Kornacki: How the Wolverines Beat the Badgers at Their Own Game
10/14/2018 9:12:00 AM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson saw an opportunity to do something great, and he grabbed it. He ran down the left sideline for 81 yards to light a fire under his team and continued beating Wisconsin with his strong arm, quick feet and sharp decisions.
Make no mistake about it. Patterson was the star of the No. 12 Wolverines' 38-13 win over the No. 15 Badgers Saturday night (Oct. 13) at Michigan Stadium.
However, the defense also showed up big under the spotlight, holding Wisconsin well under its average of 491 yards with 283.
But there's also no denying that the emergence of the Wolverine ground game in the second half was what assured there wouldn't be a comeback by a very talented opponent. The Badgers have several offensive linemen who should be playing in the NFL next fall, and tailback Jonathan Taylor came in as the nation's leading rusher.
Michigan tailback Karan Higdon outgained Taylor by four yards despite a slow start. Higdon had seven carries for 11 yards in the first half. He carried eight times for 94 yards in the second half and kick-started a running game that had 32 carries for 237 yards (7.4 per attempt) after getting two yards on the 15 carries other than Patterson's long run in the first half.
"Credit to our O-line," said Higdon. "We've got the best O-line in the country, and it's a pleasure running behind those guys."
New offensive line coach Ed Warinner said it would take four or five games for his blockers to jell as a unit, and the improvement has been evident on a weekly basis. But the group needed to show its stuff against a quality opponent, and it did. They paved the way for a season-high 320 yards rushing in this one.
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said they took to running more "C gap" plays around the tackles and focused on calling what have been their six best running plays over and over.
"Our guys were doing a great job up front," said Harbaugh. "I can't think of any missed assignments, penalties, nothing. The guys really did a job up front today."
They kicked it into high gear after halftime.
"We had some outstanding second-half adjustments," said offensive guard and co-captain Ben Bredeson. "It's a credit to Coach (Ben) Herbert and his (strength and conditioning) staff and Coach Warinner changing the culture in the offensive line room. We really felt like we grinded them down throughout the game, and the run game really clicked in the second half.
"We switched up some blocking techniques and how they were playing it -- especially on some of the outside zone stuff. ... And I felt as an offensive line, we did a great job of finishing this game."
McCaffrey (10) celebrates his first career touchdown with linemen Runyan (75) and Bredeson.
Higdon finished with 105 yards rushing, and Patterson had 90 as Wolverine quarterbacks combined to run for 156 yards. Dylan McCaffrey had a 44-yard touchdown run, and freshman Joe Milton had 22 yards on two carries.
Michigan (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) ran inside and outside to out-rush Wisconsin by a 320-183 margin. Taylor rushed for 101 but was well under his 169.8-yard average. He was limited to six carries for 22 yards after halftime.
"This was more of a personal game for us," said co-captain Higdon. "A lot of people have a lot of questions about who we are as a team: our offensive line, our running game, we don't show up in big games. I think we laid that to rest today.
"I think we came out and made some great adjustments and got the job done. There's no further question that we have the best offensive line in the country."
What adjustments did Higdon make at the half?
"We knew that they were pressing hard up front," said Higdon. "Their D-line did some things like slanting, line games, and seeing how fast the linebackers are feeling. As running backs, we work on cutting back a ton.
"And I knew that the way they were playing, they had to be over-pursuing. So, I tried to cut back, and I tasted a little blood. So, I went for more, and it busted open. I just trusted my O-line and trusted my technique."
There was an electricity in the air that the crowd of 111,360 created as their team was rolling to a 25-6 advantage in the second half -- running on the Badgers the way Wisconsin was supposed to run on them.
"One of the biggest things is finishing games," said Higdon. "That's one of the things we took pride in working on for this season, and we knew we had to dominate up front and in the backfield, and we got the job done."
