2B — October 12, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday

SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN

A little more than one

A

round 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 
Jim Harbaugh sat at a 

table inside 
Crisler Center 
and spoke 
about the 
identity of 
his Michigan 
football 
team at his 
postgame 
press 
conference.

“It’s a 

good sign, that you’re building 
a good callus,” Harbaugh said. 
“Play physical and not get beat 
up yourself. That’s a good gauge, 
probably the best gauge.”

Some 600 miles away, in 

Piscataway, Michigan State was 
nearing its 8 p.m. kickoff against 
Rutgers. After the Spartans won, 
coach Mark Dantonio said in his 
postgame press conference: “I 
can’t ever fault the effort of our 
players and how hard they play 
or their toughness.”

Sound familiar?
Over time, all great programs 

in college football establish an 
identity that opponents have 
in their minds when they take 
the field. Alabama has been a 
well-oiled machine in every 
phase of the game, lining up 
and dominating teams from the 
outset. Oregon and Baylor seek 
to push the tempo, pile up points 
and run opponents off the field. 
Harbaugh’s old team, Stanford, 
has kept its identity since he left: 
a hard-nosed, physical, blue-
collar football team.

And yes, Michigan State 

has an identity, too. Dantonio 
has spent years building a 
powerhouse in East Lansing, one 
that works harder, acts tougher 
and plays more physically 
than its opponent. He has 
constructed an elite defense that 
powers the team’s success.

Sound familiar?
If it does, it’s because that’s 

the identity Harbaugh is 
working toward at Michigan. He 
wants a tough-minded, physical 
team that will win the battle at 
the line of scrimmage, using that 
to control both sides of the ball.

In the last five weeks, the 

Wolverines have done that. They 
have done enough on offense, 
kept their opponents from doing 
anything on defense and in the 
end won all five by a combined 
score of 160-14.

Each week, Harbaugh has 

taken major steps toward to 
build the identity he wants his 
team to have. Saturday, we find 
out how far that process has 
come.

The Wolverines face a team 

that, in each of the past two 
years, has done to them exactly 
what they have done to Oregon 
State, UNLV, Brigham Young, 
Maryland and Northwestern — 
dominate on both sides of the 
ball.

In those two games against 

Michigan State, Michigan 
averaged 12.5 first downs, 201 
total yards, 420 total yards 
allowed, 7.5 tackles for loss 
allowed and a 49.1 completion 
percentage. Average scoring 
margin: minus-23.5.

Its opponents, in the past 

five games this season: 11 first 
downs, 150.2 total yards, 397.6 
total yards 
allowed, 7.6 
tackles for 
loss allowed 
and a 48.2 
completion 
percentage. 
Average 
scoring 
margin: 
minus-29.2.

Put simply, 

2015 Michigan looks similar to 
2013 Michigan State at times. 
We’ll find out how similar they 
are on Saturday.

You hate to put such high 

stakes on one game — especially 

in October — but this one feels 
bigger. If Michigan knocks 
off Michigan State in the Big 
House on Saturday, Harbaugh’s 
rebuilding process is much 
further along than anyone 
could have expected, and as a 
bonus, the Wolverines are in the 
driver’s seat in the Big Ten race.

If Saturday goes like the past 

two years, well, then that’s two 
steps forward and one step back. 
In 2008, after Dantonio beat 
Michigan for the first time, he 
said, “this one counts a little 
more than one.”

The coaches will deny that 

this week, but the game this 
year feels that way, too. Before 
the season, no one could have 
predicted the Wolverines would 
have an opportunity like this. 
Not only are they rolling into 
the rivalry game next weekend, 
but the Spartans are reeling. 
They scored a late touchdown 
against woeful Rutgers on 
Saturday, slipping by only when 
the Scarlet Knights spiked the 
ball on fourth down in the final 
seconds. Their defense, which 
has been one of the nation’s 
best in recent years, ranks 34th 
against the run, 88th against 
the pass and 55th in points 
allowed. They haven’t been this 
vulnerable in years.

And, for the first time in 

three years, 
the game is 
at Michigan 
Stadium. The 
Wolverines 
literally have 
their in-state 
rivals right 
where they 
want them.

Harbaugh 

has been 

reluctant to give the Spartans 
any bulletin-board material 
ahead of Saturday. In May, 
more than three months before 
he coached his first game at 
Michigan, Harbaugh praised 

the job Dantonio has done at 
Michigan State.

