To start practice every Monday and Tuesday, Michigan football runs a pads-popping drill that pits the offensive line and two tight ends versus the defensive front seven. The running back takes a handoff from the quarterback and gains as many yards as he can. The Wolverines ran the same drill every day this year in fall camp, and they've run it in years past.
"It’s who can block a man and who can get off a block," said Jim Harbaugh. "It’s something that our offensive line and our defensive line have really embraced, when that period comes up."
This year it came with a twist. Traditionally known as the 9-on-7 drill, offensive lineman Trevor Keegan said Monday that Jim Harbaugh renamed it the 'Beat Ohio' drill as Michigan narrows its focus on the Buckeyes after eight straight losses in the final game of the season.
"Now we’re blasting music, smelling salts, everything," Keegan said. "It’s a pretty physical period, and we love it."
Fellow offensive lineman Andrew Stueber said the drill has "always been a period that we take a lot of pride in" and the name change "came along with the whole tradition of, what are you doing to beat Ohio State every day?"
"Just taking that rivalry into focus every day," he said. "I’m not exactly sure when it got changed, but I’m happy it did. It’s definitely brought a lot of energy and passion to that period."
Stueber, Michigan's starting right tackle, called it "a tone-setting drill" that "gets the pads popping and the blood flowing."
"It’s definitely a great way to start practice," he said.
We'll see if it pays dividends when the Wolverines host the Buckeyes Nov. 27. It's certainly paid off through the first two games of the season in which Michigan has dominated on the ground, highlighted by a 343-yard rushing performance last Saturday against Washington.
"That game felt like a 9-on-7 drill," Harbaugh said Monday. "Both teams were trying to turn it into that type of game, and our guys have embraced it and had a lot of practice at it."
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Through two games, the Wolverines have run the ball about three times more often than they've thrown it. The discrepancy was especially wide against Washington: 15 passes (for 44 yards) compared to 56 rushes. That led to some criticism of Michigan's offense for being too conservative, despite the team's 31-10 win -- and Harbaugh made sure to address it on Monday.
"I heard a little bit of noise about why so much running, (are you) going to throw more, that kind of thing," he said. "We all know there’s a lot of ways to travel. Some people choose to travel on the ground, some people by air. George Patton, (a US Army General in World War II), was able to get his job done on the ground. Neil Armstrong, through the air. Last Saturday night, we chose to grind it out on the ground and were also able to get our mission accomplished."
It doesn't get more Harbaugh than that.