During his first two years as a Wolverine, Mike Shaw spent a lot of time waiting.

Despite some carries here and there in his freshman and sophomore seasons, the junior running back had never been featured in Michigan’s offense, garnering 400 total yards in that span behind since-departed running backs Brandon Minor and Carlos Brown.

Those 400 yards led all current Michigan running backs before the season, making him the veteran back in a crowded backfield. But that begs the question: Why hasn't he been on the field more often before now?

“I’ve seen a mature guy (in Shaw) who’s not guessing or thinking, just playing,” running backs coach Fred Jackson said before the season. “Because a lot of times, you get a guy with a lot of talent and they’re thinking. It’s like Anthony Thomas as a freshman. People telling me, ‘Oh, he’s never going to play. He doesn’t have this, he don’t have that.’ That was just because he was thinking.”

Expectations remained high for Shaw, but eligibility issues all summer caused him and the Michigan coaching staff to have to wait even longer.

He missed a few practices in fall camp to shore up his academics, but he watched film of the practices he missed to keep himself on track to becoming a featured Big Ten back — his goal all along.

“I could see (sophomore running back) Vince (Smith) run the same play I would’ve run and maybe see what I would do differently and see what the o-line was doing, things like that.”

In the spring, Shaw realized that he would have to bulk up to handle a full load in the Big Ten conference schedule, ridden with powerful defensive front seven’s. So he added 20 pounds between then and week one, bringing his weight up to a respectable 195.

“Brandon Minor was a big back at 215,” Shaw said. “Carlos Brown was a big guy at 205. There’s never been a running back in the Big Ten to be successful at 175. It’s a long season and we’ve got a lot of talented backs on the team, but I don’t want to be one-and-done. If I want to be a guy who gets my name called, I have to be ready when the time comes.”

That time was last week against Connecticut, when Shaw got his first start in the backfield for the Wolverines, running for 48 yards on 15 carries, including a powerful touchdown run which Shaw described as “violent and angry” running.

Rodriguez said all offseason that he expects four or five of the team’s running backs to contribute on offense this year. But in Michigan’s 30-10 victory it was Shaw and Smith who carried the full load, along with sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson and his record-setting, 197-yard rush performance.

With the way the Wolverine offense was working against the Huskies though, Shaw said he would happily share carries the rest of the season, even if it's with two or three other backs.

“That’s one thing we weren’t expecting, to rotate like we did,” Shaw said. “But when we did, there was no drop off. One back is good, but when you have two backs that can do equal damage, both being productive and both with fresh legs, it’s gonna help (our) defense in the long run.”

That rotation is something Shaw and the rest of the crowded backfield will have to get used to all season. Even though Shaw and Smith were the only two to receive carries last Saturday, Rodriguez remained adamant that he expects to use more than two.

Shaw also acknowledged that Robinson is like a third running back in the Michigan backfield. According to Shaw, Robinson’s presence will only help the Wolverine ball carriers in the future as teams are forced to key on the speedy signal caller.

“Anybody can get a big run in this offense, it’s so spread out,” Shaw said. “When teams start keying into Denard, maybe it’ll open up things more for everybody else. As of Sept. 4, it was the Denard show, and I had no problem being a part of the supporting cast.”

He may be waiting to get the ball at times this year, but the Michigan coaching staff won’t have to wait for Shaw to make an impact on the field any longer.