Offense Notes: Hassan Haskins Shines Once Again
Michigan Wolverines football redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins ran for 111 yards in last week's 48-42 win at Rutgers, and followed it up with his second consecutive 100-yard outing in Saturday's loss to Penn State.
Haskins rushed for 101 yards on 17 carries in the 27-17 setback against the Nittany Lions, scoring both of Michigan's touchdowns on the day. The Maize and Blue had not seen a player eclipse the century mark in over a calendar year prior to last week, with the last occurrence (before last Saturday's win at Rutgers) coming from Haskins when he accumulated 149 yards in a 45-14 beatdown of Notre Dame last season Oct. 26.
He has separated himself as the feature back in Michigan's offense. After Haskins averaged just 5.2 carries per game through U-M's first four contests, the coaches decided to ride him last week by giving him 23 touches.
That trend continued once again versus Penn State, with the redshirt sophomore receiving 17 carries, which were 13 more than any other U-M rusher (fifth-year senior running back Chris Evans had the second most, with only four).
Haskins has also reenergized a Michigan rushing attack that was lifeless earlier this year, with the team rushing for a combined 60 yards during a two-game span against Indiana and Wisconsin Nov. 7-14.
The last two contests have seen U-M rack up a total of 321 yards on the ground, however, including 174 in the loss to the Nittany Lions. The Wolverines averaged a solid 6.4 yards per rush Saturday, which was their second-highest total since they averaged 8.2 in the Oct. 24 win at Minnesota.
"I thought Hassan Haskins had another really football player type performance from him," head coach Jim Harbaugh said afterward. "I think it's really important [to finally get the run game going].
"We're showing a lot of progress running the football. The O-line came off the ball. The tight ends are blocking, and getting good perimeter blocking is going to be very important for us moving forward."
Haskins tallied the third multi-touchdown game of his career, finding the end zone twice to give him a team-best six rushing TDs on the year. His 59-yard run in the first quarter was his second-longest run of the season, behind a 66-yarder he had in the opener at Minnesota. Saturday was also the fourth 100-yard game of his career.
"Hassan is a great back and we have to find a way to block for him," redshirt junior right tackle Andrew Stueber added. "The run game is one of the keys to victory, and we take huge pride in it.
"We’d like to see it rolling earlier in the game, because we think it would’ve made a huge difference."
Michigan Football's Quarterbacks Struggle Mightily Against Penn State
Redshirt freshman Cade McNamara received his first career start Saturday, but it did not go as planned. He finished by completing 12 of his 25 passes for 91 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
McNamara was hit hard on a running play on U-M's second series of the day, however, and didn't seem to be himself from that point on. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton saw action throughout the afternoon as a result, but only connected on one of his three passes for 21 yards.
The redshirt freshman threw for 260 yards, four touchdowns and no picks last week at Rutgers, which was the main reason the U-M fan base was so excited to see how he'd follow it up against the Nittany Lions.
The results were disappointing, with the 112 total passing yards Michigan threw for marking the fewest it had compiled in a game since it tallied 56 in a 33-10 win over Minnesota in 2017.
Harbaugh recognized McNamara's toughness and grit in the postseason, and noted the young signal-caller had his respect for coming back into the game after the hit.
"Cade was doing everything he possibly could to rally the team and to play on when his shoulder was tightening up on him," the head coach said. "That was the reason [we put Milton in the game as well]."
Miscellaneous Michigan Football Offensive Notes
• Freshman wideout A.J. Henning made the first start of his career Saturday, seeing extended action while sophomore receiver Giles Jackson was out with an injury. The freshman hauled in three receptions for 31 yards, including a beautiful 28-yard grab he made in traffic. It was the longest reception of his career, surpassing a 15-yarder he had Oct. 31 against Michigan State.
• Junior wideout Ronnie Bell's 40 receiving yards marked his second-lowest total of the season, just bettering the 36 yards he posted last week.
• Evans' 35 rushing yards were a season high. It was also the most rushing yards he had recorded in a game since running for 44 on Nov. 17, 2018, against Indiana.
• U-M is averaging just 17.3 points in its three home games this season, after logging 24 points against Michigan State Oct. 31 and 11 versus Wisconsin Nov. 14.
• Sophomore running back Zach Charbonnet did not see the field for unknown reasons. Harbaugh was not asked about his status in the postgame.
• Freshman running back Blake Corum's 27 rushing yards were a career high, eclipsing the 26 yards he had Oct. 24 at Minnesota.
• The 286 yards Michigan amassed marked its second-lowest total of the season, topping only the 219 U-M gained Nov. 14 against Wisconsin.
• U-M's 174 rushing yards were its second most of the season, trailing only the 256 it rolled up at Minnesota Oct. 24.
• The 17 points Michigan posted on Penn State's defense were by far the fewest the Nittany Lions had yielded this year. They had allowed at least 30 points to all five of their previous opponents, and 36 or more to three of the five.
• Four starters missed the loss to Penn State with injury — Jackson, redshirt sophomore left tackle Ryan Hayes, fifth-year senior center Andrew Vastardis and redshirt sophomore right tackle Jalen Mayfield.
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook