Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 3, 2015 — 7

After moment in spotlight, 
Speight no longer unknown

Teammates laud 

quarterback’s poise 
in leading comeback 
against Minnesota

By MAX COHEN

Managing Sports Editor

Just a few months ago, Wilton 

Speight was a relative nobody on 
the Michigan football team. He 
had arrived in Ann Arbor in the 
winter of 2014 as a highly touted 
quarterback, but one who had to 
bide his time.

Devin Gardner and then-

sophomore Shane Morris were 
firmly entrenched as the team’s 
top two quarterbacks for the 
2014 season under Brady Hoke.

But then, after the 2014 

season, Hoke’s firing and Jim 
Harbaugh’s hiring shook things 
up at the position. Harbaugh 
declared 
the 
quarterback 

job would be won in an open 
competition. 
Speight, 
like 

everyone else, had a shot.

Things did not go according to 

plan. Speight, after his redshirt 
season, was injured during the 
spring and did not appear in the 
Wolverines’ Spring Game. Then, 
when summer rolled around, 
Jake Rudock arrived as a transfer 
student. The competition carried 
on, but Rudock and Morris were 
the leaders the entire way.

Speight noticed and took it as 

a little bit of a slight. He lived 
with junior tight end Jake Butt 
and redshirt freshman wide 
receiver Drake Harris over the 
summer, and they sometimes 
discussed the team’s quarterback 
competition. 
Speight, 
with 

starting aspirations, was not 
enthralled by the idea of being an 

afterthought, but he attempted 
to use it to his advantage.

“Sometimes it’s good not to 

be talked about,” Butt said. “You 
can just sneak in behind the 
scenes and just keep working 
hard, and that’s what Wilton 
did. He made 
it a point that 
he wanted to 
get his name 
out there.”

So 
when 

Speight 
received 
his 

opportunity 
Saturday 
night, with his 
team trailing 
in the third quarter at Minnesota 
and the Little Brown Jug on the 
line, it was natural that Butt — 

who considers Speight a close 
friend — wanted to help his 
quarterback calm down. He went 
over to Speight when Rudock 
went down and gave the backup 
some encouraging words. He 
was planning to do the same 

after Speight’s 
first 
three 

passes fell to 
the 
ground, 

incomplete.

But then he 

realized 
he 

didn’t need to. 
He 
saw 
Jim 

Harbaugh 
whacking 
Speight on the 

sidelines to amp him up and 
simulate the sensation of being 
hit. He figured Harbaugh had 

it under control. The coach was 
not hitting Speight lightly.

“Booom, boom, banging on 

his pads, smacking him in the 
chest, smacking him in the 
helmet,” Butt said, pantomiming 
smacking motions. “I guess after 
that, you’ve got to be ready to go.”

And Speight was. His first 

pass on Michigan’s final drive 
was a completion to Butt. The 
inexperienced quarterback kept 
the momentum going, despite 
the inconvenience of leading his 
team into Minnesota’s howling 
student section. He completed 
two more passes to score the 
game-winning touchdown, and 
then another on the ensuing 
two-point conversion to give 
Michigan a three-point cushion.

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily

Redshirt freshman quarterback Wilton Speight drew high praise from his teammates for the comeback he led Saturday.

See SPEIGHT, Page 8

For Nieves, a lonely 
road back to practice

Senior returns 

to practice 

after sustaining 

concussion Oct. 24

By JUSTIN MEYER

Daily Sports Writer

Boo Nieves was in decidedly 

high spirits on Monday, flashing 
a smile as he left the ice and 
unstrapped his helmet.

Heading into the final game 

of the New York trip in October, 
Nieves was off to one of the 
hottest starts of his four-year 
career at Michigan. The senior 
forward had two points in three 
games and was tremendous at 
both ends while centering the 
Wolverines’ top-scoring line.

All that momentum came 

to a screeching halt with a 
concussion 
Nieves 
sustained 

in a win against Rensselaer 
Polytechnic Institute on Oct. 
24. Nieves didn’t practice for 
the rest of the week and was 
relegated to the bench for a 
home series against Robert 
Morris the following weekend.

Junior forward Justin Selman 

and freshman forward Kyle 
Connor missed the presence of 
their center against the Colonials; 
the pair of wings tallied only one 
point on the weekend.

“We were rotating the third 

guy in, which is always a little 
bit of a challenge — trying to find 
the chemistry each shift with 
a different guy,” Selman said. 
“Boo brings a ton of speed to the 
game, he brings a ton of puck 
possession and he’s a big body 
out there. It’s going to be good to 
have him back.”

