Derrick Green was finally showing the Wolverines what he could do for them. Now they’ll have to find out what they can do without him.
The sophomore was having one of his best games for Michigan on Saturday—74 yards on just 12 carries—before breaking his clavicle during the late stages of the 26-24 loss to Rutgers.
Coach Brady Hoke said it best Monday: The season-ending injury, especially its timing, is “unfortunate” for Green, who just recently got around to showing everyone why he was so heavily recruited. He ran hard in Piscataway, New Jersey, and helped the offense string together what was arguably its best overall outing of 2014.
“We’re going to miss him, but it’s De’Veon [Smith] and Justice Hayes and Drake Johnson…” said Hoke, who’ll count on Green to become a pseudo coach while the backfield adjusts to his absence.
At this point, there's no sense in completely altering the game plan. Michigan has to roll with what it has, and it's as simple as that. De'Veon Smith is capable of shouldering the heavy duties, while Justice Hayes and Drake Johnson—and who knows, maybe even Dennis Norfleet?—will be tasked with the rest.
De’Veon Has to Lead
Despite just 31 yards on 10 carries, Smith, a 5’11”, 223-pound sophomore, moved the ball with great force on Saturday.
His totals don’t stand out or jump off the page, but he certainly held his own within the red zone, evidenced by his hard-fought one-yard touchdown that gave the Wolverines a 16-12 lead with 1:43 to play in the second quarter.
Like Green, he’s been a slow starter. That has to change, and fast, if the Wolverines want to advance their power-running technique, which popped up every now and then this past weekend.
Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said that Smith is similar to Green, which has been known for some time. However, “without giving away strategic things that we would want to do,” he said that Smith wouldn’t be pigeonholed as another Green, adding that Hayes and Johnson won’t be limited due to their smaller statures.
“We’re going to do some different things with each one of them,” Nussmeier said.
Sure, try different things. But make sure that Smith, who's been shelved early in games to make way for Green, gets somewhere in the range of 15 to 20 attempts per game. He can't be left to cool off on the sidelines, which is one of the reasons why it takes a few series to set the wheels in motion.
It’s Not Over
As this tweet from Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press indicates, Michigan players have recently felt good about running the ball. Jack Miller, the team's center, said so during Monday's player presser.
Nussmeier and Hoke agree, Team 135 will be different without Green, who was one of the top recruits of the 2013 class.
But Smith wasn’t a throw-in for Michigan; he was the No. 21-ranked running back, per 247Sports. Neither was Hayes, who was one of the nation’s top 100 prospects in 2011, per Rivals. Once committed to Notre Dame, Hayes ultimately flipped the script because Michigan felt more comfortable than South Bend.
With 19 carries, one more than his previous career high of 18 set in 2012, the former Grand Blanc superstar is in position to get comfortable in Nussmeier's backfield. The 5'10", 194-pound junior has waited years for this chance, and due to a deficiency within the offense, he could be the perfect remedy for the situation.
The Wolverines are No. 10 in the Big Ten when it comes to converting third downs, touting an unhealthy success rate of 41.6 percent. But Hayes’ shiftiness, along with his experience, ability to catch the ball and read defenses, should pay dividends.
Hoke said that Hayes has “primarily been a very good third-down back.” So there you go. Problem solved.
OK, so it’s not that cut and dried. But Nussmeierisn’t calling it a day just yet. He’s confident in his reinforcements.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing to lose Derrick. [Saturday] was one of his better games,” said Nussmeier. “I felt like he was really dialed in, focused, ran extremely hard. So, you know, we got great expectations for the other guys.
“De’Veon’s done an outstanding job all season, as has Justice. You know, and then…some other guys have got to step up. Drake’s got to step up, and we’ll continue to move forward and feel good about those guys moving forward.”
Follow Bleacher Report’s Michigan Wolverines football writer Adam Biggers on Twitter @AdamBiggers81
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes and references to were obtained firsthand by the writer
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