Michigan football's most enthusiastic blocker Ben Mason feels 'back at home' on offense
Ben Mason's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was the topic du jour when he spoke with reporters Tuesday afternoon.
The penalty, called on Mason after he drove his man out of bounds, set Michigan football's offense back 15 yards on the team's first possession in Saturday's 49-24 win at Minnesota. A few plays later, the Wolverines were forced to punt — it was blocked, setting up the Gophers with a short field that they capitalized upon for a touchdown.
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The penalty provided a huge early swing in the game. And Mason clearly understood the ramifications.
“Look, regarding the penalty, can’t happen," Mason said. "15 yards in a crucial game is huge, knocked us out of scoring position."
On the other hand ...
"I’m not upset about it," Mason continued. "Like I said before, it’s just something that’s been ingrained in me — driving my legs — from my youth coach and my father.”
As it turned out, the penalty didn't affect the outcome of the game, nor did it affect Mason's snap count, as he played 29 snaps and lined up in the backfield 20 times.
The offense is different now — but Mason is still the same devastatingly effective blocker during his rise to notoriety in 2018, and the Wolverines utilized him early and often in the run game.
"I don’t know how many guys he knocked on their backs," said coach Jim Harbaugh. "It was pretty significant — five to eight, maybe. He was tremendous. He was player of the game, along with the backs, the holes that he was creating, touchdown blocks.
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"You talk about the first block, they made a movie out of that called 'The Blind Side' and Ben was penalized, and probably rightfully so. It was a tremendous block. Tremendous, tremendous block on a tremendous player."
After a short-lived experiment at defensive tackle, Mason is back to where he started. Technically, he moved back over to offense near the middle of last season. But it wasn't the same: Because of the position switch, he weighed close to 280 pounds, and he wasn't utilized as often as he had been previously.
Mason, speaking frankly, didn't mind the position switch, calling his time on defense "a great experience." At the same time, he also admitted his preference for his current role and says he definitely feels "back at home" on offense.
Why?
“I like blocking," Mason said. "And they’re gonna let me block. So I think that’s just my skill."
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Now a team captain, Mason stood up in Michigan's locker room Saturday night and gave a pregame speech. It was centered around quarterback Joe Milton, who was making his first start. And while Mason may have began the game a little too eager with his penalty, he was still just doing exactly what he said he would do in his speech.
"What he said was, 'Joe, this is your night. We are gonna block, we’re gonna catch, we’re gonna do everything in our power to make you successful,'" Harbaugh recalled. "It was a very passionate speech, but the point to me is that there’s a lot of guys who’ve made speeches in the history of football.
"Easy to make the speech but maybe a dozen or so I can think of after making the speech actually went out and did what they said they were gonna do in the speech. And he did that and then some. Just a tremendous game by Ben Mason."
Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter. The Free Press has started a new digital subscription model. Here's how you can gain access to our most exclusive Michigan Wolverines content.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football's Ben Mason 'back at home': 'I like blocking'
