4B — September 19, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday

THE MICHIGAN 

DAILY TOP-10 POLL 

2. OHIO STATE: Noah Brown 
had four touchdowns. We can’t 
even touch our toes.

1. ALABAMA: Nick Saban 
said he didn’t need an IV after 
Bama’s win over Ole Miss. Uh, 
congrats?

9. WASHINGTON: 
Washington is one blue field 
from being a legit playoff-snub 
contender.

3. LOUISVILLE: Lamar Jackson 
sealed the coveted September 
Heisman, joining a group that 
includes Denard Robinson 
(twice) and Tate Forcier.

6. STANFORD: Did you guys 
know Dylan McCaffrey has a 
brother?!

5. CLEMSON: Clemson won 
in a blowout, but let’s see 
what they can do in a full 60 
minutes.

7. HOUSTON: Would you fight 
Tom Herman? We wouldn’t 
fight Tom Herman.

4. MICHIGAN: Paramus 
Catholic University just keeps 
on winning!

8. MICHIGAN STATE: Dark 
Mantonio is coming, and he 
feels risdespected.

10. WISCONSIN: The coaches 
poll also ranked Wisconsin 
10th. See? We really could be 
coaches!

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: Colorado

By JACOB GASE 

Daily Sports Editor

When the Michigan football 

team faced its first Power Five 
opponent 
of 
the 
season 
on 

Saturday 
against 
Colorado, 

most fans probably expected 
to see a few flaws emerge in 
the Wolverines. Granted, they 
probably didn’t expect them to 
go down 14-0 and 21-7 in the 
first quarter, but superior talent 
prevailed in the end, as Michigan 
outscored the Buffaloes, 38-7, in 
the final three quarters to take a 
decisive 45-28 victory.

Still, 
the 
fourth-ranked 

Wolverines (3-0) now look like 
a team with considerably more 
weaknesses than it showed the 
last two weeks. Michigan coach 
Jim Harbaugh has said his 
favorite weeks are ones where 
the Wolverines win comfortably 
and still have things they can 
improve. This week, he’ll have 
that chance again.

Here are five things we learned 

from 
Michigan’s 
final 
non-

conference game of the season.

1. Jabrill Peppers is no longer 

an “almost” guy.

Redshirt 
sophomore 

linebacker Jabrill Peppers has 
been touted as a lethal threat in 
all three phases of the game since 
before he arrived on campus. 
And though he starred as a 
safety, return man and offensive 
weapon for the Wolverines in 
2015, he failed to record a special 
teams touchdown in his first full 
collegiate season.

That weight was lifted off 

Peppers’ back Saturday, when he 
dodged two tacklers and took a 
54-yard punt return to the house 
in the fourth quarter. After a 
number of potential touchdowns 
came up short over the last 
year — he says being tackled by 
Minnesota’s punter last season 
still “haunts” him — Peppers 
expressed relief after the game 

to no longer be considered “an 
‘almost’ kind of guy.” The score 
was the icing on the cake for 
Peppers in a game in which he 
tallied 204 all-purpose yards and 
3.5 tackles for loss.

2. Michigan’s secondary is 
beatable without Jourdan 

Lewis.

Through 
the 
first 
two 

games without injured senior 
cornerback Jourdan Lewis, the 
Wolverines’ secondary looked 
more than capable of making 
up for his absence. But when 
Colorado came to Ann Arbor 
with a flock of talented receivers, 
things took a turn for the worse 
for Michigan’s defensive backs.

After 
doing 
a 
great 
job 

protecting the deep ball against 

Hawaii and Central Florida, the 
Wolverines allowed a 50-yard 
pass to Bryce Bobo, a 37-yard 
touchdown to Devin Ross (who 
scored twice) and a 70-yard 
strike to Shay Fields. And it 
wasn’t 
one 
single 
Michigan 

player being targeted the entire 
afternoon — senior cornerback 
Channing Stribling, fifth-year 
senior Jeremy Clark and senior 
safeties Dymonte Thomas and 
Delano Hill all were beaten at 
different times.

