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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - 7A

BUTT PUTS ACL INJURY IN REAR

Tight end returns the knife on Feb. 27, Butt's
goal seemed like a medical
to play against improbability
Michigan coach Brady Hoke
Notre Dame after estimated over the summer that
his tight end would be back by
speedy recovery the start of Big Ten play, which
would've been surprisingin itself.
By MAX COHEN Butt attributed his early return to
Daily Sports Editor his extreme effort in rehab.
"I really think of myself as a
Before Saturday's game hard worker, I went above and
turned into a disaster for the beyond whatever they did in
Michigan football team against treatment," Butt said. "I would
Notre Dame, there was a always do it on my own, whether
surprise many thought could it's inmydormroomjust coming
buoy the Wolverines' chances. back trying to make sure I got an
There was sophomore tight edge on anyone else who'd had
end Jake Butt warming up an ACL surgery before. I just
and dressed to play, a little wanted to put myself in the best
more than six months after position possible."
undergoing surgery for a torn While Butt knew he wanted
anterior cruciate ligament. to- play Saturday, nothing was
Butt was injured on Feb. 13 definite until warmups had
while doing extra work during ended.
winter conditioning. He ran a "I felt pretty good the whole
typical corner route, one he's time, but it was up to game time
run hundreds of times, and where you kind of see how it
quickly knew the results were felt when I was warming up to
disastrous see if I would
when he fell. get any reps,"
"I knew it Butt said.
right away "I knew it right Even Butt's
though, once doctor was
I went down," away though surprised
Butt said. he was able
"Like 'oh, man, once I went to return
I probably tore to action so
my ACL.'" down. quickly after
Butt said his injury. He
he made told Butt his
P returning for recovery was
the Fighting Irish his personal one of the fastest he'd seen and
goal after his injury because his that Butt surpassed all of his
grandfather played for Notre expectations.
Dame. And when he went under The hours spent . in the

PAULSHERMANDAILY
Tight end Jake Butt (left) and(linebackerJake Ryan both have recovered from ACL injuries in the last two seasons, returning to fill key roles at their positions.

training room paid off.
"I used to tell the trainers, I
was like 'I'm going to have to
start paying rent,' " Butt said.
"They would have to kick me
out. I'd always be in here doing
extra stuff."
When they finally did make
him leave, Butt frequently
continued his workouts in his
dorm room. Instead of making
sure he was doing his workouts,
the team's trainers and his
doctor monitored him to make
sure he wasn't doing too much.
He viewed his mental

fortitude as key.
"You've got to set your goals
high," Butt said.
Still, he isn't fully in the clear.
Fifth-yearseniorlinebacker Jake
Ryan, who was covering Butt on
the play when he was injured,
suffered a similar diagnosis last
year and has given Butt some
tips for staying healthy.
One of the major pieces of
advice has been how to properly
celebrate. In one of his first
practices back from injury, Butt
jumped in the air and twisted
to celebrate a touchdown

reception, but was advised by
Ryan and Hoke not to do it again
because it is a common cause of
ACL tears.
Butt wore a protective brace
against the Fighting Irish but
said he felt fine. Regardless of
playing four snaps, he was just
excited to be back.
Tuesday, Butt , said the
tentative plan before the game
was to play more in the second
half to avoid getting worn down
early if he could play. But as the
Wolverines faced a large deficit,
coaches decided it wasn't worth

the injury risk.
Butt said Michigan's coaches
will decide how much he plays
this weekend against Miami
(Ohio), but, as always, he wants
to play as much as possible.
No matter what the coaches
decide, he can take solace in that
he isn't spending all of his time
where most assumed he still
would be: in the training room.


Amid abounding criticism,
Hoke not worried about fans

VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily
Forward Nicky Waldeck was pulled for the second half of Sunday's game against CMU and could miss this weekend.
ldW

By GREG GARNO
ManagingSportsEditor
According to topsy.com,
a social analytics website,
the hashtag
"#firehoke" NOTEBOOK
was tweeted
more than 1,100 times in the
past three days and nearly 1,000
people used "Brady Hoke" and
"fire" in the same tweet.
All this coming after a 31-0
drubbing at the hands of Notre
Dame on Saturday.
Fans complained about the
Michigan football coach not
wearingaheadset, theysaid Hoke
should "bench (quarterback
Devin) Gardner" and that they
even "take Jim Tressel or Urban
Meyer at Michigan."
Hoke is clear he doesn't use
Twitter or social media. Not that
he's much of a talker in general.
But on Monday, he had to defend
himself after the first shutout in
program history since 1984.
"If they're truly fans, they'll
believe in these kids and what
they've done and the hard work
that they've put in," Hoke told
reporters. "If they're not, they
won't."
He's even got fifth-year senior
linebacker Jake Ryan, a captain
last season, backing him up.
"Fans don't see what we do at
Schembechler Hall, they don't
know what we do behind the
scenes," Ryan said on Monday.
"They don't know how much
work we've put in for this season.
"I'm confident in this team.
I have all the confidence in the
world in this offense and this

