4B — April 6, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
Defense rules Spring Game
By MAX BULTMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Technically speaking, the Blue
team topped the Maize team,
7-0. But the real winner of the
Michigan football team’s 2015
Spring Game was the defense,
and it wasn’t even close.
Even aside from the fact there
was only one touchdown scored
in the game, both the Maize and
the Blue teams looked mostly
disjointed on offense. And while
much of that can be attributed
to a team still familiarizing itself
with the playbook, the depth of
Michigan’s defense made things
even harder on its offense.
The Blue team, for instance,
averaged 0.7 yards per carry …
and won.
“It’s been impressive,” said
fifth-year
senior
linebacker
Desmond Morgan. “All spring,
I think the defense has really
stepped up in a lot of ways. We
pride ourselves on getting a lot
better than what we were, even
last season.”
The Wolverines allowed 22.4
points per game last season,
already an impressive figure good
for 27th in the nation. But with the
talent they return, highlighted by
a linebacking corps that includes
Morgan and senior Joe Bolden,
they could be even better.
That started Saturday. Bolden
led all players with 13 tackles for
the Maize team, three of them
for loss, while Morgan had four
tackles and an interception for
the Blue team.
More importantly, they each
anchored units that snuffed
out runs and hawked balls.
The defenses came away with
four total turnovers, a striking
contrast
to
the
one
total
touchdown. And even then, the
Blue team’s lone score came when
junior quarterback Shane Morris
exploited
a
clear
mismatch,
hitting
redshirt
sophomore
receiver Jaron Dukes in stride
over the top of senior Dennis
Norfleet, who just recently began
working as a nickel cornerback.
While it’s easy to blame an
offense
that
ranked
among
the nation’s worst last season,
redshirt
freshman
Jabrill
Peppers is less inclined to do so.
“Our offense is actually very,
very
good,”
Peppers said.
“It’s
just,
offense takes a
little longer to
develop than
defense.
Not
to mention our
defense, we’re
playing
out
of our minds
right now.
“The
game plan, the play calls are so
simple, it just let’s us play without
thinking. When you play without
thinking, you’re just that much
more instinctual. You’re making
that much more plays. You’re
having that much more fun.”
Peppers
had
four
tackles
Saturday, but seemed to be
around the ball all game, enjoying
his transition to safety. He said he
switched positions because he
liked to ‘hit more,’ and it showed.
He flew to the ball, taking
advantage of his new position and
a supporting cast that enhanced
his freedom even further.
If there were players out
of position, they went largely
unseen,
whether
that
was
because
a
teammate
covered
the
mistake
or
because
the
offense failed to
exploit it. Either
way, the unit’s
cohesiveness
on both teams
opened
up
opportunities
for playmakers
to emerge at the positions with
question marks.
At defensive end, it was
redshirt
freshman
Lawrence
Marshall
and
senior
Royce
Jenkins-Stone wreaking the most
havoc. They played on opposite
teams, but Marshall came away
with a sack and 1.5 tackles for
loss, and Jenkins-Stone had a
sack and 2.5 tackles for loss.
Beyond those two, redshirt
junior Chris Wormley generated
significant pressure, racking up
five tackles but affecting even
more plays.
“(Wormley) provided some
really good pass rush on the
inside,” said Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh. “If there’s any way
we can get pass rush from a four-
man line, that’s what we need to
do. We need that improvement.
The edge will come, but I thought
we had a good interior pass rush
today.”
Still, the pressure Wormley
and
others
generated
came
against two sets of offensive lines
that didn’t look sharp.
It really isn’t shocking that
Michigan’s
veteran
defense
outshined an offense that’s still
learning the playbook. In fact,
that lack of surprise is as big a
positive as any moving into the
summer.
“I think it’s something where
we both tipped our hats to each
other at the end of the game
saying, ‘Hats off to the defense.
Good job, guys,’ ” Morgan said.
But while half of the defense
followed that exchange with a
steak dinner, a hat tip was as good
as it got for the others.
