It had been a long time coming for the Michigan football run game to take off, but on Saturday against Penn State, it finally happened.
Once the Wolverines inserted Tommy Carr at quarterback, suddenly, the downhill run game started to work. And given that Michigan hadn't had a run over 17 yards previous to Week 7, to have two runs over 40 yards in the second half was a welcome surprise.
Freshman tailback Savion Hiter had a 41-yarder as part of his 11 carries for 78 yards. It was his best run and most prolific game yet, and the former five-star was pleased to finally get a big play in college after having struggled to make the most out of his season before Week 7.
"I feel good, first big run of the season. I'm looking forward to getting more," Hiter
said. "Really just a little crease and I probably had to hit it as fast as I could to get out of there, and I did that."
Still, Hiter feels like he has a lot of work to do, noting that he needs to be better in pass protection. As far as he sees it, that's the one place where he's struggling the most.
"I really got to work on my passing, pass blocking," Hiter said. "That's probably one of my biggest cons, but I feel like (Tony Alford) and Jordan Marshall can help me with that too."
One game aside, Hiter is being a bit harsh on himself about his pass blocking. Against Minnesota, he had a PFF pass blocking grade of 2.9 -- which, to be fair, is abysmal. But every other game, PFF has him in the green, averaging a 73.5 grade when in for pass protection.
But why is it so difficult coming out of high school? After all, Hiter is a former five-star and thought to be the best freshman back in the country.
He says that's because he's being tasked with more than what he had learned or did when he was playing at the lower level. Now, he's having to learn how to block players he wasn't responsible for previously.
"Really, I can say for high school players, you don't really have to pick up linebackers or cornerbacks, cuz they don't really send blitzes like that," Hiter said. "But it's very different from high school to college, and that's probably why a lot of high school players don't really come to college knowing how to pass block."
Hiter will have his hands full on all counts this week as Michigan football hosts Indiana, which has one of the best defensive fronts in the country. The Wolverines and Hoosiers will kick off at noon EDT, with the game set to be broadcast on Fox.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan RB Savion Hiter reveals biggest area he needs to improve
