Can the Michigan offense find its rhythm & unlock potential?
There is no shortage of talent on Michigan football's offensive depth chart.
Sophomore QB J.J. McCarthy is a former five-star recruit surrounded by a Heisman contender in RB Blake Corum, a stout offensive line that's a year removed from a Joe Moore Award, a TE who's coming on strong in Luke Schoonmaker, and an endless supply of wideouts highlighted by senior captain Ronnie Bell.
While Roman Wilson has risen as McCarthy's favorite target, the junior wasn't available against Indiana due to an injury.
Early on, it didn't look like anybody was missing for the offense. It took five plays for Michigan to score a touchdown on the opening offensive drive, which convinced the crowd at Memorial Stadium that it was about to be a long day for an Indiana defense that's proven to be putrid all season.
That apparent assumption wouldn't come to fruition.
Without Wilson, the offense looked lost in the first half, scoring 10 points against the 118th-best pass defense in the country, which allowed 30-plus points in three consecutive games.
U-M couldn't run the ball at will for the first time this season. If you take away Corum's 50-yard run on his first carry, he averaged 3.08 yards per carry, with 74 yards on 24 carries.
Tied at halftime with a team it was favored by 22 points against, Michigan's 10 first-half points were its lowest halftime scoring output of the season against one of the most advantageous mismatches on the schedule for the offense.
"I don't know what the percentage would be. Maybe three-quarters of the time, we were playing Michigan football and solid. Assignment-sound," head coach Jim Harbaugh said after Michigan's 31-10 win over Maryland. "There were other times where we were uncharacteristic with penalties or giving up cheap yardage on defense. The false starts and miscues that we had on offense."
Michigan's run game is as dependable and consistent as any team's in America, but Indiana shelled and sold out on defending it after U-M's first scripted drive.
After Corum ran for 51 yards and a touchdown on his first two carries, his next eight combined for nine yards.
McCarthy started the game perfectly, completing his first eight passes, only to finish the first half 5-for-10 for 51 yards.
Michigan's offense looked like it hit a wall.
"It's just getting into that rhythm and riding that wave. We get so prepared & dialed in on those scripted drives coming out of the half or at the start of the game. It's just keeping in flow in that rhythm, and we just haven't found it yet," McCarthy said. "And that's why I'm saying we haven't even scratched the surface because once we find that rhythm -- there won't be any issues."
The locker room at halftime left no room for excuses or dwelling -- just adjustments.
Opening the second half with their backs to Indiana's end zone, after a punt pinned them at their two-yard line, Michigan's offense came together and embraced what was in front of them, and in a tie game, McCarthy led an 11-play, 98-yard drive when the Wolverines needed it most.
"It was a challenge we got so excited for," McCarthy told the media after the game. "We need to score. We need to get the ball moving. I feel like (that drive) sparked the rhythm in the second half."
Maryland & Iowa each pushed Michigan's offense to play better, but it didn't need to play its best to win.
In Bloomington on Saturday, Harbaugh told the team at halftime to play its best half of the season if it wanted to win the game.
Message received.
Michigan scored 21 unanswered points in the second half, but not without hiccups and a McCarthy interception in the end zone along the way.
Despite the mishaps, there was still encouraging change & adjustments from half to half. Michigan began throwing the ball more, relying on various crossing routes across the middle or underneath, where the Hoosier defense left a lot of space.
While Corum was busy running for his third-straight 100-plus yard game, McCarthy completed 12 of his final 13 throws, including two touchdowns, and suddenly, the U-M offense looked as efficient as ever.
"The biggest thing is consistently moving the rock. Even on the drives that aren't scripted, the biggest thing is consistency. And I think that's what we should -- that's what we will get more towards."
College football is a marvel, and often we see ranked teams on the road opening Pandora's box when things get complicated.
While Michigan's offense understood it needed to make changes during the break, panic was absent in the locker room, and synergy was apparent.
"I don't think there was any deer in the headlights or anything like that. It was really like, 'Yo, this is what they're doing, and this is why it's not working.' The communication at halftime was legit. We brought it all together. We were all seeing the same stuff. As players, we made a lot of adjustments," Ronnie Bell said after the game. "When Coach Moore & Coach Weiss got in (the locker room), they said the same things. It was actually nuts how the communication worked out."
Harbaugh echoed Bell's sentiment.
"Indiana did a good job taking away the run game. Trying to limit it as much as possible," the eighth-year head coach said. "We just had to adjust some of the perimeter plays in the run game, which were especially being taken away. I thought we did a good job of making those adjustments. Other adjustments were to put it in J.J. McCarthy's hands. Make him throw the ball, and the receivers really responded."
McCarthy's 175 yards, two touchdowns, and 83% completion percentage in the second half are encouraging and show what Michigan is capable of when the ball is in his hands.
The Wolverines have a superstar in Corum, but when a team shells its defense and sells out on the rushing attack like Indiana did on Saturday, how will the offense respond?
"I loved the way J.J. responded. He was so cool and calm back there. Got the first down with his legs and was pretty much on the money, 28 of 34, I think, somewhere in that range. That's pretty darn good," Harbaugh said of McCarthy. "300 yards. It's kind of cool. A lot of quarterbacks I've been around. To get that first 300-yard game ... I can do this now. I can really do this. It usually bodes well for college and onward."
If Harbaugh's hunch is correct, then it's perfect timing.
Right now, the Wolverines are still viewed as a run-first offense, and defenses still aren't respecting the upside of McCarthy's arm talent, which isn't surprising given his inability to hit the deep ball consistently through five starts.
But it sounds like Harbaugh knows something we don't, hinting at an inevitable explosion for his sophomore quarterback.
It's one thing to respond against the Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium, but it's another to do it against Penn State or on the road in Columbus.
Forget hypotheticals, though. That's why they play the game. Pretending every team's game plan would be the same against any opponent is a dangerous way to analyze college football.
When U-M lost the everlasting production of its world-class rushing attack, it looked like there was no answer for a minute, like they never prepared for the run game not to work.
As we know now, the staff made adjustments, and in turn, the Wolverines gave us a sneak peek of what a McCarthy-dependent Michigan offense looks like. But that was on Saturday in Bloomington, and as the calendar turns to next week, a far more daunting opponent awaits in the shadows.
Penn State's 11th-best scoring defense comes to Ann Arbor next week off of a bye to give Harbaugh's Wolverines unequivocally their most formidable challenge yet.
Can the offense do more than scrape its ceiling and find a sustainable rhythm? Or will they leave something to be desired again next week?
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