ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Michigan Wolverines are back to their winning ways after upsetting the USC Trojans by playing bully ball inside The Big House.
However, if they want to continue winning, they’ll need to open up the playbook and be less predictable against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
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Michigan ran the ball 46 times for 290 yards, while quarterback Alex Orji completed 7-12 passes for 32 yards in the victory.
The way Michigan ran the ball impacted their defense, which was as fresh as it could be while standing on the sideline as the offense controlled the clock.
They scored 27 points as a team while finding their identity without their best pass catcher, Colston Loveland, who was sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Adding Orji as the starting quarterback has unlocked the running game, allowing the offense to stay ahead of the sticks and bully teams into submission.
With the Minnesota Golden Gophers coming into town, Michigan will look to duplicate their 290 rushing yards while averaging 6.3 per carry. They scored three rushing touchdowns and had five 10 or more-yard rushes.
Minnesota gave up 272 rushing yards to the Iowa Hawkeyes last week, allowing six yards a pop. They also gave up four touchdowns and eight 10-yard or more-yard rushes, so they’re in for a long day in the battle for the Little Brown Jug.
“The Big House is not called the little house,” said Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck. “It’s called The Big House for a reason. We can’t let the circumstances dictate our behavior. You’ve got to be able to play anywhere in the Big Ten, and we’ve been preparing for that all off-season.”
“As far as their offense, they’re going to run the football. They did that with Jim Harbaugh, and they’re doing that with Sherrone (Moore), and they’re doing that in a lot of unique ways, especially with the quarterback change. They’re big, and they’re strong, and we’ve got to be able to stop the run.”
Fans act like that style of play is unusual to the program or college football in general.
J.J. McCarthy completed 10 passes or less in many games last season. Prime examples were the Penn State and national championship games against the Washington Huskies.
He went 10-18 for 140 yards while using his legs four times for 31 yards, but no one batted an eye because the defense and the running game were so potent that it led to a 15-0 season and their first College Football Playoff national championship since 1998.
Looking back at his numbers in the Penn State game, head coach Sherrone Moore took the ball out of McCarthy’s hands and ran it 32 straight plays, but they could not stop linebacker Demeioun “Chop” Robinson off the edge.
--> Michigan football’s Sherrone Moore named Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week
McCarthy completed 7-8 passes for 60 yards in that game, while the rushing attack led the way with 227 yards on the ground on 46 carries.
Although we’re in 2024, that style of play may not be sustainable as offenses and defenses have evolved from the days of Tim Teabow, Nick Marshall, Troy Smith, and J.T. Barrett, to name a few.
This style of play also worked in the NFL as Colin Kaepernick led Harbaugh and their San Francisco 49ers team to Super Bowl XLVII.
Over the past few weeks, teams like the Green Bay Packers have Jordan Love’s replacement, Malik Willis, running the same scheme with Josh Jacobs toting the rock, controlling the clock, and playing good defense to win games.
When Orji is in the game, he draws multiple eyes, as defenses know he can take off at any moment.
Michigan wants to run the ball, sustain drives, play complementary football, and chew up the clock, allowing Keeneth Grant, Mason Graham, Josaiah Stewart, and Will Johnson to get after offenses like they did against the Trojans.
Like the players mentioned above, Orji doesn’t scare teams with his arm, even though he is a freak of nature.
With his legs, the offense will stay ahead of the chains and sometimes convert big plays while playing complementary football.
To build on week four and the Wolverines’ first installment of the Orji offense, he needs more game reps, which he was denied early this season against Fresno State and Arkansas State.
But Minnesota is coming into town, and they have tape of the USC game, which means the men in maize, alongside offensive coordinator Kirk Campbell, will add more passing plays so he can evolve as a passer.
In order to do that, they’ll need Loveland back in the trenches. He’s a playmaker, and tight ends are a quarterback’s best friend.
After that, it will use more wide receiver screens and deep ball passes with Semaj Morgan and Fredrick Moore. Connecting on more play-action passes would keep defenses honest.
We saw trickeration during the flea-flicker play against USC, but Orji kept the ball and scrambled because no one was open.
And finding a way to utilize Donovan Edwards as more than a running back, as he is the ultimate weapon.
They should use him as an all-purpose back or as weapon-X in the Roger Craig, Marshall Faulk, Christian McCaffrey, Percy Harvin, and Reggie Bush roles.
Through four games, Edwards (736) is 74 receiving yards away from tying Anthony Thomas (810) for the most in program history, and he only has 22 yards through the air.
There is a lot of noise (rightfully so) from fans screaming that they want Kalel Mullings as the new starting running back, but their roles should stay the same as they have for the last few games as the men in maize look like they’re finally finding their footing as an offensive unit.
Michigan will host the Golden Gophers on Saturday (Sept. 28) in Ann Arbor. Kickoff is expected to be at 12 p.m.
