4B — October 5, 2015 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SportsMonday Five Things We Learned By MAX BULTMAN Daily Sports Editor There was no Hurricane Joaquin in College Park, and there weren’t many surprises, either. The No. 18 Michigan football team rolled to a 28-0 win over Maryland on Saturday, dispatching the Terrapins in businesslike fashion. Here are five things we learned from the Wolverines’ second consecutive shutout: 1. Shutting out BYU was no fluke. While the Terrapins’ offense wasn’t as potent as the Cougars’ last week, the Wolverines’ defense was every bit as dominant. Michigan now owns the nation’s second-ranked defense in both yards and points allowed, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. Maryland quarterbacks C.J. Rowe and Daxx Garman were hurried all game, just like BYU’s Tanner Mangum a week before, and the Wolverines allowed just 105 yards for the second game in a row. They also racked up eight tackles for loss, right on pace with their season average. Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, who had a sack for the third game in a row, delivered the most telling line about the Wolverines’ defense after the game Saturday. Asked where the defense could still improve, Hurst said: “We had a couple plays where they got first downs. … We’ve gotta look at that and correct it. They shouldn’t have anything.” If Michigan’s goal is to not give up anything, not even a measly first down, opposing offenses should be very concerned. 2. Drake Johnson is nearing 2014 form. The redshirt junior running back is recovered from his second anterior cruciate ligament tear, and he’s nearing top shape. He had two touchdowns Saturday — one receiving, one rushing — to pair with 99 all-purpose yards. If the Drake Johnson of November 2014 can emerge for the Wolverines, he would be an invaluable asset as a change of pace to bruising junior running back De’Veon Smith. Smith missed the Maryland game with an ankle injury, and his status is uncertain this week. But with Johnson in the fold, Michigan has an agile option to pair with its stable of power backs. 3. Fumble-itis is inevitable. Until Saturday, no Wolverine running back had fumbled all season. But against Maryland, redshirt sophomore Ty Isaac fumbled twice, and fifth-year senior quarterback Jake Rudock also coughed one up. Isaac recovered one drop, but the backs’ formerly perfect track record now has a blemish. Some of that can be attributed to the nasty weather in College Park, but mostly, it was a matter of time. One lost fumble by a running back in five games is hardly reason for complaint. But No. 13 Northwestern, which boasts the No. 1 scoring defense in the country, comes to Ann Arbor this week and will be ready to capitalize on any mistakes Michigan makes. 4. The fly sweep flies for Michigan. Redshirt junior receiver Jehu Chesson scored his second rushing — yes, rushing — touchdown of the season on a fly sweep. Chesson streaked down the left sideline for 66-yard touchdown, showing off blazing speed. Two weeks earlier, against UNLV, Chesson scored a 36-yard touchdown on a similar play. Those plays add a much-needed big-play threat to an offense that can be otherwise simplistic. A simple offense is not necessarily a bad thing, but being able to break a big gain now and then will go a long way as the Wolverines schedule gets more competitive. 5. Bold Prediction: College GameDay comes to Ann Arbor on Oct. 17. The narratives are almost too juicy to resist. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh could be fresh off a win over No. 13 Northwestern, the second ranked foe Michigan would have beaten this season. Michigan State will likely still be ranked in the top five, setting up a high-profile stage for a rivalry game that hasn’t been to Ann Arbor since 2012. If the stars align and the Wolverines are 5-1 and the Spartans 6-0, it would be tough to pass for ESPN. Then again, that weekend will also feature No. 11 Florida at No. 7 LSU, No. 8 Alabama at No. 9 Texas A&M, and No. 17 USC at No. 15 Notre Dame. Those matchups will all be tempting sites, especially since GameDay hasn’t been to an SEC school since Week 3. Still, between Harbaugh, the in-state rivalry and the major Big Ten East implications it could have, Ann Arbor will be just too enticing to pass up. Good, bad and ugly: Maryland By JAKE LOURIM