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September 08, 2015 - Image 13

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
3B — September 8, 2015

Harbaugh brings back helmet
stickers to spark competition

By ZACH SHAW

Daily Sports Editor

Everything Michigan coach

Jim Harbaugh has done since
taking over the Michigan football
team has been synonymous with
competition.

He wants his injured players

to cut their recovery time in half,
keeps score of his quarterbacks’
every move on and off the field
to decide the starter and even
pushed the Wolverines to get the
annual team photo taken in under
10 minutes to set a “new record.”

But
on
Sunday,
Michigan

officially brought back one of its
longstanding competitive efforts,
handing out helmet stickers after
the team’s 24-17 loss to Utah.

Once a staple during Bo

Schembechler and Gary Moeller’s
tenures as Michigan coaches,
the stickers are used to not only
reward good effort, but also to
promote friendly competition
among teammates.

“I think it’s awesome,” said

junior tight end Jake Butt.
“It’s another way to create an
environment
of
competition.

They’re pretty
sweet. We got
them put on
our
helmet

the other day
... I want my
helmet to be
decked out by
the end of the
season.

“Everyone’s competing. You

don’t want to be the guy with an
empty helmet at the end of the
year.”

Butt, who had eight receptions

for 93 yards and one score in
the game, was second on the
team with eight helmet stickers.
Redshirt junior wide receiver
Amara Darboh, who had eight
catches for 101 yards and a
touchdown, tallied nine.

The scoring system, according

to the two, is a mix of playing in

a fixed percentage of the game,
reaching individual and unit
goals and showing mistake-
free play when the game tape is

reviewed.

“Coach

Harbaugh
preaches
competition
from day one,”
Darboh
said.

“When you go
out on the field
and do your

job, you’ll be rewarded.”

Though competition is the

most obvious goal of the stickers’
use, Harbaugh noted on Monday
that small mistakes proved to
be the Wolverines’ downfall in
the loss. Be it freshman receiver
Grant
Perry’s
“not-precise”

route running, Rudock’s fourth-
quarter pick-six or false starts on
the offensive line, Harbaugh felt
his team was often out of sync,
undermining its potential.

By using video review to

pinpoint the missed plays and
assignments, Harbaugh hopes to
put the emphasis not only on the
big plays, but also on consistency
throughout the game as well.

“The precision of the unit has

to be all 11 (Michigan players
on the field),” Harbaugh said.
“The times when we did have
breakdowns (it was) one guy,
one breakdown, one missed
assignment ... (It) ended up being
costly.”

“But all of it is fixable, and

that’s what we’re working hard
to do.”

NOTES: Harbaugh said that

sophomore wide receiver Freddy
Canteen and senior running
back Drake Johnson are both
in practice, but haven’t yet been
cleared to play in Saturday’s
game … After both were listed as
starting quarterback last week,
graduate transfer Jake Rudock
was officially listed ahead of
junior Shane Morris in Monday’s
depth chart.

‘M’ finishes trip
with two wins

Wolverines earn
first two victories

of 2015 season

By ALEX KHALIFEH

Daily Sports Writer

For the past three years, the

Michigan field hockey team
has dropped its early-season
matchups
against
North
Carolina
and Wake
Forest
in

the
ACC/

Big Ten Challenge. In those
seasons, Michigan was able
to bounce back and ring up
consecutive victories after its
unsucessful start.

Like previous seasons, the

Wolverines dropped their first
two games against the Tar
Heels and the Demon Deacons a
week ago. Once again, Michigan
recovered for two straight wins
at Providence and Fairfield.

The
Wolverines
defeated

the Friars (0-4) on Friday, 1-0.
Despite the win, it seemed
Michigan (2-2) was in a bit of a
dry spell offensively. Its offense
had six shots on goal against
Providence, and through three
games, the Wolverines had
found the back of the net just
twice.

But the offensive stagnation

disappeared
Sunday,
when

Michigan shut out the Stags
(1-2) in a 4-0 victory.

“As you go along on the

season,
you
start
figuring

out combinations and people
start getting into a rhythm,”
said Michigan coach Marcia
Pankratz. “It was really nice
seeing some of the goal-scoring
threats from a multitude of

players.”

A variety of players made

an impact in the Wolverines’
victory, as senior backfielder
Lauren Thomas, senior forward
Shannon
Scavelli,
junior

forward Courtney Enge and
freshman forward Emma Way
all aided in the scoring punch.

Both wins were highlighted

by two goalies — sophomore
Sam Swenson and redshirt
junior Chris Lueb.

Sunday, the goalkeeping duo

combined for four saves, with
Swenson tallying five saves on
the weekend, including two off
a Friars’ penalty corner in the
first half.

