8A - Thursday, October 24, 2013

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

8A - Thursday, October 24, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

Michigan's lopsided and
destructive offensive beast

By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
Michigan's offense was always
relying on the little guy, but it took
a big, big man to make sure that
little guy could shoot up to his
highest potential.
When Michigan finally found
another receivingthreat alongside
fifth-year senior Jeremy Gallon -
who is probably shorter than his
listed height of 5-foot-8 - nobody
thought that the end result would
be the single greatest statistical
receiving performance in the 134
years of Michigan football.
But when sophomore tight end
Devin Funchess split out wide
three games ago, the Wolverines'
offense suddenly became a lot
more dangerous. On Saturday, it
helped Gallon more than anyone.
Before Funchess - who is prob-
ably taller than his listed height of
6-foot-5 - made the transition to
a wide receiver that sometimes
lines up as a tight end instead
of the other way around against
Minnesota, Gallon was getting
little to no help from the other
wide receivers. Through seven
games, there isn't a wide receiver
on the roster with more than eight
catches, other than Gallon and
Funchess.
The results were immediate
for Funchess - 15 catches for 347
yards and three touchdowns inthe
three games since he switched, as
opposed to eight catches for 146
yards and one touchdown in the
four games in which he was used
predominately asa tight end.
And yet, the impact he had in
the shootout win over Indiana
last week was more about how he
helped Gallon than about his own
statistics.
After breaking Michigan and
Big Ten records for receiving
yards in a game (369on14 catches
and two touchdowns); Gallon said
that one of the reasons he was so
open was because the Indiana
defense was afraid of giving up a
big gain to Funchess.
The defense had to pick its poi-
son, and on Saturday, it picked
Gallon. The beauty is that next
week, it might be the other way

VOLLEYBALL
Cole forms unlikely
bond at hospital
By KELLY HALL to sign autographs - she created
For the Daily a real relationship with Clary, as
she does with many of the chil-
When Abby Cole visits C.S. dren she has the opportunity to
Mott Children's Hospital, kids visit.
ask for her autograph. The fresh- Cole created a special bond
man middle blocker doesn't with the entire Walker fam-
understand why. ily that night. She chatted with
"It's a big deal for them, they Clary's little sisters about their
get so excited," she said. "They interest in sports, and even left
go, 'Sign this, sign that,' and I'm tickets for the Walkers to watch
like, 'I'm really not cool, why do her team take on Nebraska and
you want my signature?"' Iowa at Cliff Keen Arena.
But to the Walker family, she's According to the nurses, the
the coolest. Abby is much more kids look forward to the athlete
than a starter for the Michigan visits all week, and it means a
volleyball team and a recent Big great dealto the children to meet
Ten Freshman of the Week - she the stars of their favorite sports.
is the friend of a family that's Although the volunteering is
fighting for a loved one. generally meant to brighten the
Cole first met the Walker fam- days of the patients, Cole doubts
ily on Oct. 10 during one of her that they enjoy it more than she
weeklytripstothe hospital. She's does.
only met the family once, but the "I get 100 percent more out of
bond is strong enough to assume it than they do," she said.
that she will be reunited with Cole visits the hospital every
them again soon. Thursday night when she is in
Clary Walker, a 16-year-old Ann Arbor and not on the road.
from Tra- For her, visit-
verse City, ing Mott is a

PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Fifth-year senior wide receiver Jeremy Gallon and sophomore tight end Devin Funchess have combined to make Michi-
ga's offense very dangerous after Funchess converted toa wide-receiver role three weeks ago against Minnesota.

around.
"There's no question that's a big
part of it," Michigan coach Brady
Hoke said after the game. "The
threat that (Funchess) is vertical-
ly down the field, so I don't think
there's any doubt he had a lot of
attention from Indiana and their
secondary.
That in turn
helps obviously I h
if you're going I
to combo or an t
double a guy anoth
or whatever. It
helps another OU
guy out."
Even just a
few weeks ago,
there was real concern over Mich-
igan's offense. It was inconsistent
and turnover prone and looked
like it was going to be a real issue
against teams like Michigan State,
Nebraska and Ohio State.
Those issues still might be
valid over the next month, but the
offense is in a much better state

to handle the Wolverines' tough-
est road stretch of the year than it
was even three games ago.
It's impossible to give all that
credit to Funchess, but his posi-
tional switch has been a major
reason for the revitalization of the
offense and not just for the receiv-
ers.
- " Redshirt
junior quar-
lelps terback Devin
Gardner has
er guy also benefited
from having
more than one
bona fide, legit-
imate receiving
target.
In the four games with Funch-
ess playing tight end, Gardner
completed 57.4 percent of his
passes, threw eight interceptions
and just seven touchdowns and
threw for 200 yards per game.
Now, over the last three games,
Gardner has a 66.2-percent com-
pletion rate, with just two inter-

ceptions to go along with six
touchdowns and is throwing for
326 yards per game.
Some of those stats are inflated
because of how awful Indiana's
defense was, but the comparison
still stands.
If Funchess was back in his
previous role, who knows how
the Hoosiers would have covered
Gallon and how that would have
affected the outcome of the game.
Certainly, there would have been
more attention paid to him, as the
secondary was laughably lax in its
coverage, even after Gallon had
hauled in more than 300 receiv-
ing yards.
And maybe when we look back
on this 2013 season, we will look
back on the moment that Funch-
ess became a wide receiver as the
turning point for the offense.
But right now, what we do know
is that there's nothing scarier for a
defense than having to deal with a
two-headed monster, especially if
one head is higher than the other.

