The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, November 16, 2011- 5A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, Novemher 16, 2011 - 5A Reshirt sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Gallon has caught 24 passes for 405 yards and two touchdowns this season. Gallon continues to come up big By TIM ROHAN past summer, he ran routes with Daily Sports Editor Gardner everyday. Sometimes twice a day. What makes Jeremy Gal- Sometimes they'd bring in a lon, Jeremy Gallon? The short cornerback, usually J.T. Floyd, answer is that he's too small. to cover Gallon. But most days, Why, then, does he play wide it'd just be the two of them receiver? Why is he so tough? working. Why does he still go overlooked "(We ran) fades - every route, after establishing himself as a really," Gardner said. "Because true threat for the Michigan that's something we knew football team? we could get on other teams Too small. Too small. Too because they underestimate small. how small he is. So that's some- "Growing up, I always played thing that surprises them - as big as a small person - had to," you can see, he's been jumping Gallon said. "I feel like anysmall over guys all year." person wants to be big, to be The receivers practice going noticed." up and getting jump-balls on a "He says he's 5-(foot)-9, daily basis. but I think he's like 5-(foot)-7, They line up one-on-one with 5(foot)-6," said backup quar- a defensive back, with wide terback Devin Gardner, whom receivers coach Jeff Hecklin- Gallon calls his "little big-broth- ski's words ringing in their ears: er," because Gardner is a year "When the ball's in the air, the younger and, because Gardner is toughest guy wins it." 6-foot-4. In the fourth quarter against When the redshirt sopho- Notre Dame in September, more Gallon was first recruited junior quarterback Denard Rob- by Michigan, he was too short inson trusted Gallon enough to play quarterback, the posi- to loft a jump ball to the corner tion he played in high school. So of the endzone. Gallon jumped, he watched how Roy Roundtree arms extended, and came down played, picking up the nuances with it. Had to. of the position. Had to. He had "It's a mental thing. If I'm in never played wide receiver the air, I'm going to come down before coming to Michigan. with the ball," Gallon said. "I Gallon bided his time behind really don't even care about the Roundtree and upperclassmen height situation. ... Just throw it Junior Hemingway and Darryl to me and I want to come down Stonum - all taller receivers - with it." and worked on his craft. This Each time he does it, he makes believe majori athleti or. He high hi a baske time in "I'm can du said. "I d "I': J c until I "I wou could ing." Cou among every challer "It's believe and he "They he sho "Th becaus lete.... he has like." rs out of the stubborn That's when he rises above ty who still doubts his defenders half-a-foot taller than cism and tough demean- he is, breaks a few tackles on a doesn't know exactly how screen pass or destroys a corner- e can jump, but he dunked back on a block. tball last year for the first Roundtree said there's no his life. doubt Gallon is the best blocking no LeBron James, but I wide receiver on the team. ink a basketball," Gallon Hecklinski shows them tape of past great Michigan wide idn't know he could dunk receivers. But it's not of Des- mond Howard catching passes. They watch how the Heisman Trophy winner blocked a guy rn no Lebron out of bounds until the whistle blew. ames, but I Gallon's goal every time he blocks a guy: "Put him five yards pan dunk a into the ground." Every game, the wide receiv- asketball." ers track how many knock- downs they had. Hecklinski made it clear: blocking is what is expected of a "Michigan wide saw it," Roundtree said. receiver," especially with the ldn't think a short person emergence of Fitz Toussaint and dunk like he was dunk- the running game. "Gallon's got some pretty nt some of his teammates good form," said redshirt junior the doubters. Almost guard Patrick Omameh. "He's day in practice someone got some pretty good leverage, nges Gallon. but that's kind of natural." like they still don't The jabs about his height because he's so small won't stop. Neither will Gallon. 's so silly," Gardner said. "I don't want to be looked at don't really believe. But as one of the soft receivers or ws them every time. one who could be taken advan- ey can't (cover him), tage of," he said. e he's such a good ath- "I want to be one of the ones He's just a small guy, so they look at and say, 'Watch out to prove himself it seems for this kid, because he's coming at you.' " Mattison has defense play with tough skin By TIM ROHAN have a good idea if you've Daily SportsEditor messed up or not messed up," Roh said. "And you kind of Greg Mattison had a point he know which play it's going to be wanted to get across to his new next on the film. So you're kind defense. First he showed them of hoping you don't get to it - a picture of a baby rabbit. His you're hoping time runs out and next slide was a picture of an you have to get out to practice armadillo. before that play comes up on The Michigan defensive the film. coordinator told them: "If "But then it does. And you're you're going to be on this just like, 'Ahh, man.' And they defense, you have to have tough just keep rewinding it, and skin." rewinding it and rewinding it Having armor-like skin of and rewinding it. And you don't the armadillo would've helped make that mistake again." in the summer film sessions The best compliment Mat- that followed. Mattison and tison ever paid Roh was, "You Michigan coach Brady Hoke played hard." were going to be brutally hon- That's as warm as it gets est with the Michigan football considering the goal is perfec- team's 107th-ranked scoring tion. At least Van Bergen admits defense in the country, and this they'll never play the perfect was fair warning. game, but they're getting close, "You