ronnie bell edge obliterator

Previously: Podcast 14.0A, 14.0B, 14.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back

WIDE RECEIVER: OLIVERS TWIST WANT SOME MORE TARGETS

RATING: 5

Depth Chart

Sometimes not knowing where to start is a problem. Like, you know, the Rodriguez-era secondary where you didn't know where to start because everybody left the damn team.

Sometimes not knowing where to start is because there's a guy who looked like Braylon Edwards in one game and a guy who blazed past Ohio State's secondary and a guy who legitimately runs a 4.3, and then there's another one of those guys, and then you're getting back a guy who led the team in receiving yards for two straight years. Oh, and there are tight ends. And a running back.

This is less of a problem.

THE MANS. MENS? WE'LL WORKSHOP IT. WA'LL WORKSHOP IT? ANYWAY

zip zap zippity blad I have a touchdown now you're sad [Patrick Barron]

We'll start with Cornelius Johnson because there's more to say of recent vintage. With Bell's injury, Johnson emerged into Michigan's #1 receiver with 39 catches for 620 yards. That doesn't sound like all that much for a #1 receiver, but Michigan put up 42 points on Ohio State by throwing once in the second half. In that context it's a minor miracle anyone threw the ball at all.

Johnson did this in a slightly unusual way for a strapping 6'2" guy: with route artisanship. This first really popped in the Indiana game, where he turned a Hoosier DB 360 degrees and would have had an easy touchdown if JJ McCarthy hadn't gotten lit up on the throw.

This pass isn't complete, but THIS is how a receiver gets open. Excellent route that gets the DBs shoulders turned. pic.twitter.com/UhPw5Nr6r7

— Due# (@JDue51) November 7, 2021

He did catch a bomb later after slickly selling that corner route and turning into a go.

Those two occurrences weren't the first time Johnson had torched someone. People first got hyped about him giving future ND safety and first round pick Kyle Hamilton the business during his high school All-Star game, and in the opener he got open by five yards on an 87-yard touchdown. They were a tipping point, though. Going over Seth's UFR's from last year the sheer number of Johnson (route+) events really leaps out.

For the first time in nearly two full years, Michigan Football played host to an opponent at Michigan Stadium with fans in the stands. The roster looks significantly different than it did in 2019: out are some of the larger receivers of the Pep/Drevno era and in are an army of smaller, lightning quick skill position players, hand-picked by Josh Gattis to fulfill his oft-mocked promise of Speed In Space. Today was probably the closest to Speed In Space that we've gotten at Michigan, with the players picked to fill the scheme finally executing the scheme. This game was theirs. 

Blake Corum stole the show first. The flashes of brilliance were there last season but today we saw the fully optimized Corum, the blazing speed dusting tacklers and his meaty thighs the size of car tires giving him the strength to break tackles, should opponents get a hand on him. Corum busted an 18 yard run on the opening drive and then finished the possession catching a swing pass and taking it 14 yards to the house. Then to begin the second drive, Corum took the kickoff back to the Western Michigan 21. He had a 30 yard TD run later in the game too, and finished with 111 yards on 14 carries, and 22 yards on 2 catches, with 2 total TD's. Corum's presence has been announced and the B1G has been put on notice. 

Hassan Haskins was his usual self, too. 13 carries for 70 yards and a TD, which he scored on a 22-yard run. Michigan's OL was only occasionally able to regularly open holes (their best moments were on the last possession of the first half), but most of the time, it didn't matter. Haskins' strength and Corum's speed allowed both guys to generate yards on the ground with ease. As the game went along and was firmly in hand, Gattis began to unveil more of the slot menaces who terrorized Western Michigan in brief appearances. Roman Wilson had a 43 yard rush around the edge and AJ Henning took an end-around 74 yards to the house. Give those guys space, and they will give you the speed. 

Cade McNamara got the start for the Maize & Blue, as expected. He went 9/11 through the air, and his only two incompletions were passes batted down at the line by star WMU defensive tackle Ralph Holley. McNamara looked calm, made the simple plays, and delivered two excellent deep balls down the field, both of which were caught by Ronnie Bell. The first was a spectacular one-handed catch negated by a brutal offensive pass interference call. The second went for 76 yards and a TD. Michigan's offense has rarely been stellar at generating explosive plays under Jim Harbaugh. That was not the case today, as talent beat lesser talent, and skill position players showed out. 

