Michigan’s starting 

QB has been a 

‘different Wilton’ 
from last summer

By KELLY HALL

Daily Sports Editor

When 
explaining 

the 
competition 
to 
his 

quarterbacks, 
passing 
game 

coordinator Jedd Fisch used a 
racing analogy.

“Wilton 
had 
the 
pole 

position after spring,” Fisch 
said. “He kind of had a little bit 
of an edge. The race started, 
and the green flag was waved, 
and people were trying to 
pass people, but he just kind 
of never got passed. He just 
continued to play better. Coach 
Harbaugh always says, ‘Iron 
sharpens iron,’ and I think 
what happened was John and 
Shane started playing better 
and so did Wilton.

“It was just one of those deals 

where nobody lost a job, it was 
that Wilton, going into the 
opening day, had won the job.”

And after seeing Speight 

start 
for 
the 
first 
time 

Saturday, Fisch is happy with 
his decision, saying he couldn’t 
have asked for too much better. 

As far as Fisch is concerned, 

Speight’s biggest mistakes were 
his three missed passes. On one 
incompletion, he threw up a 
deep ball for fifth-year senior 
wide receiver Amara Darboh, 
but it was underthrown. On 
another, Fisch says, Speight got 
turned around on a flat route. 

The first mistake, the one 

that kicked off Speight’s career 
as a starting quarterback, was 
an interception. Speight was 
rushed, and Fisch says that 
even though senior tight end 
Jake Butt didn’t run a great 
route, the ball should have 
never left Speight’s hands.

When 
it 
came 
time 
to 

talk to his quarterback on 
the sidelines following the 
interception, 
Fisch 
never 

considered disciplining him. 

“The school that I was from 

is you coach ’em as hard as 
you 
want 

on 
Sunday 

through 
Friday, 
and 

then 
on 

Saturday 
— I mean, 
you 
gotta 

be 
their 

advocate on 
game 
day,” 

Fisch 
said. 

“Because 
they’re the only ones who are 
really going through the war 

on that game day situation. 
To second guess and question 
things on game day and to be 
overly critical on game day, I 
don’t know where the value is.” 

After the game, Speight 

said that he laughed off the 

interception 
with 
Harbaugh. He 
went 10-for-12 
following 
the 

pick, 
looking 

settled 
and 

confident, 
checking out of 
the game in the 
third 
quarter 

to get some rest 
after throwing 

for three touchdowns. 

The leap in his level of play 

from a year ago has shown, 
especially compared to where 
he was in last year’s camp.

“He’s had a big jump, there’s 

no question about that,” Fisch 
said. “From this point in time, 
going into the game one of last 
year, between that and about 
75 reps in all of camp, then to 
where he’s at at this point in 
time, yeah, it’s a huge jump, 
and I give him a lot of credit 
for it.”

Part of his growth, Fisch 

said, can be attritubuted to 
playing behind Jake Rudock and 
knowing he was only one play 
away from entering the game.

“We expect certain things 

from every one of our players,” 
Fisch said. “We expect them to 
call the play in the huddle the 

same way whether they’re the 
first quarterback or the fifth 
quarterback. 
Their 
cadence 

should sound the same way if 
they’re the first quarterback 
or the fifth quarterback. And 
I think that what (Speight) 
realized is that’s the standard 
we’re going to have here and 
because of that, hopefully your 
only option is to improve.”

After 
that 
realization, 

Speight did progress — at 
least slightly faster than his 
competitors — and ended up 
with the starting job. Now, 
Michigan fans will wait to see 
what he does with it.

“It’s 
a 
different 
Wilton 

nowadays,” Fisch said. “It’s 
definitely a more confident 
guy.”

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

T E A M S T A T S

 

