Standing at 5-foot-10, junior wide receiver Semaj Morgan is the shortest receiver in the room. But he doesn’t practice or play that way.
“(Morgan) practices hard,” junior running back Justice Haynes said Monday. “He brings that energy each and every day. I tell people all the time, (Morgan) is little, but he gets me fired up. He runs like he’s 6-foot-3, 250 pounds sometimes. I love that.”
All offseason, Morgan has talked about the explosiveness and speed that he brings to the No. 21 Michigan football team. Morgan has shown flashes of quickness and athleticism but has yet to consistently put everything together. After coming on late in Michigan’s national championship season as a true freshman, he experienced a significant downtick in production as a byproduct of a failing passing game a season later.
This season, now with stability under center, Morgan made an impact in the passing game instantaneously. On Michigan’s first offensive play of the season, freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood found Morgan on a screen that he took from just behind the line of scrimmage, and Morgan scampered for a gain of 11.
“Being able to catch the ball in stride and being able to keep running is really big,” Morgan said Sept. 2. “It’ll be harder to just stop my feet and then restart. (Underwood) hitting me in stride is big for the play and for the block because they close in fast. So me being able to just keep my feet moving gives me more of an advantage.”
Underwood and Morgan making that instant connection built the confidence of both the young quarterback and hungry receiver alike. Morgan caught three more passes in Week 1 against New Mexico for 33 total yards, not to mention 14 yards rushing on two different plays.
Morgan was more limited in Week 2 against now-No. 11 Oklahoma as he tallied only one reception. That one reception, however, again showcased his speed as Underwood sent Morgan in motion from left to right and hit him in stride halfway to the first down before Morgan took it for 19 yards.
The signs of an uptick were present those first two weeks, but Saturday confirmed the rumblings. Against Central Michigan, Morgan added four receptions for 69 yards — two of which came on bubble screen or swing passes.
“He’s a very valuable player,” Michigan interim coach Biff Poggi said Saturday. “He’s an electrifying player on offense. … He’ll take a swing pass and turn it into 8, 10,12 yards, and you have to account for him when he’s in the slot, and that’s sometimes hard to do. So I thought he played really well.”
Morgan showcased his primary skill in the screen game against the Chippewas, but he was also a formidable threat down the field. Rolling right, Underwood hit Morgan screeching across the field for a 21-yard toe-tap catch. And for Underwood’s only passing touchdown of the afternoon, he lofted up a ball to Morgan who caught it just outside the end zone and walked it in.
The energy, speed and confidence that Morgan showed is exactly what the Michigan offense needs to help acclimate its young quarterback and vice versa. And it doesn’t matter if he’s running a bubble screen or a go route, if he’s standing at 5-foot-10 or 6-foot-3, Morgan is still making a difference.
The post Semaj Morgan becoming a reliable connection for Bryce Underwood appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
Leave a Reply