Mich., has
been at Mott "W e cc
since Aug 29,
after being Abby OUI
flown in and
diagnosed
with an
aggressive form of cancer. It's
been extremely difficult for his
family of six, especially his three
younger siblings who have to
miss school in order to see him.
When she walked into the
hospital room at Mott, Cole
grabbed the family's attention
for something other than her
6-foot-5 frame - her compassion
for the Walker family was clearly
evident.
"We consider Abby our
friend," said Laura Walker,
Clary's mother. "She has a heart
of compassion and genuine care
for others. We sure look forward
in the months ahead at Mott that
we get to see our friend Abby."
Cole not only makes a signifi-
cant impact on the court, but also
in the hearts of many patients
and families as well. The Walk-
ers are an example of that. Cole
didn't just make a quick pit stop

way to take a
)nsider step balk from
,friend." school and
volleyball and
gain some per-
spective.
"It's the one
thing every week that brightens
everything up and kind of resets
my mind to what's really impor-
tant," Cole said.
For the Walker family, it's
comforting to know that people
like Cole exist. She somehow
juggles her student workload
on top of a demanding practice
schedule and still finds the time
to visit Mott. Many athletes have
the opportunity to lend a hand,
but for Cole, it's a regular part of
her weekly agenda.
Cole can't wait to see the
Walker family again.
"Now that I've met this boy
Clary, and his sisters, and their
family, I can go back and try to
get on the seventh floor to go see
them again," Cole said.
The Walker family motto is
"No one fights alone," regardless
of whether they are at Mott or on
the volleyball court.

'M' returns to Yost for tough weekend slate

By ALEJANDRO ZUNIGA
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan hockey team is
undefeated, but coach Red Beren-
son isn't exactly pleased.
The fourth-ranked Wolverines
(3-0-1 overall) have been lucky
to win, he says, and they've spent
the year finding ways to not lose.
Relying on good fortune alone
just won't last.
Despite opening the season
with three of four games against
ranked teams, Michigan's sched-
ule doesn't get any easier. It wel-
comes No. 13 Boston University
and No. 18 Massachusetts-Lowell

Berenson watched film of Bos-
ton University's game against
Wisconsin last week. The second-
ranked Badgers

Given the level of competi-
tion Michigan has already faced,
that's a high compliment from
the veteran

played well, coach. The
taking a 1-1 tie . l be the Wolverines
into the first T h already beat
intermission. Boston Col-
But when the eest lea I lege, a peren-
final horn blew, we've nial NCAA
the scoreboard t k w v championship
at Agganis ply d.9 contender, 3-1,
Arena flashed a p 9 0 * then they trav-
7-3 Terrier vic- eled to Roch-
tory. ester Institute
"BU is going of Technology,
to be really good," Berenson said., where they toppled the Tigers in
"This'll be the best team I think front of more than 10,000 fans.

earned a hard-fought win and
a tie at then-No. 13 New Hamp-
shire.
Meanwhile, Boston Univer-
sity (3-1-0) has played its first four
games at home, and its only blem-
ish came at the hands of No. 12
Rensselaer.
Despite the Wolverines' near-
perfect record, Berenson has
noticed plenty of flaws in the
early season. At RIT, the lopsided
scoreline masked a disastrous
second period in which Michigan
allowed a four-goal lead .to com-
pletely evaporate. And in the first
game against New Hampshire,
the Wolverines were whistled
11 times for penalties and barely
hung on for a tie despite being
horribly out-shot.
Those are issues Berenson has
been trying to correct all week.
Boston University went 3-for-7 on
the power play to dominate Wis-
consin, and Michigan can't afford
to take a period off or spend too
much time down a man.
"The times we've ran into a
little bit of trouble is when we've
been in the box a lot," said senior
defenseman Mac Bennett. "We've
got the stay out of the box, obvi-
ously."
Saturday's game against Mas-
sachusetts-Lowell (1-3-0) won't
be any less of a challenge. Semi-
finalists in last year's Frozen
Four, the River Hawks were the
top-ranked team in the preseason
polls. They lost their first game of
the season in stunning fashion to
Sacred Heart - a team that won
just twice last year - and since
then, Massachusetts-Lowell has
won only once, 5-2 over Massa-
chusetts-Amherst.
But the River Hawks still have
the makings of an elite team.
Netminder Connor Hellebuyck
posted a 1.38 goals-against aver-
age last season, and defenseman
Christian Folin returned to the
team after a stellar freshman year.

PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Senior defenseman Mac Bennett leads an undefeated team into a tough weekend.

"We've gotta get our feet mov-
ing on Friday, and then we'll
worry about Saturday," Beren-
son said. "These are both top-10
teams."
That challenge excites Beren-
son, and he says it'll help the Wol-
verines when the grueling Big Ten
season begins in late November.
"If we were fooling ourselves
and playing weak teams week
after week, whether we're win-
ning or losing, we're going to have
some false sense of confidence or
security," Berenson said. "There's
no place to hide right now. We're
playing good teams, and you can
either play with them or you can't.
The Wolverines will be with-

out their top netminder, sopho-
more Steve Racine, who pulled
his groin making a save last week-
end. But freshman Zach Nagel-
voort has filled in nicely, allowing
just two goals on 39 shots for a
.949 save percentage. And junior
forward Alex Guptill will be play-
ing for the first time on home ice
after he was suspended earlier
in the year for off-ice issues. But
that won't matter when the puck
drops.
"If we execute the way we want
to execute, there's not a team, in
the country that we can't beat,"
Bennett said. "That being said,
every team in the country can
beat us."