Sports
8A — Wednesday, October 7, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Blocking gets
Ways on field
Redshirt freshman
says he enjoys
battles against
opposing defenders
By MAX COHEN
Managing Sports Editor
Moe Ways smiles when he
thinks about it. It’s a pleasant
feeling, really.
The sensation comes late
in games, after the Michigan
football team’s wide receivers
have blocked for the better part
of 60 minutes. The redshirt
freshman wide receiver looks
across the field and sees a
change in the opposing team’s
cornerbacks and safeties.
“They slow down a little bit,
they stop filling the hole quite
as hard, they start to play off a
little bit more,” Ways said.
The
tendencies
of
the
Wolverines’
receiving
corps
could be seen as irksome to
opponents, a thorn in their
sides. On multiple occasions
this season, Michigan coach
Jim Harbaugh has praised the
group’s blocking for springing
long runs.
Ways sees the frustration in
his opponents. They comment
on his position group’s blocking
during games. The 6-foot-3,
205-pound receiver indicated
they are frequently needled
and engage in
a little bit of
trash talk as a
result.
“They
say
a little bit,”
he said with a
laugh.
The
trash
talk
is
the
price of a job
well done. The
Wolverines’
rushing attack has become a
constant threat, a dramatic
change
from
recent
years.
Michigan had rushed for at
least 200 yards in three straight
contests before Saturday’s game
against Maryland, when it fell
just short with 198.
Though improved offensive
line play has been at the
forefront of the rejuvenated run
game, the team’s wide receivers
can be seen crushing bodies
downfield on many of the team’s
big gains on the ground.
Ways, perhaps more than
the rest of Michigan’s wide
receivers,
has
parlayed
his
blocking success into additional
playing
time.
Harbaugh
considers redshirt junior Jehu
Chesson to be the best blocker
of the team’s wide receivers.
Ways and redshirt junior Amara
Darboh round out Harbaugh’s
top three.
But where Ways differs from
Darboh and Chesson is that he
has not yet established himself
as a consistent pass catcher, at
least not during games. Ways
has one catch for 21 yards in the
team’s first five games. Instead,
his blocking has earned him
playing time.
“Moe
is
really
asserting
himself,” Harbaugh said last
week. “I think he’s climbing
the depth chart right now. He
just … he’s showing up in the
play. On the down, he is finding
somebody to block.”
Ways does not know exactly
how he developed his blocking
skills. He considers most of his
success to be natural, a desire to
be more physical than the guy
lining up across from him.
In high school, Ways was
more
focused
on
catching
passes. He could block a little
bit, but when you catch 55 passes
during your senior year, there
isn’t much time for blocking.
When
Ways
came
to
Michigan, though, he felt he
needed to uphold a tradition
of excellence at running the
ball. He did not see the field as
a freshman, but felt ready to
contribute any way he could
this season. Ways was never told
blocking was a path to seeing
the field, but it worked out all
the same. He was asked to block
in certain packages and series,
and he succeeded. He hasn’t
looked back.
“As a group
actually,
we all want
to
be
great
blockers,”
Ways
said.
“We
take
pride in that.
We want to
be known as
one
of
the
best blocking
groups in the
country, just help our team out,
help the running backs keep
getting loose.”
The players primarily charged
with setting the running backs
loose have noticed, too.
“When we run the ball inside
and they come flying in and crack
a safety or whatever it might be,
it’s a fun thing to watch,” said
sophomore offensive lineman
Mason Cole. “They’re doing a
really good job, and they work
really hard at that.”
As Ways progresses in his
career, he wants to be known as
more than an excellent blocker.
For now, though, as he
works on the other aspects of
playing the position, he can
take solace when he looks at
the man guarding him late in
games. If his opponent shows
the slightest bit of hesitation
in any regard, it means he has
done his job.
On another blank slate,
Rudock uses old lessons
By MAX BULTMAN
Daily Sports Editor
When Jake Rudock came
to Michigan, much of what he
found was new. He was in a new
city, on a new team with new
coaches and a new playbook.
Rudock
transferred
to
Michigan from Iowa, where he
started for the better part of the
last two seasons. He arrived in
Ann Arbor as a college graduate,
but
also
as
a
newcomer.
Fortunately for Rudock, he could
take solace in the fact that he had
been through the acclimation
process before.
“It was similar feelings and
memories of freshman year,”
Rudock said. “But it was different
enough, where you know you’ve
had experience playing. I think
that makes it a little bit easier,
and I think it allows you to mesh
better with the guys. And also,
second time around, you have
that familiarity with it. You’ve
done it before. You’ve had to
create new friends, create new
relationships on the field.”
The first steps to assimilation
came when Rudock arrived over
the summer, and all the “new”
started coming at him fast.
He had to learn the plays and
compete with returning junior
Shane Morris, all while getting
his bearings.
Rudock remembers calling his
teammates “buddy” and “pal”
while he continued to learn their
names. He had to strike a balance
this summer between being the
new guy, but also playing the
position most associated with
leadership. He had to know his
place, but also earn respect.
“I think one of the big things
is the guys let you know,” Rudock
said.
“Maybe
not
verbally,
but from their body language
and how they react to things,
they kind of let you know if,
‘Hey, you’re overstepping your
boundaries, you just got here.’ ”
Five games in, he appears to
have earned the respect to lead
his offense, as
coaches
and
teammates
speak
positively
about
his
even keel and
leadership
capabilities.
“He’s
a
great leader,”
said
redshirt
freshman
receiver Maurice Ways. “He’s
not really a vocal leader, but
when he talks, you listen.”
