6A — Thursday, November 19, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Baxter adjusts to drama
Michigan’s special
teams still strong
after three miscues
in four games
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
While the Michigan special
teams unit has been one of the
team’s strengths this season,
it has weathered some drama
lately.
There
was,
of
course,
the dropped punt snap that
Michigan State picked up and
returned for a touchdown and a
27-23 win at Michigan Stadium
— “the fluke of all flukes,” as
special teams coordinator John
Baxter described it Wednesday.
But besides that, there have been
numerous disruptions to the unit
throughout the year.
Baxter’s job is to respond to
them, and though he has had an
answer to almost every one, they
pose challenges nonetheless.
“This is my 30th college
football season, and when you
think you’ve seen it all, don’t
worry, something else is coming,”
Baxter said. “It’s a game with
really neat young people and a
ball that’s not round, and that’s
what creates the drama.”
The
special
teams’
improvement
under
Baxter
has been exceptional. The unit
has made several big plays to
change the dynamic of games,
and the coaching staff has
rewarded them. Tuesday night,
redshirt
junior
cornerback
Jeremy Clark walked into a
media session wearing a special
teams shirt with the phrases “Be
The Hammer” and “Leverage.
Acceleration. Intimidation.”
“Whenever a player does a
great job on special teams, we
find one of these in our locker,”
said Clark, who is on the kick
return and punt return teams.
The Wolverines were ranked
No. 1 in the country in special
teams
efficiency
during
the
middle of the season, but they
have dropped to 16th after 10
weeks. While the unit has tied
up most loose ends, the fall in
the rankings comes as a result of
three big plays, each surrendered
in the past four games.
On Nov. 7, Michigan allowed
a 98-yard kickoff return for a
touchdown by Rutgers’ Janarion
Grant. Senior kicker Kenny Allen
has booted almost half (29 of 61)
of his kicks for touchbacks, but
a low line drive in that instance
created the opportunity for an
explosive play.
Two
other
factors
also
contributed, though: the natural
skill of Grant, who already has
four return touchdowns this
season, and the wind that kept
Allen’s kick low. Baxter has to
adjust to both — Grant is among
the Big Ten’s best return men,
and the Midwestern weather
often makes wind an influence,
too.
The
following
week,
the
Wolverines traveled to Indiana
and suffered another setback
when the Hoosiers’ Mitchell
Paige returned a punt 51 yards
for a touchdown on the first
possession of the second half.
Baxter attributed that mistake
to fatigue — Michigan appeared
to have Paige wrapped up but let
him escape.
“In
the
game,
you’ve
got to tackle,
and
when
you
get
the
opportunity to
tackle, you’ve
got to tackle,”
Baxter
said.
“It’s
really
difficult
to
ever
embrace
an attitude of tired, beat up
or
whatever
else,
because
in November, in this game,
everybody is.”
In addition to week-to-week
preparations, Baxter’s personnel
has been adjusted, as with any
unit. Before the Rutgers game,
redshirt freshman safety Jabrill
Peppers moved away from the
kick-return unit to focus more
on
offense,
and
junior
cornerback
Jourdan Lewis
replaced him.
Last
week,
redshirt
sophomore
long
snapper
Scott
Sypniewski
traveled
separately
from the team to avoid spreading
an illness. He made one bad
snap that cost Michigan a field
goal but played the entire game
as usual.
“It’s a general policy not to
talk about players’ (health), but
I can say this: That kid gutted
it out for this football team as
much as I’ve ever seen a guy
do it,” Baxter said. “He had
a
103-(degree)
temperature,
couldn’t keep anything down all
the way through pregame and
literally kept reducing that game
down to five-minute segments.”
Those
kinds
of
surprises
invariably crop up throughout
the season, but on special teams,
even small ones can create
breakdowns.
“We’ve had three negative
plays go against us, which is
unfortunate because it only takes
one negative play to really put a
damper on a really nice body of
work,” Baxter said. “But that’s
the nature of sports, I guess.”
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Jourdan Lewis has taken on some kick return duties to relieve Jabrill Peppers.
“It’s a game with
really neat young
people and a ball
that’s not round.”
PENN STATE
MICHIGAN
1
3
VOLLEYBALL
Michigan upsets
No. 4 Penn State
By PAIGE VOEFFRAY
For the Daily
Last weekend, the Michigan
volleyball team got a taste of
what it felt like to beat a ranked
opponent.
This
week,
the
Wolverines wanted more, and
they got it while also making
history.
Wednesday night, Michigan
took on No. 4 Penn State (13-4
Big Ten, 24-4 overall). After
struggling in the first set, the
Wolverines (8-9, 18-10) came
back stronger and managed to
pull off the upset with a 3-1 win,
marking their first-ever win in
State College.
“In my four years, we haven’t
beaten them at all, so it was
definitely a great win,” said
senior
setter
Carly
Warner.
“It’s hard to believe it actually
happened, especially at their
gym, which is really hard to do.”
Warner
led
the
defense
with 19 digs and helped lead a
Michigan offense to victory in an
old-fashioned shootout with the
Nittany Lions. Penn State scored
22 points or more in all four sets,
but junior middle blocker Abby
Cole’s team-high 17 kills helped
the Wolverines hold on for their
first victory over the Nittany
Lions since 2002.
Michigan
started
slowly
while Penn State opened the
match with momentum. The
Wolverines found themselves
down 7-3, forcing coach Mark
Rosen to take the team’s first
timeout. Michigan couldn’t find
a rhythm to take the lead, so the
Wolverines took a second timeout
as the Nittany Lions led 15-6. In
the end, though, they couldn’t
regroup against a relentless
offensive and defensive effort by
Penn State, which took the first
set 25-14.
