2B — April 6, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
Attitude change
brings back
Michigan culture
H
appy 86th birthday, Bo.
Man, do I have a sur-
prise for you.
Remember your second
game as
Michigan’s
football
coach, when
49,684
people
watched
your
Wolverines
pummel
Washington
at the Big
House?
Or the following week, when
just 15,000 more came for
the meeting against top-10
Missouri?
Well, I wish you could have
been at Michigan Stadium on
Saturday, when 60,000-plus
filled the bowl to see the Spring
Game — a scrimmage, featuring
a virtual punter! All to catch
their first glimpse of new coach
Jim Harbaugh.
Yes, that Jim Harbaugh,
the one you said would never
play a down
for Michigan
when he
arrived late
for his first
meeting. He’s
in charge of
the program
now, and let
me tell you,
he has people
excited.
As you wrote in Bo’s
Lasting Lessons, comparing
quarterback recruits, Harbaugh
had “twice the brains and
10 times the heart,” and he
has shown both since his
introduction Dec. 30.
See, Harbaugh and Athletic
Director Jim Hackett seem to
have figured out that you don’t
need fireworks and flyovers
to sell Michigan football. As
it turns out, if you stick to
tradition and put the right man
in charge, things generally turn
out pretty well.
“We’ve got to keep our
expectations (reasonable),”
Hackett said in a fireside chat
last week. “They just have to get
the team right. From the stuff
I’ve seen, I’m really excited.”
Consider this: The season
doesn’t begin for five months,
and there’s already a wait list
for football tickets. The luxury
boxes are sold out, too.
That’s not to sing Harbaugh’s
praises quite yet — he hasn’t
even coached his first actual
game in Ann Arbor, after all.
But you’d be proud of what
he has done this spring to
prepare his team for the likes of
Michigan State and Ohio State.
(Don’t ask about Notre Dame.
We don’t want to talk about it.)
The weight room? It
has been stripped bare of
everything but the necessities.
Why? Because, as Harbaugh
said, “this is work.”
The practices? Because
every position is up for grabs,
every drill has become a fierce
competition. And the winners
of said drills “get” to run extra.
Why? Because, according to
Harbaugh, “the winners get the
right to get better. The winners
have the right to condition
more, to be better football
players, and the losers have to
go to the side.”
“You have to buy in,” said
redshirt freshman defensive
end Lawrence Marshall on
Saturday. “When you buy in,
it shows on the field like it did
today.”
Just as you treated every
player equally, Harbaugh
has adopted that and other
abnormal practice techniques.
And that’s just the way they
want it.
Take Shane Morris,
for instance. As the only
quarterback on the roster with
significant in-game experience,
the junior figured to be the next
man in line for the job. Instead,
there are eight
quarterbacks
on the current
roster, with
another
arriving soon
via graduate
transfer.
Morris’
response?
“You can
bring in 100
quarterbacks,” he said. “It’s not
going to matter to me.”
And, as a result of his
dedication and improvements,
Morris will have the edge for
the starting role entering fall
camp.
Or take future Wolverine
defensive back Tyree Kinnel,
who will join a deep defense
as a freshman this fall. Upon
seeing the competition and
intensity of the unit — which
forced four turnovers — during
the Spring Game, he voiced his
anticipation in a text message
to the Daily.
“It was great,” Kinnel said.
“I haven’t been this excited
about Michigan since the day I
committed.”
Helmet stickers are
back. The band will be the
principal form of pregame
entertainment, not piped-in
pop music. The Wolverines will
even transition back to wearing
black cleats.
And one recent alumnus of
the Michigan football program
told the Daily, “I’m jealous.
People want to see what
Harbaugh has been up to.”
Sixty thousand of them
watched it Saturday afternoon.
And Bo, you would have been
proud.
Zúñiga can be reached at
ByAZuniga@gmail.com and
on Twitter @ByAZuniga.
ALEJANDRO
ZÚÑIGA
“When you buy
in, it shows on
the field like it
did today.”
Peppers steps up on defense
After season on the
sideline, Peppers
seeing daylight
By ZACH SHAW
Daily Sports Writer
At
long
last,
the
Jabrill
Peppers show was on display
Saturday. And it couldn’t have
come a moment sooner.
Returning for his second
season with the program, the
freshman has grown, learned,
moved to safety and become
the vocal leader of the defense,
bringing
the
long-awaited
excitement to light in Saturday’s
Spring Game.
