Ed Warinner Pleased With O-Line, Likes How Offense Is 'Starting To Click'
The Michigan Wolverines’ football offensive line finally blocked against Notre Dame the way many thought it would entering the year, paving the way for 303 yards on the ground.
Expectations were high entering the 2019 season for a U-M front five that featured four returning starters in fifth-year senior left tackle Jon Runyan, senior left guard Ben Bredeson, junior center Cesar Ruiz and senior right guard Mike Onwenu, but the unit got off to a rough start, with the rushing attack compiling 141 yards or fewer in four of the club’s first five outings.
Michigan has averaged 246.3 rushing yards in the three games since, however, culminating in Saturday’s big production against Notre Dame.
“I’m happy with the overall effort of our team,” offensive line coach Ed Warinner said Wednesday afternoon. “We ran the ball well, even though the conditions mandated that’d be the way to move the football.
“The offensive line, tight ends and receivers all blocked well. It was a good group effort of keeping the football on the ground and controlling the clock. We showed the physicality you like to see, especially in the first half in the weather conditions.”
The Maize and Blue seem to have made running the ball more of a priority over the last few weeks, and that strategy has paid off.
Michigan averaged 36.4 rushing attempts over its first five games of the season, but has seen that number increase to 48 in its last three.
“You figure out who you are and what your strengths are,, and you cater to them,” Warinner explained. “[Our offensive approach] has changed some, but not drastically. We’ve run some of the same plays we ran last year, so it’s not like we’re inventing new ones — sometimes we just disguise or decorate them.
“We’re finding our groove and are growing as we go. I also think we’ve hit our stride running the ball, with [redshirt freshman running back] Hassan [Haskins] having had some good games and [freshman running back] Zach [Charbonnet] being consistent.
“We grow and learn with the personnel we have and with whoever is healthy. We’ve had a lot of injuries we don’t talk about much, though the line is pretty healthy now. We’re hitting our stride and have been productive the last few games. There’s a lot of confidence on offense right now.”
The players also seem to be grasping first-year offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ system more and more as the season goes along, averaging 36 points over the team's last three contests.
This comes after the Wolverines tallied just 28.0 points per outing through their first five tilts.
“Josh knows the system he wants to run and does a great job of staying the course and grinding through,” Warinner noted. “He does a great job communicating to the team and helping organize our plans, and then implementing it. We all feel a little different after winning that game [on Saturday], and how things have started to click. It has given us a little juice and energy.
“Internally, Josh hasn’t changed a bit — we’re all learning and growing in a new system with different players and different obstacles. Like Coach [Jim] Harbaugh said, we’re starting to hit our stride, and you can see and feel it.”
Other Michigan Football Notes
• Ruiz is the commander of the offensive line as the unit's center, and was a catalyst in the Wolverines' 303-yard rushing output against the Irish.
“Cesar had a really good game," Warinner exclaimed. "He’s played consistent for a couple years now since I’ve been here. He’s also good in space, and we tease him and call him, ‘Cees in Space.’
"We were able to pull him and get him on the perimeter against Notre Dame's defense, and he likes doing that because he’s very athletic for a big guy. Cesar made some nice plays at the second level and graded out the highest of a group who all graded out high.”
• Redshirt sophomore right tackle Andrew Stueber was in a tight battle with redshirt freshman Jalen Mayfield for the starting job heading into the year, but a torn ACL in fall camp ended the former's season and allowed the latter to take over the starting gig.
“He’s ahead of schedule," Warinner said of Stueber. "He sits in my meetings every day. Andrew was doing rehab full time the first few months, but now sits in the meetings and is staying engaged in the football part.
"He should be able to get back into football activities in January or February, and will hopefully be rolling by spring.”
• Only one player in Michigan's five-man freshman offensive line class has seen the field this season — left tackle Karsen Barnhart — with the four others all likely to take redshirts.
Barnhart has only seen the field twice though, meaning he would have to make three more appearances for his redshirt to get burned.
"Those guys all want to play in some games, so we’ll see if it works out," the offensive line coach noted. "That class is really good, and all of them are going to be successful here.
"They each have different timelines, but some could be real impactful next season. Linemen are at their best in their fourth or fifth years, because it takes a long time to develop the strength and skills at this level.
"Barnhart and [offensive tackle Trevor] Keegan are really doing well, and so is [center Zach] Carpenter. The others are doing well too, but those are the three who are the most ahead.”
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Sign up for our newsletter, The Wolverine Now
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook