Three Up/Three Down: Michigan Handles Western Michigan
Michigan opened the season as a 17-point favorite over the Western Michigan Broncos and bested that mark by halftime. Despite a slow start, Michigan really settled down in all three phases and ended up dispatching the Broncos pretty easily, by a score of 47-14.
As expected, it wasn't perfect, but there were also some really nice flashes of what this team could be. Here are three things to smile about and three things to take back to the drawing board.
Three Up
Blake Corum is a dude
I know Hassan Haskins started the game, and I actually like him quite a bit too, but Corum is different. His first touch went for 18 yards, he had an 80-yard kickoff return, he scored the first touchdown of the season on a reception and he scored again late on a beautiful run that put all of his skills on display. The way he jump cuts, stops and starts in an instant and gets the edge when it's time to just hit the gas pedal is unique. Both backs should play, there's no doubt about that, but if one has to be the guy, I'm going with Corum. He finished the day with 14 carries for 111 yards and two total scores.
The defense adjusted
What a concept, right? Early on Western was taking advantage of open flats against Michigan's newly-implemented zone coverages, but defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald saw it, adjusted and shut the short routes down. Daxton Hill also came on a couple of safety blitzes early on, but with WMU quarterback Kaleb Eleby getting rid of it so quickly, it was a worthless attempt. Macdonald recognized that, and shelved the call. Then, later on, when Western was down big, and the down and distance made the offense one dimensional, Macdonald brought it back. That's smart football. Those are the kinds of things we simply didn't see from Don Brown and should encourage fans for the future of what Macdonald's defense can become.
Aidan Hutchinson looks good in his new role
Senior, captain, Hutchinson — those three words pretty much go together at Michigan and today, Aidan showed why. The 6-6, 265-pounder was disruptive hitting the quarterback several times, including once on a strip sack, and also blocked a field goal. He's the emotional leader on defense and really does make a lot of plays. Even while playing the anchor position in Don Brown's defense, Hutchinson had a knack for making splash plays. Now that he's more freed up in Macdonald's scheme, expect those splash plays to increase.
Three Down
Not enough deep shots
I'm nitpicking a little bit here but Western's cornerbacks are not good and I just don't think they were challenged enough. Obviously Michigan didn't need to attack them vertically very much, but they might need that next week against Washington, and the week one tilt against the Broncos would've been the perfect time to work on it. Ronnie Bell did get a few deep looks, but the guys billed as the speedsters — AJ Henning, Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson — did not. A different game likely would've brought on some more aggressive looks, but I was hoping we'd see a little more of that early and often.
The possession before halftime
I was very encouraged by how Michigan approached its final offensive possession before halftime. There was urgency, they were using tempo, there were quick calls and then...nothing. The offensive play calls were vanilla and ineffective and there wasn't even a thought about throwing a pass. That to me, says, "We're fine settling for a field goal." That's not how you instill confidence in your developing quarterback and that's not how you put good teams away. It's not a big deal against Western Michigan, it potentially could be against Washington or during Big Ten play.
Ronnie Bell gets hurt
What. A. Bummer. Just about a week after being named a captain, and just a few snaps after catching a 76-yard touchdown, Ronnie Bell injured his leg during an electric punt return. Bell is a leader, a worker and a damn good football player, so losing him for any stretch of time is a blow to this football team. We don't know what the injury is yet, but Bell was unable to put weight on his leg and had to be carted to the locker room. You never want to see anyone get hurt, but it seems to sting a little bit more when it's a guy like Bell.
