Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 14, 2016 — 7A
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)
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)
O-Line faces growing expectations
By KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Editor
All game long, you could see
the discontent from fans: the
Michigan football team wasn’t
having
success
running
the
ball. Though the fourth-ranked
Wolverines racked up nearly 120
yards on the ground, it averaged
just 2.9 yards per carry on 41
rushing attempts — not the ratio
it was looking for. Central Florida
was jamming five to six Knights
in the box throughout all four
quarters,
quieting
Michigan’s
rushing efforts.
Though the Wolverines still
emerged victorious in a 51-14
rout, some fans were upset with
the running game, and a great
deal of that blame was put on
the offensive line. Fifth-year
senior right tackle Kyle Kalis
wasn’t too upset with the finger-
pointing, though. He’s grown
used to it after hearing about it
in previous years.
“(The fans) gotta relax,” Kalis
said. “They gotta relax. We’re fine.
… Most fans don’t understand,
they don’t really understand the
game of football to the level that
people who play it do. When they
stack the box like that and they
stop the run game, you don’t get
mad as an O-lineman, you pass the
ball because that’s just, scheme-
wise, that’s the only option you
have. So that’s what we did.”
Back in 2014, when Michigan
finished 115th in FBS Total
Offense rankings, the offensive
line took a lot of the criticism
for its 5-7 season. Thinking back
to it now, Kalis still thinks the
blame was misattributed, but he
understands how fans easily grew
frustrated with the offensive
line and used it as a scapegoat.
That criticism will remain as
expectations grow for the highly
touted Wolverines.
“Hopefully one day, the old
stink will be gone,” Kalis said. “I
think we’re doing a good job of
trying to eliminate that, because
it’s not there, I’m telling you.”
The
matchup
with
UCF
proved that Michigan can handle
pressure against the run by
changing gears, and, if anything,
it was good exposure for what
may come later in the season.
“As an offensive line, it’s nice,
because even if we aren’t that
successful in the run, just getting
the practice at that, getting the
practice to see that many guys in
the box,” Kalis said. “Eventually,
down the season, down the
line, we may have to play a team
that does it again to us in a dire
situation when we have to run the
ball, so we have to be prepared.”
Throughout Saturday’s game,
the Wolverines did what they
needed to do and what they will
need to do in the future when
they can’t run the ball: they went
through the air.
Redshirt sophomore Wilton
Speight threw for 312 yards and
four
touchdowns,
including
a
45-yard
touchdown
pass to fifth-
year
senior
wide
receiver
Amara Darboh
for his longest
pass
of
the
season.
“Coach
Harbaugh was
actually talking
about it the other day, about how
he hasn’t had a quarterback who
could complete the deep post
route in like five or six years or
something, on a consistent basis,”
Kalis said. “Wilton, being able to
complete those big passes this early
on is a good thing for all of us.”
Kalis
thinks
that
Speight
is doing a “hell of a job,” and
when you couple that with the
prolific
wide
receivers and
the protection
coming
from
the
offensive
line, Michigan
has a winning
recipe.
On
the
offensive
line
itself,
three
fifth-
year senior starters (Kalis, Erik
Magnuson
and
Ben
Braden)
have led the way with help from
junior center Mason Cole and
sophomore
left
tackle
Grant
Newsome.
Competition
from
newcomers like freshmen Ben
Bredeson and Michael Onwenu
has made the group even hotter.
Without a doubt, the offensive
line is experiencing the most
depth it has had in recent years.
Finally, after playing with
teams much less experienced
than the 2016 Wolverines, Kalis is
getting to see what it’s like to play
for the No. 4 team in the nation,
which is as high of an honor
Michigan has seen since the 2007
Rose Bowl.
“A lot of guys might say, ‘The
rankings don’t mean anything,
we don’t care about the rankings,’
but no, we care about the
rankings,” Kalis said. “We want
to be the highest ranked as we
can possibly be. The expectation
is getting higher every week, so
that’s the goal.”
Kinnel becoming a special teams ace
Sophomore safety
tipped two game-
changing punts
Saturday vs. UCF
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
Tyree Kinnel didn’t have
to wait long for the moment
he had anticipated. About 80
seconds into Michigan’s game
against
Central
Florida
on
Saturday, Kinnel lined up on
the punt-block team — Grant
Perry to his left, Brandon
Watson to his right.
