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Michigan Football: Three Keys To Beating Rutgers On Saturday
Oct 1, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines players celebrate after the game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
It’ll be far from Michigan football’s toughest test this season, but the Wolverines still have to be worried about staying perfect. Here’s how they can beat Rutgers.
As tempted as I am to just write that Michigan football doesn’t have to do anything more than show up at Rutgers on Saturday to win its sixth game of the season, I’ll actually give real answers here.
Two of the most historic programs in college football have surprisingly only met twice. Perhaps even more surprising is that the series is tied at one win a piece, with the Scarlet Knights winning the inaugural match-up in 2015 against Brady Hoke’s team.
Last season’s result was much closer to expectations—Michigan won 49-16—and that’s probably not a bad place to pick up for this season.
To be fair to Rutgers, at one point this season it was a 2-1 team. Those wins were against Howard and New Mexico, but still. Even that was followed by a respectable 14-7 loss to Iowa in a game that would have bored to death even the most avid college football fans. Ohio State came within inches of erasing any evidence that Rutgers ever existed on Saturday, but that was largely expected.
(By the way: Really, Big Ten? You’re making Rutgers play Ohio State and Michigan in back-to-back weeks?)
As Ryan Dunleavy points out on NJ.com, this will be the Scarlet Knights’ third game against a team that’s currently ranked in the top five. This became true when Washington was launched to No. 5 in the AP Poll this week; the Huskies were No. 14 when they played Rutgers.
Then again, another good observation is made by On The Banks (the Rutgers SB Nation site): “The biggest fear this week from my perspective is the Harbaugh factor. Understand that he not only wants to win this week, but he will take every opportunity to embarrass Rutgers on national television and in front of the home crowd.”
Oct 1, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Wilton Speight (3) drops back to pass in the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium. Michigan won 14-7. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Bring the house
Rutgers ranks near the bottom of the Big Ten and FBS in sacks allowed (11), and unfortunately for the Scarlet Knights, that’s one of the many areas in which Michigan’s defense excels. In turn, the Wolverines have sacked opposing quarterbacks 20 times (No. 1 in the Big Ten and No. 4 in FBS).
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What’s more, Michigan does it well from a multitude of positions. Seven players have at least two sacks this season, with defensive end Chris Wormley leading the way at four.
One good pass blocker isn’t taking away a handful of above-average pass rushers. That’s where teams stumble against Michigan’s defensive front, and Rutgers probably won’t be any different.
Rutgers might be a little better off than Michigan’s average opponent on the offensive line. The Scarlet Knights return four starters from last season’s unit that faired pretty well for the most part. It’s a veteran group that can probably do enough to not get embarrassed on Saturday night.
Still, there isn’t an offensive line yet that’s even come close to stopping the Wolverines’ aggressive rush, and it goes back to the fact that Michigan has more than a couple players to worry about.
Another part of the early success has been defensive coordinator Don Brown’s relentless style of play-calling, which is something he probably does comfortably knowing that the Wolverines’ secondary is going to hold up.
Every team Michigan’s played so far has had one main goal: Make it third-and-as-short-as-possible. If it’s third-and-more-than-5, your drive is pretty much done.
Oct 1, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Shane Morris (7) rushes in the third quarter against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium. Michigan won 14-7. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Protect the football
Michigan ranks No. 6 in the country with only three turnovers lost this season, but this stat doesn’t lose significance when you’re not playing a top-5 team like last week. One of the best ways to make sure an inferior team sticks around is by coughing up the ball and giving them extra possessions.
Jim Harbaugh has mentioned how much he likes that Wilton Speight doesn’t take too many dumb risks with the football, and the running backs haven’t lost a fumble yet this season. (All three turnovers have come from Speight: two interceptions and a fumble.)
There isn’t much reason to be concerned with Rutgers’ defense taking the ball away this Saturday; this Scarlet Knights have only done it five times, good for No. 89 in FBS. Of note, though, is that four of Rutgers’ five takeaways have been interceptions.
It’s very likely that Michigan will be able to go conservative for most of the second half, so we’re really looking at a 30-minute window where ball security is absolutely vital. If the Wolverines turn it over a couple times in the first half and Rutgers is able to capitalize, perhaps it’s a one-possession game going into halftime. That would certainly change things.
Sep 24, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Trace McSorley (9) avoids a tackle by Michigan Wolverines defensive end Chris Wormley (43) in the second half at Michigan Stadium. Michigan 49-10. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Stuff the run early
Rutgers’ best attribute on offense is probably its ability to run the football. I already mentioned that the Scarlet Knights have a legitimate offensive line, and it helps get things going on the ground.
Junior running back Robert Martin does most of the work in the backfield for Rutgers, gaining 398 yards this season on 71 attempts. Last season, while getting just a few more carries than fellow back Josh Hicks, Martin gained 763 yards on the ground, averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
New offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer is a student of Tom Herman, who turned Ohio State’s offense into something dangerous and is doing the same thing now at Houston as the head coach. As you can probably guess, Mehringer wants to run a similar style of offense, one that utilizes power-spread looks and wants to go vertical on passing downs.
In his first season, the ground game is better equipped to do its job than the passing game is, so that’s where Rutgers is going after success. It’s been hit and miss so far.
The Scarlet Knights had good success on the ground against New Mexico and Iowa, but the Buckeyes held them to 74 yards last week. Michigan’s run defense could at least match that.
Michigan’s job is to stuff the run early and put Rutgers in a situation where it has to put the ball in the air more than it wants to. It’s game over at that point.
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