6B — September 6, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsTuesday
THE MICHIGAN
DAILY TOP-10 POLL
2. OHIO STATE: Hard to take a
team that threw an interception
on its first possession seriously.
1. ALABAMA: After that
display, USC should realllllly
look into hiring Alabama’s
offensive coordinator.
9. GEORGIA: The Dawgs beat
North Carolina, a state that
may have bigger problems than
football.
3. CLEMSON: They played
Auburn, and we definitely
know the Tigers came out with
the win.
6. STANFORD: Pretty soon,
people are going to start talking
about Jim Harbaugh and the
job he did at Stanford.
5. MICHIGAN: Pretty soon,
people are going to start
talking about Jim Harbaugh
and the job he’s done at
Michigan.
7. HOUSTON: Yeah, they won.
But who have they played?
4. FLORIDA STATE: Dalvin
Cook strengthens his Heisman
candidacy, or maybe not. We
had an early deadline.
8. OLE MISS: Chad Kelly just
pulled off a huge win, or maybe
not. We had an early deadline.
10. MICHIGAN STATE: Furman
is terrible.
Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots, with
first-place votes receiving 10 points, second-place
votes receiving nine and so on.
Five Things We Learned: Hawaii
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
We didn’t learn a lot about
the
Michigan
football
team
on Saturday. The Wolverines
were playing an overmatched
opponent, Hawaii, sleepwalking
into Saturday’s noon kickoff (6
a.m. Hawaii time) after playing
halfway across the world in
Sydney last weekend.
But here’s what we know:
Michigan took care of business
against
that
overmatched
opponent and did so handily,
something not every team can
say after the opening week of the
season. And the Wolverines still
have a few weeks before they face
a team with as much talent as they
have, they certainly did their part
Saturday.
Here are five takeaways:
1. The defensive line’s depth
will be tested again.
Michigan ended up OK from
an injury standpoint last season,
especially at the major positions.
But the one position group that
suffered
was
the
defensive
line. End Mario Ojemudia tore
his Achilles in Week 5 against
Maryland,
and
tackle
Ryan
Glasgow hurt his pectoral muscle
in Week 9 against Rutgers. Both
injuries were season-ending.
The Wolverines answer with
even more depth this season, and
they may need it. They already
played Saturday without tackle
Maurice Hurst, who was almost
healthy but sat out as a precaution.
The statuses of end Taco Charlton
(ankle) and tackle Bryan Mone
(undisclosed),
both
of
whom
started Saturday and both of
whom left the game in the second
quarter, are less certain.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh
didn’t give a timetable for either
injury and wouldn’t say what
Mone’s injury was, only that he
would have an MRI. Mone tore
his ACL in fall camp last year and
missed the season.
Without
Hurst
and
Mone
for the second half Saturday,
Michigan was already down to
fifth-year seniors Ryan Glasgow
and Matt Godin on the inside,
though Chris Wormley can also
move to tackle. And it’s possible
Hurst, Mone and Charlton will
all be fine for Saturday, but either
way, it’s certainly more injury
questions than Harbaugh wanted
to address after a blowout.
2. Ben Bredeson can step in just
fine.
High praise came out of
fall camp for Bredeson, a true
freshman offensive lineman from
Hartland, Wis. He was competing
with sophomore Grant Newsome
and redshirt sophomore Juwann
Bushell-Beatty for the starting
left
tackle
spot,
and
while
Newsome ended up winning it,
Bredeson will see the field plenty
this season.
His debut began when he came
in at left guard for redshirt junior
Patrick Kugler, who himself was
stepping in for fifth-year senior
starter Ben Braden. Bredeson
acclimated well — albeit against
a poor opponent, a necessary
qualifier
for
most
of
these
statements — and Michigan’s
rushing attack didn’t miss a beat
when he entered the game.
It’s not clear where Bredeson
will go from here. Harbaugh
said
Braden’s
absence
was
precautionary like Hurst’s, so it’s
possible Braden will return next
week and fill out the starting
offensive line. But as with many
freshmen, the Wolverines appear
eager to find a place for Bredeson.
3. Dr. Blitz is aptly named.
Hawaii’s offense would be the
best advocate for this statement.
Michigan’s defense, led by new
coordinator Don Brown, blitzed
the Rainbow Warriors, literally
and figuratively, all afternoon.
“I’d
say
like
90
percent?
Every play was a blitz actually, I
think,” said senior defensive back
Channing Stribling. “I don’t think
any play wasn’t a blitz, besides a
cover two. And we blitzed out of
that, too.”
The Wolverines brought the
house several times and peppered
Hawaii
quarterback
Ikaika
Woolsey with four sacks and
countless more pressures. They
also racked up 10 tackles for loss.
