Savion Hiter hasn’t found much daylight yet at Michigan, but the freshman running back isn’t sounding worried about the slow start.
Through two games, the Wolverines’ ground game has been choppy, and Hiter’s numbers reflect that. Bryce Underwood leads Michigan with 134 rushing yards, Jordan Marshall has 76, and Hiter has 21 yards on 13 carries. Still, the five-star newcomer sees the issue less as a lack of talent and more as a matter of rhythm.
“Getting timing down with my linemen,” Hiter said. “Just patience from me as a whole. I do have to work on my patience a little bit to get behind blockers so I can score, for sure.”
Hiter arrived in Ann Arbor as the No. 1 ranked RB recruit in the country, and his high school résumé came with the kind of production that turns heads. At Michigan, though, every defense is bringing its best. His answer is simple: keep running through contact and keep competing.
“Everybody is the same level as you, so you’ve got to compete,” Hiter noted. “I mean, at the end of the day, football’s football, so you’ve got to run through somebody’s face.”
The freshman has also been used in more than one role early on. He’s played 36 total snaps across two games, lining up in the backfield 28 times, out wide four times and in the slot four times. That kind of movement was part of the plan, and Hiter said he’s growing into it.
“I’ve grown comfortable since I got here, and they’ve kind of put me in two-backs and out wide and everything like that,” Hiter said. “I’ve been getting adjusted, because I didn’t really do any of that in high school.”
Even with the rushing attack still searching for traction, Michigan has found ways to involve him. Hiter is the team’s second-leading pass catcher behind JJ Buchanan, with four receptions for 40 yards. One of those grabs came against the Sooners this past weekend.
Michigan has had plenty of productive backfield duos in recent years, and Marshall plus Hiter is expected to be the next one. The start has been slow, but Week 3 offers a chance to get things moving. UTEP looks like the easiest opponent left on the schedule, giving the Wolverines an opportunity to smooth out the rough edges.
Hiter thinks the breakthrough is coming for both him and Marshall.
“During the season, I feel like we could get in a rhythm more in the run game,” he said. “That also goes with the patience and the linemen and the timing with that, too.
“As soon as I get in that rhythm, I mean, it’s game over.”
Michigan faces UTEP on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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Even so, the result is staying put. NCAA bylaws do not allow the game outcome to be changed, so Michigans victory will remain official, even as the Mid-American Conference pushed for Western Michigan to be recognized as the winner for ranking purposes. For the Wolverines, it means the record book is safe, but the controversy around the ending is not going away anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]