Several young players have gotten an opportunity to play on the offensive line this year due to graduation, injuries, etc. A few have really stepped up, but what will the line look like when the two tackles come back from injury?

We tackle that and more in this week’s News & Views segment with head coach Jim Harbaugh.

NEWS: Michigan’s pieced together offensive line protected Cade McNamara well in a win over Rutgers … for the most part.

HARBAUGH: “Protection was really good. I hought the line really got their confidence coming off the ball and trusting their technique, coaching, themselves, playing as good as they have as a unit. “Karsen Barnhart is somebody [who] had a very good game, very physical, very good on his assignments. He’s very much an in-game leader as far as his play, and others I think are establishing that."

VIEWS: Receivers Ronnie Bell and Mike Sainristil played with a “sense of urgency,” Harbaugh added, and he said some of the young linemen had it, as well. Barnhart and redshirt freshman Zach Carpenter in his first start were really finishing their blocks, and while true frosh Zak Zinter struggled at times, he’s going to be a good one.

But there were times McNamara made up for some leaky coverage by getting rid of the ball quickly, too. It helps to have a quarterback with situational awareness.

So what’s the plan if and when Ryan Hayes and Jalen Mayfield come back? They’ve started to practice, but Harbaugh said the cohesion on the line was “as good as we’ve had” this year … and that’s pretty telling.