The blitz packages bode well
for Michigan’s least experienced
position group, the linebackers. In
fact, each of the team’s top three
tacklers were linebackers: Jabrill
Peppers and Mike McCray with
7.5 each and Ben Gedeon with five.
4. Harbaugh has no qualms
about playing freshmen.
The second-year head coach has
said in the past that he believes a
fifth year to be a mutual agreement
between player and coach. And
while he brought back most of the
fourth-year juniors from his first
season, a few moved on.
That mindset showed in the way
that he played 17 true freshmen —
a school record — in Saturday’s
game. Some, including Bredeson,
defensive end Rashan Gary and
wide receiver Eddie McDoom,
figure to be contributors for most
of the season. But for some others,
Harbaugh chose to burn their
redshirts and reward them for the
hard work during camp that he
has lauded for weeks.
Michigan’s
recruiting
class,
ranked No. 6 in the country by
ESPN.com, also consisted of 28
players, tied for third among
the top 75 classes. Gary was the
highlight, but the Wolverines
also brought in a host of other
immediate contributors.
Running back Chris Evans
totaled 112 yards, more than twice
as many as any other player, and
two touchdowns. McDoom was
electric, with 19- and 15-yard
carries to go with two receptions
for 15 yards. Defensive lineman
Michael Dwumfour, linebacker
Devin Bush and safety Khaleke
Hudson each recorded tackles.
Harbaugh may have preserved
some redshirts — freshman kicker
Quinn Nordin didn’t lose his on a
few extra points in a blowout —
but the head coach followed up on
his plan to use players if they are
ready to play.
5. Bold Prediction: Jourdan
Lewis returns this week and
catches an interception.
Lewis has spoken to media on
a couple of occasions since camp
opened and seemed particularly
eager to get his senior season
underway. At Big Ten Media Days,
he also expressed his excitement
about getting his hands on the ball
more this year, via interceptions
and by playing on offense. An
apparently nagging injury kept
him out of Saturday’s opener and
put all of those desires on hold.
But Harbaugh said he sat
Lewis on Saturday just to be safe,
and
Michigan’s
All-American
cornerback should be back this
week against Central Florida. The
Knights seem improved under new
coach Scott Frost, but they did finish
0-12 last year and haven’t faced a
defense like Michigan’s in a while.
Lewis should be extra motivated to
make up for lost time by forcing a
turnover in his season debut.
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Injuries to senior defensive end Taco Charlton and redshirt sophomore tackle Bryan Mone will test the depth of Michigan’s defensive line.
that weight was lifted off my
shoulders, and I was able to just
get comfortable and fire some
shots in the pocket,” Speight said.
He would be just fine.
Following the interception,
Speight went 10-for-12 for 145
yards and three touchdowns.
There he was, 7:31 into the
first quarter, throwing a 12-yard
touchdown pass to sophomore
wide receiver Grant Perry in the
corner of the endzone to cap off
an 11-play, 98-yard scoring drive.
Just over six minutes later, he
was there again, hitting senior
tight end Jake Butt for a 19-yard
touchdown over the pylon. He
did it one last time a few minutes
into the second quarter, keep-
ing cool and getting the ball to
wide-open fifth-year senior wide
receiver Amara Darboh.
But before all of that, Har-
baugh, a quarterback expert by
nature, had to find a way to keep
his new starter calm.
“I was kind of running toward
the sideline anyway (after the
interception) so my momentum
just kind of carried me right
into Coach,” Speight said. “He
just grabbed me and hugged me
and was kind of laughing, and
was like, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get
it next drive, don’t sweat about
that.’ ”
Harbaugh finds the ways in
which quarterbacks respond to
interceptions interesting. Some-
times, he said, they think of ways
not to screw up, and usually that
doesn’t bode well.
“It’s very difficult for a quar-
terback to throw an interception
on a series, and then come back
and lead a touchdown drive
following a series,” Harbaugh
said. “It’s something I’ve always
been fascinated in watching
quarterbacks … to see him start
the next drive on the two-yard
line, that’s as much adversity as
you can have for a quarterback
starting a series, starting a drive.
… He responded in tremendous
fashion.”
Speight said after the game
that he knew it was his job to lose
heading into summer camp, and
that he felt confident through-
out in his ability to keep it. It’s
unclear if Harbaugh ever even
told him specifically that he
would be starting. It seems like it
was an unspoken agreement, and
that speaks to the nature of the
competition between Speight and
redshirt juniors John O’Korn and
Shane Morris.
And after that battle, in which
Harbaugh chose Speight, Speight
had to prove he didn’t make the
wrong decision.
SPEIGHT
From Page 1B
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