CHICAGO, Ill. -- After three years under head coach Jim Harbaugh, there have been a couple of humps for the University of Michigan football team. One of them is having a strong defense that hasn't been supported by the offense.
"I was almost baptized to the idea that it was always Michigan's defense responsibility," Michigan senior defensive lineman Chase Winovich said. "I think, if you look my freshman year, we had a couple of games where we had negative yards rushing. It's not a badmouth at anyone, or the offense,or whatever, but it was always kind of our responsibility as a defense, no matter the turnout."
What's more, in order for Michigan to do better on offense, the quarterback play has to be better. The Wolverines could turn to Ole Miss transfer Shea Patterson for help.
"Shea is about the team, and I think I saw that real quick," Harbaugh said. "So, he's got to be the best quarterback to become the starting quarterback."
The last three years, Michigan is a combined 1-5 against rivals Ohio State and Michigan State, but the players say they will cross those bridges when they get to them.
"When I look at it from a player's prospective, we've got to handle Week One first before we can handle Michigan State and Ohio State," said senior running back Karan Higdon. "If we do the things beforehand, I think that game will be much more meaningful and more powerful."
Michigan starts its season September 1 at Notre Dame.
