Jon Runyan Jr. 'Doing Well, Should Be Able To Get Action This Week'
The biggest topic of conversation surrounding the Michigan Wolverines’ offensive line heading into Saturday’s showdown at Wisconsin has been the health of fifth-year senior left tackle Jon Runyan Jr.
Runyan missed the first two games of the year with injury, which forced redshirt freshman Ryan Hayes to start in his place, but position coach Ed Warinner provided a very positive update on the veteran lineman Wednesday afternoon.
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“Jon Runyan has been practicing this week and is doing well,” Warinner revealed. “He should be able to get action this week — Jon is our left tackle and should be ready to roll.
“We’ve had two weeks to work him through. He’ll be ready to go and is excited to get some action. [The fact that he dressed against Army] was just for an emergency and to keep the defense at bay.
“Our five starters are all healthy, and everybody was full-go in practice yesterday. I love having Jon back because he’s valuable to us, but I don’t think him not playing had any bearing on the offense or what we did offensively.
“We didn’t change the game plan or do things differently — we still called our plays and ran our offense. A veteran guy like him might be a little more comfortable in the heat of battle on the road, and it’ll also be nice to have a bit more depth there.”
It will certainly take an all-hands-on-deck type of effort from Michigan’s offensive line against a Wisconsin front seven that is ranked No. 1 in the country against the run, allowing just 20.5 yards per game.
Warinner had nothing but praise for the Badger defensive unit as a whole, noting that having a stout defense is nothing new for the crew from Madison.
“They haven’t changed their overall schematic structure from last year,” Warinner explained. “They know who they are and what they want to be, and replaced their good players with more good players.
“Wisconsin plays a brand of football that suits their players and the mentality of their program. They’re statistically tops in the country in all these defensive categories, and it’s obvious they play at a high level on film.”
The case could be made that the Badgers have consistently had the best offensive line units in the Big Ten over the last 10 years or so, despite numerous coaching changes (Bret Bielema to Gary Anderson to Paul Chryst).
Even though UW is employing four new starters (redshirt junior left tackle Cole Van Lanen, redshirt sophomore left guard Kayden Lyles, fifth-year senior right guard Jason Erdmann and fifth-year senior right tackle David Moorman) along its offensive front to go along with redshirt junior center Tyler Biadasz, the unit doesn’t appear to have taken much of a step back.
“They have a system offensively, and they know what they want to do,” Warinner said. “They have certain patterns and schemes, and obviously a really good tailback [junior Jonathan Taylor] who is one of the best in the country.
“They’re committed to running the ball, and when you have offensive linemen who play hard and are big guys, you run the ball.
“The defensive line we go against every day is tough as well, and they practice hard with multiple guys. Our defensive line will accept that challenge and make it hard for them to run the football.
“It’ll be a war up front and an interesting part of the game.”
The culture Wisconsin has built on the offensive line (and pretty much everywhere else, for that matter) is similar to the one Michigan had for years, most recently under Lloyd Carr.
The players' faces may change on a yearly basis, but like U-M under Carr, the results seldom did, thanks to a strong culture and effective way of running the program.
“They’re able to recruit a lot of in-state guys who fit their offensive line culture, and they’re fully committed to their formula,” Warinner noted. “Everyone has a formula for how they want to win games, and it’s different from place to place. Wisconsin’s formula has been to recruit a great offensive line and to get a great tailback, then run the football while controlling the line of scrimmage.
“They believe in that and have had a lot of success doing it. That doesn’t de-value what they do on defense, though, because they play great defense as well. They go find linemen and develop them, and their running game stays pretty consistent year after year. They know who they are.”
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