Tag: game preview

Preview: Michigan vs. Northern Illinois

RUSH OFFENSE vs. NIU RUSH DEFENSE
After last week’s outstanding performance on the ground, Michigan is #4 nationally in rushing with 339 yards per game, as well as #5 in yards per carry (6.85). The Wolverines have a home run hitter in sophomore Blake Corum (35 carries, 282 yards, 4 TD), who has a 67-yard run and a 79-yard kickoff return on his resume so far this year. They also have a steady pounder in Hassan Haskins (40 carries, 225 yards, 2 TD), who breaks tackles with regularity. Michigan’s offensive line is huge and mauled Washington last week. The only real question seems to be whether fifth year senior Chuck Filiaga or sophomore Zak Zinter starts at right guard, since the latter has been dealing with a cast on his hand. Northern Illinois is #121 (232 rushing yards allowed per game) and #101 (4.78 yards allowed per carry) in run defense. They are extremely young on defense, with nine starters in either their first or second year. Unsurprisingly, the leading tackler is fifth year senior middle linebacker Lance Deveaux, Jr. (5’11”, 218), followed by sophomore linebacker Nick Rattin (6’2″, 223) and freshman corner Eric Rogers (6’2″, 180). The Huskies run, in effect, a 4-2-5 defense and their biggest starting defensive lineman is nose tackle James Ester, a redshirt freshman who checks in at 286 lbs., though a couple rotational backups are over 290. After what Michigan did to Washington, it would be crazy to expect this to be anything less than a large mismatch.
Advantage: Michigan

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Preview: Michigan vs. Western Michigan

We don’t have much to go on based on national stats from 2020, because they’re all skewed. For the most part, teams played only within their conference. So Michigan doesn’t have lollipop games against MAC teams, and MAC teams don’t have tough games included vs. Power Five teams. That does leave an apples-to-apples comparison, but it doesn’t give us what we’re used to from every other year in regard to overall performance. So this preview will stick to raw stats.

RUSH OFFENSE vs. WMU RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan has a returning starter at running back in Hassan Haskins who averaged 6.1 yards per carry last season; Haskins also doubles as a Wildcat quarterback. His backup is ballyhooed sophomore Blake Corum, who averaged just 3.0 yards a carry but has a some quickness and burst. The Wolverines return four out of five starters up front, though there has been some reshuffling. Left tackle Ryan Hayes and center Andrew Vastardis return in the same spots, but it sounds like last year’s left guard, Chuck Filiaga, will be playing right guard in the opener due to an injury to Zak Zinter. Meanwhile, Trevor Keegan should start at left guard with fifth year senior Andrew Stueber bumping out from right guard to right tackle. Fifth year senior defensive tackle Ralph Holley (6’1″, 285) is the plug in the middle of the line, but the linebackers are nothing special. Corvin Moment (6’0″, 250) is the most experienced guy but does not move well, and fifth year senior A.J. Thomas (6’0″, 215) moved to linebacker this year after starting at free safety and cornerback in 2020. Even without Zinter on the line, Michigan should be able to move the ball against an outsized defensive line.
Advantage: Michigan

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Preview: Michigan vs. Penn State

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RUSH OFFENSE vs. PENN STATE RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan trimmed its running back rotation a little last week, finding its most efficient running back: Hassan Haskins. Haskins notched 25 carries for 109 yards (in three overtimes), the most carries for any single back since Zach Charbonnet’s 33 attempts against Army in 2019. Even so, Michigan is #102 in rushing (122.8 yards/game) and #69 in yards per attempt (4.21). Rumor has it that Michigan’s starting offensive tackles may return from injury this week, which might fortify a running game that was supposed to be solid, though maybe not great. Blake Corum has the second most carries despite averaging 3.0, -1.5, 0.7, and 2.3 yards per carry over the past four weeks. Penn State is #39 in rush defense (138.6 yards allowed/game) and #34 in yards per carry allowed (3.63). Last week Iowa ran for 4 touchdowns, but at just 3.8 yards per rush. Sophomore defensive end Jayson Oweh (6’5″, 252) leads the team with 33 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss, matched in tackles by junior linebacker Ellis Brooks (6’1″, 233) and in tackles for loss by senior defensive end Shaka Toney (6’3″, 252). The Nittany Lions are down star linebacker Micah Parsons, but they still have a fair amount of talent in the front seven. Also, keep an eye on #97 P.J. Mustipher, a 6’4″, 300 lb. defensive tackle who doesn’t rack up a lot of stats, but messes things up in the middle. Especially if it’s the revamped Michigan line and not the group that began the year, he could cause some real problems up front.
Advantage: Penn State

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Preview: Michigan at Rutgers

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RUSH OFFENSE vs. RUTGERS RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan is now #106 in rush offense (117 yards/game) and #55 in yards per carry (4.59). As bad/mediocre as that sounds, it’s worse than that, because Michigan ran all over Minnesota in the opener and has done nothing since. No word has trickled out about whether Michigan’s starting offensive tackles will return this weekend from injury, but I expect very little unless at least right tackle Jalen Mayfield returns. Last week Michigan gave leading rusher Hassan Haskins (7.8 yards/carry) just one touch, so I have no idea what’s going on with the running back rotation. Rutgers is #70 in rushing defense (175 yards allowed/game) but #46 in yards allowed per carry (4.0). They’re led in tackles by senior linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi (6’1″, 234 lbs.) with 50, while senior Tyshon Fogg (6’1″, 232) is second with 39. Fatukasi (6.5) and defensive tackle Julius Turner (6’0″, 265) lead the team with 6.5 and 4.5 tackles for loss, respectively. Turner is undersized, but I like his quickness. Former Michigan defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour (6’1″, 296) has notched 14 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss so far this year.
Advantage: Rutgers

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Preview: Michigan at Wisconsin

As I write this on Wednesday/Thursday, there’s not much known about which Wisconsin players will be available to play on Saturday, including starting QB Graham Mertz, which is kind of a big deal. This preview assumes they’re at full strength.

RUSH OFFENSE vs. WISCONSIN RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan is #84 in rush offense (140.3 yards/game) and #31 in rushing average (5.1 yards/carry). That second number is a bit of a lie, because the Wolverines ran all over Minnesota in week one and have struggled mightily in the past two games. The “bell cow” so far this season is Hassan Haskins, who is averaging a whopping 6.67 carries per game. I have confidence that the offensive line will improve as the season goes along, because offensive line coach Ed Warinner has pulled off that feat before. But Michigan was missing its starting offensive tackles last week, and it’s unclear whether they’ll be back for Wisconsin or not. Meanwhile, Wisconsin allowed 131 yards in its lone game against Illinois this season on 5.24 yards/attempt. Those numbers aren’t good for the Badgers, but they were hurt by a couple quarterback keepers (by former Wolverine Brandon Peters) that Michigan has seemingly been unwilling to run. Wisconsin runs a 3-4 look that generally does a good job of swarming to the football. Junior linebacker Jack Sanborn (6’2″, 232 lbs.) is probably the biggest name on defense, and he made 3 tackles and 2 quarterback hurries in the opener. I was also impressed by senior defensive end Isaiahh Loudermilk (6’7″, 293) in that game against the Illini.
Advantage: Wisconsin

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