Michigan sophomore running back Chris Evans noted the intensity was taken up a notch by everyone in practice this week, and sophomore left guard Ben Bredeson echoed that sentiment.
“Absolutely,” he said. “We just got back to the basics and focused on what got us to this point. We had both fundamental and mental errors during the game [against MSU on Saturday], so we’ve been focusing on cleaning that up. Everyone has issues they need to correct both individually and collectively as an offensive unit.
“Sometimes it’s just not your night. Mistakes happen during games, but we need to limit them as much as we can and stop committing them. It happens when you get the added pressure of the lights and the crowd, but we try to take as many reps during practice as possible so it’s not an issue.”
Right tackle play was especially poor on Saturday — redshirt sophomore Nolan Ulizio started the game, but gave way to redshirt junior Juwann Bushell-Beatty after struggling mightily; however, Bushell-Beatty also labored.
“We keep everybody’s spirits high,” Bredeson said of the two linemen. “Those two have been battling it out since camp, so it was nothing new [to see changes].
“People are always making pushes, so it’s not uncommon to see someone new come in. We’ve had [freshman] Cesar [Ruiz] and Juwann come in as our extra linemen, so there are always guys who are ready to play.”
Bredeson had a specific word he used when describing what it was like watching film of the MSU loss.
“It was very corrective,” he said. “MSU has a great defensive unit, but we shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times too. We’re now focusing on what Indiana does and how we can exploit that.”
Fortunately for the Wolverines, they have a bit of an advantage in their offensive room when it comes to scouting the Hoosiers.
“Coach [Greg] Frey had been at Indiana and was in their system, so he knows what they’re all about,” Bredeson explained. “He was there for a few years [2011-2016], so he knows some of their guys personally. It’s definitely nice to have him in the room.”
The next question becomes whether or not his in-depth knowledge of the Hoosiers’ defense will help give Michigan a much-needed edge in the rushing department.
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