7 - Tuesday, November 5, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
1 - Tuesday, November 5, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Lewan apologizes for conduct
FOOTBAL
Recruiting Rundown
By JAKE LOURIM (Ill) 42; Rankings: ESPN (118)
Daily Sports Writer Scout (268)
Bunting had six receptions
By LIZ VUKELICH
Daily Sports Editor
Leading up to the Michigan
State game, Taylor Lewan kept*
harping on the fact that he didn't
want the Wolverines to be "bul-
lied" by the Spartans like they
were two years ago in a loss to
the Spartans in East Lansing.
But this weekend, not much
was different from the last time
Michigan took the 63-mile trip
northwest, as the Spartans eas-
ily dismantled the Wolverines,
29-6.
The only thing that changed
was who instigated the bullying.
ESPN.com reported on Mon-
day morning that the Big Ten
is currently reviewing a play in
which Lewan, a fifth-year senior
left tackle, twisted the facemask
of'Michigan State defensive end
Isaiah Lewis.
"My assessment is that's not
what we want to portray or
be," said Michigan coach Brady
Hoke. "Him and I have had a dis-
cussion regarding that. It's not
who we are."
Hoke - who said Lewan's
actions were rooted in him
being "a very good teammate" -
doesn't plan to discipline Lewan
further, adding, "I think if he
should have been suspended, I
would have already done it."
Lewan apologized for his
behavior on Monday.
"What I did was wrong," he
said. "I was just trying to protect
my guys. There's always a differ-
ent way to go about it. I should
have gone about it a different
way. I can't take it back now."
Lewan searched for Lewis on
the field after the game to apolo-
gize but was unable to find him.
Though he didn't talk to Lewis,
he did have a serious chat with
Hoke about his actions.
"At the end of the day, he told
me I'm representing 134 years of
Michigan football," Lewan said.
"(I'm the) 134th captain of this
team. It's a big deal. That's not
representing the University of
Michigan the way it should be.
The Michigan Daily's
Recruiting Rundown returns
this week to check in on Michi-
gan's top football recruits as
they battle in the playoffs. As
a couple of future Wolverines
continue to deal with injuries,
we give you an update on the
2014 commits:
Jabrill Peppers, defensive
back/running back: Paramus
Catholic (N.J.) 41, Friendship
Collegiate Academy (D.C.) 14;
Ranking: ESPN (2) Scout (4)
Peppers ran for one touch-
down as No. 4 Paramus Catho-
lic moved to 6-2 ahead of this
week's season finale.
Drake Harris, running back:
Grand Rapids Christian (Mich.)
14, Forest Hills Northern
(Mich.) 13; Ranking: ESPN (72)
Scout (32)
Harris hasn't played all sea-
son after aggravating a ham-
stringinjury in August and again
in late September. His team, the
defending Division III state
champion, won its first playoff
game Saturday, but his status is
uncertain going forward.
Bryan Mone, defensive tackle:
Highland (Utah) 14, Sky View
(Utah) 27; Ranking: ESPN (76)
Scout (90)
Mone's Highland team lostits
first-round playoff game Friday
in the Utah Division 4A state
playoffs. He finished the season
with 41 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Lawrence Marshall, defensive
end: Southfield (Mich.) 16, Bir-
mingham Seaholm (Mich.) 17;
Ranking: ESPN (112) Scout (106)
Marshall's season ended Fri-
day with a first-round playoff
upset. Michigan is still targeting
his teammate and fellow defen-
sive lineman, Malik McDowell.
Ian Bunting, tight end: Hin-
sdale Central (Ill.) 14, Oswego
for 59 yards in the regular sea-
son, but his team lost in the first
round of the state playoffs.
Michael Ferns, linebacker/
running back: St. Clairsville
(Ohio) 41, Union Local (Ohio) 7;
Ranking: ESPN (123) Scout (175)
Ferns has missed time spo-
radically this season with a
shoulder injury. His team won
Friday to finish the regular sea-
son 9-1 and will begin the play-
offs Saturday.
Wilton Speight, quarterback:
Collegiate School (Va.) 34, St.
Christopher's (Va.) 14; Ranking:
ESPN (128) Scout (NR)
Speight completed 14 of 20
passes for 228 yards, two touch-
downs and an interception. He
also ran seven times for 16 yards
and two scores as top-ranked
Collegiate (8-1) secured a No. 1
playoff seed.
Chase Winovich, linebacker/
running back: Thomas Jefferson
(Pa.)39, Hampton (Pa.)0; Rank-
ing: (NR)
Winovich had five carries
for 62 yards and a -touchdown
and added three sacks. No. 2
Jefferson now advances to the
quarterfinals of the Western
Pennsylvania Class AAA play-
offs.
Jared Wangler, linebacker:
De La Salle Collegiate (Mich.)
14, Macomb Dakota (Mich.),19;
Ranking: (NR)
Wangler played sparingly
(shoulder) in the playoff loss to
undefeated Dakota, according to
MIPrepZone.