While
he
has
quickly
developed into the type of
leader Michigan sought when
it brought him in, there is still
at least one aspect of his game
that needs more time to flourish:
chemistry with his wideouts.
At Iowa, Rudock wasn’t thrust
into game action as a freshman,
which gave him more time to
grow into the
offense and to
perfect timing
with receivers
before
he
tested
it
against
opponents.
This
season,
Rudock
took
the first snap
and
every
meaningful
one since. And with limited time
— Rudock called his acclimation
process ‘accelerated’ — he has
sometimes struggled to get on
the same page with receivers.
He has missed on multiple
deep balls, often overthrowing
his receivers. That has led
to criticism of the fifth-year
senior, who was billed as a safe
option coming into the season
but has already thrown more
interceptions (six) than he did
in 12 games last season. His
quarterback
rating,
117.4,
is
lower than in either of his two
seasons as a starter.
But
QB
rating
and
interceptions aren’t the stats
that Rudock uses to measure
himself. This is his last year
of college football, and if that
means he gets stuck with the
game-manager label, Rudock is
just fine with that — as long as
he’s winning.
“I’m OK with (only being
measured by) wins and losses,”
Rudock said. “The more wins,
the better, and just let everything
else take care of itself.”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Fifth-year senior quarterback Jake Rudock now has the benefit of his experience as a freshman at Iowa.
All-Star big brother comes home
St. Louis Blues’
visit reconnects ‘M’
sophomore, former
house guest
By JUSTIN MEYER
Daily Sports Writer
Niko Porikos rattles off the
names of hockey players like an
encyclopedia.
There’s the story about when
he started playing hockey.
“It was class of ’05 — Nystrom,
Gajic, Woodford,” Porikos said.
“I was actually a soccer player.
That was my No. 1 sport by far.
They kind of brainwashed me
into starting hockey, and ever
since then, I’ve never looked
back.”
Ask him about what he did
for fun this summer, and more
names flow out.
“There
was
a
wedding,
Milan Gajic, he got married in
(Los Angeles),” Porikos said.
“Went down with the family
for a couple weeks, made a little
vacation out of it.
“The first (NTDP player) we
had was (Andrew) Vlassopoulos,
played for Colorado College after
USA. He’s living in (Los Angeles)
and we visited him while we
were down there.”
The Porikos family has been
in and around Michigan hockey
for Niko’s whole life. He grew
up with aspiring NHL players
roaming
around
the
house,
hosting four different National
Talent Development Program
players. Youth soccer star or
not, Porikos was always going to
grow up a hockey player.
The sophomore walk-on may
know everyone in the phone
book, but his smile portrays a bit
of his excitement about the All-
Star he shared a house with this
past weekend.
St. Louis Blues defenseman
Kevin Shattenkirk headed to
Ann Arbor last weekend as part
of a team bonding trip, and
didn’t waste an opportunity to
spend time with the player he
calls a little brother.
“I’ve been back plenty, still
like to come and visit my old
house,” Shattenkirk said. “We
still keep in pretty close contact.
It’s always cool to come back here
and be able to see everyone.”
Added
Porikos:
“Saturday,
I hung out with him for a few
hours, just like old times. Just
hung out on the couch watching
TV.”
Host families, also known as
billet families, are a common
way for NTDP
players,
who
live
and
train in Ann
Arbor, to find
housing
as
they play for
America’s
most
prestigious
junior
hockey team.
Shattenkirk
and Porikos shared a house
when Niko was in seventh and
eighth grade.
“Pretty big years, hockey-
wise,” Porikos said. “I am an
only child too, so growing up, it
was cool having older guys in the
house to look up to.”
It didn’t hurt that Shattenkirk
was a first-rate player for the
NTDP team, drafted 14th overall
by the Colorado Avalanche in
2007. In him and others, Porikos
had older brothers to horse
around with, and an inside look
at what junior hockey is like at
the highest level.
“There were a couple of skates
where they had me come out and
just mess around,” Porikos said.
“(Shattenkirk) would come out
to our team
practices,
too, once in a
while. He was
definitely into
helping
me
out whenever
I asked him
anything
about hockey
or
anything
else.”
Shattenkirk
played three years at Boston
University and has played for
the Blues since 2010. Coming off
his first All-Star appearance,
the 26-year-old was relaxed
after practice in Ann Arbor
alongside good friend Vladimir
Tarasenko,
who
signed
an
eight-year deal with the team in
the offseason.
“It’s really just nice to get
away and have fun together,”
Shattenkirk said. “We know
that when we come to practice
there are a lot of things we have
to work on, and that for an hour
and a half each day we have to
put in the work. But for the most
part, we’re here to get to know
some of the new guys and come
together and have some fun.”
Porikos
is
coming
off
a
frustrating,
injury-plagued
year at Michigan. He still faces
an uphill battle for a game-day
roster spot, but he believes his
timing and confidence have put
him in a much better place this
season.
Porikos and Shattenkirk try
to see each other at least once a
year, and Niko even went down
to a Blues game with former
Wolverine Dylan Larkin last
spring.
There’s a story there too, of
course. Larkin just made the
Detroit Red Wings’ opening-day
roster after leaving Michigan
early, and will face Shattenkirk
in St. Louis on Nov. 21. For now,
though, Larkin joins Porikos’
ever-growing encyclopedia.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Moe Ways has become one of the better blocking wide receivers for Michigan.
“As a group,
actually, we all
want to be great
blockers.”
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Sophomore Niko Porikos reunited this weekend with Kevin Shattenkirk, who stayed with Porikos’ family years ago.
“He’s not really a
vocal leader, but
when he talks,
you listen.”
“I hung out with
him for a few
hours, just like
old times.”