The Michigan Wolverines’ football offense performed better than many thought it would on Saturday night in Happy Valley, putting up 417 yards and averaging 3.4 yards per carry on a Penn State defense that had only been yielding 1.5 entering the weekend (which was the best mark in the country).
Despite the offense’s progression, Michigan obviously still left Beaver Stadium with a 28-21 loss, though senior left guard Ben Bredeson chose today to focus on the positives he saw from U-M’s offensive attack.
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“There were some good things to pull from that game with the way the offense played at times,” he said this afternoon at Schembechler Hall following head coach Jim Harbaugh’s weekly noon press conference.
“The way the team fought in general and to the bitter end were both things we can carry over to this week. We obviously want every game to come out our way, especially those big ones.
“We saw there was no quit in anybody. We were figuring out Penn State’s defense and made some good adjustments in the second half, and with the game on the line, we fought harder than we’d ever fought this year.
“I think we fight well when our backs are against the wall, but we can’t keep falling behind be a trend. There are times where we have to start fast, though it’s a challenge to start fast on offense and carry it throughout a game — we saw that at Illinois [on Oct. 12].
“It’s a hard thing to do, but it’s something we’re working toward and trying to get done.”
The Maize and Blue’s pass protection was especially potent on Saturday night, limiting an outstanding Nittany Lion front seven to just one sack and three tackles for loss.
Penn State had been/still is one of the best teams in the country at racking up both quarterback takedowns and stops behind the line of scrimmage, but the Wolverine front five consistently kept senior quarterback Shea Patterson upright and showed significant improvement in that regard.
“[Junior center] Cesar [Ruiz] did a great job of identifying the fronts, and everyone seemed to be on the same page,” Bredeson recalled.
“We were pleased with it. I thought we gave good protection, and then when Shea needed to make a play, that’s what he did.
“This was probably our best example [of pass protection].”
Again, despite the impressive pass pro, U-M still left Happy Valley with a crucial second conference loss, seeing its Big Ten title hopes take a massive hit in the process.
Both Ohio State and Penn State remain undefeated in league play (and overall), meaning Michigan will need a bit of a good fortune if it hopes to still win the East.
Ridiculous gestures that this team now ‘has nothing left to play for’ have since arisen, but Bredeson wasn’t having any of it when that notion was brought to his attention this afternoon.
“At times with the younger guys, they’ll tend to look further ahead than what they can control, like worrying about Big Ten and National Championships,” the senior captain explained.
“The only thing you can control is the next game, and I’m trying to help them see that. There’s still a lot of great things we can obtain this season and nothing is out of the question, but it all starts on Saturday.
“I think everyone sometimes struggles with that [looking ahead]. I had a great older class who helped me with it and older mentors who helped me see it.
“It’s part of sports — you have to be able to forget things and move on, while making corrections. You can’t let two losses take your season.”
We’ll learn a lot about the Wolverines’ mental mindset this Saturday in primetime when they take on Notre Dame. Beating a quality Fighting Irish squad would obviously signify tremendous progress for the club not only from a football standpoint, but also from a mental one (especially when considering the late September debacle that occurred at Wisconsin).
As a senior in his third last game in The Big House, Bredeson has unsurprisingly embraced Saturday’s showdown with the Irish head on.
“There’s a good knowledge of the rivalry here,” he confirmed. “I was at the last Notre Dame game that Michigan played in — not last year’s obviously, but the one before it [in 2014 in South Bend].
“It’s a historic rivalry and everybody loves it when you have Michigan and Notre Dame playing. I heard we were going to start that series up again, and I always look forward to this game.”
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