the pass protection, the pocket was mostly clean on Saturday. The line has given Patterson time to throw in every game saving Notre Dame — the bigger problem has been Patterson breaking the pocket too early. And even that comes with the caveat that he’s largely been impressive outside the pocket.

 

We’ve heard about Warinner simplifying things, and we’ve heard players talk about the line with confidence as a result. But now, we’ve seen it on the field enough to believe it.

 

“We’ve been in those big games,” Ben Bredeson said. “I personally have seen us not be able to finish them. That was a big focus for us this offseason, was changing the culture in the offensive line room, that we were gonna finish games. And when we needed a first down to win or a touchdown to win it, we were gonna be able to deliver.”

 

Michigan delivered Saturday, in a big way, on a big stage.

 

One-third of the way through the toughest part of its schedule, suddenly, it’s pretty easy to see a one-loss Michigan rolling into Columbus. The Wolverines are better than Michigan State on paper — simple as that. Penn State just lost to the Spartans at home and on top of that, Michigan looks to be hitting its stride.

 

“We knew coming into this game that everything was ahead of us and that we control our own destiny,” Patterson said. “... I think it was a statement game. We came out and kinda gave it to ‘em a little bit. We didn’t just win, we kinda dominated them.”

Comments

L'Carpetron Do…

October 14th, 2018 at 2:21 PM ^

Michigan needs to get psyched up now. Get tough. State is coming for you and they're going to throw everything they got at you. This is when a team shows how good they are. Its about time Michigan showed these punks what time it is.

ComputerEngineer

October 14th, 2018 at 2:40 PM ^

God, I hope the players don't read this blog. It's straight up rat poison. Stop thinking about Ohio State and Penn State. We've lost 8 of the last 10 games against MSU. We need to pound these guys into a fine paste. Nothing else matters right now.

effteedub92

October 14th, 2018 at 2:56 PM ^

If we lose to MSU it will not be because the players are overlooking them. Rashan Gary was crying on the sidelines after the game last year. Bush is on record saying that he hates them more than anyone else and he's not even an in state kid. Every one of these guys wants to beat MSU as much as any team on the schedule. Them derailing Penn State's season this week only adds to that imo.

Hab

October 14th, 2018 at 2:57 PM ^

Enjoy it, yes.  Excuse a little hyperbole, of course.  Build on the sentiment, absolutely.

But cumong.  We read all week leading up to this game that UW brings only slightly more than 0 pass rush, so let's pump the brakes before saying that we've arrived on the passing side of things.  As for push and improving on the run side of things, well done.  Looking forward to more.

umchicago

October 14th, 2018 at 4:17 PM ^

i definitely bashed the OL after the ND game and was extremely worried about the remainder of the season.  but give those guys (and the coaches) credit, because they are leaps and bounds better.  i can't get over the improvement in pass protection in just a few weeks.  i realize shea has avoided several sacks, but the improvement is there.  the run blocking was a little shaky in the first half but they tore it up in the second.

kudos to the OL.  we are now a legit top 10 team.

Go Blue!!

Sten Carlson

October 14th, 2018 at 5:25 PM ^

This ^^^^ !!!

All we heard all week leading up to the game was how it’s going to be a physical test and anything productive from the Michigan OL abs RB’s would be a marked sign of improvement.  Now, the “Pump the Brakes” crew come out to rain on the parade — surprise, surprise.  

Further, maybe people will understand now why, early in the season we saw Shea give and give and give that zone read.  So many bitched and moaned because they don’t understand how play calling works in real life.  Just like the “trick plays” or Milton’s cameo in the 1st qtr.  Those are “set-up” plays meant for future results.  

This was the most complete win of Harbaugh’s tenure, against a team (yes they had injuries, but so do we) who was highly respected and thought to be a contender.  Michigan smoked them in every phase of the game.  They made one play on offense and one or two on defense.   Even with leaving 10 points on the field we dominated them like most in here would have never predicted.  

Go Blue! Beat State!

JPC

October 15th, 2018 at 9:42 AM ^

It's almost like the loudest and most pissed off people on here don't know shit about football. 

 

We run all over a shit team: "OK they sucked, big deal"

 

We run all over Wisconsin: "OK they had a bunch of injuries, big deal"

 

Some of this "BPONErs" won't be happy until we put up 500 yards on the ground against Alabama. I'm not sure how so many can be made so miserable by a game played by a bunch of college kids doing their best. 

grumbler

October 14th, 2018 at 7:25 PM ^

Nope.  The O-line doesn't have to prove anything at this point.   They won't be great this year because they have physical limitations, but they are good.  Even if they do well against MSU, I can see the usual suspects claiming that they still haven't proven anything until they do well against OSU, and if they do, then they won't be good unless they do well against Alabama, etc, ad infinitum.

