At this point in the Michigan football season, it’s no secret that the Wolverines have struggled on offense, in large part due to all the turnovers from redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner.
Michigan coach Brady Hoke has preached Gardner’s faults are as much his own as the team’s. And in that same spirit, he now believes the best way to reduce Gardner’s turnovers may be as simple as establishing a dominant ground game.
“Us running the football, that’s part of it,” Hoke said. “Taking some of the pressure off of him to do everything.”
Fifth-year senior running back Fitzgerald Toussaint has carried the bulk of the load for the Wolverines, rushing for an average of almost 80 yards per game. Gardner may be the backbone of the offense, but when he has difficulty, the Wolverines have to look to the rest of the backs for production. Part of the reason the Wolverines struggled during the first half of the Akron and Connecticut games was because the offensive line couldn’t open enough holes for Toussaint.
Hoke has talked all season about getting some of the other running backs — freshmen Derrick Green and De’Veon Smith and junior Thomas Rawls — more reps during games, but so far, that trio has played sparingly. Green has gained the most rushing yards of the other tailbacks, but that’s still just 60 yards total — 58 of them came against Central Michigan.
Hoke has minimized the number of Toussaint’s reps in practice recently and wants it to translate into a more well-rounded ground game.
“We would love to (lessen Toussaint’s load),” Hoke said. “I think it gives him where he can be fresh, and I think it gives another guy an opportunity, who’s a little different than what Fitz is.”
CHANGE AT CENTER: With the bye sandwiched between the Connecticut game and Michigan’s Big Ten opener against Minnesota, there was some speculation that Hoke would use that time to change up the interior line that has struggled lately.
But as of Monday, there was still no change in the lineup — Hoke said the coaching staff won’t have a decision of what it wants to do with the group until after Tuesday’s practice.
“We wouldn’t have a problem making a change if that’s what we deem we want to do,” Hoke said. “I think we’re at the point where we want to make sure (of our decision), so one more day isn’t going to hurt us.”
The biggest change would come at center. Hoke is flirting with the idea of moving redshirt sophomore left guard Graham Glasgow over to replace redshirt sophomore Jack Miller at center. Then, either redshirt sophomore Chris Bryant or redshirt junior Joey Burzynski would fill in for Glasgow at guard.
A RESTFUL BYE: After Connecticut, Hoke said Gardner was a little banged up. When Michigan returned to practice last week, though, it was nothing to be concerned about.
“We went out (last) Tuesday, and (Gardner) didn’t look sore,” Hoke said. “He may be doing a good job acting because he knows there are lot of guys who are sore out there. It’s just part of it.”
While the rest of the Wolverines recovered from minor bumps and bruises during the bye, redshirt junior linebacker Jake Ryan continues to recover from his torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. Hoke said Ryan is working out the with the team more and more (instead of individual work outs), and that there are plans to get him even more involved over the next few days.