Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 10, 2015 — 7
Penalty still irks Harbaugh
By MAX COHEN
Managing Sports Editor
Two days had passed since
the Michigan football team’s
dismantling of Rutgers, and Jim
Harbaugh still wasn’t quite over
the game. Earlier in the season,
Harbaugh emphasized that he
generally takes just a few hours
to enjoy a victory. After that, his
focus turns to the next game.
That mantra clearly doesn’t
apply when Harbaugh is upset
about
something
from
the
previous game. In his weekly
press
conference
Monday,
Harbaugh explained that he
was still “offended” by the
unsportsmanlike penalty call
on his team late in the first half
Saturday, when junior tight
end Jake Butt made a 51-yard
reception
down
Michigan’s
sideline, only to be called back
because the referees ruled that
the play was intended to deceive
the opponent.
Harbaugh insisted after the
game that the Wolverines were
not trying to deceive the Scarlet
Knights. In Harbaugh’s version
of the story, Butt was simply
going to line up out wide. The
fact that he trailed other players
who were going to the sidelines
was irrelevant.
Harbaugh did not change his
tune Monday, discussing his
disappointment with some of the
calls made against his team at
length, much of it unprovoked.
He
did
not
particularly
understand the nature of the
penalty that was called against
this team.
“I
take
the
rules
very
seriously,
understanding
the
rules,
understanding
the
consistency, the clarity of the
rules,” Harbaugh said. “Not just
the rules, but the spirit of the
rules, and doing everything that
we can to follow the rules.”
Harbaugh said he would like
specifics so that he can show
his team the proper protocol
for substitutions, and ensure a
similar incident doesn’t happen
again. He also said he would
like to know what else could be
considered deception. What if,
Harbaugh asked, a team decided
to throw a backward pass into
the dirt, only to have a player
pick it up and throw it? Would
that, too, be deception if the
defense stopped playing?
The part that seemed to
offend Harbaugh most, though,
was not that his team was
accused of attempting to deceive
the opponent. It was that the
Wolverines were accused of
being unsportsmanlike.
Harbaugh, by nature, doesn’t
always seem like a coach obsessed
with sportsmanship. Sideline
tirades
are
not
uncommon,
and videos have captured him
hollering expletives at referees.
Still, he frequently preaches
sportsmanship
to
his
team.
His players have had standing
orders all season to refrain from
trash talking and showboating.
Redshirt
freshman
safety
Jabrill Peppers was worried that
Harbaugh was going to yell at
him for strutting into the end
zone Saturday on his second-
quarter touchdown run.
“I take my sportsmanship
very
seriously,”
Harbaugh
said. “(You) want to do it at the
highest level, and you also want
to be able to talk to your players
about what the rules are to give
them clarity.”
Michigan’s players preferred
to let Harbaugh sort out any
qualms about officiating and
interpretation of rules.
“Players play, coaches coach,
officials officiate, so we just do
our part,” said junior defensive
end Taco Charlton.
Michigan senior linebacker
Joe Bolden, who was ejected
from
the
Wolverines’
game
against Michigan State in a call
that also bothered Harbaugh,
offered a similar perspective.
Playing football is his task, not
worrying about officiating.
Harbaugh said Monday that
he did not want his focus to be on
the officials, professing respect
for what he considers a difficult
job. His ire instead falls upon the
rules themselves.
The intent to deceive call
was not the only rule that
offended Harbaugh. He used
the same expression to describe
his feelings about the lack of
a penalty on a punt return
from Saturday’s game, when
Michigan redshirt sophomore
long snapper Scott Sypniewski
was upended by a hit to his upper
body. The play was reviewed for
targeting, but no penalty was
called after the targeting call
was overturned. Targeting calls
have mystified Michigan this
season, and Saturday’s was just
the latest example. Charlton
said referees came to one of the
Wolverines’
practices
earlier
this season, but even that did not
clear up the ambiguity.
“A player looks like he made
a decision to hit him, hit him
high, hit him in the back,”
Harbaugh said. “At least should
be a block in the back. Should
be unsportsmanlike for making
that play, so I’m offended for our
defenseless player, so you can
put that on the list of things.”
It is worth a reminder that
Michigan won Saturday’s game,
49-16.
MEN’S TENNIS
Crocker wins six
straight for title
By COLE ZINGAS
For the Daily
The Michigan men’s tennis
team traveled to Iowa City this
weekend for the Big Ten Singles
Championship, which ran from
Friday to Monday, and one
player stole the show.
Monday, redshirt sophomore
Davis Crocker took home the
title in a highly talented field,
and did so in dominant fashion.
Crocker dropped only one set
during his six-match streak to
win the tournament.
According
to
Michigan
associate
head
coach
Sean
Maymi,
Crocker’s first
tournament
title
is
a
testament
to
his hard work.
