8A — Wednesday December 9, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
When Harbaugh doesn’t want to watch the game anymore.
THE M ANY FACES OF HARBAUGH
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
It’s safe to say Harbaugh doesn’t agree with the referee’s call here.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Just kidding, we know this is John Harbaugh. Don’t worry.
Wolverines prepare for unknown
Michigan readies
for first bowl under
Harbaugh
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
Four months ago, almost to
the day, the Michigan football
team assembled in Ann Arbor
for the start of fall practice on
Aug. 7. Jim Harbaugh had been
head coach for just over seven
months, including one spring
camp, but still, an unknown lay
ahead.
The
Wolverines
had
no
idea what to expect out of
Harbaugh’s first fall camp. They
didn’t know what time practices
would be. They didn’t know
what they would entail. In his
media day press conference
Aug. 6, Harbaugh proclaimed
that his team was going into
a “submarine” and using a
“bunker mentality.” No one was
quite sure what that meant.
That camp laid the foundation
for a year of rebirth, one in
which the Wolverines regained
their dignity, Harbaugh said
Monday. Thursday, as Michigan
begins its preparation for the
Jan. 1 Citrus Bowl, it will end
the season the same way it
started it: with a long month of
practice and preparation, with
unclear expectations.
“Not until Coach Harbaugh
lays it all out and really sends
us a schedule on everything,
what it’s going to be like and
stuff,” said senior linebacker
Joe Bolden on Monday. “So no, I
have no idea right now, standing
here talking to you.”
Not under Harbaugh, at least.
The Wolverines last played
in a bowl game in 2013, when
they lost to Kansas State in the
Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, 31-14.
This year, they again have the
opportunity to spend the last
month of the season refining
technique
and
correcting
weaknesses in preparation for
next season.
“I think it’s really a big
deal for us to get those extra
15
practices,
which
goes
overlooked
sometimes,”
said
junior tight end Jake Butt on
Monday. “Just getting those
young players those 15 practices,
that’s another spring ball. That
can go a long way for player
development.”
Another
shakeup
is
the
departure
of
defensive
coordinator D.J. Durkin, who
took the head coaching job at
Maryland.
Chris
Partridge,
previously
the
director
of
player personnel, will take over
Durkin’s role as linebackers
coach for the bowl game, and
defensive
line
coach
Greg
Mattison will coordinate the
defense. Mattison previously
led the unit from 2011 to 2014
under Brady Hoke.
“(For) some of us, (Mattison
is) what we know better, in a
way,” Bolden said. “I’ve played
three of my four years under
him. I love how he coached and
how he coaches. I came in and
my first game was under him,
and I’m going out and my last
game’s going to be played with
him calling the defense, too.
So, it’s pretty exciting from my
standpoint.”
Other than the role changes,
Michigan has a fair level of
continuity, perhaps giving it the
opportunity to heal for the bowl
game. Most notably, fifth-year
senior quarterback Jake Rudock
is recovering from a shoulder
injury
he
suffered
in
the
regular-season finale against
Ohio State.
On both sides of the ball, the
Wolverines will go back to the
fundamentals. They ended the
regular season with a tough
42-13 loss to the Buckeyes at
Michigan Stadium, and while
they will still finish 0-2 against
their rivals, they have a chance
to end the year on a different
note.
On
Sunday in a
teleconference
and
again
Monday
at
the
annual
team banquet,
Harbaugh
used
the
analogy
of
a
running
locomotive to
describe his team’s progress,
saying he will try to keep it going
heading into the offseason.
His opponent, Florida, has the
same amount of time to prepare,
so a tough test lies ahead.
“I
wouldn’t
say
either
team is at an advantage or
disadvantage,”
Bolden
said.
“We’ve all got the same amount
of time, and how you use that
time will determine how you
play and the outcome of the
game.”
The players aren’t yet aware
of how exactly
Harbaugh will
go about that
preparation.
Redshirt
junior
wide
receiver Jehu
Chesson
said
that
as
fall
camp
went
along,
the
team got into
a rhythm of
knowing roughly what time
practice would be and about
how long it would last.
But now, that process starts
all over to conclude the season.
“I’m not too sure what to
expect,” Chesson said. “We’ll
go back to our roots in terms of
trying to get the fundamentals
and everything shaken out.
“It’s an unknown. We’ve
never done it before.”
FOOTBALL
“It’s an
unknown.
We’ve never
done it before.”
Catt rising fast in net for Michigan
The freshman
goaltender could
receive more
playing time
By KEVIN SANTO
Daily Sports Writer
As the Michigan hockey
team began its shootout against
Wisconsin on Saturday, all eyes
were on junior forward Tyler
Motte as he took the puck from
center ice and went in on goal
to try to give the Wolverines an
early advantage.
That is, all eyes except for
freshman goaltender Chad Catt’s.
While all of the 5,466 fans
in attendance held their breath
in
anticipation
of
Motte’s
opportunity, Catt was bent over
on his own end, staring at the ice
and waiting for the crowd to tell
the tale of his teammate’s effort.
