At long last, Michigan football was able to get its run game going.
The Wolverines had a season-high 211 ground yards in their 21-18 victory over Penn State, which included the first two running back carries of 20 yards or more this year: a 43-yard touchdown run by Bryson Kuzdzal and a 41-yard burst by Savion Hiter.
Kuzdzal's run served as a sort of spark for the attack, according to running back coach Tony Alford, who agreed with the assessment this was the team's best ground performance. But why was that? What happened? Well, it sounds like more of the style of rushing the fans have been craving.
"There's been some more downhill runs and the zone concept, which these guys have had success [with] in the past," Alford said. "So yeah, we implemented some of that more than we had in previous weeks. Worked on the second half, so hopefully we can continue that."
According to Pro Football Focus, U-M had more zone scheme (15) than gap scheme (14) on non-scrambles and quarterback kneels against the Nittany Lions. For perspective, U-M ran twice gap plays (24) twice as often as zone (12) in its loss to Iowa. In fact, in the first four weeks of the season Michigan ran nearly three times as many gap schemes (93) as zone (33) plays.
Michigan also had success running up the middle, with all six of its carries of 10 yards or more coming between the tackles. There's reason to believe U-M will continue to try more of it in the future.
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"There's certain things that you can do that guys are better at," Alford said. "It's [about] trying to put the guys in the best situation to have success."
Still, one good half of football is not enough to cure 11 halves of struggles. Michigan still doesn't have a single rusher with a 100-yard game and has averaged better than five yards per carry just once this season, which came last week.
Tommy Carr is expected to start at quarterback, which could provide a bit of a boost, but one player can't be expected to fix all of what ails U-M. The Wolverines are No. 87 in total penalties, No. 103 in turnover margin (minus-three), the worst power football team at No. 125 in passing (165.7 yards per game), in the bottom quarter of the country at No. 106 in scoring (22.7 points per game) and No. 84 in rushing (147.7).
It's reasonable to expect frustration has started to mount on the offensive side of the ball, but Alford said the formula to keep it from boiling over is a clear one.
"Play better, execute," he said. "I think those frustrations will alleviate themselves when we start executing at the level that we so desire ... We've all got to take our piece of ownership of where we're at in this moment.
"We are where we are, and we're not where we wanted or would have thought we'd be at this juncture of time as far as ... stat lines go. We are where we are, and we can sit and bitch and moan about it or we can just keep plugging away, and that's what we're choosing to do."
Jay Hill's toughest test yet
Michigan's defense has carried this team through the first half of the season and is No. 1 in the nation in yards per play (4.11). Edge John Henry Daley said thinking about that number as a unit and patting itself on the back at the midway point of the season would be "rat poison."
He also implied the group doesn't feel any added pressure to perform at an elite level given the offense's struggles, rather the defense feels an expectation to live up to the standard it sets for itself.
“At the end of the day, we just have to do our job,” Daley said. “We’re not really worried about the other side of the ball. We know that we can’t affect it too much. We just have to come in every single play, and all 11 guys on defense have got to play their butts off for six seconds and fulfill whatever coach asked them to do.
"We just come out there every single play and try to do our best."
U-M has perhaps its toughest test yet against defending national champion Indiana. The Hoosiers have a pair of wide receivers in Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh who have nearly 300 more receiving yards than U-M's entire team combined.
There's also a pair of running backs in Turbo Richard (643 yards, six touchdowns) and Lee Beebe Jr. (575 yards, four touchdowns), who have nearly 350 more yards than U-M's entire run game combined. Granted, the Hoosiers have played one more game than the Wolverines, but the point is IU has some game-changers on offense.
"It starts with those two receivers, with Becker and Marsh," defensive tackle coach Larry Black said of stopping his alma mater. "Those guys are really good. They do a good job of you know the routes and getting open and catching the ball ... then on the O line, it starts with their left tackle, Carter Smith ... they got two really good running backs, and then the quarterback [Josh] Hoover.
"They got a good crew, experienced crew, so they kind of thrive and they don't beat themselves. You watch, it's not too many TFLs. They're fine with a one-yard gain, and then it's explosive play. They're fine with a zero-yard gain, then an explosive play, so it's going to be on us to cause a little more havoc and play in their backfield."
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football finally found rushing success. Is it repeatable?