Borges’ creative juices are flowing (w/video)

Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges tinkered with the Wolverines attack in last week’s win over Iowa -- and may just do so again this Saturday. Although Borges admits he’s never done this with two quarterbacks, he has encountered a somewhat similar situation before.

Denard Robinson started his final game inside Michigan Stadium Saturday afternoon against Iowa but did so in an unorthodox and unpredictable fashion.

As a running back.

Robinson was the featured playmaker and decoy helping lead the Wolverines to a 42-17 win to improve to 8-3 on the year. Devin Gardner, Robinson’s longtime backup, took the reins for the third week in a row as the Wolverines starting quarterback, but even the former quarterback—turned receiver—turned quarterback again was shifting and moving around on the offensive side of the ball.

As for Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges, he’s simply expanding on the small sample size the Wolverines utilized with both athletes on the field in 2011.

“We did some of it last year guys,” said Borges. “This isn’t completely new. But with Denard getting injured it kind of forced the issue a little bit more. But we did some of this stuff a year ago.”

“A year ago we were constantly putting plays together for our deuce package.”

Robinson’s lingering arm issue has been directly related to his new and diversified role that now includes extended play alongside Gardner. Borges’ trust in Gardner is another reason for the trickery, with confidence at an all time high after three impressive performances.

The result is a game plan enabling Michigan’s two most productive and diverse athletes impact the game in more than one way, leaving Borges alone with his paint brush and pallet hoping to paint a masterpiece.

“My creative juices are flowing all of the time,” said Borges. “Depending on the game I’m considered creative or idiotic. But they’re always flowing. That’s what kind of makes this game fun for coordinators: defensive, offensive. Theres so many things you can do with eleven guys—it’s like no other game.”

No other coaching experience has been like this for Borges in all of his travels though—having two athletic and instinctual quarterbacks that need to be on the field at the same time. The closest instance occurred back in 2004 when Borges helped guide Auburn to an undefeated 13-0 season behind an offense revolving around two talented NFL running backs in Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown. The dynamic duo both nearly ran for 1,000 yards in the same season.

“Everybody wanted them to play together,” said Borges of Brown and Williams. “But they were both tailbacks so it didn’t seem like a fit. But if you can do enough homework to figure out how you can get them both back there, and there were ways to do it. We made it work.”

“You take what you’ve got and hopefully you can devise some kind of schematic to explore their skill set, hope you call it at the right time—and go man go!”

Borges refused to reveal or even discuss any intricacies of Michigan’s newfound attack as they prepare to head to Columbus for the annual match-up with an 11-0 Ohio State team. With all of the possibilities the offense possesses, the Wolverines might just have a few more tricks up their sleeves if Borges can squeeze a little more juice into the playbook.

To watch video of Borges from Tuesday’s presser, press play below.