Michigan offensive line 'did a lot of great things' in Oklahoma loss

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In a 24-13 loss to Oklahoma, Michigan football freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood was pressured 12 times (46.2 percent of dropbacks), and the Wolverines averaged 2.3 yards per rush other than a 75-yard touchdown dash from junior running back Justice Haynes on the first snap of the second half.

The Wolverines’ offensive line needed to be more “consistent,” according to head coach Sherrone Moore, despite the lack of productive runs and clean pockets created for their 6-foot-4, 228-pound quarterback who completed 38 percent of his passes.

But graduate center Greg Crippen, who graded out at 61.2 according to PFF, believes there were some positives from the Michigan offensive line’s performance.

“Obviously, Oklahoma didn’t go the way we wanted it to go, but I feel like as an offensive line we did a lot of great things that game, and we’re just going to keep improving, and we’ll see where we’re at, at the end of the season,” Crippen said after practice Tuesday night. “Our goal is to be the best O-line in the country.”

Immediately, a reporter followed up by asking about what those good things were.

“I thought overall we did a good job in protection,” Crippen explained. “I also thought we did a great job with the movement. They were moving, blitzing every single play, and I thought we did a great job just knowing where we were going to and stopping them. It’s just us trying to finish plays and move the ball.”

Oklahoma’s defensive line was disruptive, and head coach Brent Venables runs a complicated system designed to confuse offenses.

“I thought they were good,” Crippen said of the Sooners’ defensive line. “It’s a little different than most teams. Most teams, you can get a one-on-one block, but with them, it was moving every single play, so we couldn’t really get in a lot of double teams. That’s something we worked all week. I thought they did a good job with their system, but we didn’t have too many one-on-one, come off the ball and this guy’s in front of you the whole play.

“We were ready for that. I thought we did a good job with the movement, but obviously didn’t get the job done.”

Michigan averaged 8.4 yards to go on third down, and since it had 26 rushes on early downs, a lot of it had to do with the lack of success on the ground. Crippen believes the Wolverines could’ve popped some bigger gains.

“Overall, we could’ve done a better job finishing the play,” he said. “We did a great job with movement. The biggest thing is it’s not the what, it’s the how. Finish the play or we’re just so close and it only gained 5 yards, but it could’ve gained 20. I think that’s the biggest thing for us.

“Everything overall in the run game is something we can do better. But I’m really confident about where we’ll be at the end of the season.”

Moore has been harping on fixing the ‘how’ and not the ‘what’ for the Michigan team heading into this week’s matchup with CMU. Crippen said the Wolverines had a strong Tuesday afternoon practice.

“Coach Moore has done a great job this week, as a team, of saying, ‘It’s not the what. It’s the how,'” Crippen said in response to a question about the offense’s identity. “As a team, we have our own identities on the offense — there’s not one singular one — but it’s not the what, it’s the how. I think it’s a great message and something we’re going to keep pushing forward.

“The how is the little things you do every play and being very detailed, and we did a great job today.”

Michigan was playing in one of the toughest environments in the nation in its first-ever true road game at an SEC opponent. Underwood remained under control — he didn’t turn the ball over — and confident throughout the game. Crippen was asked how much the Wolverines changed the play at the line and how he handled the game.

“His progression from week one to week two was really good, just running the offense,” Crippen said I” mean, Oklahoma was a tough environment. I’ve been to a couple of them, and that was one of the hardest environments to be in. I thought he did a great job being poised and helping us.

“But, as for me, there are some things I can do better to try to help him out with formations and making sure that everything’s right.”