Managing Sports Editor Each week, the Michigan football team gets better, and each week, its success becomes more legitimate. This week brought the Wolverines’ first win on the road and in the Big Ten, a 28-0 rout of Maryland in College Park. In the past four games, they have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 122-14, cruising to four consecutive wins. What may be more important, though, is what comes next. Michigan (1-0 Big Ten, 4-1 overall) could now be considered a contender in the Big Ten East. While the Wolverines have been dominant in the past month, preseason favorites Ohio State and Michigan State, both 5-0, narrowly slipped by Indiana and Purdue, respectively, on Saturday. Michigan faces a tough test Saturday against No. 13 Northwestern (1-0 Big Ten, 5-0 overall) before hosting the third- ranked Spartans on Oct. 16. Before they move forward, here are the good, the bad and the ugly from Saturday’s game: The good The defense was quite good. And it’s safe to put them in this space for the foreseeable future. The stats were overwhelming again: 29 rushing yards, 76 passing yards, three interceptions, 2.1 yards per pass attempt, 1-for-18 on third downs. And zero points — again. Defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin’s unit is firing on all cylinders, from the linemen who combined for five tackles for loss, to the linebackers who forced extra pressure on Maryland’s quarterbacks, to the secondary that picked off two passes and broke up three more passes. Other individual performances stood out: redshirt junior wide receiver Jehu Chesson scored on another end-around run from 66 yards out, redshirt junior running back Drake Johnson (13 carries, 68 yards) moved closer to a full workload and redshirt freshman defensive back Jabrill Peppers added a 29-yard punt return. The bad Hurricane Joaquin, which moved kickoff up from 8 p.m. to noon, held off for the duration of the game, but the conditions still weren’t ideal. The slippery footballs may have played a role in the game’s six total turnovers, and the wind affected the special teams game. In the first half, Michigan senior kicker Kenny Allen missed a 47-yard field goal, while Maryland punted short twice for 20 and 28 yards. The Wolverines’ offense also struggled to find a spark in the first half, managing just six points. At that point, Michigan had just 16 carries for 43 yards, with 20 of them coming on one scramble by fifth-year senior quarterback Jake Rudock. Michigan did clean up its mistakes in the second half, though. Halftime adjustments, more energy and a depleted Maryland defense combined to create 22 points and put the game out of reach. The ugly Michigan’s turnover problem reared its head again. The Wolverines gave the ball away three times, twice in their own territory. Late in the first quarter, Rudock fumbled as he was sacked on 4th-and-2 at the Maryland 29. If Michigan had kept the drive alive, it could have moved closer to field-goal range and gotten on the scoreboard. On the first play of the next drive, junior running back Ty Isaac lost a fumble on a run up the middle. He later coughed the ball up again but fell on it immediately. And on the first series of the second half, Rudock threw an interception off a tipped ball to Maryland defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson. On a more serious note, senior defensive lineman Mario Ojemudia left the game on crutches in the fourth quarter, and Michigan suspects an Achilles injury. If it’s a torn Achilles, it would end Ojemudia’s season and Michigan career — a tough break for a player who recorded half a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss before his injury Saturday. FOOTBALL THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP-10 POLL 2. TCU: What the Horned Frogs did to Texas on Saturday is almost as bad as what Texas has been doing to itself for the last five years. 1. OHIO STATE: We were going to drop the Buckeyes from No. 1 in our poll, but Ezekiel Elliott sprinted here from Columbus and stopped us. 9. TEXAS A&M: Would Kevin Sumlin leave to coach Texas? I don’t know, would you leave a 5-0 SEC team to coach the fifth-best team in the state? 3. BAYLOR: Willie Nelson went to Baylor back in the day, which helps explain why the Bears’ offense is so high-scoring. 6. LSU: Leonard Fournette is the most terrifying thing since Peeple. 