Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, September 13, 2016 — 7

Once chewed out on 
HBO, signal caller 
has built rapport 
with Harbaugh

By MAX BULTMAN

Managing Sports Editor

Who 
knows 
how 
many 

people saw it? Those with an 
HBO subscription, at least.

In a 2015 episode of HBO’s 

“Real 
Sports 
with 
Bryant 

Gumbel,” 
then-newly 
hired 

Michigan 
football 
coach 

Jim Harbaugh hollered at a 
quarterback, 
whose 
number 

was blurred out, “I’m just telling 
you the right way to do it. If you 
wanna look at me, like, with that 
look, go f---ing somewhere else.”

The 
quarterback 
towered 

over 
Harbaugh, 
making 
it 

logical to conclude it was 6-foot-
6 Wilton Speight. Monday, 
Speight confirmed he was the 
blurred quarterback in the 
video, and assured reporters 
he and his coach are on much 
firmer ground now.

“Obviously it’s come a long 

way since that HBO special, 
telling me to, I think it was 
transfer somewhere else or 
go somewhere else,” Speight 
said. “All my buddies joked, 
they said, ‘Yeah, they blurred 
out the number, but you’re 
the only 8-foot quarterback in 
the country.’ So it was easily 
identifiable as me.”

And according to Speight, he 

wasn’t the only one getting that 
treatment.

“He was kind of taking shots 

at everybody, just trying to get 
all the softer guys out, because 
he was new and he needed to 
come in and make a statement,” 
Speight said.

“Obviously 
I 
didn’t 
like 

hearing it or having it on HBO 
for the whole country to see.”

Now, of course, Speight hasn’t 

given Harbaugh much reason to 
curse. After starting the 2016 
season with an interception 
against Hawaii, the redshirt 
sophomore has completed 35 
of his last 49 passes, throwing 
seven touchdowns with no 
more interceptions.

He was named the Big Ten 

Offensive Player of the Week on 
Monday, after a 312-yard, four-
touchdown 
showing 
against 

Central Florida, and he hasn’t 
showed signs of slowing down.

It’s a far cry from where he was 

at the time of the HBO special.

“That 
whole 
spring 
was 

rough,” Speight said. “I had 
torn my groin. Wasn’t really 
able to perform like I wanted 
to. But still practiced every 
practice, and came out really 

low on the depth chart. There 
was some hard self-evaluation 
after that spring with talking 
to Coach Fisch as well, and 
Coach Harbaugh, and they just 
said, ‘Hey, if you want this, 
you’ve just gotta work a little bit 
harder.’ And that’s what I did.”

At the time, Speight said he 

probably needed to be coached 
hard like that. Coming off a 
redshirt season in which he 
didn’t need to know the game 
plan, Speight admits his maturity 
and preparation weren’t where 
they needed to be.

To 
some 
degree, 
he 

acknowledged, he was checked 
out.

“(Harbaugh’s) 
just 
trying 

to wake you up and get your 
attention, and sometimes the 

best way to do that is verbally 
and very loud,” Speight said. “It 
worked for me. Obviously it’s 
worked for a lot of players on 
the team.”

That version of Harbaugh is 

in stark contrast with the one 
who Speight said laughed and 
told him to brush off that early-
season interception. By now, 
it seems, Harbaugh has cooled 
from the hard coaching.

Speight said Monday that 

Harbaugh knows better than 
to chew out his quarterback 
mid-game. And the redshirt 
sophomore 
shares 
that 

approach in the huddle.

“I kind of like to read each 

situation separately,” Speight 
said. “If I need to be vocal, I 
will, but I truthfully like to 

just be kind of calm. I think 
there was a couple times where 
I would be laughing during a 
play call or something this past 
Saturday, and that’s just kind of 
how I like to live every day. Not 
lackadaisical, but just chill, and 
go with the flow.

“There was one UCF player 

who was trying to talk smack 
at me, and I just started dying 
laughing, because we heard 
him from the huddle. And there 
were other times that we’d be 
up on the line of scrimmage and 
I’d think something was funny.”

If it seems strange Speight 

laughs off trash talk, remember 
that all of HBO has seen him 
chewed out by his own coach on 
national TV. Clearly, he came 
out of that just fine.

T E A M S T A T S

 

