Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh led his team to a 47-14 win over Western Michigan in a game that was much easier than many expected. Several players stood out on both sides of the ball, led by one of the most improved starters from last year.
Sixth-year senior Andrew Vastardis had his ups and downs last year as a full-time starter, but he former walk-on played like an All-Big Ten center Saturday. Granted, it came against an overmatched WMU team, but Vastardis was one of the offensive players of the game for his performance.
“The offensive line graded out consistently good. Vastardis was lights out,” Harbaugh said. “He was tremendous. [Redshirt junior right tackle] Andrew Stueber was really good, and [redshirt sophomore left tackle Ryan]Hayes. The guards [redshirt freshman Trevor Keegan and redshirt junior Chuck Filiaga] were good and consistent, too.
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“As far as what the lineup will be this week, we’ll address that and see what it looks like in practice. Also, [freshman Zak] Zinter did a nice job in his role as the sixth offensive lineman in the game, as well."
Zinter has missed some time with a hand injury — his right arm was in a club Saturday — but he played 16 snaps, including some at right guard (where Filiaga played), and he’s expected to be the starter there when healthy.
“Offensively, [junior receiver] Ronnie Bell, [freshman running back] Blake Corum, [redshirt freshman quarterback] Cade McNamara, the tight ends. Andrew Vastardis had a tremendous game; so did Stueber," Harbaugh continued. "Caden Kolesar was our player of the game on special teams. He played the most plays; 23 plays. Mike Sainristil was right there, next best on special teams.”
Defensively, junior end/linebacker Aidan Hutchinson and sophomore safety/nickel Daxton Hill were all over the field. Harbaugh identified the duo as the standouts.
“Those two played great. There were some real examples of really good play all across the board on our team, but there were some examples of guys playing just how you want the game played,” he said. “Dax, Aidan, [redshirt junior linebacker] Josh Ross were the guys just setting the example of how to play in a game, especially for a lot of the players just playing the first time, playing their first game. It’s tremendous to have on tape, a teaching tool.
“[With Hill], the thing that stood out after watching it live ... he was all over the field. He was in tight coverage; he was tackling, getting off blocks, always in the right spot. He did a good job with the communication on the back end. He and [fifth-year senior safety] Brad Hawkins both did that. It was no hesitancy. He was anticipating and reacting. It’s going to be a great example for [safety] R.J. Moten that it can be similar.
"You can take some of the things you’re visually seeing Dax Hill do and the way he responds, reacts and anticipates. It will be a process getting R.J. there, but I think you can’t have a better example having a guy right in your own position.”
The interior line often only had two players with their hands on the ground given how Western likes to play — opening it up in the passing game — but Harbaugh was generally pleased with redshirt freshman tackle Mazi Smith and fellow tackle and sophomore Chris Hinton.
“I thought they held up pretty good,” Harbaugh said. “We got into where we were playing some coverage, played some two deep coverages and the box was five, six at times. I thought they did well.
“The run game, we got that pretty controlled. They did bleed out some yards here and there, but for the most part, I thought we did a really good job against the run. Pushing the pocket, getting pressure on the quarterback also showed up, as well.”
Bigger tests are on the horizon, starting Saturday night against Washington. Overall, though, Harbaugh couldn’t have been much happier with how his team responded out of the gate.
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