Jim Harbaugh: Trio Of Michigan Wolverines 'Peaking At The Right Time'
Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh has been hard at work ever since the Maize and Blue beat Northwestern Saturday afternoon, 33-7, preparing for his team's upcoming game at No. 8 Michigan State.
"Been grinding ever since the game — Saturday, Sunday, today," Harbaugh said on the Inside Michigan Football radio show with fellow U-M All-American Jon Jansen. "But I feel really invigorated, and a lot of it is coming from what I’m seeing and what our guys are doing during the games, in practice. It’s a lot of energy — I’m feeding off it; I really am. Been doing a lot."
The head man said the way his team is playing is a big reason why he has so much energy.
"It just gets you out of bed, keeps you awake all day and mostly into the night," Harbaugh explained. What more can we do for these guys to put them in a great position for this week’s game?"
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Harbaugh named three Wolverines in particular that have caught his eye as of late and that he identified as breakout players: Redshirt freshman cornerback DJ Turner, redshirt freshman defensive end Mike Morris and sophomore tight end Erick All.
In his first career start, Turner notched his first-ever tackle for loss and interception, while being targeted in coverage eight times, yielding three receptions for eight yards against Northwestern.
"DJ Turner, that interception he had. But also what maybe gets unnoticed or unsaid is the screen where a couple guys took bad angles to that, but DJ didn’t," Harbaugh said. "He came from the other side of the field and made a really good tackle, and also had a great TFL in the game. His coverage was great."
Morris played 25 snaps and notched one tackle against the Wildcats. After a solid spring ball and fall camp, Morris put himself in position to play a significant amount. He has 10 tackles, including one stop for loss, on the season.
"DJ Turner, Mike Morris, they’re peaking right now, peaking at the right time," Harbaugh said. "That bodes really well for us."
Statistically, All had his best game in a Michigan uniform last Saturday, posting career highs in catches (five), receiving yards (34) and snaps played (49). His 86.4 PFF run-blocking rating led the team and was the only above-average mark by a Wolverine in that category.
All is second on the team with 16 receptions and third with 157 yards receiving for the season, and has been increasingly involved over the last three games, totaling 10 grabs for 88 yards over that stretch.
"A guy like Erick All is peaking," Harbaugh noted. "He had a great game. Some of his blocks were incredible."
And then there are the guys playing at MVP level, Harbaugh said, many of them being the names who have been receiving recognition all season long. Redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins, second-year freshman back Blake Corum and junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson were the names Harbaugh mentioned.
"Both Hassan and Blake are playing at MVP type of levels," Harbaugh said.
Each running back has 10 rushing touchdowns. Corum leads the team with 729 yards on the ground, while Haskins has accumulated 602 of his own.
Harbaugh raved about Haskins' 18-yard run in the second quarter against Northwestern, when the offensive line and even redshirt freshman quarterback Cade McNamara pushed the pile forward.
"I told the guys in the O-line room that they should get a .gif," Harbaugh said. "I think it’s a .gif. I think it’s a graphic image formatting or something like that. I had to look it up. But that got everybody going — got the fans going, got the team going, got the coaches going, everybody. That was amazing. It looked like a scrum.
"I watched it a half a dozen times, just chuckling like the dickens. It was fun to watch. But it was something that really sparked us, and guys are sparking us in a lot of ways."
Hutchinson has been dominant on the other side of the ball, leading the Big Ten with six sacks, including a half-sack last week. Harbaugh said he was also held on multiple occasions, potentially preventing him from racking up even more snaps.
"Aidan Hutchinson, again, had a great game," Harbaugh said. "He’s just so hard to block, and they’ve resorted to holding him a lot. That’s taking place, but he continues to play at such a high level, MVP type of level."
What has Harbaugh so excited is that there are many players who have stepped up and helped put the Wolverines in position to be ranked No. 6 in the country and a contender in the Big Ten East.
"I can think of several other guys that are just really playing well, and they’re preparing well," he said.
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