Michigan Football Preview 2017

2017 Michigan Football Preview

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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8 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY JOHN BORTON J on Jansen isn't someone who lives in the past, a na- tional championship in 1997 notwithstanding. He's very much tuned in to the present-day Michigan football team, one he's excited about watching come fall. The former Michigan All-Amer- ican and veteran of a dozen NFL seasons does say one success can relate to another. A member of the Michigan football radio broadcast team, Jansen harkens back to what went right in '97 when consid- ering a game or two that could have gone better in 2016. The title season proved a perfect template, he assured. "That team really solidified my theory of football," Jansen offered. "You've got to have a defense like that to win a na- tional championship. You've got to have a stud defense. You just can't outscore everybody. At some point, your quarterback, your receivers, somebody is going to be out of sync, and you've got to be able to make a stop. "Your offense has to possess the football. They've got to get first downs to give your defense time to rest, so when they go back out there, they are flying around, doing what they can do. "You also can't put your defense in bad situations. You can't turn the ball over on your 5-yard line and tell your defense, 'Hey go out there and don't let them score a touchdown.' They can do that most of the time, but in a game that matters, a team is going to be about to get seven points on the board." Michigan, of course, did turn the ball over deep in its own territory twice in a double-overtime loss at Ohio State. One involved a pick-six, and the other an interception returned inside the U-M 10, which became another TD. Not that the '97 crew was perfect in that respect. Turn- overs in two games put the squad's unblemished mark in jeopardy. "Our offense took advan- tage of what was there," Jan- sen said. "We scored when we had our opportunities to score. Other than the Notre Dame and Iowa games, we possessed the football and gave our de- fense good field position most of the year." As an offensive lineman, closing out games with force is imperative to Jansen. That's where he hopes to see more out of the Wolverines in 2017 and beyond. "It could just be you need to take seven and a half minutes off the clock," he said. "Go out there and do it. I don't even care if you put points on the board. "Last year for Michigan football was a great example. If we had taken time off the clock at the end of the game at Iowa, we would have won that game. Ohio State, if we would have been able to take time off at the end of the game, we would have won that game. "The Michigan State game — I know we won it, but we still couldn't take time off. We could have made it easier. That's what an offense has to do." Jon Jansen Likes The '97 Template For Michigan MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Former Michigan All-American Jon Jansen noted a defense like U-M pos- sessed last year — and is expected to field once again — is required to win it all like his team did in 1997. FILE PHOTO 2018 Date Opponent Sept. 1 at Notre Dame Sept. 8 Western Michigan Sept. 15 SMU Sept. 22 Nebraska Sept. 29 at Northwestern Oct. 6 Maryland Oct. 13 Wisconsin Oct. 20 at Michigan State Nov. 3 Penn State Nov. 10 at Rutgers Nov. 17 Indiana Nov. 24 at Ohio State Dec. 1 Big Ten Championship (at Indianapolis) 2019 Date Opponent Aug. 31 Middle Tennessee State Sept. 7 Army Sept. 21 at Wisconsin Sept. 28 Rutgers Oct. 5 Iowa Oct. 12 at Illinois Oct. 19 at Penn State Oct. 26 Notre Dame Nov. 2 at Maryland Nov. 16 Michigan State Nov. 23 at Indiana Nov. 30 Ohio State Dec. 7 Big Ten Championship (at Indianapolis) Non-Conference Opponents 2020: Sept. 5 at Washington Sept. 12 vs. Ball State Sept. 19 vs. Virginia Tech 2021: Sept. 11 at Virginia Tech Sept. 18 vs. Washington 2022: Sept. 10 vs. UCLA 2023: Sept. 2 at UCLA 2024: Aug. 31 vs. Texas 2025: Sept. 6 at Oklahoma 2026: Sept. 12 vs. Oklahoma 2027: Sept. 4 at Texas FUTURE MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULES

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