Q&A with The Michigan Daily’s Zach Helfand

In advance of IU’s matchup with Michigan on Saturday, the Indiana Daily Student talked with Zach Helfand of the Michigan Daily, the student newspaper at the University of Michigan.

IDS: Coming off the four-overtime loss last week against Penn State, how will the team respond? In your opinion, will they come back focused or have a lackadaisical attitude?

HELFAND: Michigan, for all its faults right now, hasn’t lacked for effort. This isn’t the first time the team has had to rebound after a pretty painful game, though it is the first loss. They came out flat against Akron and came within yards of an upset.

The next week, against a pretty bad Connecticut team, they played pretty poorly again, but not because of intensity. Turnovers were the issue there.

Against Minnesota, after a bye week, the execution finally caught up with the effort, and the game turned into a blowout.

Michigan Coach Brady Hoke usually gets his teams up after a loss. I’d expect the same this week. The question will be whether they can actually execute.

IDS: With Michigan State on the schedule for the following week, any chance the team overlooks the Hoosiers? If not the team, the fans? What is the perception of IU on campus?

HELFAND: The loss to Penn State last weekend brought up so many of its own questions that I actually haven’t heard any about the Michigan State game. Certainly not to the team. And even on campus, the talk about Michigan State hasn’t gone further than some concern that Michigan could be in for a battle. (There is a bye week before Michigan goes up to East Lansing, so that may have stunted some of the discussion.)

I don’t think Indiana will be overlooked. IU’s win over Penn State really won a lot of believers around the conference. At the beginning of the year, this game looked like a given to a lot of people here. Now, it looks like a potential trap game. Nobody here would be shocked if it’s a close game.

IDS: Michigan has had a number of close victories (three-point victory against UConn and a four-point victory against Akron), is Michigan not as good as it’s 5-1 record suggests?

HELFAND: That’s an accurate assessment. It’s hard to reconcile with the team that beat Notre Dame pretty convincingly in week two. But the team has had major issues that Hoke and Co. are still addressing.

Initially, it was redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner who had a rough string of turnovers — something he’s still struggling with.

Really, though, the offensive line has not been good enough. Against Penn State, they were pushed into the backfield on most runs. Fifth-year senior running back Fitzgerald Toussaint finished with 27 rushing yards on 27 attempts. That’s the lowest total in Michigan history for a back with that many attempts, but it’s hard to put the blame on Toussaint.

The offensive line’s issues have left Michigan with a pretty bad choice: Do you move the ball with the pass but risk turnovers, or do you go with the feeble run game? Like I mentioned, the close wins over UConn and Akron weren’t just effort problems — Michigan just didn’t play that well.

IDS: How has QB Devin Gardner looked compared to previous seasons? How has he progressed or regressed?

HELFAND: Last year, Gardner stepped into the quarterback role midseason and already looked like a game-changer. In five games, he completed 59.5 percent of his passes for 1,219 yards and 11 touchdowns with five interceptions. Against Notre Dame, he dazzled again.

Since then, though, he’s regressed, and that’s because of turnovers. He’s got 1,276 yards in six games in 2013, but he’s thrown 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a handful of fumbles.

He’s got the arm and the legs to be a great player, and he played a turnover-free game against Minnesota and had a very nice second half against Penn State. But the turnover concerns are still there.
 
IDS: With IU, their strength is their passing game. How has Michigan’s secondary looked this season?

HELFAND: Michigan’s in the middle of the pack in passing defense, at 64th in the nation. That’s a little deceptive, though, because teams have passed quite a lot against this defense. When you break it down to yards per attempt, Michigan is actually 16th nationally.

Overall, the unit is deep, with a smattering of young talent seeing time. Redshirt sophomore Blake Countess has been a playmaker at the nickel — he’s got four interceptions and a touchdown already this year.

Michigan plays its secondary pretty loose to limit big plays, something it’s done well this season. But that leaves it vulnerable underneath and in between the linebackers and safeties, an area teams have exploited in the past.

IDS: How weird has it been watching QB Devin Gardner wear No. 98 this year?

HELFAND: It’s definitely fluctuated between kind of cool and really weird. We’re pretty used to it by now over in Ann Arbor, but the first time it was bizarre seeing No. 98 throwing the ball.

Follow reporter Evan Hoopfer on Twitter @EvanHoopfer.