For the first time all season, 

the Wolverines really missed 
Lewis’ All-American presence 
on the field.

3. The offensive line has plenty 

of room for improvement.

After struggling to protect 

the run last week against a 
heavily stacked box by Central 
Florida, Michigan’s offensive 
line had trouble with pass 
blocking this week. Redshirt 
sophomore 
quarterback 

Wilton Speight got through 
his first two games as a starter 
relatively pain-free, but he was 
constantly under duress in the 
first quarter against Colorado. 
Speight was sacked three times 
and appeared rattled early on, 
completing just three of his 
first 12 passes and totaling just 
25 yards.

He ultimately settled down, 

throwing for 229 yards, a 
touchdown and no interceptions 
(despite a number of passes that 
made contact with defenders), 
but he certainly could have 
benefitted from some better 

pass protection.

On the flip side, the Wolverines’ 

run game was markedly better, 
as senior running back De’Veon 
Smith broke free for a 42-yard 
touchdown and the backs tallied 
168 yards as a group, even with 
the 22 yards lost by Speight sacks. 
Michigan has the talent to beat 
teams even if the ground game or 
passing game is neutralized, but 
an improved offensive line might 
help the Wolverines craft a more 
balanced attack.

4. The kicking unit’s rhythm 

needs fine-tuning.

After fifth-year senior Kenny 

Allen had an uncharacteristically 
poor game on Saturday, going 
1-for-3 on field goals and booting 
a few below-average punts early, 

it was apparent that something 
was slightly off with Michigan’s 
kicking unit.

After the game, Harbaugh 

pointed 
to 
a 
slight 
timing 

problem, also mentioning that 
redshirt junior Scott Sypniewski 
might have overcompensated for 
a few high snaps in warmups by 
snapping the ball too low during 
the game.

“Go back and look at it, but 

(since last year) our operation 
with the snap, hold, and the kick 
has been as good as any in college 
football,” Harbaugh said. “The 
snap’s been over the spot, laces at 
6:00, ball through the middle of 
the upright on the kick.

“Today it was off. Snaps were 

low, laces were at 12 (o’clock), 
Kenny was hot and cold a little 
bit on kicks — kickoffs and punts, 
and the kicks.”

5. BOLD PREDICTION: 

Peppers scores an offensive 
touchdown and special teams 
touchdown in the same game 

this season.

Since Peppers first committed 

to Michigan in 2013, he has 
drawn comparisons to another 
elite three-way player for the 
Wolverines: 
former 
Heisman 

Trophy winner and likely future 
NFL Hall of Famer Charles 
Woodson. And Saturday night, 
Speight 
compared 
Peppers’ 

offensive skills to an elite runner 
and return specialist, Stanford’s 
Christian McCaffrey.

Now that Peppers has scored 

a special teams touchdown and 
played offense for the first time 
this season, he could be poised 
to achieve one of McCaffrey’s 
biggest accomplishments: scoring 
in multiple phases in the same 
game. If Harbaugh uses Peppers 
on offense in big games like he 
did last season — and if Peppers 
adopts Woodson’s flair for the 
dramatic — the feat could come 
against a huge rival like Michigan 
State or Ohio State.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Michigan’s offensive line struggled with pass blocking Saturday’s against Colorado, allowing three sacks, including one that forced a fumble returned for a touchdown.

Stingy third-down defense lifts ‘M’

Wolverines limit 

Colorado to 1-for-13 

on third down

By MAX BULTMAN 

Managing Sports Editor

It comes with a caveat, but 

here’s Michigan’s stat of the 
night, 
(non-Jabrill 
Peppers 

division): 
1-for-13. 
That 

was 
Colorado’s 
third-down 

conversion rate — the only 
success 
was 
a 
meaningless 

third-and-2 in the final minute 
— and it’s a big reason the 
fourth-ranked 
Wolverines 

emerged from Saturday’s game 
unscathed.

Colorado 
was 
billed 
as 

Michigan’s first test of the 
season, and it was. Behind the 
same big-play bursts Central 
Florida used to great success a 
week ago, the Buffaloes built 

leads of 14-0 and 21-7 in the first 
quarter to put a scare into an 
announced crowd of 110,042 at 
Michigan Stadium.

