It’s time for some holiday notes, on a noteworthy week for the Wolverines.
• Juwan Howard’s basketball team stands 8-1, 1-0 in the Big Ten, with a pair of victories over top-10 teams and a Battle 4 Atlantis championship nicely tucked away.
Had we made that projection a month ago, we’d have been laughed right out of the Crisler Center. Some would have insisted such a scenario loomed as likely as Howard’s predecessor giving up the NBA to join Drake, Eminem and Lil Wayne in a fundamentally sound rap-off.
But here the Wolverines stand, following their 103-91 score-fest over Iowa. They featured six players in double figures, led by recently healed freshman forward Franz Wagner’s 18. In the absence of sophomore backup center Colin Castleton — welcomed to Big Ten play with backhand forearm and accompanying stitches — redshirt junior Austin Davis poured in eight.
Michigan’s bench out-scored Iowa’s by a dozen, 26-14. That’s precisely the margin of victory, and don’t think for a second Howard didn’t notice — especially when sophomore forward Brandon Johns Jr. checked in with 12 points and eight rebounds himself.
“I saw great production out of them, playing with energy, a ton of effort and just playing inspired basketball,” Howard said. “It was great to see Brandon Johns come in there and give us a huge lift, super active around the offensive glass, cutting to the basket for layups and dunks, being very active on the defensive end and also making shots. He played with a ton of confidence tonight.
“Austin Davis was huge for us. [Senior center] Jon Teske had foul trouble, and I trust our bigs. Colin went out with an injury, stitches to his lip … next man up.”
That sort of depth can go a long way over the long haul. Johns represents a sophomore class which already made a considerable impact this year, after impatiently awaiting its turn last season.
Many relegated Michigan to a huge step backward after losing Charles Matthews, Iggy Brazdeikis and Jordan Poole from last year’s roster. They’re thinking differently now, and Iowa coach Fran McCaffrey waves off any notion of a massive falloff or big changes from a year ago.
“I don’t know that there’s a huge difference, in the sense of how they play,” McCaffrey said. “They move the ball and they share the ball. They defend. If you do those things, you typically are going to be successful. Juwan’s a smart guy. He’s going to come in and insist that those guys do those same things. They’ve already been instilled by Coach Beilein.”
They’re being reemphasized by a coach with more than a quarter century of NBA experience, and an array of assistants who range from NBA input to 24 college head coaching campaigns to a Final Four with a Beilein crew.
They’ve come together early, read the projections of the huge step back, wadded them up and tossed them in the circular file — no rim involved.
Howard didn’t care for part of the Iowa stat sheet, muttering about the Hawkeyes’ advantage in points in the paint, second-chance points, etc.
“Wow!” he muttered. “That’s on the coach, man. I did a horrible job.”
The big-picture evidence points to the contrary, thus far. Unranked to top five nationally in a month wasn’t on anybody’s radar — except maybe the Wolverines’.
• Senior linebacker Josh Uche — who some hoped would try for an extra year of eligibility in 2020 — is making a classy exit. His declaration notice for entering the NFL Draft thanked head coach Jim Harbaugh, his teammates and Michigan fans for a great ride in Ann Arbor.
“My time here has been the best four years of my life,” Uche noted. “I have made memories and friendships that will last forever and learned more than I could have ever imagined. I am ready for the next challenge and a new chapter in football and in life.”
But not before he writes the final chapter in a winged helmet. Uche let it be known he’ll be playing in Michigan’s bowl game, and here’s hoping others eyeing the NFL follow his lead. Last year’s bowl roster attrition helped turn U-M’s bowl effort into a 41-15 disaster against Florida.
That shouldn’t happen again. If someone’s hurt, that’s different. If they’re worried about maybe getting hurt in a bowl, maybe they shouldn’t have been playing in the first place.
• Urban Meyer’s breakdown of Ohio State’s offense versus Michigan’s defense proved as depressing as it was instructive for Wolverine watchers. Meyer delivered it dispassionately, clinically, analytically — meaning he’s a decent actor as well, hiding his glee.
What it revealed, though, involved U-M’s game-long inability to stop Ohio State. Maybe nobody can. This OSU crew looks as formidable as anything ever emerging from Columbus.
But Michigan won’t know, as long as it can’t cover crossing routes on second-and-19, or gets tricked into several defensive linemen taking a knee prior to a quick snap. Those sorts of gaffes must change — dramatically.
During the Ten-Year War, Ohio State scored a total of 105 points. During the present Two-Year Massacre, the Buckeyes have managed 118.
Times have changed. The college game has obviously changed incredibly, in terms of the points put on the board.
Here’s what hasn’t changed. To achieve what it wants in any given year, Michigan has to beat Ohio State. It can’t do so giving up an average 59 points per game.
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