In
the
second
set,
the
Wolverines finally took their first
lead, 23-22, and kept firing to win
the next two points and take the
set, 25-22.
“We were all of a sudden kind
of down, and that put us on our
heels a little bit,” Rosen said. “We
did a great job in the second set
of just being steady and really
raising our level as the set went
on. I give a lot of credit to our
players for being strong enough
to do that.”
The Wolverines tried to carry
their momentum from the second
set into the third as they began
the frame with a 5-1 lead. They
maintained that lead, but the
Nittany Lions stayed close and
eventually tied the game at 20.
Penn State appeared to take
the lead on the next play, but
Michigan protested that a fan
interfered, forcing the officials
to meet before ultimately calling
back the point. Luckily for
the Wolverines, it gave them a
second chance to dominate the
rest of the set and win by three.
The Nittany Lions were the
first team to find a rhythm in the
fourth set, gaining an early lead
of 11-7. Michigan began to fall
further behind but eventually
came out of a timeout fired up
and tied the game at 15 before
winning five straight points.
Trying to battle back, Penn
State coach Russ Rose took
another timeout while trailing
21-18 in an attempt to try and
derail the Wolverine offense. But
Michigan refused to be stopped
and took the fourth set, 25-21, for
the victory.
The Wolverines’ win streak
over ranked teams comes at
a crucial point of the season,
after four straight losses. With
its latest spurt of momentum,
Michigan has set itself up nicely
for a match against Nebraska on
Saturday at Crisler Center.
From Boston to Michigan,
Powers reflects on career
By JUSTIN MEYER
Daily Sports Writer
Billy
Powers
wasn’t
ever
supposed to put on a Michigan
hockey uniform.
The
Wolverines’
assistant
coach grew up in Somerville,
Mass., a brick-lined, working class
suburb of Boston. During the early
’80s, as plants were shuttered
and
Somerville’s
economy
collapsed, Powers played for one
of the nation’s premier teams at
Matignon High School.
Half
of
his
high
school
teammates joined elite college
programs after graduation, but
the top recruiters never came
calling for Powers. Disappointed
by the slight and with a chip on his
shoulder, he headed to St. Anselm
to play Division II hockey.
There, Powers turned heads
with a spectacular season. As
schools dangled offers following
his freshman campaign, Powers
faced
an
unusual
decision.
Michigan had called, offering him
the opportunity to head west to
play hockey.
Powers had never particularly
wanted to leave Boston. None of
his high school teammates had left
the Northeast — Powers thinks the
furthest any player traveled was
to Colgate, in upstate New York
— and practically no one he knew
lived outside the Boston area.
Boston has a particular loyalty
about it. The idea of being a
Bostonian is glorified through pop
culture, tough-guy stares and the
city’s sports franchises. For many, it
is hard to imagine living anywhere
else. Fewer than 14 percent of
people move from Powers’ county,
Middlesex, in any given five-year
period — among the nation’s lowest
rates for large populations.
Kids from Boston just don’t
want to leave Boston.
But in 1985, Powers got on
a plane to the Midwest for
a
recruiting
visit
with
Red
Berenson. He hasn’t left since.
Thirty years later, you could
almost say he is a Midwesterner.
“Was it planned? Absolutely
not,” Powers said. “Just coming
out here as a student-athlete was a
pretty shocking experience for my
family.
“My
recruiting
trip
to
Michigan, if it wasn’t my parents’
first time on a plane, it was like
their second. East Coast people
are pretty territorial. Most people
don’t leave.”
The
forward
made
an
immediate
impact
for
the
Wolverines, netting 43 points in
his first season. In the fall of 1985,
shortly after his arrival in Ann
Arbor, Powers told The Michigan
Daily that his decision to play for
Berenson was easy.
“Back East, I figured they
had their shot (right out of high
school), and they messed up if they
wanted me.”
Today, Powers can laugh at the
prideful 20-year-old kid. Because
of that decision, though, he is still
competing against the storied
programs from back home. This
week, Michigan will play the
highest-profile series of its young
season at No. 10 Boston University.
Powers will have 20-odd friends
and family in attendance.
The battle he relishes most,
though, is the fight in the
recruiting trenches each season —
one in which he’s a veteran.
When
Powers
joined
the
Wolverines in the ’80s, big-name
recruits on the East Coast never
thought about heading west to
play hockey. Helping to bridge the
recruiting gap is one of Powers’
most cherished accomplishments.
His story of moving away from
home and taking a chance at
Michigan lends him credibility
with players and their families.
“You have to pick your battles,”
Powers said. “I wouldn’t want to get
in too many fights with (Eastern)
schools over Eastern kids. But the
prep-school kid, the Connecticut
kid, the New York kid, somebody
that hasn’t grown up in the greater
Boston area — I think Michigan
will always have a great chance no
matter who we go against.”
The Wolverines have their
first opportunity for a statement
win this weekend. For Powers, it
is only another page in his long
relationship
with
East
Coast
hockey. Boston is still home and
always will be. But Powers did
make a final promise.
“(My family is) converted —
there’s no doubt there,” he said.
“My entire section will be maize
and blue.”
From Boston kid to Michigan
recruiter, Powers certainly found
his calling.
ICE HOCKEY
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Billy Powers is in his 23rd year as an assistant coach at Michigan.