4B — January 6, 2016
SportsWednesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Five Things We Learned
By ZACH SHAW
Daily Sports Editor
For the first time since 2011,
the Michigan football team ended
its season with a win. In one
of their most complete efforts
of the season, the 14th-ranked
Wolverines (6-2 Big Ten, 10-3
overall) dominated No. 19 Florida
(7-1
Southeastern
Conference,
10-4
overall)
through
and
through, putting a finishing touch
on what Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh called his “favorite
year in football.”
There were plenty of highlights
to be found in Orlando. Here
are five things we learned from
Michigan’s
41-7
Citrus
Bowl
trouncing of the Gators.
1. The run game isn’t dead.
After being the motor for
Michigan’s offense in the first
half of the season, the Wolverines’
stable of running backs sputtered
to close the year. Yards per carry
dropped from 4.8 in the first six
games to 3.1 in the second, and
yards per game dropped from
201.3 to 99.
But
against
the
Gators,
Michigan showed new life on the
ground. Addressing a strong pass
coverage and blitz-heavy front
line, the Wolverines compiled 225
yards and two touchdowns on
46 carries. Junior running back
De’Veon Smith led the way with
109 yards, while redshirt junior
Drake Johnson added 58 yards
and a score.
With the run game and pass
game both clicking, Michigan’s
offense looked as good as it had in
recent memory.
“De’Veon was a man possessed
running the football,” Harbaugh
said. “I don’t think I’ve seen our
offense play better.
“I’ve never seen a back like this
that breaks as many tackles. Well,
maybe Frank Gore.”
After
the
game,
Johnson
noted that the time off from
games improved the health of the
bruised backs, and building an
early lead opened up lanes late in
the game. But Smith noted that
a change in mindset was the key
factor and a good sign with plenty
of talent coming back next season.
“We just came out there and
competed today, and it showed
that work and work and work
actually pays off,” Smith said. “So
I know (the Wolverines are) going
to keep that going on into 2016.”
2. Jehu Chesson is still the
team’s MVP.
When redshirt junior wide
receiver Jehu Chesson was named
the
Bo
Schembechler
Most
Valuable Player the Michigan
football team’s annual banquet
last month, it turned some heads.
Chesson began the season as
the pass game’s third option,
and failed to haul in a receiving
touchdown until the seventh
game of the season.
But against Florida, Chesson
looked
as
valuable
as
ever,
totaling 118 receiving yards and
a touchdown against two-time
All-America cornerback Vernon
Hargreaves III.
“Jehu Chesson, the MVP. He’s
a great player,” Harbaugh said.
“He’s one of those guys covering
those kicks, and it was great to
get a post route. It was great to
hit that. … I mean, Florida is so
athletic and has so much speed
that there’s only tiny windows to
make those throws and complete
those catches.”
Chesson ended the season with
919 total yards and 12 touchdowns
— nine of which came in the final
seven games. Despite not even
being the team’s best receiver
for much of the season, Chesson
ended it as the team’s best player.
“Pardon my French, but Jehu’s
got his shit together,” Johnson
said of his roommate. “Like if
there’s someone on our team who
really has their stuff together,
Jehu has his shit together.”
3. The defense was an all-
time unit.
Before the game began, many
expected the Citrus Bowl to be
a battle of two stout defenses.
Florida faltered, but Michigan
held up its end of the stick. The
Wolverines allowed just 253
yards, seven points and forced
two turnovers in the trouncing.
“Our defense was magnificent,”
Harbaugh said. “The three and
outs, the stops, the play on third
down, everybody playing great
team defense, it was — it was
really good.”
The performance capped a
historic season for Michigan’s
defense.
In
an
era
where
scoring is as high as ever, the
Wolverines finished in the top
10 nationally in nearly every
defensive category, and had
their third-best total defense
since 1985 — falling short of the
2006 unit that finished 11-2 and
the 1997 unit that won a national
championship.
“I’ve got to give Michigan
all the credit in the world,” said
Florida coach Jim McElwain.
“They took it to us, beat us up
front, did a great job in the red
area, kept us off balance and, I
think more than anything, played
with a pad level.”
4. One-year quarterbacks can
still leave a legacy.
Historically,
one-year
quarterbacks
are
rarely
a
good thing for Michigan. The
title
was
usually
reserved
for unmemorable starters or
gunslingers who struggled their
way out of the position.
But
fifth-year
senior
quarterback Jake Rudock proved
to be an exception to the rule,
and was as good as ever Friday.
Rudock completed 20 of 31
passes for 278 yards and three
touchdowns en route to being
named the game’s MVP.
In the fourth quarter, Rudock
also became just the second
Wolverine to throw for 3,000
yards in a season, and ended
his career first all-time in
completion percentage.
“Jake Rudock was fabulous —
on the money today,” Harbaugh
said. “I mean, darn-near flawless,
… getting hit and passes against
corners that were going to be
playing in the NFL. He’s going to
be drafted.”
Though his future in football
is still uncertain, it’s clear that,
even with only one season to
do so, Rudock made his mark in
Michigan history.
5. BOLD PREDICTION:
Michigan’s 77-year draft
streak continues … barely.
For all 77 years of the NFL
Draft, a Michigan player has
been selected at some point.
It’s an impressive feat that only
Southern California can match,
but it may be in jeopardy. With
highly touted prospects Butt,
Lewis, Chesson and Wormley
all reportedly staying for next
season, the Wolverines have
no
surefire
draft
prospects
graduating or leaving early.
But after thumping Florida,
Harbaugh was adamant many
of his seniors were ready for the
next level.
“Probably about 10, 11 guys on
this team that won’t be back next
year,” he said. “But we’ll watch
them in August. We’ll take a few
hours off and watch you guys
play in the NFL.”
Among the players Harbaugh
mentioned were senior safety
Jarrod Wilson, fifth-year senior
center Graham Glasgow and
Rudock. Linebackers Joe Bolden
and James Ross III will also play
in senior All-Star games.
No draft board has a Michigan
player being taken, but after
arguably its best performance
of the season, expect to see at
least one player’s name called
on draft day.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Sione Houma finally had a chance to win a championship in his senior season.
Embattled
seniors go out
with a win
O
RLANDO, Fla. —
Minutes after Friday’s
Citrus Bowl ended,
senior fullback Sione Houma
stood near midfield, trying to put
on his championship T-shirt. It
started off as a simple process.
He put his arms through the
sleeves with
ease, eager
to show off
his team’s
victory. But
then his pads
got in the
way, leaving
the shirt
rumpled up
above his
midsection.
Houma called one of his
teammates over, and with
assistance, he was finally able
to do something he had never
done in his collegiate career:
be officially recognized as a
champion.
Sure, it wasn’t the national
championship, a Rose Bowl
championship or a Big Ten
championship, but for one day,
it seemed like none of that
mattered. Friday wasn’t the day
to minimize Michigan’s feats.
The senior class Jim Harbaugh
inherited for one season is
one that arrived just after of
Michigan’s Sugar Bowl victory
to cap the 2011 season, right
before the program suffered the
downturn that led to the firing
of Brady Hoke. Among the fifth-
year seniors, only linebacker
Desmond Morgan played in that
Sugar Bowl.
The rest of them had never
appeared in a game that ended
with them wearing shirts that
had the words “Michigan” and
“champions” on the front.
A loss Friday would have
put Michigan’s seniors in
unfortunate territory: The last
four-year period in which the
Wolverines won neither a Big Ten
championship nor a bowl game
culminated in 1968.
The previous three seasons
for the senior class ended like
this: a heartbreaking loss in the
Outback Bowl to South Carolina
in 2012, a blowout loss to Kansas
State in the Buffalo Wild Wings
Bowl in 2013 and them sitting on
their couches last season while
10 other Big Ten teams played in
bowls. Somehow, it did not crush
their resolve.