Kinnel knew one of the three
was going to get a hand on the ball.
All
week,
Michigan
had
observed weaknesses to exploit
in UCF’s punt team and saw an
opportunity to strike early. Sure
enough, with seven Wolverines
against five Knights on the line
of scrimmage, two UCF players
leaked out to cover the punt.
“We were bringing quite a few
up the middle, and I knew they
had overloaded a side,” Kinnel
said.
Kinnel was the difference-
maker.
Perry
engaged
with
one member of the last line of
blockers, and Watson took the
other two. That freed space up
the middle for Kinnel to lunge
and tip the kick.
The altered punt traveled
just 13 yards, but Michigan’s
offense went three-and-out on
the ensuing possession. So the
defense forced another Knights
punt, the Wolverines lined up in
the same formation and Kinnel
got
there
again.
This time,
the punt went
27 yards, and
Michigan
took over in
UCF territory
and
scored
on
each
of
its next six
possessions.
Whatever
may have happened without
that edge in field position, it
was clear Kinnel’s fingertips
changed the game.
The sophomore safety from
Wayne, Ohio, has been close
before. Last year, Kinnel nearly
blocked a punt against Ohio
State
in
the
regular-season
finale,
only
to
draw
a
flag
for
roughing the
kicker
and
extend
the
drive.
The
Buckeyes
scored
the
first
points
of the game
four
plays
later
and
went on to win 42-13.
“(This time,) Coach just told
me, ‘Don’t go after it, just go get
it,’ ” Kinnel said. “And if you’re
taught the right way, you’ll go
get it.”
By now, Kinnel is familiar
with fine lines. He knows the
difference
between
blocking
punts and coming close, between
seeing the field and standing
on the sidelines, even between
winning programs and losing
programs.
Kinnel’s senior year of high
school was the infamous 2014
season,
in
which
Michigan
finished 5-7 and ousted coach
Brady Hoke, to whom Kinnel
committed.
Unlike
several
other recruits, Kinnel honored
his commitment and started
attending Michigan last fall.
Since then, he has fought to
see the field. He was a standout
on offense and defense in high
school, but never played special
teams. Only when he arrived in
Ann Arbor did he see the unit as
his path onto the field.
“It’s just attitude and effort
when it comes to special teams,”
Kinnel said. “It’s about knowing
who wants it more, knowing it’s
a key factor in the game.”
He
learned
that
lesson
from
former
special
teams
coordinator John Baxter, who
spent one season at Michigan
last year before returning to
Southern
California.
Many
regard Baxter as one of the
top special teams coaches in
the country, citing his track
record of blocked kicks. But the
Wolverines didn’t connect on
any last season before tipping
two punts and two field-goal
attempts Saturday.
“The schemes aren’t really
much different,” Kinnel said.
“I think we’re just giving more
effort.”
Just more than a year after
trying special teams for the first
time, Kinnel now sees that job as
his role on the team, certainly a
vital one Saturday.
As for defense, Kinnel has
made
progress
there,
too,
seeing time as a reserve safety
behind seniors Delano Hill and
Dymonte Thomas. To a coaching
staff that values every effort, his
success in the punting game has
to be of value.
“I don’t think it goes ignored,”
Kinnel said. “(I) ended up
getting special teams player of
the week, so they like it. It’s a
coaches’ thing, how that goes.”
For the time being, Kinnel
still wants more on special
teams. He thinks he may soon
be able to fully block a kick,
getting a hand on it instead of
just a fingertip. The punt block is
one of the fastest plays in sports,
where
milliseconds
separate
an altered kick and a perfectly
executed one.
But
in
many
aspects,
Kinnel has learned to trust his
preparation. He knew the punt
block unit could break through
Saturday, and it did. And in 2014,
he knew Michigan’s fortunes
would change, and they did.
“In high school, when they
were struggling, I think I always
wanted to be here,” Kinnel said.
“I think things were going to
change regardless.”
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Sophomore safety Tyree Kinnel (left) is one of Michigan’s biggest contributors on special teams.
“It’s just attitude
and effort when
it comes to
special teams.”
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Fifth-year senior guard Kyle Kalis (67) is pleased with the offensive line’s progress despite a down week statistically against Central Florida on Saturday.
“Hopefully
one day, the
old stink will
be gone.”