4B — November 16, 2015
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
He
did
not
flinch
when
Michigan trailed by seven points
and less than three minutes
remained on the scoreboard.
Rudock marched the Wolverines
right down the field.
He did not flinch when six
seconds remained in the game
and Michigan had the ball on
the Hoosiers’ five-yard line on
fourth down. Rudock threw a
strike to redshirt junior wide
receiver Jehu Chesson, who was
sandwiched by defenders.
He did not flinch in the game’s
first overtime, when Indiana had
already scored a touchdown and
the options were either to score
a touchdown or kiss his team’s
Big Ten championship dreams
goodbye. Rudock threw a 21-yard
touchdown to Butt on the second
play of the possession.
And with a chance to win the
game in the second overtime,
Rudock
threw
a
25-yard
touchdown to redshirt junior
wide receiver Amara Darboh,
who was wide open.
Hill’s play on the ensuing
possession sealed the game.
It was a game the Wolverines
felt they had to win. First,
there were the obvious stakes:
If Michigan wins its next two
games and Ohio State defeats
Michigan State next weekend,
the Wolverines will face the
Buckeyes on Nov. 28 for a berth in
the Big Ten Championship.
But then, Darboh said after
the game, there were other
implications. Before the game, all
of Michigan’s players scrawled
the hashtag “#ChadTough” on
their helmets. The Wolverines
decided to dedicate the game
to Chad Carr, the grandson of
former Michigan coach Lloyd
Carr. The younger Carr, just
five years old, is currently in
hospice care while he battles an
inoperable brain tumor.
“Any time you dedicate a game
to someone, you obviously want
to win,” Darboh said.
At first, the task did not
seem like it would be a difficult
one. Indiana (0-6 Big Ten, 4-6
overall), has enjoyed little success
in the conference this season.
The Wolverines (5-1, 8-2) had
everything on the line.
Michigan came out firing.
Rudock and Chesson were on the
same page from the start. They
connected for three first-half
touchdown passes, and Michigan
jumped out to a 21-9 lead in the
middle of the second quarter.
Chesson, like Rudock, had a
career day. He finished with four
receiving touchdowns and 207
yards on 10 receptions.
The
effort
wasn’t
enough
to put away the Hoosiers. The
Wolverines’
defense,
once
infallible,
struggled
mightily
at times. Indiana running back
Jordan Howard rushed for 238
yards and two touchdowns on
35 carries. Michigan’s defense
appeared
worn
out
by
the
Hoosiers’
up-tempo
offense.
Indiana ran play after play
within seconds of each other,
rarely slowing down, and took its
first lead of the game with 7:40
remaining in the third quarter.
The Hoosiers did not relinquish
it until Allen kicked a field goal
with 6:57 left in the game.
Even then, they gained it right
back with an eight-play, 69-yard
touchdown drive.
The Wolverines’ defense felt
the absence of redshirt junior
defensive tackle Ryan Glasgow,
who missed the game with a
pectoral injury. Harbaugh doesn’t
expect him back during the
team’s stretch run. Michigan is
battered and bruised, but it could
not be beaten Saturday.
“It’s
suck-it-up
time,”
Harbaugh said.
His team received the message.
It did not let defensive and special
team lapses become its undoing.
Even the offense was stagnant at
times.
But in the end, after Hill made
his final play and Rudock finished
his day, those hiccups proved to
be nothing more.
Rudock, true to form, didn’t
emit so much as a grin in his
postgame
press
conference.
Without the aid of a stat sheet, it
was unclear whether he threw
for six touchdown passes or zero.
Junior cornerback Jourdan Lewis
reacted in a similar fashion. He
wasn’t thrilled with how his unit
played. His demeanor wasn’t one
emblematic of victory.
Harbaugh, however, allowed
himself a few grins. He hung
around the outskirts of Memorial
Stadium 45 minutes after the
celebration ended as he waited to
board the team bus. He stood just
a few yards away from where Hill
made the game-ending play.
Children hoarded him for
autographs, and Michigan fans
screamed
his
catchphrase,
“Who’s got it better than us?”
The
answer
was
almost
Indiana.
senior quarterback Jake Rudock
lined up on the five-yard line,
it wasn’t 4th-and-goal. It was
4th-and-everything.
Rudock threw the ball high
to redshirt junior receiver Jehu
Chesson, the man who had
matched Indiana tit-for-tat all
game long. As all of Memorial
Stadium watched with baited
breath, Chesson came down with
the ball between two defenders,
giving Michigan second life.
There was going to be overtime
in Bloomington. Right?