MICH
OPP

Points/Game
63.0
3.0

First Downs/Game
26.0
16.0

Rush Yards/Game
306
81

 Yards/Rush
7.8
2.2

 Rushing TDs
4
0

Passing Yards/Game
206
151

 Completion %
85.0
52.2

 Yards/Pass
10.3
6.6

 Passing TDs
3
0

 Interceptions
1
2

Offensive Plays/Game
59
60

Total Offense
512
232

3rd-down Conversions
100.0%
9.1%

4th-down Conversions
0-0
1-2

Sacks/Game
4.0
0.0

Kick return average
10.0
20.5

Punt return average
14.0
0.0

Punting average
0.0
42.7

Field Goals-Attempts
0-0
1-1

Fumbles/Lost
0/0
2/0

Penalty Yards/Game
33.0
60.0

Time of Poss
27:55
32:05

I N D I V I D U A L S

PASSING

Player
Cmp
Att
Yds
TD
INT

Speight
10
13
145
3
1

Morris
4
4
45
0
0

O’Korn
3
3
16
0
0

TOTALS
17
20
206
3
1

RUSHING

Player
Att
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD

C. Evans
8
112
14.0
43
2

Isaac
9
52
5.8
12
0

Higdon
6
35
5.8
19
1

McDoom
2
34
17.0
19
0

Smith, D.
6
27
4.5
14
0

Davis
2
17
8.5
10
0

Morris
1
14
14.0
14
0

Chesson
2
11
5.5
15
0

Hill
1
4
4.0
4
1

Beneducci
1
1
1.0
1
0

Hewlett
1
-1
-1.0
0
0

TOTALS
39
306
7.8
43
4

RECEIVING

Player
No.
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD

Chesson
3
43
14.3
21
0

Darboh
3
42
14.0
31
1

McDoom
2
15
7.5
8
0

McKeon
2
10
5.0
5
0

Ways
1
22
22.0
22
0

Butt
1
19
19.0
19
1

Crawford
1
18
18.0
18
0

Hirsch
1
15
15.0
15
0

Perry
1
12
12.0
12
1

Hill
1
7
7.0
7
0

Poggi
1
3
3.0
3
0

TOTALS
17
206
12.1
31
3

 

PUNT RETURNS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD

Peppers
2
28
14.0
14
0

TOTALS
2
28
14.0
14
0

INTERCEPTIONS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD

Stribling
1
51
51.0
51
1

Hill, D.
1
27
27.0
27
1

TOTALS
2
78
39.0
51
2

KICKOFF RETURNS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD

Henderson
1
15
15.0
15
0

Hill, K.
1
5
5.0
5
0

TOTALS
2
20
10.0
15
0

KICKOFFS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
TB

Allen
6
388
64.7
3

Foug
4
250
62.5
1

TOTALS
10
638
63.8
4

DEFENSE

Player
Solo Ast
Tot
TFL
SK
PBU

McCray
6
3
9
3.5
2.0
-

Peppers
7
1
8
2.0
1.0
-

Gedeon
3
4
7
2.5
1.0
-

Winovich
2
4
6
-
-
-

Thomas
3
2
5
-
-
-

Watson
2
2
4
-
-
-

Kinnel
2
1
3
-
-
-

Gary
1
2
3
-
-
-

Wroblewski
-
3
3
-
-
-

Dwumfour
2
-
2
1.0
-
-

Glasgow, J.
2
-
2
-
-
-

Marshall
1
1
2
-
-
-

Glasgow, R.
1
1
2
-
-
-

Bush
1
1
2
-
-
-

Stribling
2
-
2
-
-
-

Miller
1
-
1
-
-
-

Hill, D.
1
-
1
1.0
-
1

Godin
-
1
1
-
-
-

Smith, D.
1
-
1
-
-
-

Charlton
-
1
1
-
-
-

Clark
1
-
1
-
-
1

Allen
-
1
1
-
-
-

Hudson
1
-
1
-
-
-

Hill, L.
-
-
-
-
-
1

TOTALS
40
28
68
10.0 4.0
3

A P T O P 2 5 P O L L

1. Alabama (1-0)
14. Oklahoma (0-1)

2. Clemson (1-0)
15. TCU (1-0)

3. Florida State (1-0)
16. Iowa (1-0)

4. Ohio State (1-0)
17. Tennessee (1-0)

5. Michigan (1-0)
18. Notre Dame (0-1)

6. Houston (1-0)
19. Ole Miss (0-1)

7. Stanford (1-0)
20. Texas A&M (1-0)

8. Washington (1-0)
21. LSU (0-1)

9. Georgia (1-0)
22. Oklahoma St. (1-0)

10. Wisconsin (1-0)
23. Baylor (1-0)

11. Texas (1-0)
24. Oregon (1-0)

12. Michigan State (1-0) 25. Miami (1-0)

13. Louisville (1-0)

2016 SCHEDULE

HAWAII (0-2)

9/10

9/17

9/24

10/1

10/8

10/22

10/29

11/5

11/12

11/19

11/26

W, 63-3 (1-0)

UCF (1-0)

12 p.m., Michigan Stadium, ABC

COLORADO (1-0)

3:30 p.m., Michigan Stadium, BTN

PENN ST. (1-0)

Michigan Stadium

WISCONSIN (1-0)

Michigan Stadium

at RUTGERS (0-1)

7 or 8 p.m., Piscataway, N.J.

ILLINOIS (1-0)

3:30 p.m., Michigan Stadium

at MICH. ST. (1-0)

East Lansing, Mich.

MARYLAND (1-0)

Michigan Stadium

at IOWA (1-0)

8 p.m., Iowa City, Iowa

INDIANA (1-0)

Michigan Stadium

at OHIO ST. (1-0)

Columbus, Ohio

9/3

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton Speight threw three touchdown passes after being intercepted on the Wolverines’ first possession against Hawaii.

Fisch pleased with Speight as starter

“It was one 
of those deals 
where nobody 

lost a job.”

Seasoned secondary anchors ‘M’ defense

By JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

The Michigan football team’s 

defense made a first impression 
Saturday befitting its hype. The 
star-studded unit flew around 
and came at Hawaii from every 
angle, flustering the opposing 
offense as they did last year. 
They didn’t give up so much as 
a positive play until the third 
series.

