Defense? Check. Special teams? Check. Offense? Check for oil. It’s still leaking.
Now, Jim Harbaugh took his strongest, most defiant, “What, me worry?” stance before the media in the wake of Michigan’s 29-13 turbulent tangle with Air Force. He wasn’t about to wring his hands and air his concerns publicly, even though the Wolverines’ offense didn’t dent the end zone until nearly the final minute.
Nor should he. Harbaugh knows he’s got an extremely young, still-developing team on his hands. It’s staring dead ahead at the Big Ten Conference schedule — ready or not.
So the head coach stressed Michigan’s 3-0 record, its standing in the history of college football and even its national ranking, a mention anathema to most head coaches.
He did concede that sure, the Wolverines would like to score more touchdowns. Even then, he shoved in his chips on future paydirt.
“Definitely, we’d like to score more touchdowns in the red zone,” Harbaugh said. “I think that will come. Our team is moving the ball … that’s a fact. I think the red-zone touchdowns will come.”
They haven’t so far. The Wolverines reached the red zone 10 times in three games. They boast a single touchdown to show for it.
Michigan wore redshirt freshman kicker Quinn Nordin’s right leg down to a bloody stump versus Air Force. On the one hand, a program-record five field goals is something, especially for a rookie in his third collegiate effort.
On the other, more extra points would set everyone at ease. The Wolverines found themselves stymied multiple times by the Falcons’ aggressive attack and some good guesses.
Redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight revealed some of the frustration the 111,387 offensive coordinators in The Big House might have been feeling. On one red-zone opportunity, fifth-year senior tailback Ty Isaac found himself wearing three or four Falcons a millisecond after he touched a third-down handoff.
Speight threw his hands in the air, a rare act of on-field exasperation for the usually steady-as-she-goes signal caller.
“I probably should keep that in check,” Speight acknowledged. “Obviously, the frustration built up a little bit. They fooled us. We thought we had the look we wanted. The outside linebackers had depth, it was a two-high-safety look.
"As soon as I went down to focus in on the snap, they brought the house. I went to the sideline and Coach Harbaugh was like, ‘I didn’t even see that coming. That was really well disguised.’ That’s just one of those things where they got us, and you move on.
“It’s another win, and the Wolverines are 3-0.”
Obviously, Speight is taking his big-picture cues from the boss. Appreciate the survival and work with the assiduousness of a pyramid builder to get better. It’s not coming easy.
At the same time, the Wolverines aren’t the length of the Nile away from putting more points on the board. Isaac appeared to bolt for a 62-yard touchdown run early on. Turns out, he garnered roughly half that, barely clipping the eastern sideline with his left foot.
Later he looked to break another long touchdown run, only to see sophomore wideout Kekoa Crawford flagged for holding. Those two plays alone kept Isaac under 100 yards for the first time this year and took 14 points off the board.
That’s not to say Michigan doesn’t have issues on offense. Its receivers are still learning to get separation on pass patterns, leaving Speight with nowhere to go at times. He’s missed throws himself, and while the run game busts big plays, it hasn’t developed consistency.
Then there’s the red zone, which is starting to resemble the Red Sea after Moses passed through.
Michigan’s defense will keep it in every game this season. The Wolverines’ special teams were spectacular in this one, highlighted by freshman receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones’ 79-yard punt-return TD to go along with Nordin’s cascade of kicks.
Harbaugh insisted U-M won all three phases of the game against Air Force. He’s seen enough football games to know one phase still needs to flourish.
His quarterback knows it as well.
“Obviously, it’s big time that the defense has been scoring,” Speight said. “Peoples-Jones took one to the house today, which is a huge, huge play in the game. The offense knows we’ve got to do what they’re doing, and once we do that, it will be a really scary, complete team.”
Purdue, and the Big Ten season, awaits. U-M’s scoring crew is looking for the good kind of scary, and soon.
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