8 — Friday, November 20, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Breakdown: Michigan at Penn State
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
Only one item remains on the
Michigan football team’s to-do
list before the Wolverines have
a chance to face No. 3 Ohio State
at home for a spot in the Big Ten
Championship.
This weekend, No. 12 Michigan
must journey into Happy Valley
and come away with a win over
Penn State (4-2 Big Ten, 7-3
overall) — no small task.
The two teams have played close
games in their last two matchups:
In 2013, the Nittany Lions pulled
out a 43-40, double-overtime win,
and last season Michigan held
off Penn State under the lights at
Michigan Stadium, 18-13.
With the way the Wolverines
have played lately — three of their
past four games have gone down
to the final play — more theatrics
aren’t out of the question.
The Daily breaks down the
matchup:
Michigan pass offense vs.
Penn State pass defense
Michigan
fifth-year
senior
quarterback Jake Rudock is coming
off the best game of his career,
and it couldn’t have happened at a
better time. The Wolverines may
need some more heroics from him
in the last two weeks of the season.
He appears ready to provide those
heroics, with the help of redshirt
junior wide receivers Jehu Chesson
and Amara Darboh and junior tight
end Jake Butt.
Michigan played it relatively
safe last year against Penn State,
with quarterback Devin Gardner
finishing 16-for-24 with 192 yards,
a touchdown and an interception.
That was about Rudock’s average
until
last
week,
when
the
Wolverines started hitting passes
downfield. If that trend continues,
it also bodes well for what could be
a shootout against Ohio State next
week.
The problem for Michigan is
that the Nittany Lions could be the
best opposing pass defense of the
season. Penn State gives up just
159 yards per game through the
air — second in the nation — and
has nine interceptions. Indiana,
meanwhile,
came
into
last
weekend’s game ranked second to
last in that category.
The Nittany Lions’ leader in
pass breakups has just five of them,
but most of the team’s success in
defending the aerial attack comes
in its pass rush. Penn State has
41 sacks this season, led by the
nation’s leader in the category:
defensive end Carl Nassib with
15.5.
Edge: Penn State
Michigan rush offense vs.
Penn State rush defense
The Wolverines have dropped
off in their running game lately.
In their five-game winning streak
earlier in the season, they rushed
for more than 200 yards four
times, but they haven’t done so in
the four games since. Last week at
Indiana, Rudock was their leading
rusher with 64 yards, while junior
running back De’Veon Smith
gained just 58 on 12 carries.
Due
to
a
combination
of
injuries, splitting carries and
ineffectiveness, Michigan hasn’t
had a 100-yard rusher since Smith
against Brigham Young on Sept.
26. The Wolverines relied more on
the passing game against Indiana,
but if they could establish the
ground game early, it might help
relieve the pressure on Rudock.
That will be no easy task against
Nassib and the Penn State front.
The Nittany Lions have 94 tackles
for loss this season, including a
streak of 18 games with at least
five. Overall, Penn State’s defense
ranks No. 13 in the country, giving
Michigan a tough test.
Edge: Penn State
Penn State pass offense vs.
Michigan pass defense
Penn
State
quarterback
Christian Hackenberg has already
faced the Wolverines twice, with
mixed results. Two years ago in
State College, he threw for 305
yards and three touchdowns,
including one to lead a comeback
at the end of regulation. Last
season in Ann Arbor, Michigan
sacked him six times and limited
him to just 160 yards.
Hackenberg,
a
6-foot-4,
228-pound junior, has thrown
13 touchdowns and just three
interceptions this season. His
top
target
is
wide
receiver
Chris Godwin (808 yards, three
touchdowns). But his offensive
line is still struggling, giving up
33 sacks in 10 games this season,
so Michigan has an opportunity
there.
The Wolverines appear to have
solved some of their issues in the
secondary, allowing just 317 yards
over the past two weeks after
surrendering at least that many in
each of the previous two games.
Hackenberg has the tools to burn
them, but the secondary will be
the best he has faced this season.
Edge: Michigan
Penn State rush offense vs.
Michigan rush defense
Here, the Wolverines have the
most to prove. Playing without
redshirt junior defensive tackle
Ryan Glasgow at Indiana last
week, Michigan allowed 307 yards
rushing on 55 attempts.
The Wolverines had to move
up redshirt sophomore Maurice
Hurst to play in Glasgow’s spot,
and they faced depth issues
behind Hurst. Redshirt junior
defensive lineman Tom Strobel,
now a two-way player, will see
action there, as will others. Even
without Glasgow, Michigan still
boasts redshirt junior defensive
linemen Willie Henry and Chris
Wormley.