Were it not for a blocked punt 

returned for a touchdown by 
sophomore wide receiver Grant 
Perry, it would have been worse 
at that point. And were it not 
for stellar play on third downs 
all game, Michigan might well 
have lost.

“You always give yourself a 

good chance to win when you 
have stats like that,” said fifth-
year senior defensive tackle 
Ryan Glasgow.

By the start of the second 

quarter, the Wolverines trailed 
by two touchdowns with the 
Buffaloes 
at 
the 
Michigan 

17-yard line. It was a truly 
compromising position, the first 
the Wolverines had been in all 
season. Guided by quarterback 
Sefo Liufau, Colorado worked 
its way down to the Michigan 

11-yard line, where it faced a 
2nd-and-4.

But from there, something in 

the Wolverines seemed to click. 
Redshirt 
sophomore 
Chase 

Winovich and senior linebacker 
Ben Gedeon combined for a sack 
to set up third-and-10. Then 
Peppers came flying in to stuff a 
receiver for a loss.

The Buffaloes missed the 

ensuing field goal, and though 
Michigan did not convert on 
the 
ensuing 

drive, it held 
Colorado 
scoreless 
for 

the rest of the 
half. 
A 
21-7 

deficit turned 
into a 24-21 
lead. And it 
happened 
because 
Michigan 
stopped 

letting drives continue.

“When 
they 
say, 
‘Punt 

return, get ready,’ I know punt 
return’s probably going to go 
on the field, because the third 
down conversion’s not going to 
happen,” Speight said. “That 
gives us a sense of pride as a 
team to have the defense come 
off the field on third down every 
time. It makes the offense look a 
lot better.”

Impossible 
to 
ignore 
in 

the 
Wolverines 
third-down 

dominance 
was 
defensive 

coordinator Don Brown. In 13 
third-down 
tries, 
Michigan 

tallied 
two 
sacks 
and 
a 

quarterback hurry against the 
Buffaloes and allowed just two 
completions out of the nine 
passes Colorado got off.

That 
points 
to 
intense 

quarterback 
pressure, 
and 

Brown 
is 
the 
man 
likely 

responsible. 
Commonly 

referred to as Dr. Blitz, he was 
liberal with his prescription pad 
on Saturday.

“His blitzes are something 

else, let me tell ya,” Glasgow 
said. “He’s got a new one every 
third down, it feels like.”

But there is one caveat 

to 
Michigan’s 
third-down 

success. Trailing 14-7 and fresh 
off a punt-block touchdown, 
the Wolverines forced Colorado 

into a 3rd-and-4. The following 
play was close to a first 
down, but the officials never 
measured because of an offside 
penalty 
on 
redshirt 
junior 

linebacker Mike McCray.

If McCray hadn’t jumped, and 

Michigan had indeed stopped 
the Buffaloes, it would have 
been a three-and-out. Instead, 
the drive went 10 plays for 67 
yards and a touchdown.

The 
Wolverines 
are 

fortunate 
that it didn’t 
matter 
Saturday. 
They got the 
job done on 12 
of the other 13 
third 
downs 

and 
escaped 

with a sound, 

if not comfortable, win.

There are just a few likely 

blowouts left on Michigan’s 
schedule, and that’s why a 
dialogue that Glasgow said 
developed 
on 
the 
sideline 

Saturday is so crucial to the 
Wolverines 
success 
going 

forward.

“You stop ‘em, we’ll score,” 

Glasgow said the offense would 
tell the defense.

“You score,” the defense 

would respond, “We’ll stop 
‘em.”

FOOTBALL

BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan Defense

7.7%

Colorado’s third-down conversion 

percentage against Michigan’s defense 
Saturday in the Wolverines’ 45-28 win

52.9%

Buffaloes’ completion percentage (18-

for-34 for 261 yards)
1.9

Colorado’s rushing average (64 yards 

on 33 carries)
4

Michigan sacks against Colorado 
(coming from six different players)

“His blitzes are 
something else, 
let me tell ya.”

