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.

