Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • C7

FREEP.COM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018 7C College football The process was always going to be a fasci- nating one. When Shea Patterson decided to leave Ole Miss for Michigan this he did so with an understanding that part of his game was going to have to adapt to into the basic principles of Jim On the other side, when Harbaugh decided to pursue Patterson, head coach and his knew the basic principles of his were going to have to adapt to the natural gifts owned by his new starter. Everything, at some point, was going to have to meet in the middle. the spring, we sure where (Pat- eligibility quest) was going to end up so we able to commit all the reps to one Michigan line coach Ed Wa- rinner said earlier this month. Shea was cleared.

We went through the summer and training camp, he rose to the top and won the job. We sure what direction to go (at were kind of, I say all over the place, but very diverse on in the spring not really knowing where it might In hindsight, this may have been a good thing. Because eight weeks into the season, Mich- igan has found the center point of scheme, strengths and how all of it blends together in a diverse, multi-faceted of- fensive system that suddenly looks to be on the verge of something very promising. Harbaugh came to Michigan with a reputa- tion for power football. Everything about the was West-Coast based and rooted in a traditional pro-style system.

On the ground, it was gap-based blocking schemes from heavy personnel packages that centered around big, powerful linemen who were strong enough to win one-on-one blocks and savvy enough to handle multiple checks in real time. The pass concepts featured tight ends and timing-based staples. Ball control under- neath. Formational shifts to make the simple look complex. Take small chunks and eventu- ally turn those into drives and points.

Patterson, of course, came from a no-hud- dle, spread system that relied heavily on run-pass option, zone-read and, well, zone-everything. Warinner also comes from a zone background. simpler. easier to understand. concepts block all Warin- ner says.

When relying heavily on gap plays, as Michigan did in 2017, attacking one spot. You, as an choose a gap and at- tack it to create a hole. not much for the defense to think about. man vs. man.

If your is powerful and savvy and experi- enced? No problems. In college, not al- ways easily achieved. Zone schemes force defenses to defend multiple gaps at once on any given play. The idea is to stretch the line of scrimmage and pop several gaps along the front, giving the back an opportunity to make his own decision and forc- ing defenses to adjust on the When you pull all this and your quarter- back has the ability to not only run but also han- dle the football and make reads in real time, then got something going. came in already really good at that part of the game.

But it does take a lot of said Harbaugh, whose is rushing for 212.8 yards per game while throwing for 207.6 yards. more time on task, getting better at it. And been a real weapon for in 2018 has morphed into one of the more unique blends in college football right now. The Wolverines have the ability to switch from spread zone-read concepts to dou- ble tight end, double fullback iso plays without missing a beat. All of West-Coast passing looks are still at his disposal.

So is the power game. But schematic balance now also of- fers a variety of edge plays that take advantage of mobility. not the fastest play- er in the country, but fast enough. And when Michigan went for the win Saturday at Michigan State, it went into the zone-read well. Dylan backup and possibly the future of in some way or another, might be faster than he is.

True freshman Joe Milton, all 234 pounds of him, can run. Incoming 4-star quarterback commit Cade McNamara is physically similar of Patterson. Harbaugh will keep his fullbacks, tight ends and power pieces. But if he continues to incor- porate mobility under center (and in a pistol-style his will continue to become more diverse, less predictable and a unique blend of power and space. the quarterbacks) see that this is tive.

When you see another good player doing something, it always (makes you) emulate that and try to (get as good at it as you Har- baugh said of quarterback reads in the run game. are coming in (with that skill set), coming in from high school. really good at it and so is Joe. Brandon (Peters) is good at it, too. working on it and we mind peo- ple knowing Adjustments have been made and the proc- ess is happening.

And, for Michigan, working. Contact Nick Baumgardner: nbaum- Follow him on Twitter MICHIGAN Multi-faceted becoming a weapon Nick Baumgardner Detroit Free Press USA TODAY NETWORK Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson, left, came from a no-huddle, spread system. KIRTHMON F. FREE PRESS Next up: Nittany Lions Matchup: No. 17 Penn State (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) at No.

5 Michigan (7-1, 5-0). Kickoff: Time TBA, Nov. 3, Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor. TV TBA; WWJ-AM (950), WTKA-AM (1050). EAST LANSING While Purdue enters Sat- game against Michigan State with the No.

6 passing attack in the nation and plenty of the MSU defense has honed in on one particular threat: freshman Rondale Moore. Moore shined in 49-20 blowout victory over Ohio State with 12 receptions for 170 yards and two touchdowns. The exclama- tion point on the victory came on a 43-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. Pro Football Focus College ranks him as one of the top true freshmen in the country. He is not just a dangerous receiver, but con- tributes as a punt and kick returner.

His versa- tility helped him gain a school-record 313 all- purpose yards in his college debut against Northwestern. playmaking style will be a major roadblock for MSU. a cream of the crop player, best of the best-type safety Khari Willis said of Moore. brings a lot of challenges. You just try to get him on the ground, try to prevent him from making catches, just like we do a lot of other Moore is a favorite target of quarterback Da- vid Blough, who went 25-of-43 against Ohio State for 378 yards and three touchdowns.