“We know we’re not the 

biggest guy on the block — 
Michigan State’s the biggest 
guy,” he told a group of high 
school coaches in Detroit. “They 
have done a tremendous job. We 
respect the job they’ve done, but 
we want to be that.”

In six weeks, Harbaugh has 

done some of what Dantonio 
did in his first three years 
at Michigan State. As much 
as each school tries to gain 
an edge on the other, and as 
different as the two coaches’ 
backgrounds are (Harbaugh 
a former Michigan and NFL 
quarterback, Dantonio a former 
South Carolina defensive back), 
they have almost the exact 

same opinion on how to run a 
football team.

That includes maintaining 

an even keel, no matter the 
result, reaching toward their 
ultimate goal. Saturday, 
after they coached two very 
different games — Harbaugh an 
impressive rout, Dantonio an 
uninspiring escape — they both 
faced similar questions about 
facing the other this week.

“Tremendous opponent,” 

Harbaugh said. “It’s going to 
demand that we’re at our very 
best. That’s going to mean a 
great week of preparation and 
practice is in store for us. So 
we’ll move on even more quickly 
than usual, because it is such 
a good, worthy opponent next 
week. And we’ll be looking 

forward to it.”

This time, their responses 

weren’t similar.

“I’m going to just delay 

that response and focus on 
the present,” Dantonio said. 
“Getting on the plane, going 
home and making plans and 
looking for things we need to get 
better at and worry about our 
football team.”

And so the chess match 

began. Both coaches have had 
success, and both have won 
big games. Both will go about 
preparing their teams as they 
see fit. Saturday brings the 
ultimate measuring stick.

Jake Lourim can be reached 

at jlourim@umich.edu or on 

Twitter @jakelourim.

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Michigan was celebrating again after a 38-0 win over Northwestern on Saturday.

JAKE 
LOURIM

Michigan takes third 
at Yale Intercollegiate

White shooots 
70-71-70 to lead 

Wolverines

By BILLY STAMPFL

For the Daily

Of all the words Michigan 

women’s 
golf 
coach 
Jan 

Dowling could have used to 
describe 
sophomore 
Emily 

White’s performance at the 
Yale Women’s Intercollegiate, 
where Michigan claimed third 
overall out of 16 teams and 
White captured the individual 
championship, 
“imagination” 

was the first that popped into 
her head.

“This course requires a lot of 

imagination around the greens,” 
Dowling said. “And (White) 
really used her imagination to 
hit some great shots and execute 
them really well.”

White, a top performer from 

the 
Wolverines’ 
successful 

weekend, remained consistent 
throughout all three rounds 
of the tournament, shooting a 
70, 71 and 70. The sophomore, 
frustrated 
early 
with 
her 

putting, showed resilience and 
patience in letting other shots 
carry her until the putts began 
to fall.

“I was playing well all week, 

my putts just weren’t dropping,” 
White said. “I knew that if I 
kept hitting big shots eventually 
… something was going to 
happen.”

Something did happen as 

White, down four strokes in 
singles competition after the 
second round, came roaring 
back to tie Clemson freshman 
Lauren Stephenson in the third 
round, eventually winning the 
individual championship in a 
two-hole playoff. 

White attributes her success 

so far this season to vigorous 
training over the past year.

“I 
practiced 
a 
ton 
this 

summer,” White said. “I worked 
on 
my 
putting, 
because 
I 

struggled with (it) a lot before. 

That (practice) helped me a 
lot, especially on the last three 
holes.”

Just as White found success 

on The Course at Yale, her team 
rallied around her to shoot a 
combined score of 878, 10 strokes 
behind 
ultimate 
tournament 

champion Furman, but good 
enough for a third-place finish. 
Top 
Michigan 
performers 

included White (211, 2-under) 
and sophomores Megan Kim 
(220, 7-over) and Kathy Lim 
(222, 9-over). 

Dowling attributed her team’s 

strong finish to overall resiliency 
and trust in each other.

“It was a true team effort, 

that’s for sure,” Dowling said. 
“We made some bogies (in round 
two) … but we made a couple of 
minor adjustments (in round 
three), and we just dug deep.”

The Wolverines combined 

for a score of 286 in the third 
round, leading all teams in the 
tournament, an improvement 
from the East and West Match 
Play 
Challenge 
two 
weeks 

ago, when Michigan lost close 
contests to Oregon and Indiana, 
finishing fourth out of eight 
teams.