Bredeson noted, "We've been in those big games, and I've personally seen us not be able to finish them. That was a big focus for us this off-season, changing the culture in the offensive line room that we're going to finish game."
Harbaugh said the offensive linemen are "all playing the best football, and they're playing really well together."
The Wolverines invited their top former offensive linemen to be honorary captains for the pregame coin flip. First team All-America or All-Big Ten selections, five-year NFL players and former captains were the criteria, and 28 were on the field.
"It was incredible to see," said Bredeson. "They were able to stop by practice on Friday, and I got a little time to talk to them. You really see the tradition that this place has as a program, and especially from an offensive line standpoint.
"Just seeing the support that all the former players have for us and the support they are giving us, it's very humbling. It makes you so much more confident knowing you have all these greats behind you watching you every week, rooting for you. To have them out there for this game, and for the offensive line to have a great day and do what we were able to do, it was the only way we could say thank you to them."
Warinner, who was in charge of the offensive line and a coordinator at Ohio State when it won a national championship in 2014, has made a marked difference.
"Coach Warinner has done an outstanding job," said Bredeson, who also credited the other "great minds" who are analysts and graduate assistants for the line. "Coach Warinner's been around and has had some success. He knows what it takes to win, and he came in and showed us what we needed to do.
"And we took it upon ourselves that we wanted to be a dominant group this year -- a group that can really carry the team."
They also have the quarterback to lead them in big games. Patterson threw 21 times for 124 yards and ran nine times for 90 yards.
"I thought he did a heck of a job all night with his fakes, with his ball-handling, with his running ability, with all facets," said Harbaugh.
Patterson's ball-handling on play fakes has made for some big passing plays, but the one he made early in the second quarter ended up having an interesting benefactor: Patterson himself.
He stuck the ball into Chris Evans' gut to sell an inside run, and nearly every Badger went with Evans.
Surprise!
Patterson kept the ball and quickly reached the left sideline, ball tucked under his left arm and right arm churning. He nearly made it to the end zone but was pushed out of bounds by cornerback Rachad Wildgoose at the five-yard line.
It was an 81-yard run, the second longest by a Wolverine quarterback. Denard Robinson's 87-yard touchdown gallop against Notre Dame in 2010 was the only one longer.
"That was surprising," said Patterson. "I didn't know it was going to open up that way. But, yeah, I kind of ran out of gas at the 10- or five-yard line. I thought I could've cut back and made him miss, but that was an adrenaline rush. ... That's the only 80-yard run I've had in my entire life."
Patterson's 81-yard run on the first play of the second quarter set up U-M for its first score.
Patterson's deft ball-handling and option decisions make it all work.
"Shea's really good, really effective," said Harbaugh. "He's really seeing things well in terms of all the reads and did a great job in his preparation, and he was running good. He was really throwing it good tonight. But the running game was so effective that we kept coming back to it."
The "Block M" unit shined under the lights.
Harbaugh said, "Each player -- (Jon) Runyan, Bredeson, (center) Cesar (Ruiz), (guard) Mike Onwenu, Juwann Bushell-Beatty -- they're all playing the best football, and they're playing really well together.
"Karan did a great job -- got some cracks and took through them and finished them with effective runs. ... And back to the guys up front. They were really on their assignments the entire night. They were very physical."
It all made for a "fun" and rewarding night.
"I couldn't be more thankful for my O-line," said Patterson, who took to sitting with them after one touchdown. "And the run game really adds another dimension to our offense and our team as a whole.
"Seeing the progression of our offensive line every week is really good to see, and it was a lot of fun. I had all day back there. ... Karan, he's our horse. He's our leader on the team on offense and we follow him. He sets the tone and it opens up everything else."
Or was it Patterson who opened things up for Higdon and the running game?
When you ask questions like that, you've got a good thing going.
"I think it was a statement game," Patterson said. "We kind of take it to 'em a little bit and didn't just win, we kind of dominated them. We wanted to make a statement and keep attacking every single week."
