Sherrone Moore on dominant Michigan football run game: 'Why stop?'
No. 3 Michigan Wolverines football (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) is averaging 44.7 rushes to 25.9 pass attempts per game, with the latter mark ranking tied for 114th in the country. The run-heavy nature of the Wolverines’ attack has worked to this point, with the Maize and Blue checking in fifth in the country with 41.4 points per contest.
There has been some criticism from media and fans surrounding how much Michigan has run the ball. It likely stems from a concern or doubt that the Wolverines have enough at quarterback and the receiver positions to open up the pass game when needed. Even head coach Jim Harbaugh, following his team’s 34-3 win over Nebraskas Saturday in a game in which his team threw 20 passes to 49 rush attempts, said it’s “valid” to say it’s hard for a quarterback to get into rhythm when the passes are so few and far between.
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But when the Wolverines are averaging 5.6 yards per carry on that much volume — or 5.9 (sack adjusted) in this past game against the Cornhuskers — there’s really not a reason to go away from it, co-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore said. Michigan didn’t come into the season or enter any game hoping to run much more than it does pass, but the flow of the game determines it, he added.
“It’s kind of a flow,” Moore explained. “It’s kind of a feel of what happens in the game. If it’s working, you’ve got to force people to stop it. You look at the numbers from now to last year at the same time, we’re about the same as we were last year numbers wise —pass-run, run-pass yards, and actually sometimes even a little bit better at some things.
“It’s just kind of a feel for the game. And you get to a game like that, and you run the ball and it’s 5 yards a carry, then 6, then 7 and 8 and 0., it’s like, why stop? Why do anything else?
“We’ve gotten in a groove. Guys are playing good. And obviously we’ve got an elite, elite running back who should win the Heisman [in junior Blake Corum]. That’s why we are where we are right now.”
Michigan has played the 82nd-toughest schedule in the country, according to ESPN.com, and it’s hardly been a murderer’s row to get to 10-0. The competition gets stiffer starting this weekend against Illinois and continuing at Ohio State Nov. 26, however.
Illinois touts the nation’s No. 6 rushing defense. If — and it’s a big if — the Fighting Illini can slow down Michigan’s run game, we may finally see if the Wolverines can effectively move the ball and score points while leaning more on the aerial attack. The only thing close to that came Oct. 8 at Indiana, when sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns while his run game produced a season-low 165 yards.
They did enough in Bloomington, but Illinois is also strong against the pass, ranking tied second in the land (with Michigan) by allowing only 5.3 yards per attempt.
Moore is confident Michigan can throw to win a game when needed.
“Oh, yeah. We feel like we’re gonna do whatever it takes to win — run, throw,” Moore said. “I feel like we can be balanced in every area. And we’re just going to keep doing whatever we can do to get to 11-0 this week.”
That last sentence says it all. Michigan is doing all it needs to win — and that’s all that can be asked of it.
The Wolverines still have a weapon at their disposal that they haven’t used a whole lot this season. Though 105 quarterbacks in the country have thrown more play-action passes than McCarthy, he’s been the most efficient at 13.6 yards per attempt. He’s 40-of-52 on such throws (76.9 percent) with 705 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Only time will tell if Michigan has been holding some of those looks back for the bigger games on the schedule, and we’re about to find out.
