Karsch: From The Sidelines

Michigan sideline reporter Doug Karsch saw Saturday's rout of Western Michigan from field level, and talks about what he witnessed.

Here's Karsch, on…

• Items that stuck out from up close: "I saw very competent quarterback play. I'm not going to dismiss anything from a dominant win. They've played some teams over the past couple of years and haven't dominated them.

"I thought that there were some positive signs from the offense in the Notre Dame game that were lost in all the disappointment. No, they didn't put the ball in the end zone, obviously. But they had 10 real possessions in that game, along with one kick return that went for a touchdown and one possession that went into halftime.

"In the 10 other possessions, seven of the 10 ended in Notre Dame territory. Some of it was a product of good field position. Others were a result of the ability to move the ball, but not capitalize in the red zone, get into the red zone and take a sack to get out of it. It was hard to really focus on that, given everybody's disappointment, but I think this offense is going to be okay.

"[Junior quarterback] Shea Patterson allows for a lot of diversity, in terms of play-calling and what you can do. They got him on the edge quite a bit at Notre Dame, until they had to go to the two-minute drill. The Notre Dame game plan included a lot of one-step drops, rolling him out early in the game. The two-minute drill was when he was really reduced to being a pocket passer.

"But they got him on the edge in this game, and he threw a brilliant pass to Oliver Martin, there was one to [sophomore wideout] Donovan Peoples-Jones, one to [redshirt junior tight end] Sean McKeon for a touchdown, and then, because of the run game, play-action was successful and he stepped up in that pocket and made some throws like the touchdown pass to [sophomore wideout] Nico Collins.

"The other one, to Donovan Peoples-Jones, when I saw it at field level, I thought, 'Wow, that was a really good throw.' Then when I saw it up above, later on, in a replay, I thought, 'No, that's a great throw.' I really think there's some potential from this offense.

"The line has to get better and better, but there's a reason why [offensive line coach] Ed Warinner's resume is so decorated with offensive line coaching. Some of those runs, the running backs weren't being touched until they were 10 yards downfield. There were a lot of positives on the offensive side."