io. The Michigan Daily - michigandaiiy.cam
Tuesday, November 26, 2013 - 7
PAUL SHERMAN/Da
Redshirt freshman Kyle Kalis began the season as the starter at right guard. After a benching and several moves on the offensive line, Kalis started again against Iowa. He is listed atop the depth chart this week for the game against Ohio State.
Offensive line carousel goes for another spin
By ZACH HELFAND
Daily Sports Editor
This year, the situation on the
interior of Michigan's offensive
line has can be likened to a hor-
rific game of musical chairs. And
each time the music stops and
the whistle blows, the result is
usually a sack of redshirt junior
quarterback
Devin Gardner. NOTEBOOK
Or a rush for
negative two yards.
The situation began with
redshirt sophomores Graham
Glasgow along with redshirt
freshman Kyle Kalis. Miller was
the first to go, replaced by red-
shirt sophomore Chris Bryant.
Then Bryant and Kalis were
replaced by redshirt junior Joey
Burzynski and redshirt fresh-
man Erik Magnuson. Freshman
Kyle Bosch filled in for Burzyn-
ski after he was injured.
The combination of Glasgow,
Magnuson and Bosch lasted for
a while. But last Saturday, Kalis
got back in on the action, replac-
ing Bosch.
It's enough to make your head
spin, but after all of the switch-
ing and swapping, four of the five
opening-game starters are at the
head of the depth chart in the
last week of the regular season.
After Saturday's game, Michi-
gan coach Brady Hoke declined
to discuss Kalis's play until he
could watch the game tape.
On Saturday, Hoke said
Kalis won back the starting job
because "he earned it."
"It's really no bigger decision
than that," Hoke said. "He had
earned it. He had done a good job
in the week. They evaluated him.
Thought it would be good for the
other Kyle, for Bosch, to take a
step back and watch a little bit
and keep learning. And I think
that's what Kalis did."
With the new line combina-
tion, Michigan allowed only one
sack after surrendering a com-
bined 19 in the previous three
games. Still, Iowa does not rush
the passer aggressively, and the
rushing game grinded its way to
just 60 yards on 29 carries.
COLUMBUS, MINUS 'M's,
PREPARE FOR RIVALRY: This
sentence -ay look -uch different
if it were -oved fro- the -ichigan
Daily to the newspaper in Colu-
bus.
A little
overboard?
-aybe.
But Ohio
State stu-
dents have
covered,
or tried
to cover,
every letter
'M' around
campus
with red
has adopted the Woody Hayes
tradition of referring to Michi-
gan as "That School Up North,"
perhaps in response to Michigan
coach Brady Hoke's preferred
"Ohio" over "Ohio State."
But Meyer slipped up at
his Monday press conference.
Answering a question about
his appreciation for the rivalry,
Meyer said, "Where I grew up
in the 10
year war ...
. . I learned
Michigan) tole
dislike
bly given Michigan
bly iven at a very
u a d young age."'
ousand. A report-
or loss." er pointed
out he said
"Michi-
gan."
"Did I
"I know (D
has proba
up a th(
tackles f
indirect shots at the Wolverines.
According to Ben Axelrod of
Buckeyesports.com, linebacker
Ryan Shazier poked fun at the
Michigan offense Monday.
"I know they've probably
given up a thousand tackles for
loss this season," he said.
That's either some mild trash
talking or just a mild overstate-
ment. Michigan has given up
107 negative plays this season,
according to Big Ten reporter
John U. Bacon. That should be
welcome news for Shazier, who
leads the team in both tackles
(108) and tackles for loss (19.5).
Later, safety Christian Bry-
ant tweeted a photo of himself
stepping on a Michigan jersey to
accompany the tweet, "#NORE-
SPECT." Later, he posted a tweet
saying, "All I can think about is
when (Michigan) threw the ball
after the game in 2011. They had
No respect for us."
INJURY UPDATE: Michigan
was hampered by a string of
injuries against Iowa, but Hoke
indicated Monday that everyone
should be ready to go against the
Buckeyes.
Two starting linebackers -
junior Desmond Morgan and
sophomore James. Ross III -
sustained undisclosed injuries
against the Hawkeyes that forced
them to leave the game in the
first half. After the game, Gard-
ner also appeared to be nursing
a shoulder injury. He hooked his
finger in his belt loop during his
postgame press conference to
support his right arm.
"They're all going to be fine,"
Hoke said. "All three of them."
On whether he expects them
to play Saturday, Hoke added,
"Oh yeah."
The only exception could be
junior running back Thomas
Rawls. He sustained an injury
to his medial collateral liga-
ment, and Hoke said he would be
questionable to play. Rawls plays
mostly in a special-teams role.
tape. It has become a tradition really?" Meyer asked. "Wow. (I)
each year during the rivalry Apologize."
week. Elsewhere, two Buckeyes took
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer some indirect and some not-so-
FOOTBALL RECRUTIN
OT Erik Swenson
commits to Michigan
Wolverines find
offensive groove
2016 commit
is 6-foot-7, 290
pounds and labeled
a top prospect
By JAKE LOURIM
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan has lost three of its
past four games to Big Ten teams
and is a 12.5-point underdog
against Ohio State on Saturday.
But on Monday the Wolver-
ines won a battle on the recruit-
ing trail, snagging2016 offensive
tackle Erik Swenson from Down-
ers Grove, Ill.
