The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
8 — Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Speight’s task has not been a
simple one. His first meaningful
passes as a college quarterback
were game-deciding ones. Morris,
the man many assumed to be
Michigan’s backup quarterback,
remained
on
the
sideline
after Rudock’s
injury,
his
redshirt
preserved
according
to
plan.
Even
Harbaugh,
known
as
“Captain
Comeback”
during
his
NFL
playing career, was not sure
Monday if he had ever been put
in the situation of leading his
team to victory after he came
off the bench. After a moment
of consideration, the former
quarterback acknowledged that
he had experienced success in
the department.
“Well … I’ve had some good
ones,
I
guess,”
Harbaugh
deadpanned.
After Speight came through
with his own comeback, his
teammates
showed
their
appreciation. They appeared to
be personally proud of Speight.
Some of them affectionately call
him “Wilt the Stilt” as a play on
his first name.
Fifth-
year
senior
Desmond
Morgan sought
out Speight for
a
postgame
hug.
Morris
lauded Speight
on Twitter. At
the end of their
joint postgame
press conference Saturday night,
redshirt freshman safety Jabrill
Peppers smiled and yelled, “Wilt
the Stilt, baby!” toward Speight.
Redshirt junior wide receiver
Jehu Chesson, the recipient of
the game-winning pass, made it
a point to commend Speight for
his efforts Monday.
The
recognition
was
his
reward
for
commanding
Michigan’s huddle, one filled
with older players, with poise.
“He’s
respected,”
said
redshirt
junior
offensive
lineman
Erik
Magnuson.
“We don’t have any doubts on
our backup players, backup
quarterbacks. So when he came
in there, it wasn’t like, ‘Oh no,
we’ve got to step our game up
because we’ve got Wilton in.’ It
was just like, ‘Let’s get going.
Let’s do what we’ve got to do.’ ”
The
possibility
remains
that Speight could get another
chance
Saturday
against
Rutgers. Rudock’s status is still
in doubt. Harbaugh said the plan
was to see how much Rudock
could participate in practice
Monday, but the starter would be
determined by who would give
the team the best chance to win.
If Rudock is healthy, that will
likely be him.
But at the very least, Speight
will always have Saturday night,
when he came off the bench as
an unknown to deliver his team
a trophy. He is an afterthought
no more.
SPEIGHT
From Page 7
“We don’t have
any doubts on
our backup
players.”