Nico Collins (image via Detroit Free Press)
I was otherwise engaged all day Saturday, so I didn’t finish watching the DVRed Michigan game until 12:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. Here are just a few takeaways from the game.
RUSHING OFFENSE vs. WMU RUSHING DEFENSE
Senior running back Karan Higdon (21 carries, 72 yards, 1 TD) dominated the carry count last week against Notre Dame; the only other running back to carry the ball was Chris Evans (2 carries, 1 yard). The offensive line’s blocking was okay against a solid Notre Dame front, but they weren’t getting to their second-level blocks and Higdon didn’t do the team many favors by missing a gaping hole and failing to break tackles. His longest carry went for 9 yards. Michigan’s line will likely remain the same as last week, meaning left tackle Jon Runyan, Jr. and right tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty will still have something to prove. Western Michigan’s defensive line consists of light defensive ends (240 and 235 lbs.), a decent sized nose tackle (converted offensive lineman Wesley French, who’s 6’5″, 295), and a light 3-tech (Ralph Holley, who’s 6’2″, 270). Free safety A.J. Thomas led the team in tackles last week against spread-happy Syracuse, but junior linebacker Alex Grace (6’1″, 220) is the front seven’s most effective tackler. Syracuse allowed 334 rushing yards to the Orange last week.
Advantage: Michigan
Hit the jump for the rest of the preview.
As WMU quarterback Alex Carder hits the first step of a three-step drop, he sees that Michigan is running the exact same coverage that he probably saw in his pre-snap read – Man Free. Each of the cornerbacks is locked up on a wideout, strong safety Jordan Kovacs and nickel corner Thomas Gordon each have a tight end, and free safety Carvin Johnson patrols the middle of the field; Herron is tasked with picking up the running back out of the backfield, and middle linebacker Kenny Demens is coming up to blitz. With the left tight end releasing and the right tight end staying in to block, WMU’s offensive line correctly slides its protection to the left; therefore, each offensive lineman is responsible for the gap immediately to his left. In theory this should work, unless the defense sends multiple defenders to one gap. They don’t.
As Carder hits his third step, his options are limited. Cornerback Courtney Avery has blanketed the receiver to the bottom of the screen while the releasing tight end is running straight into the juggernaut known as Jordan Kovacs. At the top of the screen, cornerback J.T. Floyd awaits the backside receiver. Nickel corner Thomas Gordon waits at the line of scrimmage for the running back to release, which the RB never does; instead he steps up to block the 250 lb. Demens. The LT successfully single blocks DE Ryan Van Bergen, the LG and C struggle to hold off NT Mike Martin, and the remaining TE single blocks DE Craig Roh.
The problem is that everybody forgot about Jake Ryan, who rushed at the snap. The RG blocked him initially, but when Ryan stepped back to the RG’s other side, the RG correctly left him to RT Dann O’Neill. O’Neill has nobody else to block and stands still so everyone can admire his long blonde hair. Carder just hit his back foot and might want to release the ball soon, since a 230 lb. man is two yards away and approaching fast.
As Carder releases the ball, Ryan does his best impression of Dikembe Mutombo and swats the pass, which looks to be intended as a back shoulder throw to CB Avery’s wideout. The pass is probably a bad idea no matter what, since nobody’s open except FS Johnson and LB Herron. In retrospect, Carder’s thinking he should have eaten it and taken the sack. At the time, Carder was probably thinking, “Maybe if I throw it, the bad man won’t hit me anymore.” He was wrong.
Herron intercepts the deflected ball at the 5-yard line while Carder lies on his back.
Herron, who was planning to step out of bounds and enjoy raucous cheers and pats on the butt from the cheerleaders, hears a screeching voice coming from the vicinity of my couch yelling “Stay inbounds!” Spurred on by the urgency of my screams, he eludes the WMU left tackle and runs as fast as he can.
