Michigan is 1-0 heading into Saturday’s game with Army after a sloppy but convincing win over Middle Tennessee State. The Black Knights are coming off a tougher-than-expected 14-7 win over Rice and will need to run the ball better than they did in the opener to have a chance. At the same time, there’s plenty of room for improvement on the U-M side, as well.
This is a tricky game, and head coach Jim Harbaugh knows it. He told 97.1 The Ticket Wednesday he was especially impressed with quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr.
“The quarterback is a really shifty type of guy,” Harbaugh said. "I wouldn’t really call it straight-up burner speed, but he can make people miss and really executes the offense extremely well. This is one of those offenses that’s so good that even when you know what they’re going to do, they’re really hard to stop.”
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He pointed to the Oklahoma-Army game last year, a 28-21 Sooners escape in overtime, as evidence of how tough the challenge really is. The Oklahoma defense was usually in good position, he noted, but still couldn’t get off the field against the Black Knights.
“They’re so good, such an effective way to play offensive football,” Harbaugh said of Army. “They don’t turn the ball over; and they don’t beat themselves. Sometimes they can chew up 42 minutes on the clock.”
That was the case last year, anyway. Army wasn’t the juggernaut many expected against Rice, managing 231 rushing yards on 56 carries (4.1-yard average), but it was the opener. The Black Knights needed a late fourth-quarter touchdown pass to finally pull out a victory against the Owls and survived Rice’s late fourth-and-one deep in their territory to pull out the victory.
It was a season opener, though, and as the cliché goes, teams see the most improvement between the first and second games. U-M is a bit banged up on the defensive line and will have some inexperienced players in the front seven, making the task that much tougher.
Here’s what the Wolverines need to do to snag a victory over Army Saturday in Ann Arbor:
Play solid assignment defense and win the early downs against Army’s offense: Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown started preparing for the Black Knights’ triple-option attack in January, admitting games like these always get his attention. The key (in addition to defenders keeping their feet against cut blocks) is to make sure all 11 guys are on the same page, filling the right lanes and getting to the ball. That’s helped by owning the line of scrimmage, which is tougher to do against a line dedicated to cutting defenders up front.
Defensive line coach Shaun Nua broke it down in its simplest terms Wednesday.
“Don’t let them run the ball,” Nua said. “This offense, they want three yards. Three yards is a win for them. First down is a huge win to them. It’s no secret. They know it; and we know it. We’ve just got to get them off the field as fast as we can and get the ball back to our offense.”
Easier said than done. This is what Army does and has done for years, working to perfect it every day in practice. And then, just when defenses fall into the routine and get a bit comfortable, the quarterback will pull up and try to go over the top of the defense they’ve lulled to sleep.
U-M has some young corners playing for the first time, and the safeties were hesitant at times in the opener with Middle Tennessee State. They need to be on their toes every play on Saturday and force Army into uncomfortable situations by putting them in second- and third-and-longs and getting them off the field.
Play mistake-free football on offense and avoid empty possessions: This game is going to move pretty quickly given how much Army likes to run the ball. There won’t be many clock stoppages when they’re on offense, and if they pick up a first down or two on a drive, half a quarter can disappear before you know it.
The Black Knights, in fact, only threw eight times for 53 yards in the win over Rice.
Turnovers, then — like Saturday’s against Middle Tennessee State — would be a recipe for a tighter-than-expected game.
“A mistake by your offense affects the game, whether it’s a turnover or you don’t convert on a series or you give them good field position,” Harbaugh said. “Even if you back them up, they still have the ability now to make it a long drive because they’re so tough to get off the field. There’s a reason they went to overtime last year with Oklahoma and they won 11 games and won their bowl game.”
That means no dropped passes (there were at least five against the Blue Raiders), converting on third down and hitting some big plays.
Hit quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr. early and often: Hopkins ran and passed for over 1,000 yards last season, and he's Army's catalyst on offense. He's also a winner, having led the Black Knights to 10 straight wins (second nationally only to Clemson).
The key in games like this is to hit the quarterback and hit him some more to get him out of his comfort zone, perhaps force him into a bad pitch or two. Hit him hard when he keeps it; hit him hard when he releases at the last moment.
If Hopkins gets comfortable, this could be an uncomfortable game for the Wolverines.
The Breakdown: There’s a reason many teams are hesitant to schedule games against the service academies, and it starts with the offenses many employ. Two years ago it was Air Force that Brown started preparing for in the winter, and he and his group did a great job, limiting the Falcons to 168 yards rushing on 49 carries (3.4-yard average).
Brown has seen this offense more than his share of times in his long career, and he should have his team prepared.
Army’s defense, meanwhile, lost a handful of starters from last year’s squad that allowed only 106.5 yards rushing per game (but 295.3 per the air). But even last year’s team gave up big yardage to the better teams on the schedule, including 28 points to Oklahoma and 34 to Duke (keep in mind, those totals came in games shortened by Army’s ground game).
There should be big plays for the taking, and the Wolverines' offensive line should have a distinct advantage up front. U-M should put points on the board. How many depends on how many possessions the Michigan defense allows them by getting Army’s offense off the field.
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