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Thursday, July 14, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Wolverines earn preseason honors
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Senior defensive back Jourdan Lewis was a semi-finalist for the Jim Thorpe award last season.
By ETHAN WOLFE
Summer Managing Sports Editor
In its first year under head
coach
Jim
Harbaugh,
the
Michigan football team finished
10-3 — capped with a 41-7
blowout victory over Florida in
the Citrus Bowl — to ride a wave
of momentum and hype into the
offseason.
That wave has only continued,
as the National College Football
Awards
Association
recently
named
seven
Wolverines
to
preseason watch lists.
Senior defensive back Jourdan
Lewis and redshirt sophomore
linebacker Jabrill Peppers each
found their name on three watch
lists.
Lewis,
who
had
20
pass
deflections and two interceptions
last season, was put on the watch
list for the Bronko Nagurski,
Chuck Bednarik and Jim Thorpe
awards, in which he was a semi-
finalist last season. The Nagurski
and Bednarik awards are decided
by different organizations but
are both given to the nation’s
best defensive player, while the
Thorpe award is given to the
nation’s best defensive back.
Charles Woodson is the only
Wolverine to have won all three
honors.
A finalist for the Paul Hornung
Award last season — presented to
the nation’s most versatile player
— Peppers found his name on
this year’s watch list. Peppers
was also placed on the watch list
for the Nagurski and Bednarik
awards. Peppers burst onto the
scene last season as a play-maker
on both sides of the ball after
missing most of his freshman
year due to injury. The redshirt
sophomore returned kicks and
punts for the Wolverines while
also playing a prominent role in
the defensive secondary, tallying
5.5 tackles for loss and 10 pass
deflections. Under new defensive
coordinator Don Brown, Peppers
will be a linebacker.
Senior
defensive
end
Chris
Wormley
is
the
lone
representative from Michigan’s
D-line.
The
returning
team
leader in sacks and tackles
for loss with 6.5 and 14.5,
respectively, Wormley reached
the watch lists of the Bednarik
and
Nagurski
awards
after
starting all 13 games last season
and earning All-Big Ten third
team honors.
On the other side of the ball,
junior center Mason Cole and
senior tackle Erik Magnuson
were both selected to the watch
list for the Outland Trophy,
which is given to the nation’s
best interior offensive lineman.
Cole — who switched positions
from left tackle to center in the
offseason — was also named in
consideration for the Rimington
Trophy, awarded to the top
center in college football. Cole
and
Magnuson
were
both
steady presences on the line for
Michigan last year, each starting
all 13 games and earning spots on
All-Big Ten teams in 2015.
Another
Wolverine
who
has
received
considerable
attention
in
the
preseason
is senior wide receiver Jehu
Chesson. Chesson was named
as the No. 2 wide receiver to
watch in 2016 according to
Lance
Zierlein
of
NFL.com.
Chesson tallied 50 catches for
764 yards and nine touchdowns
and capped off his season with
five catches for 118 yards and
a
touchdown
in
the
Citrus
Bowl. Chesson, who also scored
two rushing touchdowns and
another off a kick return against
Northwestern, warranted a first
team All-Big Ten selection in
2015. Now entering his final
season, Chesson has been placed
on the watch list for both the
Maxwell and Fred Biletnikoff
awards. The awards are given
to the nation’s best offensive
player and wide receiver in
college
football,
respectively.
The only Wolverines to have
won the Maxwell Award were
Tom
Harmon
in
1940
and
Desmond Howard in 1991, while
Braylon Edwards took home the
Biletnikoff award in 2004.
The final Wolverine to earn
preseason accolades was senior
tight end Jake Butt, who was
placed on the preseason watch
list for the Maxwell Award and
the John Mackey Award, given
to the best tight end in college
football. Butt was a semi-finalist
for the latter in 2015, in which
he collected 51 catches for 654
yards and three touchdowns.
Though Arkansas’ Hunter Henry
edged Butt for the award, Butt
was still honored as a first team
All-American and the Big Ten
Tight End of the Year.
‘M’-Notre Dame set to
renew rivalry in 2018
Michigan canceled its
series with Arkansas
to make room for the
matchup
By ORION SANG
Summer Managing Sports Editor
One of college football’s most
storied rivalries is due for a
return after a three year hiatus.
Thursday,
the
Michigan
Athletic Department announced
that the Michigan football team
will resume its series against
Notre Dame in 2018 and 2019.
The Wolverines will first travel
to South Bend before hosting
the Fighting Irish the following
year.
Both
games
will
replace
Michigan’s
two
scheduled
meetings with Arkansas, with
Michigan reportedly paying a $2
million buyout
to replace the
Razorbacks,
according
to
Ryan Krasnoo
at SINow.
Michigan
will face Notre
Dame on Sept.
1,
2018.
The
Wolverines
will then host the Fighting Irish
on Oct. 26, 2019 — moving that
year’s matchup with Rutgers to
Sept. 28 instead.
“This is a game that holds
great
significance
for
the
student-athletes
and
coaches
who compete on the field,” said
Michigan
Athletic
Director
Warde Manuel in a statement
released Thursday. “A great deal
of credit goes to Coach Harbaugh
and Coach Kelly for initiating
the discussion of scheduling
this series. This rivalry is also
important for the fans of both
programs, and we look forward
to renewing one of college
football’s great rivalries.”
Added Michigan head coach
Jim Harbaugh: “The competition
between Michigan and Notre
Dame has created a fair, healthy
and
productive
rivalry
over
time, and it brings out the best in
both programs. We look forward
to facing Coach Brian Kelly and
the Irish in the coming years.”
The Wolverines and Fighting
Irish have met 41 times since
the first meeting between the
two schools took place in 1897
in what was Notre Dame’s first
football game.
Since then, both teams have
jockeyed for a position atop
college football. Michigan and
Notre Dame rank No. 1 and No.
3, respectively, in all-time wins,
and No. 2 and No. 1, respectively,
in all-time winning percentage.
Michigan leads the all-time
series with a record of 24-17-1,
while the last 10 games between
the two have been almost evenly
split — the Wolverines hold a
slight 6-4 advantage.
In 2011, the two teams played
in the first ever night game at
the Big House and set the NCAA
single-game attendance record.
Michigan emerged with a 35-31
victory after a late touchdown
pass
from
Denard
Robinson
to
Roy Roundtree.
The
two
met
once
more
under
the
lights
in
2013, when the
Wolverines
took
home
a
41-30 victory in a game that
broke
the
2011
attendance
record with 115,109 people in the
stands.
But despite the history and
popularity of the rivalry, the
series was ended for a brief
period of time. In 2012, Notre
Dame athletic director Jack
Swarbrick announced that the
school would be ending the
rivalry after the 2014 season.
Shortly
thereafter,
former
Michigan head coach Brady
Hoke said that the Fighting Irish
were “chickening out” of the
rivalry.
Notre Dame, though, had the
last laugh with a 31-0 drubbing
of the Wolverines at South Bend
in 2014, the last game before the
short break.
Manuel also stated that there
are ongoing negotiations with
Notre Dame over extending the
series past the two currently
scheduled meetings.
FOOTBALL
“It brings out
the best in both
programs.”