“The trust and intensity these
boys had, given everything that
happened, we all stuck together,”
Houma said. “And the bond we
created, I’ll never forget that.”
They had never experienced
anything like Friday’s postgame:
Jake Rudock, Joe Bolden, Joe
Kerridge and Jehu Chesson
standing on a podium with a
trophy they had won, maize and
blue confetti enveloping them;
half of a stadium in Florida, the
state where its opponent resided,
screaming “It’s great to be a
Michigan Wolverine”; players
who not only didn’t want to leave
the field after the game, but who
stayed so long to run around and
give fans high-fives that they
needed to hustle so they wouldn’t
delay the team’s TSA airport
security check on the way out of
the stadium.
The fans were relentless,
screaming for Jim Harbaugh,
chanting his name. But he stood
to the side of the stage, out of the
spotlight and among a crowd,
holding his son Jack in his arms.
Harbaugh took pictures with a
never-ending line of fans and
donors, stopping only to tell
passing game coordinator Jedd
Fisch that Friday’s offensive
performance was as good as he
has ever seen.
Harbaugh’s handprint on the
win, on his team, was evident
through it all. Michigan was
relentless Friday, pounding
Florida’s top-10 defense from
start to finish. Things weren’t
much different on the other side
of the ball — Bolden said he was
surprised Florida managed to
score seven points. But if every
day of 2015 was about Harbaugh,
the first day of 2016 wasn’t really
about him at all: It was about
Michigan’s senior class.
Bolden, as much as anyone
else, is emblematic of the
struggles of his classmates. His
teams have suffered through four
losses to Ohio State, nothing easy
to cope with for an Ohio native;
he was ejected from Michigan’s
game against Michigan State
for a questionable targeting call
that changed the complexion
of the game; and last year, in
the middle of a 5-7 season, he
was called upon as one of a few
team representatives charged
with frequently explaining the
inexplicable to the media.
But Friday eased much of
that pain. There will, Bolden
noted after the game, be
a banner commemorating
this bowl victory hanging in
Schembechler Hall for decades.
The final game of his career was
a victory, and the dominating
fashion in which they won made
it all the more satisfying.
“It’s also memorable that
you beat the runner up in the
SEC that bad,” Bolden said. “If
I remember correctly, I think it
was worse than ’Bama beat them.
It goes to show that when we’re
clicking on all cylinders, in my
opinion, we can beat anyone in
the NCAA.”
The Wolverines will try to
prove that in 2016, when this
year’s senior class has moved on
to other endeavors. Harbaugh
will have to try to top this
year, his favorite season in
football. He had a team full of
“jackhammers,” players who not
only bought into his message,
but lived it every day. They
helped bring Michigan back into
national prominence, and did it
while mentoring the players who
will follow them.
And in their final act as
Wolverines, the senior class
helped give the younger players
their first chance to put on
championship T-shirts. And
for next time, they’ll have had
practice. They won’t have to worry
about the shirts getting stuck.
Cohen can be reached at
maxac@umich.edu and on
Twitter @MaxACohen.
MAX
COHEN
The good, the bad and the ugly
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
Jim
Harbaugh’s
highly
publicized first year as Michigan
football coach made stops all over
the country before wrapping up
in Orlando, Fla., last week for the
Citrus Bowl against Florida (7-1
SEC, 10-4 overall).
The game also concluded
a season of highs and lows.
The Wolverines reestablished
their identity and had twice as
many wins than their five in
2014, but they also suffered a
heartbreaking loss to Michigan
State and a blowout defeat
against Ohio State, finishing
behind both rivals in the Big
Ten standings.
