Jim Harbaugh On Michigan Offense's Rough Patch: 'It Wasn't A Cade Thing'
Michigan Wolverines football was rolling Rutgers at halftime last week, leading 20-3 at the break, thanks in large part to the efficiency of the offense. The Wolverines had gained 233 yards in the first half, and redshirt freshman quarterback Cade McNamara was clicking, going 8 for 11 for 156 yards in the first half.
Then came the second half, when the Maize and Blue went three-and-out on their first four drives, were held scoreless and mustered up just 42 yards.
"We couldn’t get any points, we couldn’t get any first downs there for the first four drives, which stacked things against our defense," Harbaugh said on the Inside Michigan Football radio show Monday night.
"A lot of really good things, a lot of things that you step away from and say this could be improved. It’s an optimistic way of looking at it, that these are things we can get better at and still improve all the while."
The Wolverines won in spite of their offense in the second half, with the defense coming up with opportunistic stops.
RELATED: Michigan Offensive Line Has Sour Taste In Its Mouth Heading Into Wisconsin
While McNamara went 1 for 5 for seven yards in the second half, the lack of rhythm offensively wasn't solely on him, Harbaugh noted.
"I’d say it was the offense," Harbaugh said when asked if McNamara was any different after halftime. "It was different — it was a tale of the two halves. You had the first half — four out of five drives, or four scoring drives. Then the second half starts, we have four that were three-and-outs. So the rhythm of the offense was not there in that half. And we had good field position, and we just … false start penalty, didn’t pick up the first down and, therefore, you’re not running very many plays or getting into your offense.
"I don’t think it was a Cade thing; I think it was an offense thing."
For the most part, Michigan's offense has been stellar through four games, with the one half being the rarity. The Wolverines have racked up 454.8 yards per game, good enough for 33rd nationally, while scoring 40.3 points per outing, the 16th-best mark in the country.
The Maize and Blue have been particularly good at starting fast offensively, and have scored touchdowns on their first drive of the game three out of four contests. There are certainly positives that can be built on.
"We’re starting fast — really like the way our team is doing that. There’s been a high emphasis on that," Harbaugh said.
"I think that’s really important, and something we’re good at. You’ve got to protect that identity, too, by throwing and catching, protecting, continuing with all the things that are in the playbook. We’ve got a lot of good stuff — a lot of reverses, fly sweeps, counters, trap game, zones, zone read. All those things, we’ve got to continue to do and do well and keep improving in all areas.
"The run game has been good to us. [Second-year freshman running back] Blake [Corum] and [redshirt sophomore running back Hassan [Haskins] — they’re really good backs. They’re really, really good — there’s no secret there. The team takes a lot of pride in blocking for them and giving them some room to run."
The team will have to do an outstanding job blocking this week, when it goes up against a Badger defensive front that leads the nation in rushing yards allowed per game (23.0). Harbaugh is 2-3 against Wisconsin, including decisive losses in the last two games, and knows that facing the Badgers will be a huge challenge this time around.
The run game has been good to us. Blake and Hassan — they’re really good backs. They’re really, really good — there’s no secret there. The team takes a lot of pride in blocking for them and giving them some room to run.
"I expect them to do the things that they do — they do it very effectively," Harbaugh said of Wisconsin. "They’ve got a lot of fifth- and sixth-year players in the secondary — two are fifth-year players and two are sixth-year players. Their linebackers have played a lot of football, and same with their front. And they play hard, they play fast, they play confident, very physical. And it’ll be a big task for us."
That task includes facing the elements that go along with playing at Camp Randall, one of the most raucous environments in the Big Ten.
"It’s gonna be some newness for them. It affects the offense greatly," Harbaugh said of the crowd noise. "I want to say maybe there are four or five guys that start and play that have even played in front of an opponent’s crowds.
"When it comes down to it, there’s just the players and officials on the field — that’s the way it is for a home game or an away game. You just don’t want to flinch. Don’t flinch. Everything’s set up to make you flinch. It’s like somebody comes up to you and goes, ‘Boo!’ or tries to throw a fake punch at you, doing things to make you flinch.
"You’ve got to be prepared for it and on your toes and very focused on what you’re doing and getting your job done. I’m pretty darn sure they’re not going to flinch. They’re going to be very focused and preparing themselves all week."
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW,
@JB_ Wolverine, @Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook