4B — October 21, 2015
SportsWednesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Five Things We Learned

By JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

The last play of Saturday’s 

game against Michigan State 
spoiled the Michigan football 
team’s 
undefeated 
Big 
Ten 

record, snapped its five-game 
winning streak and put a serious 
dent in its Big Ten championship 
hopes.

But before that play, the 

Wolverines and their in-state 
rivals were more even than they 
had been in three years. The 
Spartans never led Saturday’s 
game until time expired.

Michigan gets a bye this week 

before its next game at Minnesota 
on Oct. 31. Until then, here are five 
things we learned from Saturday’s 
game:

1. Jourdan Lewis vs. Aaron 
Burbridge is the best wide 
receiver-defensive 
back 

matchup we’ll see all season.

Let’s put it this way: Lewis, 

who guarded Burbridge all day, 
had six pass breakups in the 
game — and Burbridge still pulled 
down nine catches for 132 yards.

About half of Michigan State 

quarterback 
Connor 
Cook’s 

throws went to Burbridge, and 
on many of them, it was hard 
to find anything Burbridge or 
Lewis could have done better. 
If Burbridge made the catch, he 
grabbed the ball at the highest 
point 
despite 
tight 
coverage 

from Lewis (who is three inches 
shorter). If Lewis broke it up, 
Burbridge was right there, ready 
to take it if not for Lewis.

Both players have drawn praise 

for their play all year, and it’s no 
longer a stretch to call them the 
best at their positions in the Big 
Ten.

Burbridge now leads the Big 

Ten with 100.3 yards per game, 
and Lewis now has 14 pass 
breakups and two interceptions, 
including one he returned for a 
touchdown.

2. This rivalry is back to being 
closely contested up front.

The 
Spartans 
dominated 

Michigan at the line of scrimmage 
in each of their previous two 
meetings. To have a chance to win 
Saturday, the Wolverines needed 
to compete better in the trenches, 
and they did.

Sure, 
excluding 
sacks 
and 

the muffed punt play at the end, 
Michigan rushed for just 87 yards 
on 29 carries. Fifth-year senior 
quarterback Jake Rudock was 
sacked three times. But Michigan 
State didn’t fare much better: 
Excluding sacks, the Spartans 
totaled an almost-identical 85 
yards on 28 rushes. The meager 
numbers there were more a 
product of both defenses being 
strong.

3. Jabrill Peppers is ready to 

be a threat in all three phases.

After a long year and a half of 

anticipation, 
Michigan 
finally 

broke out its wild card, playing 
redshirt freshman safety Jabrill 
Peppers 
on 
offense 
against 

Michigan State.

Fans had been waiting since 

Peppers stepped on campus to 
see the athlete in all three phases. 
Injuries 
hampered 
him 
last 

season, but he made an impact on 
special teams in the first six games 
this season. Finally, he caught two 
passes for 35 yards Saturday. He 
was easily Michigan’s leader in 
all-purpose yards with 164 — 35 
receiving, 81 kick return and 48 
punt return — despite limited 
action on offense.

For now, the Wolverines’ usage 

of Peppers on offense appears 
to give them a psychological 
edge, too. Michigan State coach 
Mark 
Dantonio 
called 
two 

consecutive 
timeouts 
when 

Harbaugh first inserted Peppers 
alongside Rudock in the first 
half. Considering his production, 
perhaps opponents can expect 
to see more of the same in the 

coming weeks.

4. The passing game still hasn’t 
established a consistent threat.

Michigan’s aerial attack finally 

played a significant role Saturday, 
after 
five 
straight 
blowout 

victories required little in the 
way of downfield passing. Rudock 
missed on a couple of long throws, 
finishing with 168 yards on 15 
completions.

Those aren’t bad numbers, 

especially 
considering 
the 

Wolverines rely more on their 
power running game and defense 
to push them ahead.

But with the passing game 

on trial for the first time 
since 
the 
season 
opener, 

there didn’t appear to be a 
consistent 
receiving 
weapon. 

Redshirt junior Amara Darboh 
leads Michigan with just 28 
receptions, 332 yards and two 
touchdowns. His yardage total 
ranks 13th in the Big Ten.

5. 
Bold 
Prediction: 
The 

Michigan defense earns another 
shutout against Minnesota.

The Wolverines could respond 

to Saturday’s devastating loss in 
two possible ways. They could 
come out flat in their next game 
and let Michigan State beat 
them twice, or they could come 
out angry and eager to prove 
themselves again. Here’s guessing 
the latter.