The time away wasn’t easy 

on Nieves, either. The mental 

exhaustion that can accompany 
concussions is well documented.

“It’s very frustrating,” Nieves 

said. “Even in practice, it’s 
tough sitting there watching 
them do what you want to do. 
I think the best way to stay 
with it is watching practice and 
being around the guys. I wasn’t 
around them for the first two 
days last week, and I started to 
feel a little out of the loop.”

Once his symptoms started 

to dissipate, Nieves was glad 
to hang around the team more, 
saying it made him feel better 
about being left out of the 
lineup. He returned to practice 
Monday, confirming that he 
didn’t have any symptoms on or 
off the ice.

Now 
appearing 
outgoing 

with a disarming smile, the 
lonely center doing homework 
at practice last week seems like 
a distant memory. Nieves is 
just happy to be talking hockey, 
giving his take on Saturday’s 
loss.

“The 
second 
game 
was 

tough,” Nieves said. “We did 
look a little sluggish out of the 
gate, but it’s going to happen. 
We just couldn’t find a way back.

“It’s also easy to sit out and 

watch from above and critique 
everything.”

There is still progress to be 

made before Nieves can start 
taking contact in practice, and 
concussions have a nasty habit 
of recurring in hockey. With a 
two-week break, though, both 
Nieves and Michigan coach Red 
Berenson seem confident that 
the center will make it back for 
a home game against Niagara on 
Nov. 13.

For now, Nieves is content 

just to be back on the ice.

“Practice was the best part of 

my day, easily,” Nieves said.

ICE HOCKEY

Jabrill Peppers, standout and tiger

By MAX BULTMAN

Daily Sports Editor

Jabrill Peppers is many things. 

For starters, he’s a triple threat, a 
player who changes the game in 
all phases. He’s also the Big Ten 
Freshman of the Week, an honor 
he earned for the second time this 
season Monday after totaling 100 
all-purpose yards and breaking up 
two passes against Minnesota.

Monday, Michigan coach Jim 

Harbaugh talked about the ways 
Peppers is special — a term that’s 
nearly impossible to measure — 
and no one batted an eye. But the 
redshirt freshman didn’t need 
Harbaugh to say he was special. 
His play has spoken for itself all 
season long.

Peppers is a safety, a cornerback, 

a nickelback, a punt returner, a 
kick returner, a running back, a 
wide receiver and, on occasion, a 
quarterback. Sometimes, he’s all 
of those in one game.

But 
redshirt 
junior 
Erik 

Magnuson has another way to 
think of him.

“Have you ever seen the Netflix 

documentary, ‘The Tiger and the 

Monk?’ ” Magnuson asked a group 
of reporters Monday. “It’s about 
this monk who lives in the jungle 
in Thailand that has 16 tigers. I 
think Jabrill would be a tiger.”

Strictly speaking, you don’t 

need to see the documentary to 
get the comparison.

“It just gives you a better idea 

of how cool tigers are,” Magnuson 
said. “They’re very, very, very 
peaceful. 
Accept 
their 
inner 

peace. 
But 

when it’s time 
to attack, they 
strike.”

For Peppers, 

that 
fits 

quite 
well. 

His 
normal 

position, safety, 
requires a great 
deal of flexibility. Sometimes he 
lines up over the top, sometimes 
in 
man 
coverage. 
But 
like 

Magnuson’s tiger analogy, he also 
knows when to attack, whether 
it’s blitzing or going back to return 
a punt or kick.

Against Minnesota, he flipped 

the field twice, returning a punt 
for 41 yards and a kickoff for 43, 

setting up a pair of touchdown 
drives for the Michigan offense. 
On one of the drives, Peppers 
scored his first touchdown of the 
season, a six-yard run on which 
he lined up as a quarterback in the 
wildcat formation. It was part of 
a recent swing that has seen him 
taking more offensive reps.

Working 
Peppers 
into 
the 

offense was hardly a surprise 
development — fans and media 

alike wondered 
how 
long 

it 
would 
be 

until they saw 
Peppers 
on 

offense, 
and 

even 
junior 

tight end Jake 
Butt admitted 
to 
wondering 

when the Wolverines would use 
him there.

But as far as getting him 

acclimated, Peppers has had to 
make use of limited practice reps 
with the offense.

“Since we only have him for a 

little bit, we’ll run through all of 
the plays that we have with him 
like, 
back-to-back-to-back-to-

back,” Butt said. “And some of the 
plays he’ll be coming back like, 
hands on the hips, and coach will 
just tell him, ‘All right, you only 
need to go like five yards on this 
play,’ you know? Try to save his 
energy a little bit.”

