The Michigan offense is looking to pick up where they left off in 2015 where they closed with a 41-7 Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl victory over Florida. Fifth year senior receiver, Jehu Chesson, would love nothing more than to see the offense stride forward from their closing point of last year.
“Coach Fisch always has this saying: ‘good, better, best.’ We left off in a place where our best was good. Now we’re trying to raise the bar again,” Chesson said at a media session at Schembechler Hall on Tuesday.
Helping lead the successful offensive campaign a year ago were four returners to the offensive line that include Kyle Kalis, Eric Magnuson, Mason Cole, and Ben Braden. That familiarity, which also includes Grant Newsome, definitely will help the offense continue to jell in 2016.
“It’s definitely nice, especially playing next to Eric again; having Mason next to me,” Kalis said. “The way we’re playing right now is the way we want to play.”
Preparing for Hawaii, who is coming off of a trip to Sydney, Australia last week, will be unique for the Wolverines due to Hawaii being involved in the only college football game thus far, the Rainbow Warriors fell to California 51-31 last Friday.
“I did (watch it), but I fell asleep early… They’re a fast, penetrating defense, kind of what we knew already. Personnel wise, we got a chance to sit down and watch their tendencies. They’re fast and they’re gonna bring it on almost every single down, which is kind of wild. They’re hard working guys,” Kalis said.
As far as the quarterback battle, Jim Harbaugh noted yesterday that he knows who the quarterback is, the team knows who the quarterback is, and everybody else will have to wait until 12:00 noon Saturday to find out.
“Yeah… (we’re not allowed to talk about it),” Kalis said.
“I don’t know that question…” Chesson said. “I’ll find out when we call our first play on Saturday at 12. I must not have been at that meeting; I must have been rehabbing.”
As for Chesson, he is just about fully healed from his injury that kept him out of spring practice. He said that the rehabilitation is never really going to be over. He said he is still taking part in the return game since returning from injury.
“The thing is it’s never really over. You have to constantly get treated, make sure everything is good. It’s a process. As you go through the rehabilitation process, you feel more and more confident every single day. That’s where I’m really gaining momentum,” Chesson said.
If the quarterback battle is the No. 1 talked about thing in fall camp, the freshmen group of receivers would be No. 2. Chris Evans is one name that has been mentioned all of August and should get an opportunity to play against Hawaii.
“I think we’ll use Chris, obviously it’s not my decision whether we use him or not. As an older guy watching him play and prepare for the game, he has a lot good things going for him. Like I said with Nate (Johnson) and Eddie (McDoom), he’s a guy that’s going to help us down the stretch,” Chesson said.
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