Savion Hiter Facing Early Challenges at Michigan — But It's 'Game Over' Once He Figures Them Out

It's been slow for Savion Hiter at Michigan, but once the Wolverines get him going, he's confident things will pay off.

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Jason Beck has had the No. 2 ranked rushing attack in each of the last two seasons at both Utah and New Mexico, respectively. However, it's been a struggle for Beck to get the Michigan rushing attack rolling.

Bryce Underwood is Michigan's leading rusher with 134 yards through two games and star RB Jordan Marshall has just 76 yards. Behind Marshall, five-star freshman sensation Savion Hiter, has just 21 yards on 13 carries.

There are various reasons as to why the Wolverines' run game hasn't flourished yet, and Hiter noted the challenges in his game during the early going on Tuesday night.

“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 was the No. 1 ranked RB recruit in the country when he came to Michigan and Hiter put on performance after performance in his high school career. Playing at Michigan, you're going to get everyone's best shot, but Hiter noted that at the end of the day, he just has to go run hard.

“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.”

Comfortable in Beck's scheme

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Hiter has been on the field for 36 total snaps in two games. He has lined up in the backfield for 28 of them, out wide for four of them, and in the slot for four of them. In the offseason, Beck had talked about moving Hiter around to use his skill set, and while Hiter wasn't used to that, he said he's been getting comfortable.

“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.”

He is actually Michigan's second-leading pass catcher behind JJ Buchanan. Hiter has grabbed four passes for 40 yards, as he made a big grab against the Sooners this past weekend. Even if he struggling to find holes to run through, the Wolverines are attempting to get him the ball in other ways.

'Game over'

Michigan has had a lot of good one-two punches in recent history and Marshall and Hiter is expected to be the next. Things have gotten out to a slow start, and Week 3 could be a good time to try and get that rolling. UTEP, on paper, is going to be the easiest opponent Michigan has left and the Wolverines can try to fix some kinks in the system.

As for Hiter, he envisions both himself and Marshall to get rolling sooner rather than later, and when he finds his rhythm, it's game over for the opposition.

“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.”

Fans can see Hiter back in action on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET against UTEP.

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