Still, having him run those 

plays while worn out is good 
practice. Peppers was on the 
field for more than 90 plays 
against the Golden Gophers, 
which makes his numbers even 
more impressive.

“He’s just a … man, it’s hard 

to describe,” Butt said. “He’s got 
something that you can’t coach.”

But for as large an impact as 

he makes on the game, and the 
larger-than-life personality he 
portrays, 
Peppers’ 
teammates 

say it’s not an around-the-clock 
energy.

Jabrill Peppers might, in fact, 

have an off switch.

“He’s kind of a quiet guy around 

the locker room sometimes,” Butt 
said. “But when he’s on the field, 
that juice is flowing, for sure.”

Quiet until it’s time to attack? 

Maybe Magnuson was on to 
something, after all.

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Redshirt freshman safety Jabrill Peppers has played eight different positions this year, making an impact on offense, defense and special teams.

“He’s got 

something you 
can’t coach.”

MEN’S BASKETBALL
‘M’ opens practice 
to fans for an hour

By SIMON KAUFMAN

Daily Sports Editor

Usually, before the season 

starts, the curtain is closed at 
Crisler Arena. Michigan men’s 
basketball coach John Beilein 
doesn’t like to 
allow too many 
looks 
at 
his 

team before it starts facing other 
competition. But on Monday 
night, the Wolverines made an 
exception: The team hosted an 
open practice for fans followed 
by a chance to take selfies with 
players and Beilein.

The open session ran for only 

an hour, but it provided a sneak 
peek at the Wolverines before 
they tip off against Le Moyne in 
an exhibition contest on Friday. 
With the regular season less 
than two weeks away, the Daily 
offers a few takeaways from the 
open practice.

MO 
WEEZY, 
MO 

STREAKY: Moritz Wagner, or 
“Mo Weezy” as some teammates 
like to call him, is six feet, 10 
inches of potential. The squad’s 
only 
scholarship 
freshman 

showed flashes of greatness 
Monday night amid moments of 
raw play. In a 5-on-5 scrimmage 
at the end of practice, the Berlin 
product stole the ball, drove, 
spun and finished over D.J. 
Wilson’s outstretched arm.

“He’s 6-feet-10 and a half, and 

he’s only 18,” Beilein told the 
crowd after. “He still could be in 
high school.”

A few minutes later, Wagner 

picked up another steal and 
finished 
with 
a 
big 
dunk 

followed by a fist pump, and he 
followed it with a 3-pointer a 
few possessions later. But his 
moments of “wow” were mixed 
in with freshman moments, too, 
and it’s easy to see why Beilein 
says he’s still a work in progress. 
Early in the practice, he missed 
an assignment on defense. On 
the offensive side, he still doesn’t 
always look comfortable with 
the ball in his hands, sometimes 
picking up his dribble before 

he knows what he’s going to do 
with the ball.

In his best moments, Wagner 

looks like a poor man’s Dirk 
Nowitzki — a comparison his 
former coach in Berlin made 
— but as of now, there are still 
more times when he looks like a 
lost freshman just trying to get 
the fundamentals down.

GO D.J., THAT’S MY D.J.: 

A year after D.J. Wilson took a 
medical redshirt due to a knee 
injury, the redshirt freshman 
looks a lot stronger and more 
comfortable on the court. On 
Monday night, he showed why 
he’ll be a key piece for Beilein 
this season.

Wilson looked at ease with 

the ball in his hands at the top 
of the key and used quick passes 
to help facilitate his team’s 
offense. He was stronger down 
low, confidently posting up on 
offense and boxing his man out 
on defense. He also didn’t shy 
away from shooting from the 
perimeter, knocking down a 
handful of 3s over the course of 
the night.

At 6-foot-10 and up to 240 

pounds after weighing just 215 
a year ago, Wilson could be 
opponents’ biggest challenge with 
his dual inside-outside ability.

DAWKINS 
LEAVES: 

In a full court 3-on-3 drill, 
sophomore 
Aubrey 
Dawkins 

landed on sophomore forward 
Kameron Chatman’s foot after 
coming down from an alley-oop 
dunk. 
Dawkins 
immediately 

hit the ground and reached for 
his right ankle, grimacing in 
pain. He limped to the sideline, 
where he walked around for a 
few minutes, still appearing to 
be hurt. He returned to drills 
soon after, but eventually left 
the practice early to go to the 
locker room.

Dawkins did come out to take 

pictures with fans afterwards, 
indicating that he was OK and 
had just landed on his foot 
awkwardly. He was still favoring 
his left leg more than an hour 
after practice.

“He made it a 
point that he 

wanted to get his 
name out there.”

NOTEBOOK

