to finish the game with 232. 

Speight, meanwhile, rebounded 
impressively by throwing for 145 
yards and three touchdowns, 
leading 
the 
seventh-ranked 

Wolverines to a 63-3 victory in 
their season opener.

The 
first-time 
starting 

quarterback — who beat out 
redshirt juniors John O’Korn and 
Shane Morris to win the starting 
job in his redshirt sophomore 
season — showed poise after his 
early mistake, finding sophomore 
wide receiver Grant Perry for a 
12-yard touchdown on his first 
drive. Fifth-year senior Amara 
Darboh and senior tight end Jake 
Butt also found the end zone for 
Michigan in the first quarter.

After players and coaches spoke 

for weeks about how grueling fall 
camp has been, the Wolverines 
took full advantage of their first 
chance to reap the rewards of 
their hard work.

“Our coaches have worked 

this group of players as hard as 
you possibly can,” said Michigan 
coach Jim Harbaugh. “And our 
players worked themselves as 
hard as they possibly could. It just 
hit me Thursday (or) Friday that 
it’s time to just let them go show 

what they can do. I thought it 
would be good, and it was.”

Freshman running back Chris 

Evans electrified the sold-out 
crowd by putting on a display of 
pure speed in his collegiate debut. 
Evans dove into the end zone for 
an 18-yard score in the first half 
and later turned on the jets for a 
43-yard touchdown up the middle 
only a minute into the second. He 
finished with eight carries for 112 
yards and two touchdowns.

The contest also marked the 

debut for 16 other true freshmen, 
including defensive end Rashan 
Gary and offensive linemen Ben 
Bredeson and Michael Onwenu. 
Other than Evans, it might have 
been freshman wide receiver 
Eddie McDoom who stole the 
show, 
with 
two 
impressive 

end-around runs and a leaping 
catch 
that 
had 
fans 
yelling 

“McDOOOOOOM.”

“It’s been coming for weeks 

now,” Harbaugh said. “Three 
weeks ago, it was eight — seven to 
eight (freshmen) that had really 
earned it and knew that they 
were gonna be tracking to be in 
the two-deep (depth chart). Less 
than a week later, maybe it was 
gonna be 10. Another week, it was 
up again and up again. ... They’ve 
earned it.”

Michigan’s second- and third-

string offenses fared just as well 

toward the end of the game, with 
O’Korn and Morris each leading 
touchdown drives and combining 
to go 7-for-7 passing. According 
to Harbaugh, it was an indicator 
of just how close the quarterback 
competition was.

“It’s one of those clichés you 

hear about: if you have three 
good quarterbacks, then you don’t 
have any good quarterbacks,” 
Harbaugh said. “That’s never 
resonated with me. … They’re 
pushing 
each 
other 
higher, 

they’ve all commented how good 
that’s been, and I think that 
showed today.”

On the other side of the ball, 

the 
Wolverines’ 
defense 
ran 

roughshod over the Rainbow 
Warriors on nearly every drive, 
picking up four sacks and 10 
tackles for loss. Hawaii didn’t 
gain a first down until the last 
five minutes of the first half, and 
both senior cornerback Channing 
Stribling and senior safety Delano 
Hill picked off quarterback Ikaika 
Woolsey for touchdown returns.

The Rainbow Warriors did put 

together one solid drive to close 
the first half, but an intentional 
grounding penalty resulted in a 
10-second runoff that ended the 
half before Hawaii could attempt 
a field goal. It would eventually 
avenge that failure with a 55-yard 
boot 
from 
kicker 
Rigoberto 

Sanchez with 12:30 remaining in 
the game, but it was far too little, 
far too late.

After Speight’s interception — 

really the only moment of tension 
all afternoon — the Wolverines 
enjoyed 
a 
near-perfect 
first 

performance, 
dominating 
in 

every facet of the game.

“You never want to come out 

and struggle in your first game,” 
said junior center Mason Cole. 
“To be able to go out and run 
the ball well, pass the ball well, 
protect the quarterback well, play 
defense well — put it all together 
and that’s what happens, you go 
up 63 to 3.”

NOTE: All-American senior 

cornerback Jourdan Lewis, fifth-
year senior offensive lineman 
Ben Braden and redshirt junior 
Maurice Hurst were among a 
group of Wolverines that dressed 
but missed the game due to injury, 
with 
Harbaugh 
later 
saying 

that the three were held out as 
a precaution and could be back 
as soon as next week. Senior 
defensive end Taco Charlton 
(ankle), 
senior 
running 
back 

De’Veon Smith (ribs) and redshirt 
sophomore 
defensive 
tackle 

Bryan Mone (unspecified) all left 
the game due to injury — Smith 
told Harbaugh he was fine, while 
Charlton and Mone will require 
further evaluation.

for all students in the 1950s 

under then-U o M President 
Harlan.

On Thursday, the line to 

shake hands with the President 
grew quickly, and by 12:15 pm 
the line filled the first floor of 
the house and continued past 
the entrance of the house onto 
South University. Director of 
Development 
Events 
Jenny 

Freels said the event normally 
draws about 800 to 1,000 visitors 
each year, but could not confirm 
whether there were more or less 
this year. 

E. 
Royster 
Harper, 
vice 

president of student life, also 
welcomed 
students 
into 
the 

president’s backyard.

Schlissel 
engaged 
in 

conversation with students about 
his days in college, discussing 
how when he was a freshman, 
calling home was much more 
expensive than the common 
options like FaceTime or Skype 
students use today.

Aside from freshmen, many 

older students also attended 
the event, including LSA junior 
Jamie Huizinga. Huizinga said 
she came because she hadn’t yet 
met the president in person yet.

A group of foreign exchange 

students explained that they were 
here just to explore the campus 
and all the events offered.

“We 
want 
to 
explore 

everything,” said LSA junior 
Xin Gu, who transferred from a 
college in China.

FOOTBALL
From Page 1A

SCHLISSEL
From Page 6A

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Rackham students Aman Goel and Sbarno Banerjee meet with University 
President Schlissel and his wife at the President’s House on Thursday.

8A — Tuesday, September 6, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