can't have skin like a he says. The journey from No. baby rabbit in our room now," 107 to No. 5 started with that Mattison said Tuesday. "If you belief in mind, with the expec- do, you won't make it.... It's tations as high as ever. Then the never personal, but I don't care honesty infected everyone. if you're a four-year starter and Hoke doesn't outright bash an All-American, the bottom Mattison's calls, but he'll ques- line is what you see on film, it tion decisions and offer advice. is going to be corrected and it is Roh was asked Tuesday if he going to be addressed." knew where Michigan was Even after Michigan's 31-14 ranked last season. win Saturday over Illinois - "Yeah, really bad," Roh said even after Mattison emotion- unflinchingly. ally declared that the defense The players have been more finally looked like a "Michigan honest with themselves. With defense" - the defensive coor- each other. dinator said there was still They know now when they plenty of bad tape he could put make a mistake. And the coach- on in the meeting room. es' criticism has waned with There was the 4th-and-26 each passing week. Illinois converted, the final Roh quietly fist pumps to touchdown drive the Fighting himself under the table when Illini orchestrated and a few Mattison chooses not to pick bad reads defending the run at apart his play on film. the end of the game. On the field, it's far from "I wouldn't say he was emo- silent, but that's a good thing. tional," fifth-year senior Ryan Mattison's hearing his players Van Bergen said of Mattison. talk more. They call out how "He was just a little more prais- the opponent lines up and what ing than normal. they see coming. "As far as coach Hoke and "Great defenses, if you're Coach Mattison, they haven't ever out there with them, it said too much (lately). And sounds almost like a stock mar- when they're not yelling at you, ket," Mattison said. "Well, first that's all the praise you need. few weeks it was like a morgue Just silence sometimes is good." out there. I mean, 'Come on, Junior defensive end Craig talk.' And the guys (are) going, Roh said he has come to appre- 'Oh my God.' Now you're hear- ciate the silence. ing it. No one group has been criti- "It's talking and taking care cized more than the defensive of your buddy, and when you line - the unit Hoke and Mat- make a mistake, not hanging tison used to coach. It took the your head, coming off and get- line, and the whole defense, ting ready for me to rip them, time to adjust to the tear-you- but them saying, 'OK, coach, down, build-you-up coaching I got it.' And then (you're) not style. having to yell at them because "Well, during practice you you know it means something." IC e O( Berenson says Michigan is freelancing, getting'cute' By LIZ VUKELICH Daily Sports Writer The No. 7 Michigan hockey team can only dream of execut- ing a trick shot like the game- winner in Saturday night's sudden-death shootout. As Miami (Ohio) forward Bryon Paulazzo skated to take the shot, he paused at the crease in front of Michigan fifth-year senior goaltender Shawn Hun- wick. He then proceeded to make a 360-degree turn; lobbing the puck over Hunwick's left shoul- der. That trick shot worked for the RedHawks and iced the game in the blink of an eye. But it may be a long time before you see the Wolverines pull a stunt like that. Michigan coach Red Berenson says he still can't even trust his team get the puck from point A to point B. "If our players get too loose, then they start doing things that are not in the game plan," Berenson said. "They start freelancing to a point where it's not in sync with the team." Junior forward Chris Brown was adamant that these prob- lems shouldn't plague a highly ranked program. But somehow, Michigan still struggles. That begs the question: what exactly does "making simple plays" mean? More than anything, it means keeping possession of the puck. Too often, when the Wolverines take command of the puck, they quickly lose it. A pass gets inter- cepted or sometimes a player just loses control. In the worst of these situations, the turnovers result in goals for Michigan's opponents. It happened on Saturday when freshman defenseman Mike Chiasson's attempt to clear Michigan's zone eventu- ally resulted in a Miami game- tying goal. All season long, Berenson has preached the importance of not playing "cute." But for some rea- son, the message isn't sinkingin. This isn't a problem that can be blamed on the team's young blood. According to Brown, it "happens all the time, to guys that are 18 to 24." Berenson says he always makes his expectations explic- itly clear. But when confidence - instead of common sense - takes over for Michigan, it's easy for the simple things to get lost in the madness of the game. "There are players that think they can make a move, and then it doesn't work out and they regret it," Berenson said. "It's up to (the coaches) to communicate what's expected. We need everyone on the same page." The problem is becoming so serious that Berenson is even prepared to threaten the players - too many fancy antics on the ice will lead to "a lesser role on the team." The coaches are frustrated, and the captains are too. The seniors have been trying to emphasize the importance of staying in the right mindset before games. "It's not a light switch that you can just turn on," Brown said. "You've got to make sure that before you take a pregame nap or pregame meal that you're thinking about doing the little things correct." Until the Wolverines prove that they can master the basics of hockey, Berenson has no plans to allow them to freestyle on the ice. "We've got a lot of work to do," Berenson said. "We don't have time for players improvis- ing outside the team." A A NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Behind every real estate development project there is a creative, well-networked visionary. M.S. 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