The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, November 30,2011 - 7A Robinson settles into 'makeshift' offense Square-peg quarterback and round-hole offense find happy medium By MICHAEL FLOREK Daily Sports Editor At the beginning of the season, offensive coordinator Al Borges said he wasn't going to make the Michigan football team's offense a round hole for a square peg in junior quarterback Denard Rob- inson. After nearly three months of adjusting, the sentiment finally rang true. But it took some whittling of that square peg. Robinson had to improve his footwork and make better decisions, like scrambling instead of trying to force throws. It also took a bit of hole-widening. Borges has created what Michi- gan coach Brady Hoke called a "makeshift" offense, mixing ele- ments of both the West Coast and spread offenses. Whatever it is, there's no argu- ing with the results. Robinson accounted for nine touchdowns in the team's final two games. His quarterback rating against Ohio State was an astounding 223.1 after tossing just three incomple- tions and no interceptions. He earned a second-straight co-Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honor. "He's ent typ adaptin what w now," s ter Dav the sys now." Robin ment s scramb against1 "He as qu the mos Perhaps the firs handoff running siant, R the end sprintin to tie th But a been Ro scrambl that hu weeks. I from his "I think the thing we were s developed as a differ- missing (was) Fitzgerald Tous- e of quarterback, kind of saint running the football and ig to the mesh between the job those guys up front have as last year and what is done," Hoke said. "(It) helps aid fifth-year senior cen- everything." id Molk. "He has fell into As for the critics who said he tem. He understands it couldn't throw, Robinson flashed a briefsmile in the postgame press nson's biggest improve- conference when he was told he eems to be his gains on passed Tom Brady for sixth all- les. His 170 rushing yards time on Michigan's all-time list the Buckeyes were by far for touchdown passes. Perhaps the best thing Rob- inson has is time. It will be over a month before No. 17 Michigan e's developed plays in a bowl game.-The foot- work and throwing mechanics a different will improve with the extra bowl practices. type of But he also has a senior year to play out. And by the time next arterbaCk." season comes around, the peg and the hole may fit together better than ever. Once the coachingstaff finishes recruiting in February, t since Big Ten play began. the focus will turn back to the his biggest rush came in whatever problems the team had t quarter. After faking a from this season. to redshirt sophomore "You pretty much go back and back Fitzgerald Tous- evaluate what you can coach bet- .obinson bounced around ter on both sides of the ball," Hoke I and found the corner, said. "Is there something differ- g for a 41-yard touchdown ent to stay ahead of the curve that e game at 7. you want to look at?" ccording to Hoke, it hasn't Can Hoke and Borges add even binson's unwillingness to more to the offenseto playto Rob- e or the offensive system inson's skills before the Wolver- rt his running in recent ines play Alabama in the opener He just needed a little help in Dallas? s friends. "Yeah," Hoke said. "We will." JED MOCH AND MARISSA MCCLAIN/Daily Junior quarterback Denard Robinson was named second-team All-Big Ten on Monday, as voted by the media. Robin- son threw for more than 2,000 yards and ran for more than 1,000 yards this season. Michigan prepares for fast-paced Terrapins in Big Ten/ACC challenge JED MOCH/Daily Fifth-year senior goaltender Shawn Hunwick and the Michigan hockey team have allowed more goals in the past six games than they did in their previous 12 games. Hunwick, defense look for answers after allowing 23 goals in six games By EVERETT COOK Daily Sports Writer It's easy for players on the Michigan hockey team to start pointing fingers as the program endures its longest losing streak since the 1998-99 season. Maybe one line isn't pulling its weight or a special teams unit has started to slack. But for the Wolverines, the problem is clear. Over the last six games, No. 19 Michigan (3-5-2 CCHA, 7-7-2 overall) has given up 23 goals. Before the losing streak started, the Wolverines had allowed just 20 goals over 12 games. Michigan's scoring has been inconsistent at times this sea- son, but doubling a season total of goals allowed over the span of six games won't help a team win many games, no matter what the offense is doing. Michigan coach Red Berenson was particularly disappointed after a pair of losses last week- end, a 4-1 loss to Northeastern and a 6-3 loss to Union. "We are only good if our goals against are down," Berenson said. "We give up 10 goals against over two games? How can you feel good about that at home? That's a team issue that starts with goalies, but it's defense and forwards too. It's everyone." When that many goals are allowed, the first player to con- sider is the goaltender. Fifth-year senior Shawn Hunwick entered the season as the unquestioned starter for the first time in his career, and he sure looked the part when he shut out Niagara in the season opener. His full impact was felt in the season's first road series against Northern Michigan, when he was ejected for fighting. Backup sophomore goaltender Adam Janecyk was forced into the game and didn't stand a chance, allowing four goals in a 5-3 Mich- igan loss. The next night, Hunwick stopped all three shots ina shoot- out victory over the Wildcats. The goalie has been Hunwick all year, and presumably, it will continue to be Hunwick all year. But he admitted the last cou- ple of weeks might be the worst stretch of his career at any level, and at times, that has been obvi- ous. He hasn't played all too poorly, but he also hasn't played like the Shawn Hunwick - one of the best goaltenders in the nation - that Michigan fans are accus- tomed to. "I need to get back to worry- ing about myself," Hunwick said. "Maybe I need to start being a little