Michigan Football: 5 Things to know about Northern Illinois

3. Michigan will have to shut down Harrison Waylee

Northern Illinois rushing attack has been very formidable through the first two games as it is averaging 204.5 yards and three touchdowns this season. The key man is second-year freshman running back Harrison Waylee, who has been the Huskies workhorse this season.

Waylee went for 144 yards on 27 carries against Georgia Tech. He followed that up with 26 carries for 179 yards and two touchdowns against Wyoming.

Waylee has a slight build at 5-foot-10 185 pounds, however he is a home run hitter. He has a touchdowns of runs of 35 and 75 yards this year.

Thus far, Michigan’s run defense has answered the bell, only surrendering 88 yards per game. If Michigan is able to shut down Waylee and make the Huskies one dimensional, it could lead to forcing some turnovers out of Lombardi.

4. Northern Illinois struggles stopping the run

One area Michigan will look to exploit is Northern’s Illinois porous run defense. The Huskies have allowed 231 yards per game on the ground through the first two games. Georgia Tech and Wyoming are both run-heavy teams, but so is Michigan.

The Wolverines have averaged 339 yards on the ground through the first two weeks, which ranks fourth in the country.

Like most Group of Five teams, Northern Illinois is undersized on the defensive line. The Huskies do not have a single defensive lineman that weighs 300 pounds. Michigan’s offensive line is an imposing group and it has been dominant so far this season.

Michigan’s offensive line should be able to exert its will over the Northern Illinois defensive line. Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins have 35 and 40 carries, respectively, so far this season. The Wolverines should open up a big lead in this game so this may be a good week to get freshmen Donovan Edwards and Tavierre Dunlap involved.

That would not only limit the workload for Corum and Haskins, but also get more valuable experience for the freshmen.