ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- One of the big questions that has come out of Michigan football's two straight losses is why it's so adamant about keeping offensive packages featuring the 'rhino,' or sixth offensive lineman. After the loss to Minnesota, Kyle Whittingham said that everything is under reevaluation offensively, leading some to wonder if there will be fewer rhino packages moving forward.
However, while there may be fewer (and that remains to be seen), the package will still be a mainstay of the offense, Whittingham said.
On Monday, after having been asked about the team's insistence on using it, he broke down the positives and the negatives about deploying the rhino, and noted that Jason Beck has long had success deploying it.
"Yeah, it gives
you an extra big body blocker in the run game, which should build dividends in that regard," Whittingham said. "A better pass protector when you throw the ball. So, that's the positives. Those are the positives.
"Negatives, obviously, it's not really a viable pass receiver. So, the defense has one less passing threat. One of these days, we'll throw it to them, but that hasn't happened yet. But that's been a big part of Jason's offenses for a lot of years, and you see it more and more these days throughout college football, not the NFL, but it's showing up at a pretty decent rate in college football."
Whittingham answered, 'Most of it, yes,' when asked if the rhino packages will still be in use. With that, he pointed to Beck's track record, even if it doesn't jibe with the current results. But it's the turnovers that are the issue, he notes, and that that's been the biggest detriment to the offense.
"Jason's offense has been proven through the years as being very productive," Whittingham said. "Good running backs Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter, and it's a run-heavy offense at this point in time, but it's very flexible to go the other way, depending on what we're doing well. Two receivers are playing pretty darn good -- Andrew and JJ. But, again, coming back to turnovers, nothing else matters if you keep losing turnovers. Nothing else matters."
One critique that also keeps coming up is the east-west run game compared to last year's north-south. All offseason, Jason Beck spoke about how he had looked at film from the past two years and was planning on utilizing plays and schemes that the players were already adept at. However, given that the run game has tended to go more toward the perimeter than downhill, there aren't many answers about how much Beck and Whittingham have figured out the best usage for the players they've inherited.
"Yeah, that was a big part of it all along, was watching last year and trying to get a feel for who has what strengths and what they do well. And that's obviously something that Jason -- both Jay and Jason, Jason and Jay, got on the other side of the ball," Whittingham said. "And you want to play to your players' strengths. It's all about players, and particularly your quarterback. And we're still, well, with how we're getting on track.
"After the Iowa game, we had 407 yards, and felt we had taken a step forward. We had taken a step forward. Just a lot yardage-wise. Still not good enough in the turnover game, but it's just you can't panic, and you can't completely change anything because you have one setback, but we did have a setback last game. So, just got to try to keep moving forward."
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham explains why Michigan won't abandon 'rhino' package