selfish.... Sometimes I think about the team too much and I just need to worry about myself. If I am not doing my job, I'm not giving to win. But that h the tea front o gic and plays t a mont and mo can't at "I def4 "Any goals s to pay: said sol Bennet area w Mult resulte play - or a de of posi player and opt Ther can tu when t my team the best chance faced one-on-one with a shooter, "' which is a big reason for Hun- it'd be ludicrous to claim wick's rising goals against totals. e is the sole reason for "Shawngivesus achanceevery m's woes. The defense in night, but when you are getting if him has looked lethar- odd man rushed it's tough," Ben- i unfocused at times. Lazy nett said. "Even a goalie who has hat were not being made the best save percentage in the h ago are becoming more country is going to get scored on re prevalent for a unit that sometimes in those situations." fford to take a shift off. Added Berenson: "We are ask- ing him to bail us out too often. Everything that could go wrong need to be bas gone wrong, yet he still made some good saves over the week- better the end." Even though the two "units" ense needs to are separate, it's easy to lump Hunwick and the defense togeth- be er as one group. The two groups bounce off each other more than any other on the ice, and if one starts to play better, chances are the other will too. 'time you are getting more "I am talking to (Michigan cored on you, you have goalie coach Josh Blacklarn), more attention to detail," about how before he got to Mich- phomore defenseman Mac igan he was playing on bad teams, t. "I think that may be an he would give up nine goals and e are lacking." still think he played a good iple goals last weekend game," Hunwick said. "So just d from sloppy defensive talking to him and trying to push the puck was given away through it." fenseman was caught out Hunwick isn't pointing fin- tion, leaving the opposing gers, though. Michigan's defen- with nothing but the puck sive issues involve more than just en space. one culprit. e aren't many goalies who "I need to be better, the rn away shot after shot defense needs to be better and they are left out to dry, we all need to step up," he said. By COLLEEN THOMAS Daily Sports Writer The Michigan women's bas- ketball team has earned some tight wins this season, but none compare to the chal- Michigan at lenge that lies ahead. Maryland The Wol- Matchup: verines (7-0) Michigan 7-0; will take the Maryland 7-0 road to face When: No. 6 Mary- Wednesday land (7-0) in 7 P.M. their Big Ten- Where: Cam- ACC Chal- cast Center lenge game on Wednesday. This is the first true test for Michigan, which has yet to face a ranked opponent all sea- son. The Wolverines' toughest win came against Florida in their season opener, when thoy pulled out a three-point victory on the road. Loading Michigan into Col- logo Park, Md. is senior guard Courtney Boylan, who aver- ages 15 points and five rebounds per game, and junior forward Rachel Sheffer, who averages 11.6 points per game. Junior guard Jenny Ryan is coming off an excellent tournament per- formance in the Virgin Islands, posting a double-double against Marquette. She currently leads the team with six rebounds per game. Rebounding has been a huge focus for the Wolverines this season, and it's a big reason for their early season success. So far, Michigan is averaging roughly six more rebounds per game than it did last season. "Rebounding has been the biggest significant change in what we've done in the past four years," said Michigan coach Kevin Borseth. "Our perspec- tive on rebounding has changed - we block out. We spend every day blocking out." Michigan has outrebounded its opponents in five of its seven games this year. Against Mary- land, the Wolverines will have their work cut out for them on the boards. It's what the Terrapins are known for. This season, Maryland is averaging 20 more rebounds a game than its opponents. Tianna Hawkins, a 6-foot-3 junior forward, leads the team in rebounding with 10 per game. Michigan will look to limit Hawkins and Maryland's seven other 6-foot players on the boards to stay competitive. "I think it's going to be the rebounding battle that will be the deciding factor," Ryan said. "They get offensive rebounds, that's what Maryland is known for. Our ability to negate that and cut down their rebounds makes our chances that much better. If you look at the stats at the end of the game, whichever way (rebounding) goes will be a big factor." Borseth said that limit- ing Maryland's offensive and defensive rebounds will be a way to keep the score close. "They want to put every- thing down around the basket," Borseth said. "They want to rebound, they want to get down the court, shoot it and send five people to the offensive glass and get it, and they can pretty much doit every time they want to." Maryland is seventh in the nation in points per game and scored 114 points in its last game against California State Bakersfield. And a lot of its bas- kets came off second-chance opportunities - the team aver- ages 16.3 offensive rebounds per game. This has allowed the Ter- rapins to use the clock to extend their offensive possessions and wear out an opponent's defense. The Wolverines will look to contain the Terrapins' shooting and focus on improving their shot selection, as well. "It's definitely going to be on our end to minimize (scoring)," Ryan said. "Since they are such a high scoring team and that's what they're known for, at the same time, we're going to have to score. It's not going to be one of these games when you can get away with scoring SO points. We're going to have to be solid on both ends of the floor." Michigan's offense will need to help out its defense by taking smart shots and utilizing pos- sessions to its advantage. "If we make a shot, they have to take it out of bounds and that eliminates their transition game," Ryan said. "And that's going to be a major thing, using the shot clock to our advantage to mini- mize their possessions and make the most out of our pos- sessions."