AnthonyThomas

October 14th, 2018 at 7:55 PM ^

You are moving the goal posts. Wiscy's D isn't very good overall, but they had been solid against the run all season and the talk coming into the game was that Michigan would have to become a downfield passing offense if they were going to win. Instead, they ran it straight down Wiscy's throat. Nobody was expecting that. 

crg

October 14th, 2018 at 5:00 PM ^

Great win and kids availed themselves well, but it might be a stretch to say that the O-line is a team strength just yet.  Wisc was down a number of guys on their D and this was a home game at night.  Clearly our O-line (and the rest of the team) looked much improved compared to their outing in South Bend, but there is still a long way to go before the team can challenge for the top spot.  I hope they get there.

Brugoblue

October 14th, 2018 at 5:23 PM ^

Seeing a lot of “yeah but”s in the comments.  I love seeing these kids getting better every week. I suspect last year this game would have provided more than a few busts, yet I don’t recall a single one last night. Also, a really clean game too. Let’s try to enjoy the progress gang. 

GoBucks11

October 14th, 2018 at 5:59 PM ^

I don't think Michigan's offensive line woes have been solved. They have just been able to mask over the problems at tackle by doing everything possible to mitigate them from being too important for any one play. Tons of rollouts, quick passes. Not a lot of normal drop backs. The running game is doing very well, but when they have to pass the ball to catch up........ Next week is MSU. Higdon is not Miles Sanders. MSU is the number 1 rush defense in the nation. Have to pass it. Good news for M, MSU pass defense is dog dirt. But MSU was able to limit McSorely to less than 200 pass and 40 rush. Not a good look.

grumbler

October 14th, 2018 at 7:28 PM ^

"...mask over the problems at tackle by doing everything possible to mitigate them from being too important for any one play."  This is called "coaching."  Every team has weaknesses that coaches must mitigate so that they do not determine the outcomes of games.  You talk about good coaching as though it was a weakness.

Reader71

October 14th, 2018 at 8:21 PM ^

Not to mention that wasn’t really true against Wisconsin. We might have run 1-2 rollouts, 1-2 hitches, 1-2 receiver screens. But by and large, they called a normal game last night, with a lot of 5 step drops. Sent TEs out on patterns instead of keeping them in. This wasn’t a copy of the ND game plan, and it hasn’t been for a few weeks now.

GoBucks11

October 15th, 2018 at 1:12 AM ^

They don't run the ball, because they pass so well. And because they no longer have the threat of a running quarterback with Haskins. Defense could stand to not give up explosive plays and show up in the first half of games. But I'm not exactly worried unless we play Alabama.

Hail to the Vi…

October 14th, 2018 at 7:20 PM ^

Hats off to the o line. They really did play a great game. But honestly, Wisconsin is straight up bad up front correct? I mean their advanced stats were on par with Nebraska. They deserve credit for doing what a good unit does to an over matched opponent, but I’m not sure we should be throwing out adjectives like “dominant” to describe this unit yet. More like functional/solid. MSU will be a great measuring stick.

grumbler

October 14th, 2018 at 7:33 PM ^

"I’m not sure we should be throwing out adjectives like “dominant” to describe this unit yet."

Then don't.  I haven't seen anyone but you discussing the adjective "dominant" in relation to the O line.  They are looking good, and may be a strength.  That's far from the description of a "dominant" unit.  You want dominant, look at the D-line.

Timerino

October 14th, 2018 at 9:41 PM ^

Maybe Wisconsin is not bad ... but our team was better. Must of the online comments from Wisconsin is that 'Michigan is not good; Wisconsin lost to a subpar team." Maybe Wisconsin is good, but we are finally better. 

Look how well Wisconsin did in the first quarter to come back from down 7. That possession was very impressive. But, we adjusted and we showed we were better. 

Ty Butterfield

October 14th, 2018 at 7:37 PM ^

Shea will have to play better for Michigan to beat MSU. He is going to have to hit some deep passes for Michigan to win that game. 

Clancy's Hands

October 14th, 2018 at 8:00 PM ^

Yeah, right, Shea didn't play well against Wisconsin. WTF is your problem Ty Butterfield? Just taking a look at a couple of your gems from the day before the Wisconsin game tells me that you are either a troll or a whiny b-tch or both:

"I just don’t see the depleted D-line stopping the Wisconsin rushing attack. I see them grinding out a lot of long drives. Still in wait and see mode as I feel like this team can’t perform in big game situations."

"Hiring Hoke killed Michigan football. The hole is too big for Harbaugh to dig out of"

Up your hole Butterfield.

Goggles Paisano

October 15th, 2018 at 9:33 AM ^

What a shitty thread to read thru.  After such a dominating performance even.  I will pay some of you to just go away and find another team to root for.  You know who you are.  

WestSider

October 15th, 2018 at 1:17 PM ^

I see improvement through the schedule; exactly what a UM fan should expect at this stage. I hate sharty as much as anyone, and I long to see them pasted into oblivion on Saturday. I hope to see the Oline carve up that defense properly. Looking forward to seeing that intensity, discipline and aggression Saturday. Go Blue!