Michigan TE Colston Loveland is 'all for' Wolverines opening up passing attack
The Michigan Wolverines football pass game was humming in a 30-3 season-opening victory over East Carolina. Junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy completed 26 of his 30 passes for 280 yards and 3 touchdowns. ECU was adamant about selling out to stop the run, stacking the box, and while Michigan rushed for just 122 yards, the offense was still clinical when the starters were in.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh, who was suspended and will remain out the next two games (against UNLV Sept. 9 and Bowling Green Sept. 16), was pleased with the pass game distribution. Eight different players notched a reception, led by senior wideout Roman Wilson (6 catches for 78 yards), graduate wide receiver Cornelius Johnson (5 for 71), sophomore tight end Colston Loveland (4 for 57) and junior running back Donovan Edwards (4 for 33). Wilson got all 3 touchdowns, but that wasn’t frustrating for the rest of the pass-catchers.
“A win’s a win, everybody wins when we win,” Loveland said Tuesday evening. “Nothing new. [Wilson has] been doing that since last year. He made those crazy catches and those big plays. It’s good to see he got that, for sure.”
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The Michigan receivers took advantage of ECU having less defenders in coverage.
“A lot more one-on-one, a lot more open space, open field. You can definitely tell it’s a little easier,” Loveland pointed out.
While he understands the importance for the run game to get going — senior running back Blake Corum still rushed for 73 yards on 10 carries — it’s exciting to open up the aerial attack.
“I’m all for it. I’m all for it,” Loveland repeated, with a smile. “I think all the tight ends and receivers are for it. As we all know, we gotta run the ball, too, and that’s our identity, so it’s nice to see a balance, for sure.”
McCarthy had pinpoint accuracy, hit his receivers in stride most of the time, moved well in the pocket and was decisive, showing immense growth from last season.
“He was just poised, very comfortable back there, and that’s a big shout out to our offensive line, first off, giving him a bunch of time in the pocket,” the Michigan tight end said. “But yeah, he’s a great quarterback, and the improvement from last year — he was a great quarterback last year — and the improvement already is amazing to see. Just gotta keep rolling with him.”
An area of focus for Loveland this past offseason was his run blocking. He missed a kick-out block Saturday, leading to Corum getting tackled for a loss, and he graded out below average in run blocking per PFF (55.3), but the 6-5, 245-pounder insists he’s made strides in that aspect of his game.
“I think I’ve grown drastically,” Loveland said. “During the offseason, [Michigan tight ends] Coach [Grant] News[ome] just fine-tuned the technique. I got a little weight on — stronger, faster — but I can definitely feel a difference this year. I feel a lot more comfortable doing it.”
Overall, Loveland was pleased with Michigan’s start to the season.
“Always room for growth, but pleased with how I performed and how the team performed,” Loveland said. “Came out with the win, so that’s always a good thing, but we have a lot to improve on coming into this next week, so gotta attack everything.”