Maurice Ways, wide receiver:
Country Day (Mich.) 49, Claw-
son (Mich.)14; Ranking: (NR)
Ways sat out for most of
Country Day's blowout win over
Clawson but should see more
action next week at Notre Dame
Prep (Mich.).
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Fifth-year senior offensive tackle Taylor Lewan is potentially facing discipline from the Big Ten this week.
It's not taking pride in the rival- bottom of a scrum with his head
ry that we have with Michigan exposed, and Lewis tried to jump
State. They won, they beat us fair in on the action. Lewan said he
and square." reacted by pulling Lewis off the
Redshirt pile of bodies
junior quar- by his helmet.
terback Devin "Ishould have He received an
Gardner took unsportaman-
a beating on gone about it like conduct
Saturday as penalty for his
he was sacked in a different actions.
seven times Lewan has
after the Mich- w ay." now been on
igan offensive both sides of
line opened up heightened
the floodgates emotions dur-
to the Spartans' pass rush. ing the rivalry. In 2011, Lewan
That, according to Lewan, was on the receiving end of a
is why he lost his temper in the punch by former Spartan defen-
heat of the moment. On the play sive end William Gholston.
in question, Gardner was at the Gholston also tugged on the
facemask of former Michigan
quarterback Denard Robinson
and was ultimately suspended
for one game by the Big Ten for
the incident. Neither Hoke nor
Lewan would comment on any
similarities between the epi-
sodes.
"I'm an offensive lineman. I
block," Lewan said. "I take so
much pride in what I do that
sometimes I'll lose my compo-
sure. I'm here to protect my
quarterback and my running
back. I need to go about that in a
different way.
"When I did it, that was bla-
tant. It was poor and immature
of me. There's really no other
way to make it look like I'm a
good person in that situation."
Hoke: Offensive line doesn't
deserve all of the blame
5 Things We Learned
By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
It's easy to make snap judg-
ments with a number like nega-
tive 48, to pass the blame and to
point fingers.
The reason the Michigan foot-
ball team rushed for the low-
est amount of yards in program
history is purely because of the
offense line, right? Shouldn't all
the blame go to that young, beat-
up offensive line?
Well, not exactly. Blame cer-
tainly still goes to that unit, but
it's not that easy.
"The backs need to be able to
pick (blitzes) up a little better,"
said Michigan coach Brady Hoke
in a press conference on Mon-
day. "There were probably one or
two times when the quarterback
needed to step up on the field a
little better. There's sometimes
the timing of the route. It's hit or
miss. You have 10 guys good, one
guy bad, like anything else that's
why it's a great team sport. You
have to have them all the same."
In Saturday's 29-6 loss to Mich-
igan State, Michigan quarterback
Devin Gardner was sacked seven
times on 34 drop-backs. Even on
the plays he wasn't sacked, the
redshirt junior was getting hit. By
the end of the game, he sat on the
sidelines while freshman Shane
Morris finished the bludgeoning
for the Wolverines. Hoke said
Monday that he expects Gardner
to play, but fifth-year senior offen-
sive tackle Taylor Lewan said that
Gardner was very sore on Sunday.
Of the many factors that played
into Michigan's negative 48 rush-
ing yards, the running backs and
their ability to pick up blitzes
stood out. The only running
back who saw significant min-
utes on Saturday was fifth-year
senior Fitzgerald Toussaint. One
* backup, freshman Derrick Green,
played two snaps and missed one
blitz protection pickup.
"Fitz is our best pass protec-
tor," Hoke said. "Has been. For
some of theyoung guys, it's a little
PATRICK BARRON/Daily
Redshirt freshman center Graham Glasgow recently moved from guard to center.
more difficult."
Hoke's comments aside, Tous-
saint struggled in blitz protec-
tions on Saturday. Part ofthat was
because he was constantly forced
to run play actions that were fool-
ing no one, butstill, the protection
wasn't there.
Gardner and his tendency to
hang onto the ball a half-second
longer than usual was another
problem. That might not seem
like much, but when a defense as
good as the Spartans is barreling
down at you, it's a big deal.
The oft-discussed offensive
line, which started its fourth
unit in as many games last week,
has been a big discussion point in
Hoke's press conferences over the
last two months, through all the
swaps and the shuffling.
The biggest issue, he continues
to say, is experience. The more
experience the young interior
linemen get, the better. The prob-
lem is that Michigan is running
out of time and games to see that
maturation come to fruition, at
least for the 2013 season.
"It's a youth problem as much
as anything," Hoke said. "The
only way to fix it is experience. I
wouldn't trade (freshman guard
Kyle) Bosch, (redshirt freshman
guard Erik) Magnuson or red-
shirt sophomore center Graham)
Glasgow for anybody, or the other
guys who are competing with
them. You just have to keep every
day grinding, and showing them
the looks and doing everything
you can."
Even with the inexperience
and shuffling, the offensive line
shouldn't get a free pass. The
bottom line is that if Michigan
is going to bounce back from the
beatdown in East Lansing, the
line is going to have to play better.
Still, it's important to remem-
ber that there's more going on
than purely what the guys up
front are doing.