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Senior linebacker Joe Bolden led all defensive players with 13 tackles in Michigan’s Spring Game.
Pasta or steak?
By MAX COHEN
Managing Sports Editor
The man of the moment for
the Michigan football program
spent much of the team’s Spring
Game staying out of the way. Jim
Harbaugh hovered about 20 yards
behind the line of scrimmage on
each play, his hands either on his
hips or his knees as the pen he
wore around his neck dangled in
the wind.
His
interaction
with
his
players was limited. He walked
toward the line of scrimmage
between plays, sometimes to
peek into the conversation in the
huddle, other times to offer his
players words of encouragement.
Redshirt
freshman
defensive
end Lawrence Marshall said
Harbaugh hardly communicated
with the defensive line at all.
Harbaugh
aimed
to
stay
impartial throughout the contest,
purposefully
refraining
from
contributing to the discussions
that planned the numerous trick
plays attempted during the game.
The intensity fans have come
to expect from Harbaugh was
largely absent. The vast majority
of plays elicited little reaction
from the hyper-competitive head
coach.
That wasn’t the case for his
players.
Redshirt
freshman
safety Jabrill Peppers jumped
up and down, flapping his arms
in frustration after a missed
interception
in
the
second
quarter. When junior quarterback
Shane Morris threw the game’s
only
touchdown
to
redshirt
sophomore wide receiver Jaron
Dukes, the offense’s celebration
would have been worthy of a
regular-season game.
The
excitement
was
not
without cause. For its postgame
meal, the winning team received
steak, while the losing team
would have to settle for pasta.
The motivational ploys of
Harbaugh’s
staff
throughout
the
spring
have
been
well
documented. At the end of every
practice, either the offense or the
defense emerges as the winner.
The winning side runs gassers,
while the losing team is forced to
sit and watch. Though the players
were intrigued by Harbaugh’s
methodology at first, they quickly
bought in.
“You have to buy in, and when
you buy in, it shows on the field
like it did today,” Marshall said.
Marshall, who recorded a
thumping sack of Morris in the
game’s second quarter, wore a
gray sweatshirt with the moniker
“Ball Hawk” across the front to
his postgame media presser. It
was emblematic of an another
incentive
for
the
Wolverine
defense.
“In practice, you knock the
ball down, you rush the passer,
cause a fumble — you get one of
these shirts,” Marshall said.
The
sweatshirts
were
defensive
coordinator
D.J.
Durkin’s idea. When a defensive
player makes a play in practice
like the ones Marshall described,
the coaching staff makes a point
of recognizing him in front of his
teammates.
“It kind of pushes you a little
bit harder to focus on some of
those things that maybe if it
wasn’t recognized as much you
wouldn’t notice or pay attention
to as much,” said fifth-year senior
linebacker Desmond Morgan.
When Saturday’s defensive
struggle ended, it was once again
time to celebrate the winners.
Morris threw his arms up into
the air as he made his way off
the field. Harbaugh offered brief
congratulations to the winning
coach, offensive coordinator Tim
Drevno, before running into the
tunnel alone.
Dinner
was
waiting,
and
the winning team was ready to
receive its due. It had been all day.
“I made sure I ate enough
spaghetti this morning so I didn’t
have to eat it later on,” Dukes
said.
Morris leads QB battle
Sophomore outplays
Malzone, holds edge
after spring
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
Junior
quarterback
Shane
Morris
gave
his
handoffs,
stood in the pocket and made
his throws early in his second
Spring Game at Michigan.
And then he took his first hit,
and things really got going.
“It’s awesome — it’s football,”
Morris said later. “I get tackled
in football games. I hope I would
get tackled in practice. I’ve been
live all spring practice. We do
third-down
drills,
I’m
live.
Being live in the pocket is part of
being quarterback and playing
the game of football. It doesn’t
bother me at all.”
In the heat of a quarterback
battle, Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh let the quarterbacks
be hit in Saturday’s Spring
Game at Michigan Stadium.
