Michigan Wolverines football coach Jim Harbaugh heard the criticism after U-M’s 31-10 pummeling of Washington Saturday night … he and his team didn’t ‘win right,’ running 52 times and dominating on the ground but not passing enough for some fans’ liking.
That was the least of his concerns Monday, and he made that clear.
Harbaugh was impressed with the physical play on both lines, how hard his backs ran, his tight ends, his secondary, the linebackers — all of it — and loved the way the defense ran to the ball. Most of all, he enjoyed grinding out 340 yards on the ground, and he wasn’t going to apologize for it.
“All those things are at our disposal,” he said of the run and the pass. “I heard a little bit of noise about, ‘why so much running? You’ve got to throw more,’ that kind of thing.
“We all know there are a lot of ways to travel. Some people choose to travel on the ground. Some people by air. [Late General] George Patton was able to get his job done on the ground; [astronaut] Neil Armstrong, through the air. Last Saturday night, we chose to grind it out on the ground. We were also able to get our mission accomplished.”
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Thanks in part to an offensive line that adjusted extremely well and owned the line of scrimmage. Combo blocks on the interior worked well, and the counter play with guards and tackles both pulling also had great success when the Washington ends blitzed from the outside.
“It’s been something they’ve embraced going back into spring ball,” Harbaugh continued. “The 9-on-7 drill, which is an inside run type of drill where you’re not running any trick plays, defenses aren’t running any games or twists — it’s who can block a man, who can get off a block.
“You’re running basically three different types of running plays, playing one or two defensive fronts, and it’s something our offensive line and defensive line has really embraced.”
It’s called the “Ohio State drill” now, per the players, and they couldn’t wait to get to it in practice.
“When that period comes up, whether it was practice in the spring or fall camp, we did it every day,” Harbaugh said. “We had pads on, and we do it every Tuesday, and we do it Monday during the season. That has become a drill of emphasis, and we look forward to it. There’s excitement. They wanted music, so we’re playing music during that drill.
“That game felt like a 9-on-7 drill. Both teams were trying to turn it into that type of game, and our guys have embraced it and had a lot of practice at it.”
The tight ends have been great in their roles, Harbaugh noted. as involved with the offensive line in ‘pulling, lead blocking and wrapping.’ The backs have been tough to bring down, he added, and have kept the chains moving.
His team owned time of possession, and an eight-play, 73-yard touchdown drive all on the ground to start the second half epitomized what they accomplished.
“Big fan of it,” he said with a grin about time of possession. “It’s not something that’s been easy for a no-huddle team to achieve, but definitely warms the cockles of the heart. A seven-minute drive, that’s equivalent in the no huddle world to a good old 10-minute, 11-minute, 12-minute drive.
“It’s a good thing to possess the ball. It’s all about possession, right? Possession is 9/10 of the law, so when you can have more than them, it’s a good thing.”
Redshirt freshman Cade McNamara threw for only 43 yards, but guard Trevor Keegan said his QB had no issue with it, just happy with the win.
Harbaugh echoed that sentiment.
“He’s really become the coach on the field, does a tremendous job. He executed pretty darn well,” he said. “A couple things … nobody plays a perfect game. You strive for it, but there’s more things to coach, which is also a good thing — offense, defense and special teams — but I thought he turned in another really solid performance.
“Points per possession ... that’s the big one. Not turning the football over. Those are the main factors … making the most out of those possessions is key and now, you look and you’re able to use more time, eep your defense fresh, off the field. That’s also a really good consequence. Intended, unintended consequence, one of those two things, but it’s a really good factor. The main factor is points per possession and points per drive.”
An area in which U-M has excelled thanks mostly to its outstanding ground game, one Harbaugh and Co. will likely try to employ until a team shows they can slow it.
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