When a groan resonated
throughout the crowd, Catt
turned around, ready to face
Badger
forward
Cameron
Hughes.
Hughes
carried
the
puck
down the ice and fired, but the
freshman netminder made the
save. Next came Michigan junior
center JT Compher’s goal. Once
again, Catt refused to watch but
listened as the crowd erupted.
Now
it
was
Wisconsin
forward Luke Kunin’s turn to
beat Catt, but he shut the door
on that effort, too.
Catt turned around once
more, as Alex Kile skated toward
net with a chance to clinch
victory. The junior forward lit
the lamp on the opposite end for
the Wolverines.
Game
over
—
Catt
had
completed his first career Big
Ten appearance in dramatic
fashion.
As for Catt’s refusal to watch
his team shoot, every goalie has
a quirk, and this was his.
“In my first year in Aberdeen
(in the North American Hockey
League), we went into a lot of
shootouts,” Catt said. “I just
was in practice, not worrying
about what was going on outside
of my end. So I kind of brought
that into our shootouts, where I
don’t need to worry about what
the goalie is doing down there. I
just need to take care of my end
and make saves, and hopefully
our guys put one or two in.”
Added
goaltending
coach
Steve Shields: “It’s what the guy
does to be ready. I did idiotic
stuff that people would think
is stupid. Whatever he needs to
do to stop the puck, I think at
this point, the coaches are like,
‘Do whatever you have to do.’ …
If you can stop the puck, you’ll
have your way around here.”
Prior to Saturday, Catt had
played only one period in an
exhibition against Toronto and
10 minutes in the Wolverines’
7-3 blowout of Niagara.
But when he replaced junior
goaltender
Zach
Nagelvoort
after
the
starter
conceded
four goals 30 minutes into the
matchup with the Badgers, Catt
was thrown into hot water.
It was the second game of the
Big Ten season, Michigan trailed
Wisconsin 4-3, and Michigan
coach Red Berenson sent the
freshman in to stop the bleeding.
Despite the pressure, Catt
delivered.
The Badgers found twine
twice with Catt in goal, but
both goals were far from the
goaltender’s fault. He saved
12 of the 14 shots sent his way,
giving the Wolverines enough
to complete the comeback, and
his performance in the shootout
speaks for itself.
“It’s difficult in the respect
that the expectations of you
from the outside world are very
limited any other day of the
week,” Shields said. “But in a
tie game or a game where it’s
close and you’re down behind
at home in the Big Ten regular
season — all of a sudden, you’re
the last line of defense. It would
be considered tough. … For me,
I know what it felt like to be in
that situation.
“It’s
an
opportunity.
Players always talk about the
opportunity that they want. He
was given an opportunity, and
that day he ran with it.”
Before the season started,
Catt was an
afterthought
as a candidate
to
anchor
Michigan’s
defense.
He
was
buried
behind
Nagelvoort
and
senior
Steve
Racine
in the depth
chart
and
expected to strictly serve in a
backup role.
Now Racine is week-to-week
with a lower-body injury, and
Nagelvoort has struggled after
some impressive outings to start
the season.
By no means is Catt a lock to
start in net, but that may enter
into the realm of possibility —
especially as the coaching staff
takes notice of the progress he
has made since
October.
Berenson
said Catt looks
much
more
acclimated to
the speed of
college hockey
—
something
that
was
impossible
for the now-
21-year-old
freshman to prepare for with
the Aberdeen Wings. He also
emphasized that far fewer pucks
are getting past Catt in practice,
leaving the coaches with the
feeling that their freshman
netminder is in a good place at
the moment.
And Shields explained that
Catt has had great days in
practice, but also days when he
thinks the freshman would like
a “do-over.”
Those
“do-overs”
are
a
sign that Catt still has a lot of
room for improvement, but
that is something he willingly
acknowledges.
At the beginning of the
season,
Catt
and
Shields
reached
an
agreement
on
a
unique
program
for
improvement the pair could
work on. There are two things
stressed
in
that
program:
posture and explosiveness.
Catt is just 5-foot-10 — short
compared to Nagelvoort and
Racine, who stand 6-foot-3 and
6-foot-1, respectively — so he
is working to get in the habit
of standing upright as much as
possible to prevent the opposition
from shooting high on him.
As for explosiveness, Catt
explained that he previously
made calm pushes from post
to post and would have to keep
sliding over to get in position.
But at this level, that’s not an
option. Catt quickly recognized
that if he stuck to his old habits,
forwards would be shooting
while he was still adjusting.
But on Saturday, there were
still plenty of positive signs
from the freshman — enough
that
someone
on
Twitter
compared him to goaltender
Julie “The Cat” Gaffney from
“D2: The Mighty Ducks.”
“I get that a lot,” Catt said.
“Every team I’ve played on,
it has come up at least once
or twice. I mean, it’s a movie,
it’s funny. No, (I don’t prefer
Goldberg), I don’t at all. I prefer
her style compared to his.”
“I did idiotic
stuff that people
would think is
stupid.”
Emily Schumer