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ANN ARBOR, me. – Thomas Hammock was not going to mince words when The Big House lost on Saturday: his team were beaten. Sometimes this happens when you come across a scroll saw.
The point is, no one expected Michigan football to be a buzzsaw in 2021. After a dying 2020 campaign, although this particular game had to be the one where the Wolverines had the best chance of decisively winning, Northern Illinois surprised in Week 1, upsetting Georgia Tech before moving closer to Week 2 with Wyoming.
The spread, in betting terms, considered Michigan a 27.5-point favorite, but that gap was long beaten at halftime – then the Wolverines added 28 points in the third quarter alone.
Hammock, the Huskies’ head coach, has been around the corner with strong teams, whether it’s his 11 years of Big Ten experience in Wisconsin and Minnesota, or with the Baltimore Ravens where he spent 5 years in train under John Harbaugh. So, in his eyes, there was no shame in losing to Michigan on Saturday.
“Obviously I spent seven years in the Big Ten and I have a pretty good measure of the level of competition and talent in this conference,” said Hammock. “When I watch the tape, it’s a (dominant) football team. I’m not going to take anything away from them. They beat us solidly in all three phases.
Of course, being at the Mid-American Conference, NIU isn’t exactly up against a row of murderers now that it’s getting into its conference schedule. Its non-conference featured the aforementioned Georgia Tech and Wyoming ahead of the trip to Ann Arbor, and Hammock has made no secret of the fact that Michigan is the best team on its schedule.
“This will be the best team we play against,” said Hammock. “I wouldn’t be surprised, if they stick to the style they play, that they will win a lot of football matches. Obviously, this is a team that we can emulate (in our program) to play physically, intelligently and talented in all three phases. Hats off to them.
The most encouraging thing, at least for Michigan fans? What he saw – both on tape and in Saturday’s game – is that corn and blue are finally building something that can compete with scarlet and gray, in that they do everything in their power now to beat the Buckeyes in November. 27.
And they did it by becoming a physical team that goes first. Prescious given that the Ohio State defense looks the opposite of physical at the moment. The Buckeyes stopped the run for the first time this season against Tulsa, but gave up 428 yards in the air. The 41-20 score didn’t indicate how close OSU’s game against the Golden Hurricane really was.
“I think they built their team to beat Ohio State,” Hammock said. “What I see on the tape, they built their squad to beat Ohio State. You’re not going to beat the Ohio State athlete, so what they said was we’re going to dirty. Thank you to them, because they remain attached to this. “
NIU has had some offensive success via rushing play, racking up 162 rushing yards averaging 4.5 yards per carry. However, he was only able to muster 46 yards in the air – shocking if for no other reason the Huskies are led by Rocky Lombardi, who broadcast him in Michigan State’s surprise 2020 victory.
Hammock felt like he knew how to attack the Wolverines to some extent – which wouldn’t be totally surprising, considering he was on the same Baltimore staff as new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald until he take the NIU job in 2019. But Macdonald’s commitment to keeping offenses guessing seems to be working, even on those who know him most.
“Mike is obviously going to mix things up from week to week,” Hammock said. “They tried to play (Aidan Hutchinson) opposite the tight end, which is different this game. They were obviously trying to set up four open games, had some nice blitz, some blitz patterns that they tried to show that they weren’t showing on the tape. I said these things to our offense. We have tried to minimize it as best we can. Our quarterback did a great job doing protective checks. “
As for Lombardi, while he certainly has no love for Michigan given his tenure at East Lansing, he agrees with his head coach that the Wolverines are above any other team he has seen any. the year.
“They are a very good team,” said Lombardi. “I think you will see throughout the season what this team is capable of. We really moved the ball quite decently in the running game, we had a few chances in the passing game. It wasn’t a terrible game overall, a terrible day for offense. I think there are things we can build on. As Coach Hammock said, they’re hands down the best team we’ll be playing with for the rest of the season.
But why hasn’t NIU attempted to replicate the same game plan that worked so well for Lombardi in 2020? Why not test the corners, throw deep, and let your receiver play?
Lombardi not only spoke about improving corners – Vincent Gray and Gemon Green, the latter of whom had an interception almost returned for a touchdown – but how the defensive scheme puts the defensive backs in a more advantageous position when it comes to big games down. Plus, he was aware Michigan was letting them run the ball, so with a pass basically not an option, they did what they could.
“They’re running a completely different program, first of all,” Lombardi said. “Obviously the scheme is completely different, which helps them a bit. It’s just another year so they just keep improving I’m sure. They look better on film than last year. The diet, like I said, certainly helps them with coverage. They don’t like to give up a lot of deep shots, to answer your deep shot question earlier – they won’t give us that. They weren’t giving us a zero box, so we were able to throw the ball – and we did. Take what you can get.
Northern Illinois game ends Michigan’s non-conference schedule as Big Ten play begins in earnest in Week 4, when the Wolverines host a resurgent Rutgers Scarlet Knights squad who travel to Ann Arbor with a record. from 3-0.
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