Not necessarily. There was
still an extra point to kick. For
a team that entered the game
No. 1 nationally in special teams
efficiency, that shouldn’t have
been much concern.
But Michigan had already
had its heart ripped out on a
“gimme” special teams play
against the Spartans. It had
already given up a punt return
for a touchdown against the
Hoosiers, and a low snap earlier
in the game led to a missed field
goal. There was no comfort.
There was only terror.
And indeed, Scott
Sypniewski’s snap was low.
Fortunately for Michigan,
though, Blake O’Neill corralled it
just time for Kenny Allen to send
it to overtime.
In the extra period, Indiana
scored, then Michigan
countered, then the Wolverines
struck again. Indiana drove
right down to the 2-yard line, in
position to punch it in again and
continue the agony.
The ball was in Mitchell
Paige’s hands.
* * *
Delano Hill’s gut told him
Indiana would run. It was
only logical, after Howard’s
domination, that the Hoosiers
would leave their fate in his
hands. Instead, they went to the
air.
In retrospect, the fourth-
down play wouldn’t have even
happened without Hill, who
kept Sudfeld out of the end zone
one play earlier. Michigan coach
Jim Harbaugh said he saw
Sudfeld targeting the matchup
on Hill as the play developed.
Hill didn’t know they would
throw at him.
It’s fitting that the play that
could have cost Michigan its
season came down to instinct.
Instinct is fickle and, of course,
chaotic. After all, O’Neill was just
following instinct when he tried
to punt the ball after fumbling it
against the Spartans, and it cost
him dearly.
But when Hill reached into
Paige’s hands and plucked out
the ball, his aggression paid off.
Like O’Neill, he didn’t have time
to hesitate. He saw the ball was
coming, and he had to get it out.
His instincts came through. The
season lived.
* * *
When the press conferences
ended and the field cleared out,
a large group of fans waited
just behind the end zone where
Hill made his stand. Harbaugh
came out, and kids and parents
alike clamored for pictures and
autographs. Harbaugh met them
along a fence, trying to appease
them until it was clear he
couldn’t possibly get to them all.
They shouted to him, with
their hopes still high, as
Harbaugh walked away. He had a
bus to catch.
Soon, across the stadium, the
buses were exiting the parking
lot, honking continuously in
celebration. Their cargo was on
its way back to Ann Arbor with
a game to prepare for next week
at Penn State.
Somehow, it still matters.
Bultman can be reached at
bultmanm@umich.edu and
on Twitter @m_bultman.
THE MICHIGAN
DAILY TOP-10 POLL
2. OHIO STATE: Turns out JT
Barrett was the first college
athlete to steal crab legs. But
he said, “I’m the quarterback of
Ohio State,” and his problems
were solved.
1. CLEMSON: The Tigers only
beat Syracuse by 10. But don’t
ask Dabo about Clemsoning ...
9. MICHIGAN STATE: Connor
Cook isn’t injured. His
shoulder just felt disrespected.
3. ALABAMA: Listen, we
know the Tide have been
rolling. But you heard it here
first: Charleston Southern 21,
Alabama 20.
6. OKLAHOMA: We knew
they’d be back in the poll
Sooner or later.
5. NOTRE DAME: Touchdown
Jesus exorcised its Demon
(Deacons).
7. IOWA: The Hawkeyes
scored eight fewer points than
Michigan this weekend. If only
they had a quarterback like
Jake Rudock ...
4. OKLAHOMA STATE: T.
Boone Pickens done did good.
8. FLORIDA: The Gators
chomped on the Cocks.
10. BAYLOR: Oklahoma beat
Baylor? It’s like we barely even
know ’er anymore.
Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with
first-place votes receiving 10 points, second-place
votes receiving nine and so on.
RUDOCK
From Page 1A
BULTMAN
From Page 1B
Five things we learned from Saturday
Rudock playing
bigger than ever, but
Glasgow’s absence
could prove costly
By ZACH SHAW
Daily Sports Editor
Very little went as expected
for the Michigan football team
Saturday.
The
14th-ranked
Wolverines won, beating Indiana
48-41 in double-overtime, but
the game played out in dissimilar
fashion than most have this
season.
The defense, previously the
best in the country, gave up a
season-high 41 points, while
fifth-year
senior
quarterback
Jake Rudock set a school record
with six touchdown passes to
go along with 504 total yards of
offense.
Though Michigan won as
expected, there were plenty
of lessons learned about the
Wolverines. The Daily breaks
down five things we learned
from Saturday.
1. Ryan Glasgow’s absence
is a big loss — literally and
figuratively.
