ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In the first half against Penn State, Michigan football was still trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. The perimeter run game was featured on the first two rushes of the game, and it was prevalent in the early going. As was the usage of the sixth offensive lineman, otherwise known as the 'rhino.' However, when first-year quarterback Tommy Carr came in, there was far more 11 personnel, and nearly every run was downhill.
WolverinesWire asked head coach Kyle Whittingham on Monday about the dichotomy between the playcalling in the first half and the second, and he said he believed it didn't make as much of a difference as it might appear.
"Well, the play calling was, I thought, solid pretty much the entire game," Whittingham
said. "We just had a lot more production from the second half. We went to Tommy, that provided the spark that we were looking for. That was the whole intent of making the changes. We hadn't got much going in the first half, obviously. He had 80 yards total and zero points. And so it was good to see Tommy come in under pretty difficult circumstances for a first-year guy and respond after he settled in the first drive. He was a little unsettled, but then he settled in after that, and we proceeded to -- I think it was 220 yards in the second half, three touchdowns and no turnovers. So a lot of good stuff going on in the second half.
"And the play calling was a part of that. But it always comes down to players and their execution."
The players certainly executed in the second half, coming off, as he noted, just 80 yards total in the first. But the downhill runs paid off, with 174 second-half rushing yards, and 169 of Michigan's 213 rushing yards coming between the guards.
Asked if there was a discernible reason why the run game was able to take off with Carr in the game, Whittingham looked less at the playcalling and more at what Carr is capable of.
"I don't know if it's a coincidence, but Tommy is a very good runner," Whittingham said. "He's deceptively fast. And when you look at the measurables, the short shuttle and the long shuttle, all the things you do at the combine.
"Tommy's numbers are one of the best on the team. Vertical jump. So all his testing numbers really tell you how quick and fast and explosive he is. But he doesn't look like it. He's so smooth. He's a real smooth guy and very efficient with his style.
"And so we realized that he had the two big runs for us. The one that he almost scored on and got down to about the half-yard line. And then the option on the other side where he made a nice fake and cut back and crossed the break and got it easy."
If that's the case (and it's not singularly, but Carr certainly elevated the run game by holding onto the ball longer on run reads), the rushing attack is certainly more formidable with Carr under center. However, it's also crucial -- whether Whittingham admits it publicly or not -- that the Wolverines continue to attack the middle of the defensive front, as that's what it's repeatedly shown it's best at.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham explains Michigan's rushing surge with Tommy Carr