Another bright spot came in 

the form of freshman Elodie 
Van Dievoet, who recovered 
from a first-round score of 81 
to record a personal best 72 in 
the second round on her way 
to shooting an overall score of 
229. Van Dievoet, playing as an 
individual, finished tied for 31st 
after the final day.

“(Van Dievoet) gained some 

great 
experience,” 
Dowling 

said. “Her second round was 
impressive, particularly on the 
golf course we just played.”

With 
an 
excellent 
effort 

today, Dowling doesn’t feel any 
major changes need to be made 
in preparation for the coming 
weeks, including the Las Vegas 
Showdown on October 25.

“I think each player has some 

minor adjustments,” Dowling 
said. “(But) we know exactly 
what we need to do to win in Las 
Vegas.”

Nebraska controls 
Wolverines in win

By TYLER COADY

For the Daily

No. 4 Nebraska, with only 

two losses on the season, was 
always going to be a formidable 
opponent 
for 
the 

Michigan 
volleyball team. After Saturday 
night’s game in Lincoln, it was 
apparent that the Cornhuskers 
were 
a 
class 
above 
the 

Wolverines, as they dispatched 
the visitors, 3-1.

In the earlygoing of the first 

set, it was a back-and-forth tussle 
as Michigan (3-3 Big Ten, 13-4 
overall) and Nebraska traded 
points. 
The 

Wolverines’ 
junior middle 
blocker Abby 
Cole 
and 

sophomore 
outside 
hitter 
Adeja 

Lambert had 
nice 
starts 

to the game, 
recording two 
kills apiece in 
the first set.

Yet, with the score knotted 

at 
eight, 
the 
Cornhuskers 

(5-1, 14-2) began to pull away. 
Nebraska’s 
Mikaela 
Foecke, 

Amber 
Rolfzen 
and 
Kadie 

Rolfzen, who combined for 42 
kills in the match, began to give 
the Michigan defense trouble. 
The Cornhuskers raced out to 
a commanding lead and never 
looked back, taking the set by a 
score of 25-18.

“They run a simple offense, 

but they run it really well,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
Mark 

Rosen. 
“We 
couldn’t 
match 

their efficiency, and they were 
more consistent throughout the 
match.”

In 
the 
second 
set, 
the 

Wolverines came out with a 
renewed sense of confidence. Led 
by redshirt junior outside hitter 
Ally Davis, who had three kills in 
the set, Michigan took a 10-5 lead. 
Just as it looked like the tide was 

turning in the match, the fourth-
ranked Cornhuskers roared back 
into life, winning 15 of the next 
24 points en route to a 25-19 
set win. The Wolverines were 
forced into many mistakes as the 
Cornhuskers 
reasserted 
their 

dominance at the net, courtesy of 
the Rolfzens and Foecke.

In the third set, down two sets 

to zero, Michigan began to look 
like the team that had recently 
beaten Michigan State and Iowa. 
The Wolverines only trailed 
once in the entire set, and after 
breaking a 13-13 tie into a 16-13 
lead, they held on for a 25-20 set 
win.

“I loved that we fought back 

in the third 
set,” 
Rosen 

said. “Earlier 
in the season 
versus North 
Carolina and 
down 
2-0 

as 
well, 
we 

really 
didn’t 

muster much 
of a comeback. 
Tonight 
we 

kept battling, 

and I am happy with that.”

In the fourth set, Nebraska 

put 
any 
suggestions 
of 
a 

comeback to a quick rest as the 
Cornhuskers 
received 
adept 

attacking and strong defensive 
play from Amber Rolfzen, who 
stifled Michigan on defense and 
gave the Wolverines’ defenders 
problems on offense. Buoyed by 
a plethora of attacking options, 
Nebraska dominated Michigan 
in the game’s final set and eased 
to a 25-17 set win and a 3-1 match 
win.

With four games in Ann 

Arbor over the next two weeks, 
including an Oct. 24 matchup 
against Ohio State, Rosen knows 
where his team needs to improve 
and where it is excelling.

“I thought our blockers did 

a really nice job,” Rosen said, 
“but overall, we need to be more 
consistent, as we are going to be 
playing numerous teams at the 
same level as Nebraska.”

WOMEN’S GOLF
VOLLEYBALL

“They run a 

simple offense, 
but they run it 

really well.”

MICHIGAN
NEBRASKA 

1
3

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh’s team will receive a test of how far it has come Saturday against Michigan State.

“It’s going to 
demand that 
we’re at our 
very best.”

