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Behind The Curtain: Rivals Michigan insider discusses the Wolverines

Austin Fox from TheWolverine.com, Rivals.com's Michigan website, talked to TheHoosier.com about the Hoosiers' upcoming matchup against the Wolverines on Saturday.

See what he had to say in the Q&A below.

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USA Today Images

This team seemed to struggle early on in the season. How has it grown to the point where it’s blown out its last three opponents?

Michigan struggled immensely early in the year in underwhelming victories against Middle Tennessee State and Army and a blowout loss at Wisconsin, but has improved in basically every aspect of its team since then. The Wolverines’ offense failed to get in any kind of rhythm through the first month or so of the season while learning first-year coordinator Josh Gattis’ new system, with both the running game and passing attack unable to get on track. The ground game finally took off when it rushed for 295 yards in the Oct. 12 win at Illinois, and has averaged 196 rushing yards in the five affairs since the start of play that day. The passing game has taken a little longer to get going, but put on by far its best performance of the year in Saturday’s 44-10 beatdown of Michigan State, with senior quarterback Shea Patterson throwing for 384 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Turnovers were arguably the team’s biggest issue early in season, as the club committed nine through its first three games and 13 through the first six. The ball security has been outstanding as of late, however, as the team has only given the ball away twice in its last four games, with the heightened security having played one of the biggest factors to the Wolverines’ turnaround. Finally, Michigan’s defense has also contributed to the success, though the unit as a whole has been solid throughout the majority of the season. It has been lights out since its dreadful performance in the Sept. 21 loss at Wisconsin when it gave up 487 yards and 359 on the ground, not having allowed an opponent to eclipse 293 yards since.

Where is the Michigan fanbase at with Shea Patterson now?

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