The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, September 15, 2011- 7A
Bruised and broken, Woolfolk will play
By TIM ROHAN
Daily Sports Editor
Troy Woolfolk looked like a
beaten man - a long scar ran
across his nose, his right hand
was wrapped in a cast and both
ankles have been injured in the
last 13 months.
. "I've got to start carrying
around a rabbit's foot because
this isn't working out too good,"
Woolfolk said.
His sprained right ankle is
the least of his
worries after NOTEBOOK
last week. On
Thursday, he landed awkwardly
on his right hand, breaking a
bone.
Just "bad luck," he said.
Doctors told him he'd be in the
cast for four weeks, but the brash
Woolfolk said he usually takes
two weeks off what the doctors
tell him.
Then he pointed to where he
thought the break occurred - a
bone, midway between the ring
and pinky fingers.
"I'm not really sure," he said.
"I'm not a doctor. I just break the
bones."
At least Woolfolk can poke
fun at his situation. He certainly
isn't letting it ruin his fifth-year
senior season, after he missed all
of last season with a broken left
ankle.
Before Saturday's game
against Notre Dame, Woolfolk
went up to defensive coordinator
Greg Mattison and said, "Coach,
you can count on me. I'll go."
"I just felt like I didn't want
to let my team down," Woolfolk
said. "I felt like I did that last
year, and I feel like I have an
important role on this team.
To add insult to injury, Wool-
folk's helmet was kicked off
during the game and the same
player's cleat caught his face -
leaving Woolfolk with a busted
lip and nose.
And the cast wasn't helping
matters. It only got in the way
when he was tackling.
"I guess I just have to get over
the mental block and trust my
hand that I can tackle," Woolfolk
said. "Just like my ankle. When-
ever you have a problem, you're
scared to use it.
"And I feel like I was, I don't
want to say soft, but not as physi-
cal as I usually was out there,
because (the cast) kind of took
away my tackling ability a little
bit. But I just have to get them
down any way possible."
So far this week Woolfolk
participated fully in practice on
Tuesday and the coaches were
excited to see how well Woolfolk
has responded by playing, and
playing well, through his inju-
ries.
"After watching the film, Troy
Woolfolk played unbelievable for
a guy with one hand," Mattison
said. "I mean, he made one tackle
with one hand that might have
broke. I was proud of him. He's a
Michigan man."
He may be a Michigan man,
but he's a beaten man too.
"It's a rough day out there, but
that's what you expect," Wool-
folk said. "You've got to go out
there and give it 100 percent.
Your body may pay the toll, but
it's all for Michigan."
DRINKING CAMPBELL'S
SOUP: Some time after the Notre
Dame game, Michigan coach
Brady Hoke found junior defen-
sive tackle Will Campbell and
asked a question that may have
seemed a bit naive.
"Is that the most you've ever
played?" asked Hoke.
"Yes," Campbell responded.
"Well, t guess t should've
known that," Hoke said Wednes-
day.
Campbell played a large role
on the defensive line perhaps for
the first time in his career Satur-
day, after an offseason in which
the Michigan coaching staff
gushed about how much poten-
tial the 6-foot-5, 322-pound tack-
le had. On Saturday, he pushed
the pocket several times and
made one key fumble recovery.
Fifth-year senior cornerback Troy Woolfolk has a gash across his nose from when his facemask came off on Saturday and a receiver's cleats caught him in the face.
"I thought that when he went
in, he gave us a spark," Mattison
said. "I thought he played with a
lot of passion. And like I've said
all along, that's a big body that
can move.
"I do believe he'll probably get
more playing time. We're rotat-
ing anyhow, but I do think that
he's earned by what he showed
right there. The biggest thing
these guys have to do is earn it
by how they practice. The game
is the reward for how you prac-
tice."
DISGUISING DISASTERS: The
same play - a base coverage dis-
guised as a blitz - yielded an
interception early in the game
against Notre Dame and Matti-
son wanted to try it again later,
with the game on the line.
He knew the Fighting Irish
would expect a blitz the closer
they drove in Michigan territory,
so Mattison decided to do what
he thought Notre Dame wouldn't
expect.
Plus, he had just blitzed the
play before, so he wanted to show
blitz and then pull out and maybe
get another interception.
"We didn't execute it as well
as we did the first time and they
hit it," Mattison said Tuesday,
recalling Notre Dame's go-ahead
touchdown pass with 30 seconds
.left in the game. "I'll be the first
to tell youI'mnot always100 per-
cent. And if it was all over again,
I wouldn't have done that."
Disguising his blitzes is only
something Mattison will do if he
thinks his defenders understand
the basic defense first. Then he'll
show them how to line up one
way and play another.
Mattison's blitzes have saved
Michigan in both of its games so
far this season, forcing turnovers
when the Wolverines needed
them most. But he has also dialed
up pressures that have left huge
holes up the middle in the run-
ning game.
So, even for the savviest of
defensive minds, football is
always a game of chess.
"I'll be dead honest with you,
there are some times calls that
a guy makes that you say after-
wards, 'God, I wish I wouldn't
have made that call,' " Mattison
said.
On Saturday, at least, a stun-
ning finish saved Mattison from
a few sleepless nights.
FRESH RUNNING BACKS:
Hoke still doesn't have a lead
running back, and he hasn't
ruled out either of his two fresh-
man running backs who have yet
to see the field ahead of a crowd-
ed bunch of veterans.
Hoke said he might consider
playing freshmen Justice Hayes
and Thomas Rawls at some point
this season, burning a redshirt
season.
"It always depends on how
fast they learn, maturity wise
and all of those things," Hoke
said. "Depending on where we
get, they may play.
"Rawls is a strong runner and
he's got good vision, good bal-
ance. He's got pretty good burst.
Justice is a guy who's got great
quickness, catches the ball well.
He's doing a lot of stuff on our
look-team, sometimes lining up
at wideout."
THE RETURN OF CAM AND
FITZ: Michigan may be getting
two starters back from injury
this week.
Redshirt sophomore lineback-
er Cam Gordon, who has missed
the first two games of the season
due to a back injury, looks ready
to make his first start of the sea-
son Saturday.
And redshirt sophomore run-
ning back Fitz Toussaint, who
ran for 80 yards as the starter
against Western Michigan,
practiced Tuesday and should
be ready to play as well.
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