Swenson (6-foot-7, 290
pounds) is not yet rated in the
class of 2016, but experts label
him as a top offensive line pros-
pect.
Swenson started as a fresh-
man and sophomore at left tackle
at Downers Grove South, which
went 6-4 this season and lost to
Naperville Central in the first
round of the Division 8A play-
offs, 36-0.
. Swenson said he committed
so early because he has always
wanted to go to Michigan and
didn't feel the need to prolong
the decision.
"Erik is just a pretty simple
kind of kid," said Swenson's
s father, Swen. "He's not into trav-
eling across the country and
doesn't want to take official vis-
its and waste people's time and
money. He truly had no desire to
go anywhere else. He loves the
school, the tradition and every-
thing that is Michigan. He will
get a great education and will get
a chance to play at a high level."
Swenson made an unofficial
visit to Michigan for the Notre
Dame night game on Sept. 7 and
will visit again this weekend for
the Ohio State game. He also
attended camps at Michigan the
past two summers.
Along with Michigan, Swen-
son held offers from Ohio State,
Notre Dame, Northwestern and
Illinois.
Illinois was the first school to
offer Swenson on Dec. 7, 2012.
Ohio State followed on May 10,
with Michigan coming 12 days
later.
Northwestern offered him a
scholarship on June 7 at a camp,
and he came to Michigan's camp
on June 16.
Along with 134 years of tradi-
tion, Swenson cited the caliber
of Michigan's coaches and their
leadership styles at the camps he
attended as major factors in his
decision.
In Chicago, a solid Michigan
recruiting location, Swenson is
familiar not only with the coach-
es, but also with some players,
including freshman guard Kyle
Bosch. Bosch is from St. Fran-
cis, Ill., 25 miles from Downers
Grove.
From the current roster,
freshmen linemen Kyle Kalis,
Erik Magnuson, Kyle Bosch and
Ben Braden will be seniors when
Swenson arrives in 2016. Four-
star offensive tackles Juwan
Bushell-Beatty and Mason Cole
have also committed for the class
of 2014.
By JEREMY SUMMITT
Daily Sports Editor
Last week was a particularly
special one for the No. 3 Michi-
gan hockey team.
Friday, the Wolverines finally
found an offensive surge in a 6-0
rout of Niagara. Most impor-
tantly, players who have been
looking to get on the score sheet
for much of the season were able
to do so, including freshman for-
ward Alex Kile, who scored the
first goal of his Michigan career.
"There's a little more confi-
dence, absolutely," said Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson.
"Anytime a kid scores his first
goal, it's going to jump-start
his confidence. You saw that
with JT Compher and hopefully
you'll see that with Alex Kile
now."
Until Friday, even freshman
forward Tyler Motte - who's
been one of the most produc-
tive freshmen this season with
five goals and two assists - had
been held without a goal since
Oct. 25. Motte netted a goal just
34 seconds in, which was the
fastest goal he could remember
scoring dating back to his youth
hockey days.
Completing the trend of Fri-
day's accomplishments by the
freshmen class, goaltender Zach
Nagelvoort picked up the first
shutout for any Wolverine goal-
tender this season.
GUPTILL'S NEW GROOVE:
Junior forward Alex Guptill was
able to find the back of the net
twice on Friday - once when he
found himself wide open in the
slot and again after spinning off
a defenseman and scoring from
an awkward angle.
Guptill has been in a bit of a
slump this season after leading
Michigan in scoring during last
year's campaign. He doubled
his season total for goals on Fri-
day with two tallies, giving him
eight points on the year - good
for fifth on the team.
Friday was one of Guptill's
better games thus far, and it
isn't just because his name stood
out in the box score. Guptill
simplified things for himself.
He played deep in the offensive
zone and exhibited patience to
put his potent goal-scoring abili-
ties to good use.
"Not much went for him, but
it was good that he stuck with
it," Berenson said. "And then
finally in the third period the
puck went in for him. Up until
then, it was a lot of hard work
but no results. But I think we're
getting him back onto his game."
THANKFUL FOR HOCKEY:
While most of the country will
be rushing to put a turkey in the
oven on Thursday morning, the
Wolverines will be on the ice
practicing. For the players that
live near Ann Arbor, most will
be lucky enough to make it home
for a mid-afternoon dinner with
their families.
But for the players not stay-
ing, senior captain Mac Bennett
isn't worried that they'll miss
out on a quality meal. He says
there are plenty of good cooks
on the team, and anyone who
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Junior forward Alex Guptill scored twice Friday to break out of a scoring slump.
lives too far away to travel back
home will be enjoying a hockey
Thanksgiving at Bennett's house
with Derek DeBlois, Adam Jane-
cyk and Mike Chiasson.
"It's Thanksgiving, man,"
Bennett said. "We'll probably
just make a ton of food, and
whoever shows up shows up.
There definitely won't be any-
one who doesn't have anywhere
to go."
Bennett thought long and
hard before admitting the
sophomore class probably has
the best chefs on the team. He
mentioned that DeBlois's break-
fast lineup isn't anything totake
for granted, though. It's too bad
that eggs, hash browns and pan-
cakes aren't a staple on Thanks-
giving menus.
To be fair, Bennett said the
Thanksgiving spread might be
light with the Big Ten opener
against Ohio State looming the
next day at 7 p.m. However,
there was no hesitation when
Bennett mentioned stuffing his
face with turkey and taking a
nap as being among his favorite
holiday traditions.
t