MICH
OPP

Points/Game
57.0
8.5

First Downs/Game
24.5
15.5

Rush Yards/Game
212.5
178.0

 Yards/Rush
5.3
4.3

 Rushing TDs
6
2

Passing Yards/Game
267.0
103.5

 Completion %
72.1
40.0

 Yards/Pass
8.8
4.6

 Passing TDs
7
0

 Interceptions
1
2

Offensive Plays/Game
70.5
64.0

Total Offense
479.5
281.5

3rd-down Conversions
60.0%
12.0%

4th-down Conversions
75.0%
42.9%

Sacks/Game
3.5
1.0

Kick return average
8.2
17.2

Punt return average
18.5
12.0

Punting average
45.7
38.6

Field Goals-Attempts
3-3
1-3

Fumbles/Lost
2/0
5/2

Penalty Yards/Game
26.5
68.0

Time of Poss
31:10
28:50

I N D I V I D U A L S

PASSING

Player
Cmp
Att
Yds
TD
INT

Speight
35
50
457
7
1

O’Korn
5
7
32
0
0

Morris
4
4
45
0
0

TOTALS
44
61
534
7
1

RUSHING

Player
Att
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD

C. Evans
17
147
8.6
43
2

Smith, D.
16
65
4.1
17
0

Isaac
12
58
4.8
12
0

Higdon
12
56
4.7
19
1

McDoom
3
50
16.7
19
0

Davis
2
17
8.5
10
0

Morris
1
14
14.0
14
0

Hill
6
13
2.2
4
3

Crawford
1
11
11.0
11
0

Chesson
2
11
5.5
15
0

O’Korn
2
4
2.0
2
0

Hirsch
1
2
2.0
2
0

Beneducci
1
1
1.0
1
0

Hewlett
1
-1
-1.0
0
0

Allen
1
-11
-11.0
0
0

Speight
2
-12
-6.0
0
0

TOTALS
80
425
5.3
43
6

RECEIVING

Player
No.
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD

Darboh
8
153
19.1
45
3

Chesson
7
127
18.1
35
0

Butt
8
105
13.1
25
3

Ways
1
22
22.0
22
0

McDoom
3
20
6.7
8
0

Crawford
1
18
18.0
18
0

Hill
3
16
5.3
7
0

Hirsch
1
15
15.0
15
0

Poggi
3
13
4.3
8
0

Jocz
1
12
12.0
12
0

Perry
1
12
12.0
12
1

McKeon
2
10
5.0
5
0

Bunting
2
6
3.0
4
0

Smith, D.
2
3
1.5
8
0

Evans
1
2
2.0
2
0

TOTALS
44
534
12.1
45
7

 

PUNT RETURNS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD

Peppers
4
74
18.5
35
0

TOTALS
4
74
18.5
35
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
2
28
14.0
15
0

Hill, K.
2
5
2.5
5
0

TOTALS
4
33
8.3
15
0

KICKOFFS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
TB

Allen
13
840
64.6
8

Foug
7
403
57.6
2

TOTALS
20
1243
62.2
10

PUNTING

Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
Lg

Allen
3
137
45.7
55

TOTALS
3
137
45.7
55

FIELD GOALS

Player
FG
Pct.
1-19 20-29 30-3940-49 50+ Lg

Allen
3-3 100% 0-0
1-1
2-2 0-0 0-0 37

DEFENSE

Player
Solo Ast
Tot
TFL
SK
PBU

Peppers
13
3
16
4.0
1.0
-

McCray
9
6
15
5.0
2.0
2

Winovich
4
7
11
1.0
1.0
-

Gedeon
3
7
10
3.0
1.5
-

Gary
4
5
9
2.5
0.5
-

Glasgow, R.
4
3
7
1.0
-
-

Thomas
5
2
7
-
-
-

Godin
3
3
6
-
-
-

Wormley
3
3
6
1.5
1.0
-

Kinnel
4
1
5
-
-
-

Watson
3
2
5
-
-
-

Clark
4
-
4
-
-
2

Stribling
3
1
4
-
-
-

Hill, D.
2
2
4
1.0
-
1

Bush
2
1
3
-
-
-

Wroblewski
-
3
3
-
-
-

Marshall
1
2
3
-
-
-

Glasgow, J.
3
-
3
-
-
-

Dwumfour
2
-
2
1.0
-
-

Hudson
2
-
2
-
-
-

Hurst
1
1
2
-
-
-

Allen
-
1
1
-
-
-

Smith, D.
1
-
1
-
-
-

Charlton
-
1
1
-
-
-

Pearson
1
-
1
-
-
-

Miller
1
-
1
-
-
-

Hill, L.
-
-
-
-
-
1

TOTALS
78
54
132 20.0 7.0
6

A P T O P 2 5 P O L L

1. Alabama (2-0)
14. Oklahoma (1-1)

2. Florida State (2-0)
15. Tennessee (2-0)

3. Ohio State (2-0)
16. Georgia (2-0)

4. Michigan (2-0)
17. Texas A&M (2-0)

5. Clemson (2-0)
18. Notre Dame (1-1)

6. Houston (2-0)
19. Ole Miss (1-1)

7. Stanford (1-0)
20. LSU (1-1)

8. Washington (2-0)
21. Baylor (2-0)

9. Wisconsin (2-0)
22. Oregon (2-0)

10. Louisville (2-0)
23. Florida (2-0)

11. Texas (2-0)
24. Arkansas (2-0)

12. Michigan St. (1-0)
25. Miami (2-0)

13. Iowa (2-0)

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton Speight has become the leader of Michigan’s offense, earning Jim Harbaugh’s trust since the two got off to a rocky start.