“The
team
feels
really

confident with either (Swenson
or Lueb) in the goal cage,”
Pankratz said. “They’re smart,
working hard and they organize
their defense.”

On the offensive side, Enge

proved to be a difference-
maker. She scored the lone
goal Friday, and kicked off the
scoring against Fairfield.

“(Enge) is one of the fastest

players
in
the
Big
Ten,”

Pankratz said. “She’s always
been quite dangerous with her
speed, and now she’s adding
being dangerous as a goal
scoring threat. Both of those
goals were beautiful tip-ins off
the right post. I was really glad
to see her contribute.”

Following their slow start to

the season, the Wolverines were
able to click when it mattered
most, mustering 10 and 12
shots in each of their respective
games.

“In every game, every part of

the field — forward, midfield,
defense — connection is the
No. 1 thing,” Enge said. “The
chemistry is there, it’s just
going to increase as the season
goes by.”

FOOTBALL
‘M’ fan turnout
strong at Utah

By MAX COHEN

Managing Sports Editor

SALT LAKE CITY — In the

eight months since Jim Har-
baugh was hired as the football
coach at Michigan, the Wolver-
ine fan base has showered him
with nearly unconditional love,
the kind reserved for a former
quarterback returned home. But
this week, one fan took his devo-
tion to the next level.

Ross Mitton, a Michigan fan

from Windsor, Ontario, Canada,
drove 26 hours, starting Mon-
day, to see Harbaugh’s Wolverine
coaching debut in Salt Lake City
on Thursday night. His ride? A
converted ambulance plastered
with Michigan-related images
that he purchased in February
2014. Mitton calls it his Mbu-
lance.

Mitton, a 62-year-old finan-

cial adviser, worked with a
graphic designer to deck out the
vehicle. Both sides of the back
of the ambulance are covered
by images of Michigan Stadium.
Bo Schembechler’s “The team,
the team, the team,” quote is
scrawled across the top of one
side of the van; “Those who stay
will be champions” is written on
the back door.

References to Mitton’s Cana-

dian heritage are all over the
Mbulance. A maize and blue
Canadian flag marked his tailgate
spot, and he wears a shirt that
says “The Blue Loonies,” a refer-
ence to the Canadian coin and the
nickname that Mitton and many
of his Canadian friends who are
Michigan fans have given them-
selves. “Go blue, eh!” is written on
one side opposite Schembechler’s
“The team” quote.

“Some guys have sports cars,

some guys have girlfriends, this
is my hobby,” said Mitton, who is
married.

Many of the holdovers from

the vehicle’s time as an ambu-
lance remain, but now have the
Michigan logo on them, such
as the ambulance’s jump seat

next to the side door which has
maize and blue padding. Mitton
replaced the ambulance’s oxygen
tank with a keg. He jokes that he
replaced one lifesaving device
with another.

Mitton had long been con-

sidering the trip to Utah for the
season opener, but Harbaugh’s
hiring last December sealed the
deal. He estimated that more
than 300 people, many Michi-
gan fans, stopped by his tailgate
Thursday.

“When Harbaugh was hired, it

was like, ‘Yeah, OK, we’re going,”
Mitton said.

Even Utah fans participated

in the Harbaugh love. Student
Emran Behashti roamed the
parking lot before the game,
dressed in an outfit that mim-
icked Harbaugh’s, albeit with a
Utah hat. He wore what he called
a Harbaugh sweater vest, a pen
hanging from his neck, Nike
shoes, a headset and, of course,
khakis purchased at Walmart.
Behashti carried a mock play-
book with him as well that
contained numerous messages
pertaining to the game, some of
which are unprintable.

Behashti aimed to have fun

with his outfit, adding that he
wasn’t really sure how he felt
about Harbaugh.

“I do and I don’t,” Behashti

said when asked if he liked Har-
baugh.

He was disappointed that Har-

baugh once benched former Ute
Alex Smith when he coached the
San Francisco 49ers. He said that
outweighed the fact that Smith
reached the Super Bowl with
Harbaugh as his coach.

But of course, Michigan fans

were most excited to see Har-
baugh. Dan Fitzgerald, a Michi-
gan alum who graduated in 2005,
tailgated with Mitton before
the game. Most of his friends
couldn’t make it to the game, so
he decided to make the trip from
Michigan alone.

“I was like, ‘I can’t miss this,’ ”

Fitzgerald said.

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Redshirt junior wide receiver Amara Darboh led Michigan with 10 helmet stickers — given for playing time or mistake-free play — from Thursday’s game.

“I want my
helmet to be
decked out.”

FIELD HOCKEY

PROVIDENCE
MICHIGAN

0
1

FAIRFIELD
MICHIGAN

0
4

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