The growth comes less than
a season after exciting fans with
his talent, only to tantalize those
same fans with an ambiguous
injury that relegated him to
sideline duty for much of the
forgettable 2014 season.
“He’s been A-plus, he really
has been, all spring,” said
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.
“He’s really just out there
taking reps in a drill, and he’d
go through the repetition of the
drill, and I’d see him back at the
front of the drill. That’s the kind
of youngster he is. He’s brought
great energy and enthusiasm to
the game, and his play has been
really good.
“It means a lot to me that he
wants to keep getting better and
better … you start to fall in love
with guys like that.”
Players miss games, even
seasons,
all
the
time.
But
when
you’re
the
Michigan
football team’s highest-ranked
recruit since 2006 and draw
comparisons to 1997 Heisman
Trophy winner and NFL Pro
Bowler Charles Woodson, the
pressure can mount quickly each
game you don’t produce. Such
was the case for the redshirt
freshman cornerback.
But
while
fans
struggled
to support a team that was
struggling even more on the field,
Peppers prepared for what was
to come. With a new outlook, the
longtime Michigan fan-turned-
player knew that he would
take full advantage of his next
opportunity, whenever it was.
“No one’s going to feel sorry
for you at this point,” Peppers
said. “Yeah, I got hurt, so
what? I’ve still got to be a great
teammate, got to help the guys
in any way I can. It’s just about
maturing.
“That made me take a step
back and look at life and see,
‘Wow, this can actually be taken
away from me, so don’t take
anything for granted,’ and that’s
how I’m moving forward.”
Once healed, the first step of
moving forward was for Peppers
to become a leader. Moving to
the safety position, a role he
likens to the quarterback of the
defense, Peppers not only had to
recover and develop physically,
but mentally as well.
“Jabrill’s doing a great job,”
said senior wide receiver Jehu
Chesson. “The kid is just so
energetic, his passion for the
game is unbelievable. We need
guys like that because energy is
contagious, positive and negative.
“You can look at a couple
stretches when you’re down in
the game, you need someone to
come and pick everybody up.
He’s one of those guys.”
As Peppers’ skillset grew, so
did the pressure. Still among
the team leaders in raw talent,
a fanbase desperate for wins is
looking to the young player to
deliver — not years down the
road, but right now.
That was clear from one of
the game’s opening plays. Just
minutes into the game, Peppers
made his first tackle of the game.
Though it was an intrasquad
scrimmage full of turnovers, big
gains offensively and even more
prolific tackles, the play drew
some of the largest cheers from
the estimated 60,000 fans in
attendance.
“I noticed that, but there’s
no pressure if you’re prepared,”
Peppers said. “I block out the
crowd, and I’m just doing what
I love doing and have been doing
since I was younger, so there’s
really no pressure at all.”
Later on in the game, Peppers
had a chance to make an even
bigger play. With plenty of open
field in front of him, the safety
tracked down an errant pass,
ready to make a game-changing
play fans have already come to
expect.
Instead he dropped the ball,
coming away empty-handed and
agitated.
“I tried to start running
before I could pick it,” he said.
“You can’t do that. You’ve got
to stick to the fundamentals. I
told the team that one’s on me,
didn’t really get a chance to
make another play, but you live
and learn.
“That’s what separates the
good players from great players.
That would’ve changed the game.
I had daylight in front of me.”
Despite missing on the play,
the daylight remains in front
of Peppers. After the game,
Peppers was wearing his high
school state championship ring.
The trinket serves as a reminder
of his successful past, but also a
sign of what’s on the team’s mind
moving forward.
“Many
more
to
come,”
Peppers said with a laugh.
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
Redshirt freshman safety Jabrill Peppers was back on the field Saturday after missing most of last season.
‘M’ dominates twice in Indiana
By BETELHEM ASHAME
For the Daily
The Michigan women’s tennis
team is used to dominating
opponents at home in the Varsity
Tennis Center, but this weekend,
the Wolverines took their home
facility’s magic touch with them
on the road.
Michigan traveled to Indiana
to take on two Big Ten opponents,
Purdue
(3-3
Big
Ten,
10-5
overall) and Indiana (2-4, 11-7),
and
thoroughly
overpowered
both
teams.
After
winning
both matches emphatically by
scores of 7-0, the 14th-ranked
Wolverines are in great shape
in
the
conference
with
an
undefeated record.