Speight secure at quarterback

Harbaugh: Don’t listen to Freddy P. Soft

By JACOB GASE

Daily Sports Editor

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh 

has brought a lot of friendly faces 
with him from his past coaching 
stops, 
including 
offensive 

coordinator Tim Drevno and 
former 
defensive 
coordinator 

D.J. Durkin.

He also apparently brought 

along one not-so-friendly face: a 
4-inch tall man named Freddy 
P. Soft. Allegedly, while wearing 
“a cape and a hat with a plume 
in it,” Freddy stands on players’ 
shoulders and speaks directly 
into their ears, advising them to 
relax, take reps off and not put in 
full effort.

According 
to 
redshirt 

sophomore quarterback Wilton 
Speight, the coaches are well aware 
when Freddy makes appearances 
in practice — especially during fall 
camp, when Drevno will literally 
yell at his own shoulder to tell 
Freddy to go away.

This imaginary and unusual 

figure may sound like nothing 
more 
than 
a 
humorous 

motivational tool, but he might 
be the Wolverines’ worst enemy 
after two games this season. 
Fresh off wins over Hawaii and 
Central Florida by a combined 
score of 114-17, Michigan sits at 
No. 4 in the rankings and has 
barely been tested.

But even with the dominance 

on the scoreboard, Harbaugh 
refuses to allow his team to be 
complacent, and he’s happy to 
see that the Wolverines still have 
plenty of room to improve.

“I’m very excited, as a coach, 

that when you win a game 51-14 
and then you still have things to go 
in and coach and feel like you can 
improve your play on,” Harbaugh 
said. “Probably no better feeling as 
a coach than to start the week that 
way. It makes me very optimistic 

that there’s ways that we can 
improve, there’s things that we 
can fix. I’m very confident with 
the coaches and players that we 
have that we’ll do that.”

Michigan was never in any 

real trouble in the win over the 
Knights on Saturday, but a few 
cracks in the armor did emerge.

Thanks to a few quarterback 

scrambles 
and 
an 
87-yard 

touchdown run, UCF finished 
the game with an eye-popping 
275 rushing yards against the 
Wolverines, 
a 
number 
that 

certainly won’t cut it against 
more 
talented 
opponents. 

Michigan’s defensive line feels 
the problem is fixable, though, 
especially given that it was just 

a few big plays that inflated the 
Knights’ numbers.

“I think it’s just (a matter of) 

all of us working together on the 
D-line,” said fifth-year senior 
defensive lineman Matt Godin. 
“A lot of times, our rush lanes get 
a little hectic. Different guys doing 
different moves, one guy goes 
inside, one guy goes outside. I think 
if we just get the communication 
better in the coming weeks, we’ll 
definitely improve.”

Redshirt 
sophomore 

defensive end Chase Winovich, 
a player who appears to play 
every down at a hundred miles 
an hour, agreed with that 
sentiment. 
When 
defensive 

players are making full-speed 

decisions, he said, sometimes 
all a ball carrier needs is a few 
feet of space to get loose.

The Wolverines experienced 

similar communication issues on 
the other side of the ball, where 
some well-timed UCF blitzes 
and a stacked run defense held 
Michigan running backs to just 
2.9 yards per carry.

Harbaugh 
said 
Michigan’s 

offensive linemen occasionally 
struggled to communicate, slide 
their feet and have their eyes in 
the right place, but all are fixable 
issues that will be points of 
emphasis going forward.

Even 
as 
the 
Wolverines 

struggled 
with 
the 
running 

game, though, Harbaugh noted 

that they were able to take 
advantage of opportunities in 
the play-action passing game, 
with Speight finding receivers in 
single coverage and throwing for 
312 yards.

Michigan’s few flaws haven’t 

come back to hurt it so far, 
and there’s plenty of time to 
figure them out — as long as the 
Wolverines continue to put in 
the work and shake off Freddy P. 
Soft, that is.

“We’re gonna embrace the 

adversity that comes with this 
game, and we’re gonna address 
it,” Winovich said. “And if it 
comes in the form of Freddy P. 
Soft, we’re gonna try our best to 
spell him.”
2016 SCHEDULE

HAWAII (1-2)

W, 63-3 (1-0)

UCF (1-1)
COLORADO (2-0)

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

PENN ST. (1-1)

Michigan Stadium

WISCONSIN (2-0)

Michigan Stadium

at RUTGERS (1-1)

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

ILLINOIS (1-1)

3:30 p.m., Michigan Stadium

at MICH. ST. (1-0)

East Lansing, Mich.

MARYLAND (2-0)

Michigan Stadium

at IOWA (2-0)

8 p.m., Iowa City, Iowa

INDIANA (2-0)

Michigan Stadium

at OHIO ST. (2-0)

Columbus, Ohio

9/3
9/10
9/17
9/24
10/1
10/8
10/22
10/29
11/5
11/12
11/19
11/26

W, 51-14 (2-0)

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh tries to prevent his team from getting complacent by using the personification “Freddy P. Soft” as motivation.