Penn State’s rushing attack
doesn’t quite have the firepower
of Indiana’s, and the Nittany
Lions won’t test Michigan with
any up-tempo offense, either. But
running back Saquon Barkley is
earning 6.3 yards per carry for
a total of 836 along with seven
touchdowns. There isn’t much
behind him, and the sacks hurt
Penn State’s rushing numbers.
While the Nittany Lions rank
just 98th in the country, the
Wolverines will have to prove they
can stop the run.
Edge: Michigan
Special teams
The Wolverines gave up another
big play in the special teams game
last week, this time a punt-return
touchdown by Indiana’s Mitchell
Paige. Other than that, though, the
unit remains solid. Senior kicker
Kenny Allen is now 14-for-18 on
field goals, and fifth-year senior
punter Blake O’Neill is averaging
41.7 yards on 44 punts with just
three touchbacks.
Penn State changed kickers
midseason, from Joey Julius to
Tyler Davis after Julius missed
two extra points against Illinois
on Oct. 31. Davis has been perfect
since then.
The Nittany Lions also have
two punters and no big-play threat
in the return game like Michigan
redshirt freshman Jabrill Peppers.
Edge: Michigan
Intangibles
In some ways, Penn State has
the edge here. The Nittany Lions
are coming off a late-season bye
week, playing at home on Senior
Day and looking to avenge last
season’s loss in Ann Arbor.
Meanwhile, Michigan admitted
to being fatigued at Indiana last
week, will be playing without
Glasgow again and is traveling
on the road for the second
straight game.
But
then
there
are
the
circumstances: Penn State is
all but eliminated from the
Big Ten East race, save for the
possibility of a wild end to the
season that could result in a
four-way tie. The Wolverines,
on the other hand, need only a
win and a Michigan State loss to
play their archrival at home for
the division title next week. For
them, the stakes couldn’t be any
bigger.
Edge: Michigan
Prediction:
Michigan
26,
Penn State 24
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Jake Rudock enters Michigan’s game against Penn State coming off the two best games of his career.
‘M’ faces tough weekend
By MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
A year ago, the Michigan
hockey team traveled to Boston
University to take on the Terriers
at the loud and rowdy Agganis
Arena.
Though
the
Wolverines (5-1-
1) held an early
lead, sparked by
then-freshman
defenseman
Zach Werenski’s
opening
goal,
they
couldn’t
fend off Boston
University’s
attack,
giving
up a score to
forward
Jack
Eichel early in
the third period and conceding
the game-winner with just two
minutes left in the game.
Thirteen months later, No. 12
Michigan will travel back to face
the 10th-ranked Terriers — an
NCAA Finalist last season.
Except this time, things aren’t
exactly the same.
Between the two teams, a
total of six players — including
the
Wolverines’
and
Boston
University’s top three and top two
scorers from last year, respectively
— have moved on to professional
leagues.
But just because some of the
talent is gone doesn’t mean the
game is any less important.
The Terriers (5-3-2) present
Michigan with its first real test
of the season and will be the first
top-10 team the Wolverines will
face.
The Wolverines know that, and
they’re bracing for the step up in
competition.
“Intensity’s been pretty high,”
said senior forward Boo Nieves.
Last week, Michigan coasted
to a 7-3 victory over Niagara that
featured six different goal scorers.
But despite the big win, Michigan
coach Red Berenson was still
disappointed with the three goals
allowed and stressed that point
throughout practice during the
week.
“We need to make sure we’re
taking care of things in our own
end first,” Nieves said. “(Berenson)
was happy that we had seven
goals, but he also wasn’t too happy
that we gave up three, and two
of those goals were special-team
goals that shouldn’t have gone in. “
On the other side of the ice,
the Terriers come into the game
without having lost in the last
three weeks. In that span, they
beat Northeastern twice and
tied No. 1 Providence twice in a
rematch of last season’s NCAA
Championship game.
And while Eichel isn’t around
to light the lamp anymore, Boston
University still has loads of talent.
“When you go play (Boston
University) with Jack Eichel, you
always know when Jack Eichel is
out there,” Werenski said. “This
year, without him, it definitely
crosses your mind that he isn’t out
there. But they have freshmen like
(forwards Jordan Greenway and
Charlie McAvoy), who I played
with at (the USA Hockey National
Team Development Program) and
are really good players.”
On the blue line, All-American
defenseman Matt Grezlcyk and
the rest of the defense will try to
stop a Wolverine offense that is
currently ranked second in the
nation in goals per game.
In
between
the
pipes,
Boston University will trot out
netminder Connor LaCouvee. The
sophomore goaltender is taking
over for 2014-2015 Hockey East
Second Team goaltender Matt
O’Connor, who is also now in the
professional ranks.
But even without Eichel at the
opposite end of the ice, Michigan
knows it can’t worry too much
about the Terriers. The Wolverines
need to worry about themselves.
“At the same time, who knows,
they could be even better without
him,” Nieves said.” It really
doesn’t matter about them. It’s
more about us.”