defense. We're going to step up
and this is going to be a great
season."
The overwhelming reminder
from Hoke and players is that
the loss to Notre Dame doesn't
derail their goal of winning a
Big Ten championship. What
it does do though, is upset a
fanbase that was already uneasy
following last season.
TUSSLE WITH TEXAS?:
Two of the most storied and
popular programs in college
football have both struggled in
recent seasons. So what better
way to keep a fanbase interested
than playing each other?
, Tuesday, the Wolverines and
Longhorns were reported to
be in talks to play a home-and-
home series in the next decade,
according to Anwar Richardson
of rivals.com.
Richardson tweeted: "Texas
and Michigan are currently
negotiating home-and-home
football series according to'
sources. Talks are going well
#Longhorns #HookEm"
Adding in a follow-up tweet:
"Texas and Michigan are
currently working on dates, but
it will likely be sometime in the
2020s #Longhorns #HookEm
#Wolverines"
The report comes weeks after
Michigan scheduled a home-
and-home with Washington in
2020 and 2021 and a home-and-
home with Oklahoma in 2025
and 2026.
Michigan and Texas have
met only once before at the
2005 Rose Bowl, which the
Longhorns won, 38-37.

BOLDEN KNOWS BEST:
Senior linebacker Joe Bolden
grew up playing football in the
back yard of oxford, Ohio -
home to the Wolverines' next
opponent, Miami (Ohio).
Bolden started playing
football in the Ross School
district in Ohio, 15 minutes
away from Oxford. It was close
enough that Bolden "could see
the lights from the stadium."
Growing up in the Cincinnati
area, Bolden is familiar with the
school that tried to recruit him.
And though he chose Michigan,
he knows plenty of players who
will line up against him on
Saturday.
"I have countless friends at
Miami (Ohio)," he said. "I got
guys I played with, guys I played
against at Miami (Ohio). A lot of
Cincinnati guys, obviously, with
Oxford being so close to so many
schools in the area.
"But it's a great feeling
getting to play against guys I
know, and guys that I've grown
up with, and really appreciate
and respect."
YORKTRIAL:Firstreported
by the Ann Arbor News, former
wide receiver Csont'e York's
pretrial hearing, scheduled for
Monday, has been adjourned
until Sept. 22.
York faces one count of
aggravated assault and two
counts of assault andbatteryafter
he allegedly punched a victim
outside Scorekeepers Bar and
Grill in July, breaking the victim's
jaw and knocked out a tooth.
Hoke dismissed York from the
team on Aug. 18 after the incident.

Forward broke out
with three goals
against Toledo
By BRAD WHIPPLE
Daily Sports Writer
It took Nicky Waldeck 366
minutes to score a goal equal to
her caliber.
The sophomore forward's
nine shots never got past the
goalkeeper in the Michigan
women's soccer team's
opening weekend against
Bowling Green, with her only
standout moment coming on a
79th-minute penalty kick.
Having made one start as a
freshman, Waldeck --who coach
Greg Ryan called the offseason's
most improved player -
attributed an uncharacteristic
showing to nerves.
"I had all the potential and
natural ability, but I didn't
know how to put it together yet,
as far as getting it to the college
game," Waldeck said. "I'm still
working on it, but I think that
I've come a long way since last
year."
She waited 12 more days.
After a weekend in which
the Wolverines suffered their
worst back-to-back losses
and dropped out of the top-
25 rankings for the first time
since 2012, Waldeck came out

of the gates against Toledo with
tremendous speed, the one
thing she and her teammates
have lacked lately.
Even after the game was
delayed due to inclement
weather, Waldeck was
unaffected, scoring within 70
seconds of returning to the
match an hour later. After
receiving a pass up the midfield,
Waldeck caught Rocket
goalkeeper Sam Tiongson off
guard 25 yards in front of her
net, sidestepped to the left and
drove in her first goal during
the run of play.
But Waldeck didn't end
there, finishing the weekend
with three goals and an assist
to preserve Michigan's perfect
record at home this year.
"You can see what she can
bring to the game: a lot of
ability," Ryan said. "She's been
struggling to express that. We
talked about with Nicky: don't
think about anything. Practice
is practice, just show up at the
game and play hard."
Tuesday, Waldeck added: "It
felt good to break that barrier
and have that weight lifted off
my shoulders. But I don't want
to get ahead of myself."
Much of the early season'
has been a mental game for
Waldeck. She described herself"
not as the player who needs to
care or work more, but instead
the one that needs to relax

more.
Waldeck believes in Ryan's
"practice is practice" mantra,
making sure to clear her mind
before each game. She manages
to keep practice and games
separate of each other, as one is
a time for making adjustments
and the other is for instincts to
take over.
Ryan says the weekend was a
nice way to get rid of the taste
from California - when his
team was shutout twice - but
Waldeck isn't ready to let past
results slide.
"I don't think our team is
one to look at that and say, 'Oh,
we're good now," Waldeck said
after beating Toledo. "Because
we're not even close. We got
beat 5-0 a week ago."
Thisweekend,theWolverines
(4-2 overall) host Minnesota
and Wisconsin. Michigan looks
to avenge themselves when
the Gophers, who handed the
Wolverines their only Big Ten
regular season loss last year,
come to town.
Sunday against Central
Michigan, Waldeck was
benched for the second half
with a sore foot. She declined to
comment on the "injury," and
it remains to be seen if she'll
be healthy enough to help her
team get a taste of revenge.
Now that she's woken herself
up, Waldeck could be the
answer to waking up Michigan.

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