He was named Big Ten player of the week for his performance. Blough and Moore have been major contrib- utors in the four-game winning streak. Purdue, which averages 337.6 passing yards a game, has scored at least 30 points in all four of their games since starting 0-3. a good linebacker Joe Ba- chie said of Purdue. got weapons on the outside, they got a good slot receiver, (Moore), he kind of does it all for them.

Two good run- ning backs, playing well for them right now. They got rolling a little bit. going to try and stop that And while Blough likely run the ball like Penn Trace McSorley, he presents a set of challenges. want to try to embrace the challenge, embrace the Willis said of fac- ing strong passing games. a team that put up a lot of points.

explosive, lot of big plays. We try to limit those as much as pos- Moore, once a highly-ranked recruit, turned heads when he committed to Purdue after origi- nally committing to Texas. At 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds, he often plays as a slot receiver in the Boilermaker Purdue gets the ball to Moore in several ways: passes, jet-sweep runs and on special teams. also be given the ball in the with a chance to create in the open And after allowing 395 total yards to Michi- gan, the Spartans will look to regroup against a dangerous Purdue week is over, pretty much out of my mind at this Willis said on Tuesday. forward to playing Purdue.

an explosive Their quarterback is playing great, has some great targets at receiver. And so a challenge. Not only for myself, but for our MICHIGAN STATE tall task: Slowing Purdue receiver Moore Souichi Terada Special to Detroit Free Press USA TODAY NETWORK Rondale Moore had 12 receptions for 170 yards and two touchdowns against Ohio State. THOMAS J. TODAY SPORTS The Big Ten issued a $10,000 to Michi- gan State and publicly reprimanded the uni- versity, football coach Mark Dantonio, the University of Michigan and coach Jim Har- baugh for their actions during and after Sat- urday pregame confrontation at Spartan Stadium.

are fortunate the series of events that occurred prior to the Michigan-Michigan State game did not escalate into a much more seri- ous league commissioner Jim Delany said in a statement. traditions hold great importance on our campuses, traditions do not supersede the values of good sports- manship or the requirement for player safety. We expect more from our coaches, students and administrators and will continue to work with our institutions to prioritize good sports- manship moving League determined MSU violated the Big Ten Sportsmanship Policy by walking across the with linked arms initiated contact with multiple members of team who were legitimately on the during pregame according to a conference release. The monetary was due to this. Dantonio was reprimanded failing to take action to mitigate a foreseeable from Dantonio was on the with his team, as is always the case with pregame walk.

The league reprimanded Michigan line- backer Devin Bush for his conduct, which in- cluded grinding his cleats repeatedly into the logo and yelling at MSU players. Jim Harbaugh also received a reprimand for his comments made about the incident, Dan- tonio and the Spartans during press confer- ences on Saturday and Monday. The Big decision possibly puts an end to the pregame incident. On Monday, Harbaugh told reporters that he called MSU last week to see when the Spar- tans would do their pregame walk so that U-M be on the MSU on Wednesday published the 9:45 a.m. walk from Kellogg Center on its game day information website.

A tweet from football account on Fri- day included the time and other impor- tant times. The Spartan Walk which is in public and weaves past fans and tailgaters begins at the team hotel along a walking path, then crosses over a bridge behind Kellogg Center past soccer, baseball and softball be- hind Jenison Field House. It continues around The Spartan statute on Kalamazoo Street, then bends down Red Cedar Road and turns right into the stadium parking lot. Players then through the tunnel on the north side of Spartan Stadium into the end zone. According to an interactive MSU campus map, the walk is 0.7 miles and takes approxi- mately 15 minutes.

The Spartan Walk is separate from the pregame tradition on the inside the stadium, which is closed to the public. This is when the confrontation between U-M and MSU players happened. A Free Press photo shot with a 10 a.m. time stamp showed approximately eight Michigan players scattered across the warming up individually along with a number of the support at various yard lines. The Wol- verines had been stretching and jogging indi- vidually for about 10 minutes prior to that pic- ture and were not in full uniform.

pregame warmups do not begin un- til 90 minutes before The support were arriving to the via the tunnel in the Free Press photo. MSU players wore helmets and gray sweat- suits on their walk to the stadium. The Spar- for the pregame walk to the stadi- um often vary, from suits to warmup attire and occasionally with helmets. Players lined up along the back of the north end zone, linked arms and began to walk the length of the at 10:02 a.m. per a times- tamp on a Free Press video that shows the con- frontation with Michigan players Lawrence Marshall, Devin Bush and Lavert Hill.

The Free Press video and video from Fox Sports showed both Bush and Hill had to be restrained by members of support from chasing the line of MSU players to the south side end zone. After the Spartans left the with both teams yelling at each other, Bush then went to and repeatedly dragged his cleats across the Spartan head logo as multiple Michigan members stood and watched, per a Free Press photo. Nick Baumgardner contributed to this re- port. Contact Chris Solari: press.com. Follow him on Twitter ri.

U-M, MSU reprimanded for incident on Saturday Chris Solari Detroit Free Press USA TODAY NETWORK.