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.”