4B - Monday, September 15, 2014
Spo rs
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Green demands ball, delivers
By MAX COHEN
Daily SportsEditor
It appeared as though the
game was teeteringon the brink.
Miami (Ohio) tied the score at 10
with 9:14 to play in the first half,
and Michigan football fans were
beginning to fret.
Saturday's game was shaping
up to be yet another disaster for
the Wolverines. Last year, there
was Akron, which came into the
Big House and would have won
if not for a last-second goal-line
stand for the Wolverines. Last
week, there was Notre Dame,
serving Michigan a humiliating
31-0 loss.
Now, the RedHawks, ateam in
the midst of what was an18-game
losingstreak, posed a threat.
On the sideline, sophomore
Wolverines running back
Derrick Green wasn't concerned.
Michigan needed a score, and he
wanted the ball.
"I told the coaches, 'Give it to
me, and I'm gonna get the job
done, I'm gonna get in the end
zone,'" Green said. "So they fed
it to me, and I got the job done."
The drive played out exactly
like Green envisioned. He
didn't get the ball on the first
play, a 26-yard pass from fifth-
year senior quarterback Devin
Gardner to redshirt junior
Amara Darboh. Nor did he earn
a carry on the second, when
Gardner was sacked. But after
that, it was all Green.
He took handoffs from
Gardner on four consecutive
plays, capping the six-play,
66-yard drive with a one-yard
touchdown run. After he started
the game slowly, Green's 47
yards on the drive jolted the
Wolverines out of their rut.
Going into the game, Green
said he didn't know he would
receive the vast majority of the
carries. But Michigan's coaching
staff rode Green all afternoon,
resulting in his second career
100-yard performance and first
THE MICHIGAN
DAILY TOP-1O POLL
Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with
first place votes receiving 10 points, second-place
votes receiving nine, and so on.
1. FLORIDA STATE: We don't know
what Jameis Winston did on his bye
week.
2. OREGON: The Ducks successfully
forded the river while the Cowboys got
dysentery.
3.OKLAHOMA: Are you from
Tennessee? Because the Sooners just
defeated you.
4. ALABAMA: Nick Saban has never
taken a nap.*
*No data supports this.
4
Sophomore Derrick Green asked his coaches for more carries, and he helped Michigan to its victory over the RedHawks.
career two-touchdown game.
He finished with 137 yards on 22
carries compared to Smith's 44
yards on nine carries.
In the first two games, the
allotment of carries was split
more evenly with sophomore
De'Veon Smith. This week,
Green began to display signs
of being the team's featured
running back. When the team
needed a score, he wanted the
ball in his hands, and coaches
obliged. He wouldn't have it any
other way.
"As a running back, you want
to keep getting fed," Green said.
"The more you keep getting fed,
your energy just keeps going up
and up. They were just feeding
me, and I felt good, and I got the
job done."
Michigan employed a similar
strategy in the fourth quarter.
Leading 28-14 with 14:48 to play,
the Wolverines gained possession
on their own 32-yard line. The
drive was a chance to put the
upset bid to rest, and Michigan
once again turned to Green.
Hetookfourstraighthandoffs,
rattling off runs of seven, eight,
17 and one yard. Gardner threw
the ball to sophomore tight end
Jake Butt on the next play, but
then the offense went right back
to Green.
He gained five yards on
his next two carries before a
Gardner scramble placed the
Wolverines on the 12-yard line.
Then his running back finished
it off, sprintingto the left for the
touchdown that put the result
out of reach.
Green finished the drive with
50 yards on seven carries.
Michigan coach Brady Hoke
said the reliance on Green was
partially based upon his week in
practice, which the coach said
was one of the running back's
best since arriving at Michigan.
After coming in as a highly
rated recruit, Green struggled
for much of last season behind a
porous offensive line, but he has
shown marked improvements
thisseason.AgainstAppalachian
State,he scampered for170yards,
and he showed his capabilities
once again in Saturday's game.
Afterward, Green credited
improved vision and improved
blocking, saying he saw more
holes and hit them with a higher
success rate than he did last
season. He demanded the ball,
so he got the ball.
Partly because of his
demands, Miami's losing streak
is now 19 games.
AT
S. AUBURN: While the Tigers had the
week off, Cam Newton had his hands
full with former Auburnteammate
Nick Fairley.
6. TEXAS A&M: Johnny Football went
0-for-i inhis NFL debut. Oh, and the
Aggies beat Rice.
7. BAYLOR: The Bearsbeat Buffalo.
Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo.
8. LSU: Les Miles once agreed to
be Michigan's football coach. #TBT
#MCM
9. OLE MISS: "Rebel, Rebel, how could
they know? Hot tramp, I love you so."
- David Bowie
10. SOUTH CAROLINA: In a game of
inches, the Cocks slippedby theDawgs
by the tightest of margins.
q
4
S
The Deily football writers do their
best to predict, against the spread,
what happens in the 2014 football
season. Each week we select a guest
picker to go against the experts.
Miami(Ohio)vs. Michigan(-34)
Wyomingvs. No. 2 Oregon (-44)
Southern Miss. vs. No.3 Alabama (-49)
Tennessee vs.No.4Oklahoma (-21)
No. 6 Georgia (-7) vs. No. 24 South Carolina
No.8Baylor (-38) vs. Buffalo
No.9 USC -7) vs. Boston College
UL Monroe vs. No.10LSU (-31)
Purdue vs.No.11Notre Dame (-28)
No.12 UCLA (-8) vs. Texas
LA-Lafayette vs. No.14Ole Miss(-28)
Armyvs. No.15 Stanford (-29)
No.16 Arizona State(-6) vsColorado
East Carolina vs. No.17 Va. Tech (-10)
UC Fvs. No.20 Missourl(-10)
No. 21 Louisville (-7) vs. Virginia
Kent State at No. 22 Ohio State (-32)
Nus..t..anav25RYL (R
Greg Alejandro
Garno Z1%liga
Alexa
Dettelbach
4
Max
Cohen
Bobby
Dishell, CSG
President
4
vregon
Southern Miss
Tennessee
Georgia
Baylor
Boston College
LSU
Notre Dame
UCLA
Ofe Miss
Stanford
Arizona State
Va. Tech
UCF
Louisville
Ohio State
RYII
wyoming
Southern Miss
Tennessee
Georgia
Baylor
USC
LSU
Notre Dame
UCLA
Ole Miss
Stanford
Arizona State
Va. Tech
Missouri
Louisville
Ohio State
avt,
Oregon
Southern Miss
Oklahoma
Georgia
Baylor
USC
LSU
Purdue
UCLA
Ole Miss
Stanford
Arizona State
Va. Tech
Missourl
Louisville
Kent State
BYU
Urgo
Southern Miss
Tennessee
Georgia
Baylor
USC
LSU
Notre Dame
UCLA
Ole Miss
Stanford
Arizona State
Va Tech
Missouri
Virginia
Kent State
BYU
Uregon
Southern Miss
Oklahoma
Georgia
Baylor
USC
LSU
Purdue
UCLA
Ole Miss
Army
Arizona State
Va. Tech
Missouri
Virginia
Kent State
BYU
4
A
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AND THE CONSTITUTION:
A REPORTER'S REFLECTIONS
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