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

Read the full version of this 
column at MichiganDaily.com