ICE HOCKEY
Michigan at
Boston U.
Matchup:
Michigan 5-1-
1; BU 5-3-2
When: Friday
6 P.M.;
Saturday
4 p.m.
Where:
Agganis Arena
Xavier presents a new
challenge for Michigan
Wolverines will
look to eliminate
inconsistencies of
early season
By LEV FACHER
Managing Editor
John
Beilein,
typically
straight-laced, took a turn for
the philosophical on Thursday.
In the leadup to the No. 24
Michigan men’s basketball team’s
Friday-night clash with Xavier,
he referenced a Muhammad Ali
quote he felt
represented
his
team’s
early-season
development:
It isn’t the
mountains
ahead to climb
that wear you
out, it’s the
pebble in your
shoe.
The pebble,
Beilein
said
Thursday,
is
random
inconsistency
in games and in practice. Even
if four players are crashing the
boards for an offensive rebound,
for example, there always seems
to be one standing and watching.
“Or there’s one that doesn’t call
out a screen,” Beilein said. “These
are small things … we’ve got to
get that pebble out of our shoe,
because it’ll be hard to go where
we want to as long as those things
are lingering.”
More annoying to Beilein is
the fact that there’s no single
culprit — it’s a seemingly random
rotation of players suffering from
momentary mental lapses.
As
Michigan’s
season
progresses, Beilein’s need to trim
his 12-man rotation is becoming
more pressing, and it’s the
minutiae, in games or in practice,
that could make the difference in
what he says are “dead heats” at
several positions.
For
now,
though,
the
undefined rotation might serve
as an advantage. The Wolverines
(2-0) have used four players
— redshirt sophomore Mark
Donnal, sophomore Ricky Doyle,
redshirt freshman D.J. Wilson
and freshman Moritz Wagner —
at the ‘5’ spot, and all five might
be needed against the Musketeers
(2-0).
Xavier’s Jalen Reynolds, a
Detroit native, is the biggest low-
post
threat
Michigan
has
faced so far, and
a by-committee
approach
from the big
men might be
needed to stop
him.
“Well,
we
have
fouls
to give there
now,”
Beilein
said, noting that he’ll have no
choice but to use all four players
despite his desire to slim down
the Wolverines’ rotation. “We’ll
have to. That is just a very strong,
experienced player, good athlete,
(who’s) really going to be tough
for any of our guys to defend.”
Though none of Michigan’s
big men has more than a season
of NCAA competition under his
belt, Beilein said the concern
with
Reynolds
goes
beyond
experience.
It
took
former
Michigan
forward
Jordan
Morgan five years to become an
‘elite defender,’ Beilein said, and
even he would have his hands
full against Reynolds.
It’s not just the low post
that could give the Wolverines
trouble. Michigan’s coaching
staff
has
encouraged
its
shooters,
including
junior
guard
Derrick
Walton
Jr.,
senior guard Caris LeVert and
redshirt
sophomore
guard
Duncan Robinson, to be more
aggressive
in
shooting
off
ball screens this season. But
the
Musketeers’
backcourt
includes lengthy guards like
6-foot-5 Edmond Sumner and
6-foot-6 Trevon Bluiett, whose
size could pose issues for the
Wolverines as they look to
take advantage of narrow open
spaces around the perimeter.
“I just think you’ve got to be
much more sound with your
fundamentals,”
Walton
said,
adding that Michigan has worked
at getting players better looks
off perimeter screens in recent
practices.
“(Shooting
off
the
ball
screen)
has
been preached
since we all
got here, to
everybody
(Beilein)
has faith in
to shoot the
ball.”
The
Wolverines’
smaller
guards,
however,
could
match
up
favorably against Xavier’s Myles
Davis. If swingmen like LeVert
and sophomore guard Aubrey
Dawkins can take care of their
opponent’s backcourt size, they
could create openings for players
like Walton and Albrecht to leave
the 6-foot-2 Davis feeling kind of
blue.
Beilein said he would wait
until after Thursday’s practice
to decide on a starting lineup for
Michigan’s first legitimate test of
the year. The Wolverines’ ninth-
year coach listed Doyle, Wilson,
sophomore
guard
Kameron
Chatman and junior forward
Zak Irvin as being among a list
of players he’s on the fence about
starting.
Dawkins, LeVert and Walton
all seem like safe bets to start, and
while Beilein didn’t mention him
specifically, Mark Donnal started
in Michigan’s exhibition opener
against Le Moyne and in both of
its regular-season games to date.
Xavier at
Michigan
Matchup:
Xavier 2-0;
Michigan 2-0
When: Friday
9 P.M.
Where:
Crisler Arena
TV/Radio:
BTN
“We’ve got to
get that pebble
out of our
shoe.”
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