McNamara threw it quite a bit early, but then Michigan snagged a solid lead and were getting chunks on the ground at will and so they felt little need to make McNamara work. He was lifted for heralded true freshman QB JJ McCarthy with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. McCarthy's possessions were overall mediocre due to leaky 2nd team OL play and drops, but the young QB looked confident and then showed us all why he's the future for Michigan at QB. On a third and long, McCarthy evaded a rusher, rolled to his right, and then delivered a strike to Daylen Baldwin who had a step on a CB and took it to the end zone. The ball traveled over 35 yards in the air and in total was a 69 yard passing TD. The talent oozes out of the young QB. 

Pictured: a guy who also had a good game [Bryan Fuller]

Defensively, things started shaky. Michigan's new-look secondary appeared leaky in zone, ceding short passes too easily. WMU marched down the field 75 yards for a TD on their first drive to even the score at 7. They would not score again until the 2nd teamers were on the field. Michigan's blitzes began to get home, and Aidan Hutchinson was dominant, four tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. As the game went on, Kaleb Eleby struggled to have time to throw and that shut down several once-promising Western possessions. 

Defensive tackle play came and went for Michigan, but where issues emerged, the edge players were often able to make up for it. Cornerbacks generally were alright, and when problems popped up, they were related to zone, as opposed to players getting toasted. Dax Hill was the standout in the secondary, leading Michigan with 6 tackles, flashing his freakish closing speed and dominant in sniffing out plays in the flat. 

Special teams play was generally strong, but with a major disappointment. Jake Moody made his lone FG and was perfect on PAT's, Brad Robbins looked solid when needed to punt, the coverage units were strong, Michigan blocked Western's lone FG attempt, and Blake Corum had the aforementioned kick return. The main problem was Ronnie Bell getting injured on a return, an injury that appeared to be quite bad. He did not return, and our photographer Patrick Barron reported that Bell was in a wheelchair on the sideline. That will be a big loss if he has to miss extended time. 

Michigan advances to 1-0, while WMU drops to 0-1. Michigan hosts Washington next Saturday in a big week two matchup at the Big House at 8:00 pm. There is no content after the jump. 

SPONSOR NOTE: Upon Further Review is sponsored by HomeSure Lending and Matt Demorest. Rates are the lowest they've been in three years so it can't hurt to check whether you can save money on a refinance. Or you could buy a house in Ann Arbor! Good luck with that!

Matt's relocated the bus to Pioneer this year, BTW, and invites everyone to stop by and say hi. There's beer. I mean, obviously. Matt. Matt and beer: a good pairing.

FORMATION NOTES: Michigan had a couple unusual things. Here's a pistol diamond formation:

This covers up the slot WR and somewhat limits your options. Michigan had three snaps out of this, all runs, and got 5, 3, and 1 yard, although I think Michigan execution was the problem on the one-yard run. There were also three wildcat snaps.

These were minor deviances. The larger news is that MSU safeties are no longer your, uh, older brother's Michigan State safeties. At no point did MSU stick both guys at eight yards. Frequently they were outright conservative with their positioning:

Safeties at 13 and 15 yards on second and eight; no coincidence that this play was the easy RPO slant for Collins.

Michigan ran a lot more fullback stuff in this game than the RB/WR/TE charting below suggests because I glossed over some Ben Mason snaps when he was in a wing TE spot. Not that there's a huge difference between Mason and McKeon in terms of what a play might accomplish. But FWIW.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: One snap for McCaffrey; RB was again about equal between Haskins and Charbonnet with Wilson getting a bunch of snaps late. Mason is back at FB/TE full time and got ~20 snaps. TE usage was reduced, with only a few 2 TE snaps. McKeon got the bulk of the work.

Now-standard 4 WR rotation has Sainristil vying to make it 5—he got about 20 snaps himself. Jackson got a few.

Vastardis got 5 snaps replacing Ruiz on one drive. Hayes got a few bonus OL snaps and then the final drive at RT.

[After THE JUMP: speed in space]