O’Neill, who at this point feels monumentally guilty for leaving Michigan and for growing hair like Kyle Turley’s, pretends to trip over Kenny Demens’ foot so he won’t have to run anymore. Meanwhile, Herron’s convoy includes the 300 lb. Mike Martin and the 290 lb. Ryan Van Bergen, neither of whom are needed but both of whom make the effort anyway; the 230 lb. Ryan, who batted the pass to Herron and the quarterback to the ground, also runs interference downfield. (Watch this full speed and take a gander at Van Bergen, who puts his head down and sprints his ass off despite knowing that he’s a brontosaurus chasing . . . some other type of faster -saurus.)
Herron, a 221 lb. linebacker, crosses the goal line five yards ahead of 195 lb. free safety Carvin Johnson. Momentum has shifted. The band plays a song. The people rejoice. Somewhere, a child is born. Probably.
Herron caught the ball at 7:09 and crossed the goal line at 6:58, meaning he took roughly 11 seconds to travel 95 yards wearing football pads and dodging offensive linemen. Remember all those practice reports saying that Herron was a physical freak but lacking in football instincts? This confirms the former, but the latter might be in question now. Combine this play with his 29-yard fumble return for a touchdown later in the game, and Herron had 8 tackles, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, 123 yards of returns, and 2 touchdowns. Not bad for a guy who was a late addition to the starting lineup after beginning the week as the #2 weakside linebacker. I wonder if Herron will start next week . . .
Go Blue!
(The above play begins at 1:53 of the video below.)
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| Linebacker Brandon Herron picks up a fumble and returns it 29 yards for a touchdown as former Wolverine Dann O’Neill (#68) chases from behind |
Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Michael Shaw. Fitzgerald Toussaint looked pretty solid as the starting running back (11 carries, 80 yards, 2 touchdowns), but Shaw (4 carries, 54 yards, 1 touchdown) has the speed to be a gamebreaker. He also has a little bit of shake to him and can run through a tackle once in awhile. The knock on Toussaint has been his vision, and his 43-yard run could have been longer if he had made a cutback. Both performed well and should continue to see time, but hopefully Shaw gets more than 4 carries next week.
Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Michael Schofield. Schofield got the start at left guard because of an injury to Ricky Barnum. While Schofield didn’t play horribly, he’s too tall at 6’7″ to be a guard and doesn’t have the agility that Barnum does. Big #75 is a capable backup, but hopefully he can get back to being a second string tackle soon.
Let’s see more of this guy on defense . . . Brandon Herron. The fifth year senior linebacker got the start at WILL despite being listed second on the depth chart behind Mike Jones. Neither player has lit the world on fire – until Herron’s performance on Saturday – but #58’s outstanding game should warrant another start next week. He tallied a career high 8 tackles to go along with his 94-yard interception return for a touchdown and a 29-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
Let’s see less of this guy on defense . . . J.T. Floyd. I’ve never been a big fan of Floyd’s abilities, and he again showed a lack of change-of-direction skills on Saturday. In a perfect world, Floyd would be playing safety. It’s not a perfect world, obviously, because Boubacar Cissoko (who should be a senior) is in jail, Cullen Christian (who should be a sophomore) is at Pitt, and Justin Turner (who should be a redshirt sophomore) is out of football right now. It’s not Floyd’s fault that he isn’t very good at football, but I sure would like to see Troy Woolfolk on the field instead. Floyd’s ceiling is very low.
MVP of the Western Michigan game is . . . Brandon Herron. He accounted for 12 of Michigan’s 34 points and put the Wolverines up for good when he returned an interception 94 yards for a touchdown in the middle of the second quarter. It took the breath out of Herron, but it sucked the life out of the Broncos. The fumble return for a TD was the icing on the cake, and the combination of those two plays earned him the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week award.
Play of the game . . . Herron’s 94-yard interception return for a touchdown. Not only did linebacker Jake Ryan bust through the line to bat the ball, but Herron stayed inbounds after catching it, and then raced down the sideline with a convoy of blockers that included 290 lb. defensive tackle Ryan Van Bergen and 300 lb. defensive tackle Mike Martin. It was a total team effort and one of the most exciting plays I’ve experienced as a Michigan fan.