2B - September 9, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Five things we learned: Notre Dame
By ZACH HELFAND
Daily Sports Editor
This week, we learned Beyon-
ce is a Michigan fan, Eminem is
a weirdo and Athletic Director
Dave Brandon really likes fly-
overs. There was also a pretty
good football game going on.
Here are five other things we
learned this week:
1. This offense is dynamic.
Yes, Michigan coach Brady
Hoke loves his Michigan tra-
ditions, but so far, only the
productive ones. That means
the conservative, punt-happy
approach is gone. Gone too, is the
three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust
offense of Michigan's past. Mich-
igan would love to run the ball up
the middle, but not to the point of
being stubborn.
Take Saturday. Notre Dame
had a behemoth nose tackle clog-
ging the middle. So Michigan
took the fight to the edge. That's
not rocket science, but the game
plan showcased Michigan's ver-
satility. In only the second week
with a new offense, the Wolver-
ines showed they have a deep
playbook.
In the first drive alone, Michi-
gan used a reverse, a double-
reverse and quick pitches to the
outside. Later on, offensive coor-
dinator Al Borges used the pistol
formation, the traditional I-for-
mation and the shotgun. There
were runs up the gut, stretch
plays to the edge, strong play-
action fakes and a sprinkling of
read option.
This was arguably one of the
best games called by Borges in
his time at Michigan. Last year,
Borges was criticized at times for
predictability. Against Nebras-
ka, his play calls displayed an
unmistakable pattern. Against
Ohio State, the Buckeyes knew
what play would be run based on
where Denard Robinson lined up.
Could Borges have been bet-
ter? Probably. But he had few
other options. Now he's got the
full complement of players.
Gardner hit Gallon on a back-
shoulder pass in tight cover-
age. Gallon knew where the
ball would be before he turned
around. On his second touch-
down catch, he used his body to
shield the defender and make a
diving catch.
He'll command extra atten-
tion on the outside, or he'll burn
opponents for it.
3. The defense can use more
playmakers.
First the good: Michigan held
Notre Dame to a respectable 23
points and limited big plays. The
longest gain for Notre Dame on
the game was 23 yards. No back
had a run longer than 16 yards.
That was the game plan. Red-
shirt sophomore cornerback
Blake Countess said the defense
knew Notre :Dame quarterback
Tommy Rees liked to air out the
ball. He could exploit man cover-
age with long fades. So Michigan
played loose.
The plan worked and Michi-
gan won, but this was more
bend-but-don't-break than over-
powering dominance. Notre
Dame hardly ran, but when they
did it was alarmingly effective.
The top two Fighting Irish backs
averaged 5.3 and 7.4 yards a rush.
A cornerback, junior Raymon
Taylor, led the team in tackles.
Thomas Gordon, a safety, was
second.
More concerning was the
lack of big defensive plays. Sure,
Countess had the two game-
changing interceptions, but the
first was a bad pass, and the sec-
ond hit off Taylor's leg. The Wol-
verines need to force the issue
more.
They didn't do that on Satur-
day. They had one sack and only
one hurry. The hurry was pro-
vided by junior defensive end
Frank Clark, who's still search-
ing for his first sack of the season.
He's only two weeks in, but he's
already behind on his prediction
of double-digit sacks.
For all the talk coming out
of camp about how formidable
Clark is as a rusher, he looks not
much off the Clark of 2012.
That's still a pretty good
player to have on the end, but he
admitted he has plenty of room
for improvement. The defense
does too.
4. The rotation behind Tous-
saint doesn't really matter.
Fitzgerald Toussaint was the
undisputed No. 1 running back
entering the season, but he had a
stable of five eager backs behind
him who looked like they could
steal some carries.
Freshman Derrick Green, the
highly-touted recruit, especially
looked like he could challenge
Toussaint for the starting job.
But Toussaint was the workhorse
Saturday.
He rushed 22 times for 83
yards. Green was the only other
running back with a carry. He
lost a yard.
Toussaint didn't have a career
performance, but he showed
patience and vision. He turned
losses into gains. And more
importantly, he has the trust of
his coaches. 4
5. Bold prediction: Michigan
will be 9-0 heading into North-
western.
OK, this has as much to do
with what we learned about
Michigan State and Nebraska
as it does Michigan. But Notre
Dame is likely the toughest team
Michigan will face until Ohio
State, and the Wolverines were
clearly the better team:
Meanwhile, Michigan State's
offense is offensive. Even on the
road, Michigan could be favored.
Nebraska could give the Wolver-
ines trouble, but the game is at
home, where Hoke is undefeated.
A game at Penn State will be dif-
ficult, but Michigan is more tal-
ented.
Don't be surprised if Michigan
is favored from here until at least
Nov. 16. And don't be surprised if
they're undefeated heading into
that game, too.
Tg TAMOL d s sFF/aily
fifth'year senior running back Fitzgerald Teussaint had 22 carries fsr 71 yards. He has established himself as the workhorse.
Redshirt junior quarterback
Devin Gardner could be a tra-
ditional drop-back passer. He
finished with 294 yards and
four touchdowns. Route com-
binations can be more complex
with him as the passer. But his
legs add a new wrinkle, one that
allows the read-option to remain.