The reason is a combination of a 

bye this week, a relentless mindset 
from Harbaugh and what’s sure to 
be a fiery performance by senior 
linebacker Joe Bolden, who can’t 
be happy about being ejected from 
his final Michigan State game. 
Meanwhile, Minnesota dropped 
to 4-3 with a 48-25 home loss to 
Nebraska on Saturday.

Powered by an impassioned 

captain in Bolden, Michigan’s 
defense has all the tools to get 
back to its dominating ways in 
Minneapolis in two weeks.

THE MICHIGAN 

DAILY TOP-10 POLL 

2. BAYLOR: The Bears get Iowa 
State at home this weekend, 
because that trip to Kansas a 
couple of weeks ago took a lot 
out of them.

1. OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes 
are undefeated, but not 
undefeated enough. They will 
switch quarterbacks this week 
to J.T. Barrett. Must be nice.

9. FLORIDA STATE: The 
Seminoles blew out Louisville, 
41-21. The NCAA will do 
much, much worse.

3. UTAH: The Utes beat 
Arizona State on Saturday, 
which isn’t really fair, because 
if the Sun Devils don’t have 
sports, what do they have?

6. CLEMSON: Dabo Swinney is 
letting the wins get to his head. 
He was seen doing the whip in 
the Home Depot power tools 
section.

5. LSU: Unfortunately, the 
NCAA found out one of the 
Gators was taking steroids 
BEFORE they played Leonard 
Fournette.

7. ALABAMA: Saban for USC!

4. TCU: If defense wins 
championships then, uh, sorry, 
Horned Frogs.

8. MICHIGAN STATE: Friday, 
in the weekend’s real rivalry 
game, The Michigan Daily 
defeated The State News in 
touch football for the 11th 
consecutive year.

10. STANFORD: David Shaw 
is probably the best coach 
Stanford has ever had, right?

Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with 
first-place votes receiving 10 points, second-place 

votes receiving nine and so on. 

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Jourdan Lewis played tough defense against Michigan State’s Aaron Burbridge.

FOOTBALL
O’Neill comes to 
terms with punt

By MAX BULTMAN

Daily Sports Editor

Even after one of the most 

devastating losses in Michigan 
football history, Blake O’Neill 
isn’t making excuses. He doesn’t 
seem to be losing much sleep, 
either.

What the fifth-year senior 

punter is doing is getting back to 
work, moving past the fumble on 
the final play of Saturday’s 27-23 
loss to Michigan State to get on 
with his life.

O’Neill 
met 
with 
the 

media Tuesday at Michigan’s 
Schembechler Hall, choosing to 
face the sudden burst of attention 
coming his way, not run from it.

“Why not?” O’Neill said of 

speaking to the media. “I think 
football is a very interesting game. 
There’s ups and downs, highs and 
lows, and I think that’s the beauty 
of it. I’m happy to speak if people 
are willing to listen.”

When faced with questions 

about the logistics of the play, 
O’Neill dispelled rumors of trick 
play options and refused to make 
excuses for the play that ultimately 
lost the Wolverines the game.

“I mean the protection was 

good, the snap was, sort of, in 
my catch zone,” O’Neill said. “If 
anything, put me back out there 
for the next one, I’m sure I’d make 
the kick.”

After the game, the Australian-

rules football convert said he paid 
no attention to Twitter, deciding 
to let the issue cool off before 
checking his account. And when 
he left the locker room, his family 
was in town from Australia. The 
O’Neill family still is, in fact, 
taking in the sights and sounds of 
Ann Arbor.

And for any backlash he 

received, there has also been 
ample positive reinforcement.

“A lot of support from the 

Michigan 
fan 
base, 
from 

teammates, even people back 
home,” O’Neill said. “It’s funny 
that a game over here could get 
all the way back to Australia, 
but it did. But mate, it’s been 
overwhelming, the support I’ve 
received.”

Of course, there are some people 

who can relate to what O’Neill is 
going through better than others, 
including former Michigan and 
NFL kicker Jay Feely. Feely and 
O’Neill got a chance to speak this 
week, and O’Neill was pleased 
with their chat.

As for his teammates, there 

is one that can share the pain 
with O’Neill more than anyone 
else. Redshirt sophomore long 
snapper Scott Sypniewski was 
the one snapping to O’Neill, and 
while the punter maintained 
it was catchable, the two can 
commiserate over the fumble.

“I think we’ll probably be 

bound at the hip for the rest of our 
lives because of that play,” O’Neill 
said.

In the days since, videos of the 

fumble and ensuing touchdown 
return have been running on 
SportsCenter and other highlight 
shows seemingly around the 
clock.

