Michigan O-Line 'Taking It Extra Personal' To Get Run Game Back On Track

Michigan Wolverines football has lost its last two games, and the offensive line has struggled in both tilts.

In fairness to the Maize and Blue, the group up front had to replace four starters from a year ago and the fifth, redshirt sophomore right tackle Jalen Mayfield, is out with an ankle injury. Redshirt sophomore starting left tackle Ryan Hayes also missed the Indiana game with a foot injury, thrusting redshirt freshman Karsen Barnhart into his position, while true freshman Zak Zinter played right guard, which moved redshirt junior Andrew Stueber out to right tackle. Redshirt junior left guard Chuck Filiaga and fifth-year senior center Andrew Vastardis rounded out the starting five.

Despite all the moving pieces in the trenches, Stueber is confident that the group will get up to speed, in time.

"That’s probably one of the biggest parts of the offensive line, is obviously getting the chemistry going," Stueber said. "The calls, the communication with the guy next to you is a big thing, and obviously this year there’s been a lot of moving parts on the offensive line, including four new people stepping in.

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"We’ve had some injuries along with way, but we’ve been practicing for so long now, especially with this preseason, that I think a lot of guys have tried out a lot of different positions. We’ve all played alongside a lot of different people, so I think that we’re pretty used to playing aside people — getting the reps in practice with the combination blocks and knowing the calls that they make. I think that’s not really a problem. I think that’s part of it — you know, the offensive line is all plug and play positions, so I’m confident in a lot of the people that we have. We’re all pretty confident in playing aside each other."

Kicking back out to right tackle last week actually meant that Stueber was back in a familiar and comfortable spot, with it being the position he played and started two games at during the 2018 season. Stueber posted a PFF grade of 67.6 against Indiana, which was the third-best grade on the offense and ended up being higher than his grade the week prior against the Spartans (when he was at right guard).

"I learned about it on Monday after the Michigan State game," Stueber explained. "[Offensive line] Coach [Ed] Warinner called me and said, ‘We’ve had some injuries so we’re going to put you back at right tackle. We think it’s the best move.’ So I just kinda worked the whole week on getting the sets again, getting back in the rhythm of it.

"It felt back to normal, like a couple years ago. It felt good. I feel like I played pretty well in the game. But yeah, it definitely felt kinda back to home."

Michigan is struggling to run the ball effectively ever since posting 256 yards on the ground in the opener at Minnesota. The Gophers' defense appears to be worse than originally thought, and the Wolverines have since averaged just 82.5 rushing yards per game in their last two, both losses — vs. Michigan State and at Indiana.

"The run game is definitely a big emphasis on the offense right now," Stueber revealed. "It’s definitely something we have to improve.

"I think the biggest thing starts with the players, in terms of just preparing and really the buy-in of the whole offense and the scheme. You can’t place the blame on the coaches or the players or the scheme or the calls, I think it’s just a bunch of buy-in all around."

Michigan has scored 24 and 21 points, respectively, in the two losses, and has put itself in tough situations on third downs. Against Indiana, the Wolverines needed 10 or more yards to move the chains on five of the team's 11 third down opportunities and never ran a third-down play with less than five yards to go.

"The game does start up front," Stueber said. "It starts with running on first and second down, getting good field position, being able to get yardage on every single play. As an offensive lineman, you definitely take it personally, and it starts with film review, understanding the blitzes, the looks."

Stueber isn't quite sure how long it'll take to get the run game rolling, but he's confident it will happen at some point during the shortened season.

"I can’t foresee how long it’ll be to match up where we want the run game to be," he said. "Obviously, we’re pretty hurt injury-wise, but that can’t be an excuse. I’m confident in everyone that’s played and everyone that is going to play.

"The players have to take it upon themselves to get the run game where it wants to be, come off the ball physically. It’s the Michigan tradition to kinda be able to run the ball. It’s definitely something that we need to improve upon."

The Wolverines will go head-to-head against a stingy Wisconsin defense that allowed Illinois to muster up just 218 total yards in its only game played. The Badgers have seen their last two games get canceled due to a high number of COVID-19 tests within the program, making it a challenge to game plan for them, considering there's only one game of film to go off of.

"Wisconsin’s been a pretty hard opponent for us in the past," said Stueber, who has a 1-2 record against the Badgers during his time in Ann Arbor. "It’s always another hard-nosed football team coming in. It’s a statement game in a lot of ways.

"But yeah, in the past we know what they’ve run. We don’t know if they’ve switched a lot. But we can go off one game they had so far. That’s the biggest thing about football is adjusting. Coach Warinner always says you keep preparing and preparing, and once the foot hits the ball, it’s about adjusting. That’s the biggest thing that we need to do is adjust more, get the adjustments right and focus on that, and I think we’ll be OK."

• Stueber was asked about what he's seen from his head coach, Jim Harbaugh, and how much he cares about coaching the team.

"It’s unquestioned how passionate he is about coaching here," Stueber said. "His whole life is Michigan football. It’s noticed in how he talks to players, how he carries himself, how he jumps into meetings — he’s always in the meetings, whether he’s in the corner or the front row, he’s always jotting down his notes.

"He cares about it. He always talks to the team whenever he can. His commitment to this team is unquestioned. He’s committed to every single player here and the players are confident in him, too. We trust his ability, his call-making ability, his decision-making capability. It’s unquestioned how much he loves Michigan football and coaching here."

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