BSportsMonday
INDIANA SPLIT
n The Michigan volleyball
team lost to Purdue on Friday
and beat Indiana on Saturday.
Page 3B
THE VICTORS
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | September 28, 2015
n Michigan’s band
becomes more prominent.
SportsMonday Column,
Page 2B
Michigan 31, BYU 0
Wolverines earn long-awaited
blank slate with dominant
performance against BYU
By ZACH SHAW
Daily Sports Editor
Tanner Mangum bounced from teammate to
teammate in the huddle — shouting and clapping
along the way.
It was 3rd-and-8 for No. 22 BYU late in the
second quarter, and the Cougars were already
down, 28-0, to Michigan. What would normally
appear
as
encouragement
from
the
BYU
quarterback was instead desperation obvious to all
108,940 fans in attendance.
But those with the best view were just across
the line of scrimmage. Like sharks, the Michigan
defensive players silently waited for their chance
to attack. They saw in the water, again.
BYU had already attempted 15 pass plays, and
Mangum — against a pass rush unlike any he had
seen all season — took two sacks, scrambled three
times and managed just two completions.
Then, Wolverines brought a steady rush again,
and forced Mangum into his ninth incompletion of
the afternoon.
With its third straight three-and-out, BYU
might as well have given the game to Michigan
for good with the ensuing punt. But if you ask the
rapidly ascending Wolverine defense, they’d tell
you the game was over much sooner.
“We sensed blood in the water from the first
snap of the game,” said senior defensive end Mario
Ojemudia. “They looked good on film, they’ve
played some good teams and had a lot of good
games, but we came out (in practice) and prepared
well. Everything we saw in the game, we saw in
practice.
“We executed very well, we got the goose egg
and I’m very proud of that.”
Mangum regressed toward the mean in the
second half, finishing 12-for-28 for 55 yards.
Nonetheless, the Cougars were shut out for the
first time in 143 games, mustering a measly 105
yards of total offense.
After looking otherworldly at times to begin his
career at BYU, Mangum looked like a freshman
against the Wolverines.
Whether it was the pass rush swarming the
backfield, forcing Mangum to roll out early, or the
suffocating man coverage in the secondary that
left the sideline as the most appealing receiving
target, Mangum’s magical start drowned in the
sea of maize at Michigan Stadium.
Dialing up the pressure up front, and sticking
to BYU’s highly touted receivers downfield,
Michigan used a team effort to earn a shutout it
had wanted since almost getting one last week
against UNLV.
“It’s great to be a part of a shutout,” said
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. “Everybody did
a great job — players, coaches, everybody. When
you only give up 105 yards, that’s really special. We
were outstanding in so many areas.”
One-third of the way into the 2015 season,
defense has been the crown jewel of the
Wolverines, who rank 10th nationally in tackles
for loss and were 13th in scoring defense before
Saturday’s shutout.
Even after the shutout, Ojemudia said he
had hoped his unit could force more turnovers.
Because with eight returning starters and three
current or former defensive coordinators on the
coaching staff, the expectations are not only high,
but enforced.
“You have so many great minds out there on our
coaching staff, and they expect the most out of us,”
Ojemudia said. “They expect shutouts every game,
and if we don’t live up to that, we’re not living up to
our expectations.”
Added senior defensive lineman Ryan Glasgow:
“You always feel good after a shutout, but we
have expectations we’ve set for ourselves that we
haven’t come close to meeting yet.”
The defense tasted blood Saturday, and even
reached its ultimate goal of preying on the
playmaking Mangum.
But like sharks in the water, the Wolverines are
hungry for more.
Bloodthirsty defense
finishes shutout win
P
oor Michael Davis.
The BYU cornerback did not deserve the
fate that befell him
Saturday afternoon. His only
folly was attempting to stop
De’Veon Smith.
It was a task that other
men have completed 199
times during Smith’s college
career. But on this carry,
when Smith crossed Brigham
Young’s 35-yard line with
11:45 remaining in the second
quarter, Davis was not destined
to be among them.
Smith had started the run on Michigan’s own
40-yard line. He was stopped briefly at the line of
scrimmage, forced so low to the ground that he
believed he was down. But Smith kept going — he
emerged from the scrum alone.
Davis streaked down the field to his left. The
cornerback put two arms on Smith when he crossed
the 35-yard line, grappling with his shoulder pads,
but it was of no consequence. Smith broke free at the
30-yard line, but Davis stayed on the trail. He flailed
at Smith’s upper body for 10 more yards before
making one last attempt.
Davis grabbed Smith’s body as he crossed BYU’s
20-yard line, jostling his body in a circle. But as
Smith completed his turn at the Cougars’ 10-yard
line, Davis still latched on.
At the same moment, Smith used the force of
the spin to make one final push with the back of
his arm, the
Smith’s run says it all
about Michigan
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Amara Darboh (top, #82) and De’Veon Smith (bottom, #4) sparked the Michigan football team’s offense Saturday.
MAX
COHEN
See COHEN, Page 4B
LATTER-
DAY AIN’TS