"What it really comes down
to is going 100 percent on every
play," Lewan said. "When you're
young, you really think about the
whole game, 60 minutes of foot-
ball. In reality, you need to focus
on one play at a time. Those guys
need to learn that. They will.
They're progressing. Obviously
we didn't have a good day on Sat-
urday, but we'll get better and
we'll learn from it."
By ERIN LENNON
Daily Sports Writer
1. Michigan has depth beyond
the line chart.
In place of injured freshman
defenseman Kevin Lohan - who
will miss at least three months
after suffering a. lower-body
injury Friday that will require
surgery- junior Mike Chiasson
made his season debut on a pair-
ing with senior Kevin Clare.
The defense allowed just one
goal in a 2-1 victory, going 6-for-
6 on the penalty kill. And though
there were no injuries on offense
this weekend, two Wolverines
notched points in their second
starts of the season Saturday.
Sophomore forward Justin
Selman netted what was ulti-
mately the game-winning goal
for Michigan in the third period
Saturday. Freshman defenseman
Michael Downing and junior
forward Andrew Sinelli record-
ed the assist.
Sinelli's sixth career assist
came in his second appearance
this season.
"He's a junior now, and he's a
pretty good hockey player," said
Michigan coach Red Berenson
on Saturday. "There's some com-
petition now between about six
or seven guys to get in the lineup
and stay in the lineup. But that's
good for our team."
2. Nagelvoort has pipes
between the pipes.
With an ability to play the
puck as well as stop it, freshman
goaltender Zach Nagelvoort acts
as a sixth skater on the ice at all
times. Nagelvoort's performance
in place of injured sophomore
Steve Racine has kept the Wol-
verines out of the loss column on
more than one occasion through
five starts.
On Friday, Nagelvoort could
be heard from the rafters in Yost
Ice Arena, shouting "plenty of
time" to calm a hasty power play
and direct the defense in front of
him.
"The defense did a really great
job," Nagelvoort said Saturday.
"They let me see pretty much
everything in front of me. There
were'only really two or three
chances where they had any
opportunities for shots; they just
played really well tonight."
Nagelvoort has a reason to be
calm. The freshman is now 4-1-1
on the season and has survived
three overtime games without
allowing the game-winning goal.
He boasts a .948 save percentage
- the second-best percentage in
the nation - and hasn't given up
more than a pair of goals in any
start.
3. The power play lacks mus-
cle.
Sophomore forward Andrew
Copp's first-period goal on Satur-
day against the Huskies was the
first power-play goal since Oct.
18 against New Hampshire, and
the only one scored in five such
opportunities duringthe game.
Though Michigan's power
play is 8-for-32 this season, it is
arguably the Wolverines' weak-
est unit thus far. The power play
scored two goals in the season
opener against No. 8 Boston Col-
lege but has been held to one or
fewer since.
Still, drawing penalties will
eventually lead to goals, right?
"(Power plays) help us to get
out offensively and get in an
early rhythm," Copp said. "It def-
initely helps to get shots on net."
But eventually, luck aside, the
Wolverines will struggle to win
games decided by one goal. It
will be the power play's respon-
sibility to find the back of the net,
especially against a team like
Michigan Tech.
4. But the penalty kill is killer.
Before the season, senior
defenseman Mac Bennett said
that the defense - which had
been pegged as Michigan's big-
gest question mark following the
departure of former blue liners-
Jon Merrill and Jacob Trouba -
would surprise alot of people.
A defense that boasted three
starting freshmen has allowed
more than two goals in a game
only once this season - in a 7-4
victory over Rochester Institute
of Technology. Michigan gives
up an average of 1.47 goal per
game, which is important con-
sidering the Wolverines have
scored three or more goals just
twice this season.
On Friday, Michigan took its
first five-on-three penalty kill of
the season when junior defense-
man Brennan Serville was called
for boarding. The penalty kill
fended off Michigan Tech for
4:42 of the five-minute disadvan-
tage before surrendering its fifth
goal of the season.
Without Lohan on Saturday,
the Wolverines killed 12 minutes
worth of penalties without sur-
rendering a goal
5. Bold Prediction: Nagelvoort
is Michigan's new No.1.
After missing a weekend
against Boston University and
UMass-Lowell, Racine practiced
in full pads in the week leading
up to Michigan Tech but was
listed as a backup and didn't see
the ice in either game.
Berenson has said several
times that, although Racine felt
he could play if necessary, the
sophomore is not yet 100 per-
cent. With the bye week coming
up and a hot-handed backup in
Nagelvoort, what's the rush?
But what Berenson is not say-
ing is that Nagelvoort's impres-
sive play in five starts is a happy,
but confusingsurprise.
Nagelvoort is better at play-
ing the puck and allows fewer
rebounds..He is bigger and more
vocal.
With each win he notches
while Racine is resting, especial-
ly at home, the freshman earns a
bigger share of that starting job.
There is certainly potential
for a two-goalie option for the
remainder of the season, ahappy
problem to have. Still, don't
be surprised if it's Nagelvoort
minding the net in Omaha, Neb.
next weekend.
',