Michigan football ‘s scout team will face its greatest challenge this week trying to replicate Ohio State’s top-ranked offense for its own defense’s benefit.
During his five seasons as a walk-on with Michigan football, Joseph Files never had the opportunity to play in one of college football’s greatest rivalry games. But it sure felt like he did. From his spot on the sideline, Files would watch players line up in the same formations he did, trace the same patterns he ran and execute blocks with the same technique he used. But they weren’t in the same maize and blue he wore. Rather, they were dressed in scarlet and gray. Files was a tight end on the Wolverines’ scout team, and he was charged with mimicking his counterpart on the Ohio State offense — a high-octane attack ranked third in the nation in scoring during his last year at Michigan in 2019. SUPREME CONFIDENCE: Why Michigan cornerback DJ Turner doesn’t fear Big Ten’s best wide receivers JEFF SEIDEL: Why Michigan must keep it close vs. Ohio State, prove this year was not a mirage “I mean there is some difficulty in that,” Files, a former Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood player, told the Free Press this week. “I’ve sort of joked, if I could run everything, every scheme, the exact level that a D-1 athlete could, I’d be on a scholarship somewhere. … You’re trying to give that full effort and you’re trying to simulate to the best of whatever our ability happens to be as close a level as you can.” In many ways, it seems like an impossible task even though it’s a critically important one. That 2019 Ohio State squad was loaded with talent. Justin Fields was at quarterback. J.K. Dobbins was the running back. The receiving corps had Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson. The offensive line featured three future NFL draft picks. And they ripped through the Wolverines in a 56-27 rout two years ago.
