The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, October 27, 2011 - 7A
The ichganDail - ichgandilyom hursayOctber 7, 011- 7
'M' confident for
Purdue matchup
TERRA MOLLENGRAFF/Daily
Fifth-year senior Will Heininger started his road to becoming a starter on Michigan's defensive line as a walk-on freshman, practicing against Jake Long.
Scout-team lessons paying off
for fifth-year senior Heininger
By KEVIN RAFTERY
DailySportsEditor
Throughout the first half of
this season, there were many
changes for the No. 17 Michigan
football team.
A new
coaching staff. NOTEBOOK
New uniforms.
New players. A new attitude.
But even after a 28-14 loss to
No. 9 Michigan State, there's
been one constant in the Wol-
verines' locker room.
"Our confidence has never
waivered," said senior defen-
sive tackle Mike Martin before
practice on Wednesday. "We've
never had any doubt. We don't
want to lose again. That's some-
thing that we won't forget, but
it's something that we need to
move on from."
The team has been bombard-
ed with questions of how this
season will be different than the
past three, all of which included
second-half meltdowns.
The Wolverines have said all
the right things, stressing that
there's a different feel than in
years past, and the seniors won't
let the same thing happen. Now,
after a bye week, the Wolverines
have a chance to prove it on the
field.
On Saturday, Michigan (2-1
Big Ten, 6-1 overall) will have its
first chance to prove it in a game
environment against Purdue
(2-1, 4-3) - a team that seems
to be hitting its stride in the
second half of the season. The
Boilermakers have won two out
of their last three, including an
upset of then-No. 23 Illinois last
week. Martin praised Purdue
but stressed that what the Boil-
ermakers do is out of the Wol-
verines' control.
"They're doing agreat job," he
said. "On our side of it, we just
gotta make sure we prepare the
best that we can. This game is
about Michigan. What it comes
down to is what we do, how we
execute, and how much inten-
sity we play with.
"With our confidence, that's
something we know that we're
going to take care of on the field
this coming Saturday and for
weeks to come."
SIGNS OF CHANGE: Until
this week, posters scattered
throughout Schembechler Hall
served as a constant reminder of
the upcoming opponent.
The week before the Michi-
gan State game, the signs read,
"BEAT MSU." Before Notre
Dame weekend, "Beat the Irish."
It's a tradition Hoke brought
with him since his head coach-
ing days at Ball State and San
Diego State.
But on Wednesday, signs of
Purdue were nowhere to be
found. Instead, the posters said
simply, "Michigan Game Week".
Hoke downplayed the signifi-
cance of the change.
"You've got an opponent to
play, which makes it a very com-
petitive thing," he said. "But at
the end of the day, it's about us.
It's about us and how we prepare
and how we practice."
REDSHIRT RUMBLINGS:
It's every young bench player's
favorite time of year - Redshirt
Season.
On Wednesday, Hoke men-
tioned it's unlikely that any
player who has yet to play this
season will see game action for
the remainder of the year.
"I think with what we've done
so far, we're at our limit," he said.
That means freshman run-
ning back Justice Hayes, a four-
star recruit out of Grand Blanc
High School, will redshirt this
year, barring any serious injuries
in the near future.
Hoke didn't mention any
other names specifically, but he
did talk a little bit about the sta-
tus of fifth-year senior lineback-
er Marell Evans.
Evans, who transferred back
to Michigan this season after a
two-year hiatus, has yet to dress
for a game this year because of
issues with his transfer eligibil-
ity.
With five games remain-
ing this season, his status still
remains unclear and it appears
doubtful he will see the field this
year. But Evans is still making
his presence on the team known.
There's a chance Evans could
return next season as a sixth-
year senior, though "there's a lot
of hoops to go through," accord-
ing to Hoke.
By MICHAEL FLOREK
Daily Sports Editor
Fifth-year senior Will
Heininger learned a lot of les-
sons his freshman year. It
must've been the teaching ability
of Jake Long.
Heininger and fellow fifth-
year senior Ryan Van Bergen
drew the task of going up against
Long as scout-team defensive
linemen during his senior year.
Long was 315 pounds and on his
way to becoming the No. 1 over-
all pick in the 2008 NFL draft.
Heininger was 223 pounds and a
walk-on, coming to the football
team only after committing to
play for the Michigan baseball
team. Long did a lot of full-con-
tact teaching.
"We still celebrate our, like,
three wins of the season that
we had against him," Heininger
said.
It was on those practice fields
that Heininger truly learned the
key to playing on the defensive
line - staying low.
"If I was lower than him, I had
a chance," Heininger said. "He
would play high, and I would
play low for as strong as he was
and as weak as I was, so it's
always about leverage and your
hands."
Now, Heininger is a starter
on the No. 18 team in the nation.
And, according to Michigan
coach Brady Hoke, Heininger
played his best game two weeks
ago.
After recovering from a knee
injury and not doing much on
the stat sheet at the beginning
of the season, Heininger made
his mark in the Michigan State
game, registering four tackles.