“It’s
definitely
a
huge
confidence booster,” said senior
Sarah Lee. “Purdue and Indiana
are probably the best teams that
we’re going to play in the Big Ten
this year, so we’re really, really
excited that we were able to play
as well as we did. We’re also
really excited about the future
because we feel like we have a
little bit more in us. Things are
looking good right now.”
The Wolverines (8-0, 17-3)
started strong Saturday against
the Boilermakers, earning the
doubles point with wins at the
No. 1 and No. 2 positions. The
No. 2 pair of Lee and junior Ronit
Yurovsky jumped out to a 6-1 lead
en route to an 8-2 win.
Michigan’s No. 1 duo of senior
Emina Bektas and freshman Alex
Najarian had a bit of a tougher
time against Purdue’s team of
Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum and
Daniela Vidal, ranked No. 1
nationally. With a 7-4 lead and
match point seemingly in their
reach,
Bektas
and
Najarian
watched the set seemingly slip out
of their hands as Purdue battled
back and won three straight
games to force a tiebreaker.
But the duo was able to bounce
back and secure an 8-7 win.
“We did a good job yesterday
of sticking together when things
got tough,” Bektas said. “A lot
of times when those situations
happen, I can get kind of
negative, and that doesn’t really
help us out. But I think we did a
good job of focusing and checking
in with each other to know that
we were going to be okay and we
were going to pull it out. I think
the fact that we were able to stay
positive really helped us out.”
In singles play, five out of the
six matches were decided in
straight sets.
Bektas struck first, dropping
just three games on her way
to defeating Vidal, her No. 1
opponent. No. 4 Lee and No. 2
Yurovsky followed suit, beating
their opponents, 6-3, 6-4 and 6-4,
6-3, respectively, to clinch the
win for Michigan.
Sunday
got off to an
even
brighter
start for the
Wolverines in
the
doubles
matches when
Bektas
and
Najarian made
quick work of
the opposition,
winning
8-0
over their Hoosier counterparts.
“It felt really good,” Bektas
said. “I think today we played
a really strong match. We were
really aggressive and usually our,
coach Ronni (Bernstein), tells us
to focus on the basics, so we did a
good job of focusing on our serves
and picking up on our returns
and volleys. It was really good for
us today.”
After a tougher battle against
Indiana’s No. 2 team, Lee and
Yurovsky managed to come away
with an 8-6 win and the doubles
point for the second straight day.
“It was a little tough today,”
said
Michigan
coach
Ronni
Bernstein. “I don’t think they
played their best. (Saturday)
they played a little bit better, but
they grinded it out and competed
hard, and that’s going to be the
key. You’re not always going to
feel great every day, but they did
a good job of figuring it out and
getting us the doubles point today,
because
we
needed it to get
us going.”
Michigan
continued
to
find success in
the singles, led
by No. 1 Bektas,
who followed
up Saturday’s
impressive
performance
with a 6-2, 6-2 win.
“My recent singles play gave
me a lot of confidence coming
into this weekend,” Bektas said.
“I’ve been trying to play my game
by coming to the net and being
aggressive, and I was able to do
that pretty successfully. It has
helped a lot.”
Another
Wolverine
who
has had a good run of singles
play
lately
is
Lee.
After
Saturday’s straight-set victory,
she struggled initially to take
control of the match. She fell
behind 4-1 in the first set and
3-0 in the second set, but on both
occasions, she was able to turn
the sets around to secure a 6-4,
6-4 win.
“It helped a bit in the second
set, knowing that in the first set I
was able to pull the first one out
after being down three games,”
Lee said. “My opponent played
pretty well in order to get that
lead off of me. It took a little bit of
persistence on my end and doing
what I’m good at doing, which
is stepping in and seeking the
ball early and keeping focused.
I just had to figure it out and be
persistent.”
After Bektas, freshman Mira
Ruder-Hook became the second
Wolverine to claim a win, making
her mark by defeating her No.
5 opponent Sarah Baron, 6-4,
6-0 to run the team score to 3-0.
Then, Lee and Yurovsky won
nearly simultaneously to clinch
the win for the Wolverines.
With the two victories this
weekend to add to its resume,
Michigan
has
now
won
11
consecutive matches. Confidence
and team morale are running
high, and the timing is perfect
with the Big Ten Tournament on
the horizon.
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Senior Emina Bektas won both her doubles and singles matches, each against Purdue’s Daniela Vidal.
“We did a good
job of sticking
together when
things got tough.”