“He’s
probably
the
hardest-
working
guy
we
have,”
Maymi
said.
“It’s
not
a
surprise that the results are
starting to come for him.”
Crocker ran through the
64-player field in three days, first
taking care of opponents from
Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska
and Penn State. Crocker then
defeated
Northwestern’s
Ben
Vandixhorn,
who
took
down
Crocker’s
teammate,
junior Kevin Wong, in the
quarterfinals.
That landed Crocker a spot
in the final against Nebraska’s
Toby Boyer. Crocker went down
3-0 in the first set, but won the
next six games to take the set
before dominating the second
set, 6-2, to finish the job.
Crocker’s determination has
led him to a good start to the
year thus far, and his coaches
hope
the
improvement
can
continue.
“I
think
the
difference
between last year and this year
is him playing a consistent
gamestyle that he’s buying into,
which creates a lot of problems
for his opponents,” Maymi said.
Crocker led the charge for
a group of Wolverines who all
had some positive moments in
the tournament. Along with
Crocker, Wong and freshman
Lubomir Cuba made the Round
of 16, but only Wong joined
Crocker in the quarterfinals.
Maymi said
that he saw a
great deal of
improvement
out of Wong
and Cuba this
weekend,
and also saw
promising
results
from
junior
Tyler
Gardiner, who
lost a tough
three-setter in the first round.
Michigan
had
a
split
squad
this
weekend,
with
the remainder of the team
traveling to the USTA Collegiate
Clay
Court
Invitational
in
Orlando, Fla., but none of those
Wolverines advanced past the
quarterfinals.
Going into the final week of
the fall season, Crocker’s victory
gives a boost to the entire team,
which will compete at the
Lakewood Ranch Invitational in
Sarasota, Fla., this weekend.
“For him to come out and beat
some of the best players in the
Big Ten is a positive thing for us,”
Maymi said. “The whole team
gains confidence from this.”
“He’s probably
the hardest-
working guy
we have.”
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Jim Harbaugh voiced disappointment at the officiating during Saturday’s game.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Junior defensive end Taco Charlton on Monday discussed Michigan’s path to the Big Ten Championship Game.
‘M’ embraces opportunity
By ZACH SHAW
Daily Sports Editor
When then-No. 7 Michigan
State fell to Nebraska on a last-
minute touchdown, Michigan
fans cheered. Sure, having the
Wolverines’ in-state rival lose
is exciting, but the loss brings a
new level of excitement to Ann
Arbor.
Now, if Michigan and Ohio
State both win their next two
games, the Nov. 28 installment
of “The Game” will have more
on the line than bragging rights:
The winner will earn a berth in
the Big Ten Championship.
“I’m sure they’re aware of
that,” said Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh. “If not, we’ll make
them aware of it. I’m sure they
are.”
At
7-2,
the
15th-ranked
Wolverines sit tied for second
in the Big Ten East. The team
tied with them, Michigan State,
would beat them in the head-to-
head tiebreaker, but the Spartans
still have to travel to Columbus
and must win to stay alive.
If they lose, Michigan gets
new life.
“It would mean a tremendous
amount,” said junior defensive
end
Taco
Charlton.
“We
came here to win a Big Ten
championship
and
hopefully
win a national championship, so
the fact that we’re going in that
direction, things are getting that
way, that it can still happen …
that’s what we want.”
To
get
there,
though,
Michigan has to do its part by
beating Indiana and Penn State
on the road. But if the Wolverines
did, they would have a chance
to win their first Big Ten title
in 11 years, likely playing No.
7 Iowa for a berth in the Rose
Bowl. The statistics website
FiveThirtyEight.com has given
Michigan a 13-percent chance of
winning the Big Ten, an eight-
percent chance of making the
College Football Playoff and a
one-percent chance of winning
the National Championship.
But until further notice, that’s
all a pipe dream. Players and
coaches have been adamant that
the focus this week is on Indiana,
despite the Hoosiers’ five-game
losing streak. The Wolverines
will be favored in both games
but are sticking to the one-
game-at-a-time approach that
has worked so far.
“Guys know, and they know
what needs to happen for us to
get to the championship,” said
senior linebacker Joe Bolden.
“Most of our guys are smart
enough to figure it out, but Coach
Harbaugh, it’s black and white
with him. He’ll let you know if
you’re in the race or not.”
To be in the race, however,
Michigan will need Ohio State
to beat Michigan State. The
Buckeyes would enter the game
undefeated, but a Wolverine win
would give them a head-to-head
tiebreaker.
That creates a moral dilemma
for the Wolverines, who were
trained by fans, coaches and
family alike to root against Ohio
State.
“Rooting for Ohio State is
a very bad, I would say, not a
very good phrase,” Bolden said.