But their defensive backs are 

old enough to know that if they 
hadn’t held up their end of the 
deal, it could’ve been a much 
different opener.

“If you get beat, that’s a 

touchdown,” 
said 
fifth-year 

senior cornerback Jeremy Clark 
on Tuesday.

Clark himself broke up a pass 

on the first series of the game, 
forcing the first of many third-
and-long 
situations for the 

Rainbow Warriors, who didn’t 
convert on any of them.

While Michigan’s secondary 

was important in getting stops 
in those situations, it was also 
crucial for them to create them 
in the first place. Coordinator 
Don Brown’s defense features a 
myriad of blitz packages, which 
rely on the defensive backs to 
hold their own.

“That was one of the things 

we talked about the first day 
when we came in — we gotta 
be able to play man-to-man 
coverage as a secondary, because 
Coach Brown is going to bring 
pressure,” said Brian Smith, one 
of Michigan’s two secondary 
coaches. “That’s the key to the 
whole defense — you gotta be 
able to hold up man to man.”

The 
defensive 
backs 

understand that, along with 
many other keys to being a 
top-ranked defense, because 
of 
their 
experience. 
The 

Wolverines boast six true or 
fifth-year seniors, five of whom 
are three-time lettermen — 

most in the Big Ten. (Minnesota 
and Ohio State have as many or 
more seniors, but a handful are 
redshirts or walk-ons.)

Michigan can run out a stable 

of seasoned defensive backs: 
Clark, 
senior 
cornerbacks 

Channing 
Stribling 
and 

Jourdan 
Lewis 
and 
senior 

safeties Dymonte Thomas and 
Delano Hill. Fifth-year senior 
safety AJ Pearson adds depth. 
The Wolverines didn’t even use 
Lewis, who is still recovering 
from an injury, and still fielded 
an all-senior defensive backfield 
on Saturday.

It’s a good group to coach for 

Smith, who is in his first year at 
Michigan after leaving his post 
as the assistant secondary coach 
for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. 
Though the senior defensive 
backs already had plenty of 
game experience before Smith 
and 
Brown 
arrived, 
they 

have adapted well to the new 
coaches.

“With a new system coming 

in, that’s one of the things you 
always worry about, especially 
with an older group — are they 
going to buy into the system?” 
Smith 
said. 
“They’ve 
been 

receptive to everything we’ve 
taught 
them. 
They 
were 

successful in the past, and 
just their willingness to learn 
the system and be open to it, 
that was the best thing for me. 
They’ve been a great group, an 
easy group to coach, and it’s 
been a lot of fun so far.”

Together, the defensive backs 

have 63 career starts, and that 
doesn’t even count redshirt 
sophomore Jabrill Peppers, who 
came to Michigan as a defensive 
back but plays all over the field, 
mostly at linebacker now.

Saturday, 12 of Hawaii’s 23 

passes went to Hawaii receivers, 
while two were intercepted and 
returned for touchdowns and 
three more were broken up. 
The Wolverines gave opponents 

similar headaches in many 
games last season.

“They communicate really 

well,” said sophomore wide 
receiver Grant Perry. “They 
messed 
up 
like 
one 
time 

(when) I was in (during camp), 
and after that, they really 
didn’t 
make 
any 
mistakes. 

Great communicators, unreal 
athletes. They’re good. They’re 
going to be hard to deal with for 
other teams, for sure.”

That effort Saturday was, of 

course, without the services of 
Lewis, the team’s best lockdown 
cornerback. The All-American 
should return this week, adding 
important depth to the unit for 
a game against Central Florida’s 
up-tempo offense.

The defensive backs will be 

out on their own islands again 
for that game, but after four 
years, there’s very little they 
haven’t 
seen 
before, 
which 

makes it easier for them to learn.

“Just the little things that 

they pick up on — a lot of 
younger guys, they don’t get the 
big picture, but these older guys, 
having been in three different 
systems, they kind of get the big 
picture,” Smith said. “So little 
things that you normally have 
to spend more time on, they 
just pick it up and they go, so it 
makes it easier.”

Brown and the rest of the 

defensive coaches will point out 
those subtleties in meetings, 
keeping the standard high. 
After the unit delivered another 
dominant 
performance 
in 

allowing 
just 
three 
points 

against Hawaii, the Wolverines 
were disappointed they gave up 
even that many.

But even that is something 

they have done before. Last 
season, before they went on a 
run of three straight shutouts, 
they gave up single touchdowns 
to UNLV and Brigham Young 
and still saw it as room to 
improve.

“To a newcomer, it’s probably 

difficult,” Clark said. “But if 
you’ve been here for a while, 
we’ve been around the same 
guys, so we’ve been holding 
each other to a standard from 
that point, from the get-go.”

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Fifth-year senior cornerback Jeremy Clark had a pass breakup on the first series of Michigan’s 63-3 win over Hawaii at Michigan Stadium on Saturday.