Two of his three tackles for loss
on the season came against the
Spartans. Defensive coordinator
Greg Mattison cited Heininger's
biggest improvement in a main
area. It's the same one Long told
him about four years ago, and his
ability to stay low has translated
to improvement in other areas of
his game.
"I've seen him buy in to what
we're trying to do, and because
of his confidence and the tech-
nique, it's allowed him to use
his strength, and he's become
a lot more physical a football
player," Mattison said. "I think
when you're not sure of yourself,
you're just trying to get through
it, where now he sees it all."
But Hoke wants more. To him,
a single performance doesn't
mean much.
"That has to translate to him
playing better this week and
better next week," Hoke said. "I
think he's playing with a little
more authority, which you like
to see out of a guy who's a senior,
but I was pleased with his per-
formance."
A lot more has changed.
from those days. Most notably,
Heininger has a scholarship
now. He's also up to 295 pounds,
up about 70 from his days on the
scout team.
Heininger has shuffled along
the defensive line in his career.
After seeing playingtime on both
the inside and outside of the line,
he started the season at defensive
end. Van Bergen, Heininger's
old scout-team counterpart, slid
inside to defensive tackle. After
the Notre Dame game, the roles
reversed. With both Heininger
and senior defensive tackle Mike
Martin inside, the Wolverines'
interior defensive line has bloat-
ed to 599 pounds.
"We just felt that Ryan is a
better five-technique (defensive
end) than he is inside," Mattison
said. "He's a lot more comfort-
able there ... Will can kind of play
anywhere, so that made it easy
that way."
When playing either position
both players have are in a bet-
ter state than they were on scout
team. At least they don't have to
face Jake Long anymore.
. Defense set for Bulldog challenge
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Writer
The days of Niagara and Bentley
are long gone. That game against
St. Lawrence -
just two weeks
ago - seemslike Ferris State
it was eons ago, at Michigan
and the exhi-
bition against Matchup: Fer-
the Univer- ris State 6-0;
sity of Ontario Michigan 4-1-1
Institute of When: Thurs-
Technology is day and Friday
nothing more at 7:35 P.M.
than memory of Where: Yost
a simpler time. Ice Arena
The Michi- Live Blog:
gan hockey michigandaily.
team is officially cow/sports
in the midst of
the scary part of it's schedule - it
played on the road against a very
physical Northern Michigan team
and plays one of the best defenses
in the country five days later.
No. 4 Michigan (0-1-1 CCHA,
4-1-1 overall) hosts No. 6 Ferris
State (2-0-0, 6-0-0) on Thursday
and Friday in a critical early-sea-
son series that will be decided by
defense. The Bulldogs come into
the contest with the best statistical
defense in the nation, allowing just
.83 goals per game. They're fresh
off a sweep of perennial power No.
16 Miami (Ohio), outscoring the
RedHawks, 6-2, over the weekend.
"Their goalies have been play-
ing unbelievable," said senior
goaltender Shawn Hunwick. "If
we give up two, that might be too
much. They are a hot team and we
struggled a little bit last weekend,
but we are goingto see how we can
do on our home ice."
Against Northern Michigan
last Saturday, the Wolverines were
unable to capitalize on a five-min-
ute major penalty that stretched
into overtime, effectively sealing
their fate in a 3-3 shootout win.
Special teams, haven't been a
weak spot for Michigan, but they
also hasn't been a strength. Michi-
gan is dead even on special teams,
allowing four goals on the penalty
kill and scoring four goals on the
power play.
In comparison, Ferris State has
allowed only one lamplighter on
the penalty kill all season, while
scoring nine power play goals.
"Offensively, you never know,
but we have to make sure we
play well defensively," Berenson
said. "You can control your goals
against a lot more than your goals
scored."
This series wasn't supposed to
be much of a challenge for Michi-
gan. The Bulldogs were ranked
ninth in the preseason CCHA
coaches poll, earning just over half
the points that Michigan did.
But Ferris State looks to be
legitimate. Its offense doesn't
have a go-to scorer and isn't overly
impressive, but the defense and
special teams have looked unbeat-
able this season. If a team is allow-
ing less than one goal a game, you
can afford to not score. A big rea-
son for the Bulldogs' defensive
success has been the play of'the
goaltenders. Freshman C.J. Motte
and senior Taylor Nelson have car-
ried Ferris State so far, turning a
preseason question mark into a
major positive. Motte has allowed
only one goal all season, and Nel-
son has allowed just four.
Michigan coach Red Berenson
said that the key wasn't going to be
the Wolverines' offense - surpris-
ing when you consider the talented
Bulldog defense - but Michigan's
own defense. When goals are pre-
cious, defending the net is crucial.
"We are going to be playing the
underdog role here," junior for-
ward Chris Brown said. "We know
that they have a better record than
us and they swept Miami (Ohio)
last weekend, which was huge. We
are goingto take advantage of that
underdog role and run with it."
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