The Wolverine

May 2015 Issue

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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F ootball games are won and lost in the trenches. That's been the Big Ten train of thought for decades, and while spread offenses have infil- trated college football's ver- sion of the black and blue division, even Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer — a master of the spread — would acknowledge the play of his line as critical to his team's recent national title. Former Michigan All-Big Ten safety and Ohio native Marcus Ray is on board with the notion, too. But he noted when discuss - ing what it took to win the Michigan–Ohio State game that it usually came down to difference-makers. "You go back and look at those games when the tal- ent was almost equal," Ray said. "Someone stepped up to win that game. Desmond Howard [1991], Tshi- manga Biakabutuka [1995] and Charles Woodson [1997] for Michigan — Troy Smith [2004-06] and others for Ohio State. Someone is going to step up and make the winning plays in those games." For the majority of the 2000s, it's been someone in scarlet and gray. In six of the last seven years the talent gap has been significantly in OSU's favor, to the point that the Wolverines were decided underdogs. Meyer's crew has obviously proven it can win on the highest level, so to reach its ultimate goal under head coach Jim Harbaugh — a national title — Michigan will have to go through the Buckeyes the way Bo Schembechler and his squads had to for 21 years. The Wolverines won't do it without some upgrades. Elite quarterback play is probably at least two years away, though Iowa gradu - ate transfer Jake Rudock should help win games for a year, and while the running backs were highly recruited, none of them are proven. The biggest concern lies with the pass catchers. The spring scrimmage showed that U-M's receivers re- main a far cry from the trios Michigan produced with regularity from the mid-1980s through 2007. While there's potential in this year's group, not one of the projected starters would have been among the top three — maybe even four — on the 2004 team that featured Braylon Edwards, Jason Avant and Steve Breaston. There were nine dropped passes in this year's spring game, including two by redshirt junior Amara Darboh, U-M's INSIDE MICHIGAN   CHRIS BALAS U-M Needs More Playmakers Redshirt sophomore wide r e c e i v e r J a r o n D u ke s h a u l e d i n a 1 4 - y a r d t o u c h d o w n r e c e p t i o n in the spring game, but the receiving corps as a whole needs to improve. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

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