By the time redshirt junior
defensive tackle Ryan Glasgow
left midway through Michigan’s
49-16
win
over
Rutgers
a
weekend ago, the Scarlet Knights
were too far behind to capitalize.
But with a week to prepare,
the Hoosiers saw the hole the
6-foot-7, 297-pound lineman’s
absence created. Indiana rushed
for 307 yards Saturday — more
than
doubling
the
previous
high of 144 yards allowed by
Michigan’s defense.
Running
back
Jordan
Howard ran for 248 yards and
two touchdowns. The previous
best individual rushing output
against the Wolverines was just
81 yards.
Things grew worse after the
game, however, when Michigan
coach Jim Harbaugh announced
that Glasgow would likely be out
for the season with a pectoral
injury.
Players and coaches reiterated
all week that the rotation-heavy
defensive front was deep enough
to survive, but the results in the
game showed otherwise.
“It looked like we were playing
like we were undermanned.
We were tired,” Harbaugh said.
“We’re just going to have to
suck it up. ... There’s nothing in
football you hate to see more
than when a team goes on a long
drive and only runs the football.
That was all they did.”
2. Jake Rudock can carry the
Wolverines.
Things looked much brighter
on the other side of the ball, as
Rudock had a career day. The
504 yards of offense and six
touchdowns will stay in the
record books, but it was his
leadership that allowed him to
lead the Wolverines on a last-
minute drive to tie the game with
two seconds left, which means
more in the present.
“He is unflappable,” Harbaugh
said. “He just does not flinch,
does
not
matter
what
the
situation is. He talks, he gives
feedback, he’s exactly the same
all the time. He’s got ice water in
his veins.”
Aside from a few setbacks,
Rudock has gotten better as the
season progresses, throwing for
777 yards and eight touchdowns
in the last two weeks. Because
Rudock was unable to work with
the Michigan coaching staff
or the full team until August,
there’s a chance he’s just now
hitting his stride.
If that’s the case, Michigan’s
upcoming
matchups
against
Penn
State
(7-3)
and
Ohio
State (10-0) seem much more
manageable.
3. Facing Ohio State at 9-2 is
far from inevitable.
Though the matchups can
be manageable if Rudock plays
otherworldly,
the
odds
of
that happening are very slim.
Rutgers (119th in the nation
in passing yards allowed) and
Indiana (127th) have the worst
pass defenses in the Big Ten
by a wide margin, while Penn
State (second) and Ohio State
(seventh) are not only among the
conference’s best, but also the
nation’s.
After Michigan’s blowout win
over Rutgers, many had begun
to assume that the Wolverines
would blow past the Hoosiers
and Nittany Lions to enter the
Nov. 28 matchup against the
Buckeyes with a shot at the Big
Ten East title.
But
after
showing
major
defensive holes and failing to
receive
production
from
its
running backs (82 yards on 21
carries), it has become clear
that Michigan is far from the
unrelenting force many thought
it was earlier in the season.
Instead, the Wolverines have
become a team susceptible to
upsets
and
underwhelming
performances.
4. Michigan has recovered
from its late-game woes.
For much of the past three
seasons, Michigan has struggled
mightily in close-yet-winnable
games. Whether it was blowing
late
leads,
comebacks
that
fell just short or catastrophic
fumbled punts, the Wolverines
have had difficulty walking away
with wins when they should.
But in its last two close
games, Michigan has stood tall.
Against Minnesota, a goal-line
stand put an end to a wild win
after the team nearly blew a
lead. And against Indiana, the
Wolverines regained a lead they
had previously blown.
Part of the change can be
attributed to an older and wiser
team than in past years, but
much of it is simply learning
how to win close games. Even
in an uncharacteristically bad
game for the defense and an
exhausting day for the offense,
Michigan was able to close it
out.
“Our guys found a way to
win,” Harbaugh said. “As good a
win as you’ll ever have.”
5. BOLD PREDICTION: Jehu
Chesson wins the team MVP.
Despite a quiet start to the
season (190 yards and zero
touchdowns receiving in his first
seven games), the redshirt junior
wide receiver has exploded on
the scene, racking up 276 yards
and seven touchdowns in his last
three games.
More importantly, Chesson
emerged Saturday as Rudock’s
top
target.
With
Michigan
leaning more on the passing game
in recent weeks, look for Chesson
to run away with not only more
touchdowns, but the title as the
Wolverines’ best player.
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Michigan’s defensive line will have a major void to fill with redshirt junior Ryan Glasgow out for the season with a pectoral injury.