But while it would be easy 

to dwell on the play, O’Neill 
is instead declining to watch 
replays outside of his viewings 
with Michigan special teams 
coach John Baxter.

“To me, it’s an error in a game, 

and if you can learn from it, it’s 
worth looking into,” O’Neill said. 
“But we’ve sort of figured out 
what we can do better and moved 
forward.”

From start to finish of his 

Tuesday 
press 
conference, 

that much was clear. O’Neill 
recognizes his error on the game’s 
final play. But he won’t let it derail 
him further.

The good, the bad and the ugly

By MAX BULTMAN

Daily Sports Editor

The Michigan football team 

finds itself with a bye week at 
either the best or worst possible 
time, 
depending 
on 
your 

perspective.

After a deflating last-second 

loss 
to 
Michigan 
State 
on 

Saturday, the Wolverines now 
have two full weeks to prepare 
for 
their 
Halloween 
night 

matchup against Minnesota.

The Daily looks back on the 

good, the bad and the ugly from 
Saturday’s 27-23 loss.

The good

Redshirt 
freshman 
Jabrill 

Peppers finally stole the show, 
and 
he 
was 
breathtaking. 

Peppers accumulated 129 return 
yards, giving Michigan stellar 
field position throughout the 
game. Fans also got their first 
look at him on offense, where 
his mere presence was enough 
to force Michigan State coach 
Mark Dantonio into consecutive 
timeouts in the second quarter.

When 
he 
finally 
got 
an 

offensive touch, a reception in 

the third quarter, he took it for 
28 yards to set up 1st-and-goal. 
He had another catch late in the 
game that was just shy of a first 
down.

Rounding out his impact in 

every phase of the game, he 
added two tackles on defense.

Elsewhere in the secondary, 

junior 
cornerback 
Jourdan 

Lewis was in full view all night. 
Tasked with guarding likely 
All-Big 
Ten 
receiver 
Aaron 

Burbridge, the two Detroit-area 
standouts battled throughout 
the game.

Burbridge finished with nine 

catches for 132 yards, but Lewis 
broke up six passes and made 
seven tackles.

Through seven games, Lewis 

has now broken up 14 passes, just 
four shy of Michigan’s single-
season record.

The bad

The “bad” really came down 

to one play. No, not that play. 
We’ll get to that later.

In 
the 
fourth 
quarter, 

Michigan 
State 
quarterback 

Connor Cook found his fullback 
wide open on a 75-yard wheel 

route. He at first appeared to 
score on the play, but after 
review, he was called down at the 
one-yard line. LJ Scott punched 
it in for Michigan State to cut the 
Wolverines’ lead to two, and you 
know the rest.

The fact that a fullback 

went 75 yards is both a credit 
to the Spartans’ play design 
and indicative of some kind 
of 
coverage 
breakdown 
for 

Michigan. Fullbacks just aren’t 
built to go 75 yards if properly 
covered.

These things happen, and 

Michigan has had its own share 
of big plays from fullbacks this 
year, but it’s hard to ignore the 
importance of this one gaffe 
given the final result of this 
game.

The ugly

Perhaps you’ve seen it by now. 

On the final play of the game, 
fifth-year senior punter Blake 
O’Neill bobbled a low snap and 
tried to get the punt off anyway. 
As he turned to make the ill-
advised second effort, he was 
hit, sending the ball into the 
waiting arms of Jalen Watts-

Jackson.

Watts-Jackson 
ran 
down 

the sideline and into the end 
zone as time expired, ending 
the game in the most shocking 
fashion imaginable. Michigan 
State dominated the yardage all 
game, but the Michigan defense 
and special teams had been 
good enough to earn a win on 
Saturday.

It’s never simply one play 

that costs a team the game, but 
the Wolverines looked secure in 
their lead until this one.

O’Neill had been excellent all 

day, even booming an 80-yard 
punt earlier in the game, the 
longest in the Football Bowl 
Subdivision this season. That’s 
one reason that this one ugly 
play is so hard to swallow for 
Michigan fans.

After a few upset fans made 

unruly comments to O’Neill on 
Twitter, there was an outpouring 
of support from the Michigan 
community 
to 
the 
graduate 

transfer 
punter, 
including 

interim Athletic Director Jim 
Hackett, who posted an open 
letter Sunday afternoon asking 
students to pledge support and 
not turn to spite.

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Redshirt freshman Jabrill Peppers totaled a team-high 164 all-purpose yards (35 receiving, 81 kick return, 48 punt return) Saturday against Michigan State.

