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.”
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