Jansen: Early-Season Schedule Will Be Pivotal For Michigan's Success
In the most recent edition of the AP Top 25 poll, Michigan sits on the list at the No. 20 position (350 points) and could climb even higher without playing a game before facing Minnesota on Oct. 24.
On the other side of that matchup is a Golden Gophers squad that enters the poll at No. 25 (145 points) and is benefiting from the recent return of standout wide receiver Rashod Bateman, a dynamic player that will test a young Michigan secondary to open the year.
While containing Bateman will undoubtedly be a priority for the Wolverines, this year's U-M team will need to focus on several other areas as well in order to come out the other side with a Week 1 victory. Former Michigan OL Jon Jansen spoke with Wolverine Digest to detail the precise recipe that U-M needs to start the season 1-0.
"They can't turn the ball over," Jansen said. "If you've got an inexperienced-- and I'll even use last year for an example-- when you have a new offense, Shea Patterson two years ago was very good at protecting the ball. We played Middle Tennessee and we played Army and have careless turnovers and never got things going on offense. You never create momentum. You keep giving the other team opportunities. If you have Tanner Morgan, you give that offensive line, you give Rashod Bateman, Chris Autman-Bell, the backs that they have, you don't want to give them the ball any more times than the rules allow. So, it's going to be really important with a new quarterback and a new offensive line that even if you don't put together 80-yard drives and come away with a touchdown, you've got to get some first downs. You've got to take some time off the clock. You've got to possess the football. As you start to gain confidence, all of a sudden you do capitalize on some of those."
As Jansen mentions, keeping the football out of Minnesota's possession will surely help increase Michigan's chances of victory, but U-M will have a new starting quarterback, presumably one that goes by the name of Joe Milton. So in his first career start, Milton will have a lot of pressure on his shoulder as he'll play a large role in the Wolverines' success this season, though he is not alone in that respect.
"Hopefully the defense gives the offense good field position, gives them a short field, gives them some momentum," Jansen said. "If it's a turnover or a turnover on downs or just a significant play, go out there and take a show downfield and get an explosive play. Now, all of a sudden you've got things moving and you continue to build confidence and you get some points that way."
One quick way to ensure that confidence is never built, however, is by making careless mistakes at early junctures in games, mistakes that can put Michigan in a deficit from the start. With a rather young and inexperienced squad coming out of Ann Arbor in 2020, playing penalty-free football could dictate just how effective Michigan can be this season.
"We've seen it throughout college football," Jansen said. "We've seen it in the NFL, especially with younger players in the NFL. Without having training camp, without having any preseason games, you see pre-snap penalties by younger guys. That could be an issue for Michigan having a young offensive line, having a young quarterback that you don't want to have those pre-snap penalties. You don't want to give a team like Minnesota and in Week 2 it's Michigan State, even though their roster has turned over and their coaching staff has turned over, but you've got to build confidence. If you give a team in a rivalry game more opportunities, you give them that false sense of hope and confidence, it can bite you a lot of times."
The Big Ten schedule makers did Michigan zero favors by slotting Minnesota on the road for Week 1, and MSU is on the docket right after that game. While the Spartans are expected to have a rebuilding season with a head coach in his first year in Mel Tucker, strange activity pops up in rivalry games, so Michigan cannot take the visiting MSU squad lightly.
Without a non-conference slate to get some players up to speed, the opening portion of Michigan's schedule is as important as in any year past. With a shorter year, the Wolverines will need to be sharp from the start if the Big Ten title is still a goal for the 2020 season.
What will Michigan' record be after the first two weeks of the season? What will be the largest challenge for U-M to overcome this year? Let us know!