'Bench' Mason Lifts Wolverines With Three-TD Game
9/23/2018 4:31:00 PM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Ben Mason sports a Mowhawk and goes heavy on the eye black on game days. Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 258 pounds, he casts an imposing, even menacing, figure.
"I think this guy was just made to be a fullback," University of Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said after moving Mason from linebacker to the backfield last year.
Mason ran for three touchdowns in Saturday's (Sept. 22) 56-10 win over Nebraska, and the hard-hitting sophomore is making that switch look good. Not that he would not have worked out at outside linebacker, where ESPN rated him the No. 29 prospect nationally after playing both ways at Newtown (Conn.) High.
He would be a success wherever grit and getting dirty bring results.
Mason is old school in every way, even with the pregame music pulsating through his headphones.
"I listen to pretty soft music before the games," Mason told me. "I'm a big Creedence Clearwater (Revival) guy. My favorite Creedence song? Probably 'Up Around The Bend.'"
The chorus sung by John Fogerty rings through his head:
"Come on the rising wind
We're going up around the bend
Yeeaahhh!"
Mason paused to ponder his song selection.
"Actually, I was listening to 'Born on the Bayou' today," he noted. "That's probably my favorite Creedence song. I really like classic rock, but I like all types of music."
Mason wears the Mohawk favored by NFL Hall of Fame running back John Riggins in the 1970s, when he also rode a motorcycle and painted his toenails in team colors. Plenty of players have buzzed the sides of their heads for that look, but what sets Mason apart is the age at which he started wearing it.
"I actually have had this ever since I was 6 years old," said Mason. "I do it every single football season. It's something my brother, Dan Mason, a senior running back/linebacker at Newtown, also does now."
When asked if he might copy the haircut, Wolverine offensive guard Ben Bredeson laughed, saying, "Absolutely not. We go to the same barber shop, but there's no way I'm doing that."
Blocking for him is another matter.
Bredeson added, "He's a hard-hitting kid and a very smart football player. He puts absolutely everything he has into every single play, and as a lineman we love that. We love seeing our backs trying to finish their runs. That makes us smile. Ben never stops his feet. He got stuffed a little bit on the goal line today, and was able to roll off it and walk in. He's a tough kid and we love blocking for him."
He scored three first-half touchdowns against the Cornhuskers.
The first came on the third of his three consecutive runs covering nine yards, culminating with the one-yard run up the middle.
"It felt good to get in the end zone and put the first points on the board on the first drive," said Mason. "It's how you want to start the game."
Then he went untouched -- a unique experience for a guy who runs like a bull taking on Pamplona -- for a four-yard score in a double-tight end formation with Zach Gentry and Sean McKeon sealing off the right side for him.
"That hole was huge," said Mason. "The tight ends did an absolutely phenomenal job setting the edge there, and the offensive line, too. They really moved their men back."
His third TD displayed great second-effort with push and legs that would not stop until he got the one yard required to score. Wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, who used a 360-degree spin move on a 60-yard punt return touchdown against the Cornhuskers, scored three receiving touchdowns the previous game (Sept. 15 vs. Southern Methodist). He welcomed Mason to the Triple TD club on the sideline.
"He held up three fingers after scoring three last week," said Mason. "So, he held up three fingers to me, and I held up three fingers back."
Mason said Harbaugh told him at mid-week "that they need me to run the ball a little bit" against Nebraska, and he responded with short-yardage success and six carries for 18 yards -- even lining up some as the lone back for the first time.
When asked about the reason for using Mason more, Harbaugh said, "Inertia was the main factor in the decision. When he gets going, I think he's 258 pounds. He gets moving fast, and he's running hard. He's got talent and ability. Talk about a physical player, and he is known as that on our team already."
He's also known as "Bench."
"They call Ben Mason, 'Bench' Mason," said Harbaugh. "I'd be complimented if I heard that."
It's connected to his bench press prowess.
"I've had the nickname since high school," said Mason, "and it ended up carrying over here."
What is Mason's top bench press lift?
"The most I ever did for max was 440 pounds in high school," said Mason.
How many times has he pumped 225 pounds in succession?
"Thirty reps," said Mason.
Last year, at the NFL Combine, Saquon Barkley and Nick Chubb shared the running back lead with 29 apiece. And to think Mason, still 19, is only going to get stronger.
"The weight room is just a supplement to all the other things," stressed Mason. "You can be strong in the weight room and not be a good football player, and vice versa. It helps out, but it's not a defining factor. So much goes into preparation like nutrition, study habits in football and outside it, and just the way you carry yourself."
There's a Bunyanesque quality to Mason, who was a Parade All-American at Newtown High, as well as Connecticut's Gatorade Player of the Year and the USA Today's Defensive Player of the Year in Connecticut.
It comes as no surprise that he was also a great linebacker for the Nighthawks, and that Wolverine defensive coordinator Don Brown said at first glance: "He plays with tremendous attitude."
How did the offensive coaches get him away from Dr. Blitz?
Mason said, "I think that -- I enrolled here early and did the spring at linebacker -- and after the spring, a couple of the running backs wanted me to play fullback. So, we tried it out and it ended up working out."
He learned much from Khalid Hill and Henry Poggi, the fullbacks he played with and behind as a freshman in 2017.
"Khalid and Henry were great influences on me," said Mason. "Both were very successful but brought different elements to the fullback position, which was cool to see. They helped me make the transition from linebacker and I'm very thankful."
New running backs coach Jay Harbaugh has been a great mentor for Mason this season.
"I love Jay," said Mason. "He's my guy. From a schematic and technical standpoint, what he's done for me is phenomenal. He's really great at teaching us and making sure we know our assignments."
Ask a teammate or coach about Mason, and they smile before describing him in ways they do not describe other players.
Graduate assistant coach Patrick Kugler, the starting center last season: "He's an interesting guy. He's a meatball, meathead type guy."
And what kind of guy is that?
"He likes benching and eating raw meat," said Kugler. "He's a physical guy. He goes 100 percent every play. He's just looking to take off heads, and that's what you like in your fullback. That's kind of what their job is."
Tailback Karan Higdon: "It's Ben Mason. He's a wrecking ball! There's an animal. He's a complete animal, the complete package. A lot of times, you've got to tell Ben to calm down. He's one of those guys where it's like, 'Holy cow! Every play? Are you kidding me? Every play?' He's tremendous, and I love running behind that."
Mason explained: "I always try to play with a controlled rage. I'm actually a pretty calm football player."
Wolverine offensive tackle Jon Runyan said Mason's definitely focused.
"Once Ben has his sights locked on something," said Runyan, "he's not going to miss. So, when he gets that ball, like the first touchdown, there's no way he's not getting into the end zone.
"It's just like when he's blocking, and he has his target locked on someone. He's either destroying them or he's going to whip on them. He's a real awesome player to have on our team."
Mason helps turn the mental tide in games.
"There was a point in the (Nebraska) game where I, in pre-snap, I was reading the defense," Mason said. "And I looked into some of their eyes, and they just looked a little bit defeated.
"You can tell, you get a feeling."
They had been Masonized.