In
the
end,
Michigan’s
season finished at a peak. The
Wolverines (6-2 Big Ten, 10-3
overall) played their best game
of the season, dismantling the
Gators, 41-7, on Friday. After a
slow start on defense left the
outcome in doubt for about a
half, Michigan came out firing
on all cylinders after the break.
By the end of the game, most of
the Florida fans who made the
short trip to Orlando had left
the stadium.
The Daily breaks down the
good, the bad and the ugly from
Friday’s game:
The good
For
most
of
the
game,
everything clicked for Michigan.
The game MVP was fifth-year
senior Jake Rudock, who finished
his career with another strong
performance by throwing for
278 yards and three touchdowns
on
20-for-31
passing.
After
earning the second-most single-
season passing yards in program
history, he continued to force
NFL teams to give him a look.
Perhaps
the
Wolverines’
standout
performer
was
redshirt junior wide receiver
Jehu
Chesson.
Matched
up
with Florida cornerback Vernon
Hargreaves III — a first-round
NFL talent who announced
Monday his intention to declare
for the draft — Chesson had the
edge all afternoon. Twice, he
beat Hargreaves deep — once
with a double move and once
on a deep post route — finishing
with five catches for 118 yards
and a touchdown. He said he
didn’t submit for an NFL Draft
evaluation, so he will almost
certainly be back in 2016 with
plenty of chances to be in this
space again.
More surprising for Michigan
was the success of the running
game, which was trending in
the opposite direction of the
passing attack toward the end
of the season. Junior running
back De’Veon Smith showed his
ability to break tackles on his
way to 25 carries for 109 yards,
making Harbaugh compare him
to NFL running back Frank
Gore. Redshirt junior running
back Drake Johnson and senior
fullback
Sione
Houma
each
added touchdowns.
On the other side of the
ball, the defense feasted on an
outmatched
Florida
offense.
Senior
linebacker
Royce
Jenkins-Stone
and
redshirt
junior defensive lineman Chris
Wormley each made sacks, and
the Wolverines combined for six
tackles for loss. In their previous
game,
they
surrendered
42
points at home against Ohio
State, so they, too, ended the
season on a high note.
The success of the offense
and defense in tandem allowed
Michigan to possess the ball
for 11:32 in the third quarter as
it pulled away and 11:53 in the
fourth as it ran out the clock. The
offense rolled down the field, and
the defense picked up quick stops,
sending the offense back out and
wearing down the Gators.
The bad
The
Wolverines’
miscues
were few and far between in the
bowl game. A dropped pass by
junior tight end Jake Butt and
a touchback on a 57-yard punt
by senior Kenny Allen were
both small mistakes, far from
impactful on the final outcome.
Michigan’s
arduous
bowl
preparation showed, as the team
played a clean game.
Off the field, injuries brought
the season to an early end for
a couple of players. Redshirt
freshman safety Jabrill Peppers
did not play with a hand injury,
and fifth-year senior punter
Blake O’Neill, who had a brace
on his knee, did not punt in his
final
career
game.
Redshirt
junior wide receiver Amara
Darboh also left the game in the
fourth quarter when a Florida
defender ripped his helmet off.
Darboh did not return.
The ugly
Michigan left little to be
desired after the first few drives,
but the defense did show some
holes early on. Adjusting from
former defensive coordinator
D.J.
Durkin
to
interim
coordinator
Greg
Mattison,
the Wolverines allowed 200
yards on their first four series
on defense. Florida reached the
red zone three times, but threw
interceptions on two of them.
In their three longest drives,
the Gators strung together seven
plays of 15 yards or more: two
quarterback scrambles and five
passes. Michigan also committed
two penalties in that time, the
only span of the game during
which the outcome was contested.
When senior safety Jarrod
Wilson intercepted a pass in the
end zone in the second quarter,
the Wolverines halted Florida’s
momentum and rolled for the
rest of the game.
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
Jehu Chesson proved worthy of team MVP honors with two long catches, one for a touchdown, against Florida.