Michigan Football: Winovich Says Offense Just Needs To Be Marginally Better

The multitude of quarterbacks the team was forced to use saw little success — throwing just nine touchdown passes, the offensive line struggled, U-M turned the ball over 21 times and the receivers were young.

All of those factors put even more pressure on the defense, which was one of the best in the country last fall (No. 3 nationally).

Fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich said the defense felt that pressure to always be great, and is anxious to see the improvements on the offensive side of the ball in 2018.

“You’re almost baptized, it’s sad to say, to the idea that it was always Michigan’s defense’s responsibility,” Winovich said. “If you look at my freshman year on offense, I think we had a couple of games with negative yards rushing. It’s not bad mouthing anybody or the offense, but it was always kind of our responsibility as a defense, no matter the turnout. It’s the truth. If they don’t score any points, no matter what happens, we cannot win that game. You learn from it and keep working. At the end of the day you can’t point fingers.”

Michigan’s defense routinely kept the team in games, and often was the main reason U-M brought home a win last year. All you have to do is look at the team’s week one game against Florida, where the defense bailed the offense out of two pick-sixes.

“Having an offense that’s even marginally better than it’s been will have huge dividends, I think, personally,” Winovich said. “One humble man’s opinion.”

He added that he feels this year’s team — and offense — gives Michigan the best chance to win the Big Ten and beat its rivals since he arrived in Ann Arbor.

The transfer of junior quarterback Shea Patterson will go a long way, but so will the addition of new offensive coaches Jim McElwain (wide receivers), Sherrone Moore (tight ends) and Ed Warinner (offensive line).

When asked about the amount of offensive coaching turnover, Winovich stressed that just because there’s change, it doesn’t automatically mean it sets the team back.

“Sometimes transition is good,” Winovich said. “In the case of the offensive line, I think they’ve transitioned from a bunch of people that were kind of unsure, it didn’t seem like — and this is from my perspective as a defensive lineman on the team — it didn’t seem like they had as much confidence in what they were doing and had bought into the protection schemes, whereas this year, it seemed like we had some guys step up and identify themselves, like ‘we are offensive linemen.’”

He noted that there’s plenty to be excited about on offense. He believes both the line and quarterback play will be much improved, which in turn aids the run game — an area of strength for last year’s team.

The offensive line in particular seems to have improved dramatically since U-M’s Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina.

“A big complaint from some of the guys that were playing last year, from what I gather as a defensive lineman, was that sometimes it was over the top or they’d try to implement all this stuff that may have been too advanced, or people weren’t on the same page,” Winovich said. “There was a disconnect that caused some issues. This year, from what I can tell, through spring ball, it seemed like guys were picking it up.”

For Winovich, it’s his last shot at a Big Ten title, beating Ohio State and of course a national championship. He understands that he needs the offense to be running smoothly for any of that to happen, saying the two units have a partnership.

“It’s a team game, you’re invested in the offense doing well,” Winovich said. “It’s tough to win a football game with an offense that isn’t very productive, it’s just the nature of the beast.

“We know that 8-5 or 10-2 is not where we want to be. There’s definitely a lot of motivation from that.”