It is especially potent in the red
zone and on third downs.
The playbook is wide open.
And Michigan's offense has sel-
dom looked this dynamic.
2. Gallon is even better than we
thought.
Can we put to rest the argu-
ment that Michigan doesn't have
any weapons on the outside?
Fifth-year senior wide receiver
Jeremy Gallon is one. That much
is glaringly obvious. Gallon had
eight catches Saturday for 184
yards and three touchdowns.
It was one of Michigan's best
receiving performances in recent
memory.
Since Gardner took over at
quarterback, Gallon has been
Michigan's receptions leader in
every single game. Taking Gal-
lon's seven-game totals with
Gardner as the passer, he'd be on
pace for 80 receptions, 13 touch-
downs and nearly 1,400 yards
over a full 13-game season.
That's notjust a weapon on the
outside. That would make him
the best wide receiver in the Big
Ten.
Gallon, who is listed at 5-foot-
8, has long been overlooked
because of his size. Notre Dame
inexplicably left him open across
the middle of the field again, and
he torched them for a 61-yard
touchdown.
But he is just as dangerous in
traffic. In the second quarter,
Lexi duo continues to dominate
By ERIN LENNON sweep of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Chal- point late in the set, senior outside
Daily Sports Writer lenge. hitter Molly Toon took a ball from
Following a 16-11 surge from the backcourt deep into Oregon's
There it was: the 2012 national Michigan in the first set, the corner to knot the game at 19.
semifinalistbanner. Ducks were forced to call their From there, Cross added a kill off
As the No. 7Michiganvolleyball first timeout. After two ensuing a pass from sophomore libero Tif-
team unveiled its first-ever Final Oregon attack errors and a second fany Morales, who finished with
Four flag atop Cliff Keen Arena on timeout, the Wolverines saw their 17 digs, to put the Wolverines up
Saturday afternoon, the season's 19-13 lead become a 21-20 deficit. for the last time as they went on to
objective stared senior co-captain But two blocks from senior middle steal the second set, 25-22.
outside hitter Lexi Erwin in the blocker and co-captain Jennifer Down 3-0 early in the third
face as she delivered the first serve Cross gave Michigan a 25-22 vic- set, Michigan scored six straight
against No. 12 Oregon. tory. Cross finished the afternoon points to secure the lead. Up 9-5,
Three sets later, the Wolver- with eight kills and three stuffs. the Ducks would come to within
ines (5-0) inched one step closer to There were 14 ties and nine lead one point of the Wolverines before
that goal, comoleting a two-match changes in the second set. Down a freshman middle blocker Abby
Cole connected for a kill off of the
slide. The point was followed by a
service ace from Toon, and Michi-
gan never looked back. Oregon
called two timeouts but couldn't
come any closer than 10-9 as the
Wolverines added 10 more kills to
secure a fourth straight-set vic-
tory on the season, 25-21.
Following the win, the Wol-
verines - with graduated middle
blocker Claire McElheny at their
side - headed over to the Big
House, where they were hon-
ored once more by the Michigan
football team for their Final Four
appearance.
"I don't think we necessarily
want to focus on the past, but we
certainly want to honor the past,"
said Michigan coach Mark Rosen.
"The banner was sort of one last
honor of last year, and now we'll
focus on this year."
The Wolverines began the
opening weekend with another
dominant, four-set victory over
Oregon State.
Michigan hit .460 in the first
two sets against the Beavers en
route to a 2-0 advantage heading
into the third set.
In the first set, Erwin added
six of her 13 kills, including a final
swing to put the Wolverines up
23-16 before two Oregon State
errors put Michigan up 1-0. A 5-0
service rally from Cross - who
finished the game with 11 kills and
two blocks - was followed by six
straight serves from Toon which
gave the Wolverines an easy 25-14
win in the second set.
But after 12 ties and seven lead
changes in the third set, Michi-
gan dropped its first and only set
of the season after 11 consecutive
victories. Cole put the Wolver-
ines up 12-9 early, but the Beavers
answered with an 8-2 run. Tied at
19, Cole contributed yet another
kill, while Erwin gave Michigan.
a 21-20 advantage, two critical
attack errors pushed the 25-22
score in favor of Oregon State.
"I don't think we lost our com-
posure, but coming in after that I
think we played like a Michigan
-, S
FILE PHOTO/Daily
ills against Oregon State on Friday.
high. The freshman also contrib-
uted a team-high 13 kills in just
three sets on Saturday.
"(Cole) is a great learner, she's
very humble and she just keeps
progressing," Rosen said. "The
best thing about Abby is that she's
nowhere close to as good as she's
going to be. As a coach, nothing is
more exciting than that."
Added Cole: "I'm excited. ... I
just think the transitioning has
been so easy just because of my
teammates and the coaches."
Senior outside hitter Lexi Erwin had 13 k
team plays," Cole said.
Dannemiller served the last
nine points of the match en route
to a 25-13 set win and the victory.
If Cole started her first colle-
giate home match with a few jit-
ters, she didn't finish with any.
Instead, the Michigan native
completed her first game with a
season-high 16 kills while con-
tributing nine of the Wolverines
11 blocks - besting sophomore
middle blocker Krystalyn Goode's
eight blocks to set a new team