He let his candidates — Morris,
early enrollee Alex Malzone
and redshirt freshman Wilton
Speight — play it out on the field
all spring.
When camp closed Saturday,
Harbaugh had what he wanted:
a leader.
“If I look at it overall over
spring ball, Shane would be
ahead,” Harbaugh said. “The
competition will rage on, though,
starting tomorrow. Into April,
and into May, and certainly into
June, July and August.”
There’s
no
doubt
the
competition will remain fierce,
but Morris ended the day as
the frontrunner. He completed
11 of 24 passes for 135 yards,
an interception and the game’s
only touchdown. Malzone, by
contrast, was 15-for-27 for just
95 yards and two interceptions.
The two signal callers played
the whole game for the Blue and
Maize teams, respectively.
Morris, the more experienced
of the two, used more of the
playbook as the game went on,
throwing down the sidelines to
redshirt junior wide receiver
Amara Darboh, who finished
with four catches for 75 yards.
He was close on a number of
other deep balls but overthrew
them.
“I thought Shane played well,
played with really good courage
in the pocket,” Harbaugh said.
“I think he’ll come out of this
feeling good about the way he
played, and he’ll build some
good confidence.”
Meanwhile,
Malzone
was
limited mostly to short screen,
hitch and out routes. His longest
completion of 21 yards was on
a catch-and-run to Chesson
after
junior
cornerback
Jourdan
Lewis jumped
the route but
missed
the
interception.
Harbaugh
said the game
was
a
good
learning
experience
for the early
enrollee
from
Birmingham
(Michigan) Brother Rice High
School.
“Anything’s good for him,”
Harbaugh said. “He’s so young.
He should be in high school right
now. He’s out here competing in
11-on-11 football. The game, the
environment, the situation — that
is valuable, valuable experience.”
Morris said the players joke
around with Malzone, telling
him to “close the yearbook.” But
even that is premature.
Malzone reminds them he
hasn’t gotten a high school
yearbook yet.
Still,
he
has
five
weeks
under his belt of learning the
playbook and getting to know
the receivers, an effort that will
continue this summer.
“If you had one quarterback,
you would obviously spend a lot
of time with that quarterback,”
Chesson said. “In theory, you
have to spend a lot of time with
every single quarterback. So
that’s what we do.”
Turnovers were an issue for
both
quarterbacks.
Malzone
threw the first interception
on a deep throw down the left
sideline.
Redshirt
freshman
wide receiver Maurice Ways
appeared to have control of it,
but senior safety Jarrod Wilson
jarred it loose, and redshirt
freshman Brandon Watson came
up with it.
Morris returned the favor
three plays later when his pass
was deflected into the air and
easily caught by junior safety
Delano Hill. Malzone’s second
interception went right into
the hands of fifth-year senior
linebacker Desmond Morgan
over the middle.
“We
definitely
had a lot of
setbacks today,
but
we’re
building,”
Chesson
said.
“We’re
building
something
towards (fall)
camp, and we
definitely have
to pick up things next week
when we go out there and correct
the mistakes that we made. We
executed on some plays and we
didn’t do well on some plays, so
we just need to keep working
hard and keep pushing.”
That effort will continue over
the summer as the quarterbacks
compete for playing time in the
fall. With Morris ahead in the
race for now, a reporter asked him
about a postcard featuring the
line of Michigan quarterbacks
going back almost a century.
“We have it in our quarterback
office,” Morris said. “It’s crazy
to look at that and see the legacy
of quarterbacks that have been
at the University of Michigan.
Having the potential to be a part
of that, to be talked about as
those guys, as the Tom Bradys,
the Denard Robinsons, the Chad
Hennes, the John Navarres,
all those guys, it would just be
unbelievable.”
There’s still a long way to go,
but Morris took the first step
Saturday.
FOOTBALL
“All spring, the
defense has
really stepped up
in a lot of ways.”
FOOTBALL
“The competition
will rage on,
though, starting
tomorrow.”