5. MICHIGAN STATE: Nearly the entire student section leaving at halftime? If only Mark Dantonio had a word for that... 7. CLEMSON: Dabo Swinney said Saturday’s game against Notre Dame was BYOG: Bring your own guts. Florida State has a similar saying: Bring your orange jumpsuit. 4. UTAH: There must be something in the water in Utah. What’s that? It’s salt? Oh. Guess that explains it. 8. ALABAMA: Nick Saban’s team responded to being left out of the Daily top 10 last week. 10. FLORIDA: They told us we had to have 10. Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with first place votes receiving 10 points, second-place votes receiving nine and so on. ‘M’ survives rally, ties Wisconsin By LELAND MITCHINSON Daily Sports Writer In the 21st minute of the Michigan men’s soccer game Saturday, freshman midfielder Francis Atuahene received a pass at midfield, turned his defender, took off down the left sideline and fired a dangerous left-footed shot from outside the 18-yard box. Wisconsin goalkeeper Adrian Remeniuk made one of his six saves on the day but was unable to corral it, and the ball spilled out to a waiting Colin McAtee, who pounced on the rebound to put the Wolverines up 2-1. The fifth-year senior midfielder’s second goal of the contest Saturday looked to be the game- winner for Michigan. It wasn’t, as Wisconsin mountain a furious rally in the second half, forcing the Wolverines to buckle down on defense just to secure a 3-3 tie. The Badgers went up early on a shot through the legs of Michigan sophomore goalie Evan Louro, but the Wolverines equalized minutes later when junior defender Rylee Woods hit an indirect free kick into the box and McAtee used his height to beat his defender and head the ball in for a goal. “I thought it was a good battle,” McAtee said. “They were two big boys. I wouldn’t say I necessarily had an advantage or disadvantage (physically) but I thought I did well on the goal to get around my man.” Michigan tacked on a third goal for good measure when Atuahene improved his Big Ten-leading goal tally to seven with a curling shot from the left side of the 18-yard box that somehow snuck through the Wisconsin back line and past the outstretched hand of the Badger goaltender. “(Atuahene) is the dribbler, (senior forward William Mellors-Blair) is kind of the runner and (McAtee) is kind of the target and the power,” said Michigan coach Chaka Daley. “We have a good combination of all three. They got it ticking for a little while, but the game slowed down.” Added McAtee: “We’re all fast, but (Atuahene and Mellors- Blair) are probably even a little quicker than me, and I think I’m more of the guy who’s better in the air and at getting headers and holding the ball up. You know they want to find the ball in space or out wide so they can attack players one on one.” The good times did not last for the Wolverines, however, as Wisconsin midfielder Christopher Mueller curled a free kick over the Michigan wall and into the back of the net just before the end of the first half. The Badgers completed the comeback just three minutes into the second half when forward Nick Jones capitalized on a loose ball inside Michigan’s 18-yard line to tie the game at 3. Throughout the second half, Michigan and Wisconsin battled to take the lead, though neither team could gain an advantage, and the game went to sudden- death overtime. The Wolverines’ best chance during overtime came when sophomore defender Billy Stevens put a dangerous free kick into the Wisconsin box, but Michigan was unable to take advantage of the scoring chance. Despite controlling possession and outshooting the Badgers 8-0, the Wolverines couldn’t put the finishing touch on the game. “I think we weren’t at our best today,” Daley said. “I thought we played OK. I think we could have played better, certainly done some things better at home, but the big picture is that in the Big Ten standings, after the halfway point we’re on eight points, and that’s an important thing.” Halfway through the Big Ten season, the Wolverines sit atop the conference, but will be looking to improve their ability to close out games in their quest for a regular-season championship. MEN’S SOCCER WISCONSIN MICHIGAN 3 3 ALLISON FARRAND/Daily Michigan’s defense has suffocated its opponents in each of the past two weeks, both shutouts of BYU and Maryland.