“Obviously, we want to get to
the
Big
Ten
Championship,
and for them to win that game
(against MSU) here in a couple
weeks would be awesome, but
at the same time, I don’t really
care what happens there. All we
care about is Saturday. We can’t
get there without continuously
winning.”
But as the weeks wear on
and Michigan keeps winning,
the possibility of a Big Ten
championship berth remains,
and “The Game” can gain a
whole new meaning.
“It’d be interesting,” Bolden
said. “It’d be very interesting
and a heck of a day. That last
Saturday of November would be
a heck of a day.”
ICE HOCKEY
Inconsistency leaves
goalie spot available
Ex-forward Larkin
back in town to
watch practice
By KEVIN SANTO
Daily Sports Writer
One of the biggest issues the
Michigan hockey team faces as
it prepares for Friday’s matchup
with Niagara is
its goaltending.
The
problem
has carried over from the 2014
campaign, and it appears there
is still no easy solution.
In the Wolverines’ matchup
with Union on Oct. 23, senior
goaltender Steve Racine made
a
sprawling
stick-side
save,
extending the entire length of
the net to keep Michigan (4-1-1)
from conceding a goal early.
Yet
after
his
display
of
excellent
netminding,
the
veteran went on to allow five
goals.
The following day against
Rensselaer
Polytechnic
Institute,
junior
Zach
Nagelvoort went in between the
pipes and allowed just two goals
— an improvement over Racine,
considering one goal was simply
a well-orchestrated play from
the Engineers.
Nagelvoort went on to start
against Robert Morris, when he
allowed three goals but stopped
a flurry of shots in the final two
minutes of the third period to
bolster a 5-3 Wolverine victory.
But then he, too, fell prey to
inconsistency. In the second
game of the series against the
Colonials, Nagelvoort allowed
three goals in the first period,
Racine replaced him.
Both
goaltenders
have
struggled to replicate those strong
performances, showing flashes of
brilliance before faltering and
conceding weak goals.
Then
there
is
freshman
Chad Catt, the mystery man of
Michigan’s
goaltending
trio.
Fans have gained only a glimpse
of Catt, who played one period in
an exhibition against Toronto on
Oct. 4.
At this point, Michigan coach
Red Berenson has indicated that
the starting job is open to all
three candidates.
“(The starting spot) is open
for whoever takes advantage of
their chance,” Berenson said.
“That’s the other thing. We can’t
play all three
goalies in one
game or one
weekend. But
as the season
progresses,
it’s going to be
guys
moving
up or moving
down.
It’s
going to be up
to them. It’s
not like we’ve
got a starting goalie that plays
all the games.”
HIGH-ENERGY
PRACTICES: Due to a bye
week, by the time Michigan
takes on Niagara on Nov. 13, 12
days will have passed since its
last game.
Following
the
Wolverines’
loss to Robert Morris, Berenson
expressed that he would much
rather forego the bye week and
have another game sooner.
That
being
said,
it
may
have seemed concerning that
Michigan had over a week to
mull over a bad loss at home.
But
despite
Berenson’s
original concerns, the man at
the helm likes what he is seeing
out of his team to begin practice
this week.
“I think our tempo was
good,”
Berenson
said.
“You
can feel there’s a little bit more
enthusiasm, you know. We know
we’ve got a game in sight now. It
seems like we haven’t played for
a month. But I think our team
will have a good week.”
LARKIN
RETURNS
TO
YOST: The Wolverines had a
special guest observing their
practice on Monday: former
forward Dylan Larkin, who left
Michigan for the NHL after the
2014 season.
It’s not the first time Larkin
has
returned
to
Yost,
and
following
the
practice,
he
spent time connecting with his
teammates and coaches from
last season.
Larkin has picked up where
he left off after
his
47-point
freshman
season.
The
19-year-old
rookie is plus-
11 in 14 games
for the Detroit
Red
Wings,
and has tallied
four goals and
six assists.
But
that
doesn’t
mean
Larkin
has
forgotten the good times he had
donning the maize and blue, and
he had words of advice for his
old teammates if their time in
the NHL arrives.
“(I just miss) being a student
athlete and being here with all
these guys,” Larkin said. “(They
should) just enjoy their time
here. When everyone gets there,
be confident and realize that even
though there are some players
that you grow up watching, that
you’re there for a reason. You’re
on the same ice as them, and you
can’t take a back seat.”
INJURIES:
Junior
defenseman Kevin Lohan will
be unavailable for Friday’s game
against Niagara after suffering
an upper-body injury prior to
the Robert Morris series. But
Berenson is optimistic about the
blueliner’s return.
“Lohan will be out for this
weekend,” Berenson said “But I
think next week, we’d probably
say he’s a candidate for the
following game (against Boston
University).”
“It seems like
we haven’t
played for a
month.”
NOTEBOOK