Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 21, 2016 — 7A
T E A M S T A T S
MICH
OPP
Points/Game
53.0
15.0
First Downs/Game
23.0
15.3
Rush Yards/Game
197.7
140.0
Yards/Rush
4.9
3.6
Rushing TDs
9
2
Passing Yards/Game
254.3
156.0
Completion %
65.9%
45.6%
Yards/Pass
8.4
5.9
Passing TDs
8
3
Interceptions
1
2
Offensive Plays/Game
70.7
65.0
Total Offense
452.0
296.0
3rd-down Conversions
48.8%
10.5%
4th-down Conversions
75.0%
37.5%
Sacks/Game
3.7
1.7
Kick return average
19.0
19.5
Punt return average
22.9
17.5
Punting average
41.2
35.8
Field Goals-Attempts
4-6
1-4
Fumbles/Lost
4/1
6/2
Penalty Yards/Game
31.3
60.7
Time of Poss
31:18
28:42
I N D I V I D U A L S
PASSING
Player
Cmp
Att
Yds
TD
INT
Speight
51
80
686
8
1
O’Korn
5
7
32
0
0
Morris
4
4
45
0
0
TOTALS
60
91
763
8
1
RUSHING
Player
Att
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD
C. Evans
21
157
7.5
43
2
Smith, D.
27
152
5.6
42
1
Isaac
22
76
3.5
12
1
Higdon
13
64
4.9
19
1
McDoom
5
55
11.0
19
0
Chesson
5
36
7.2
17
1
Peppers
2
24
12.0
17
0
Davis
2
17
8.5
10
0
Hill
7
15
2.1
4
3
Morris
1
14
14.0
14
0
Crawford
1
11
11.0
11
0
O’Korn
3
7
2.3
3
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
8
-26
-3.2
3
0
TOTALS
121
593
4.9
43
9
RECEIVING
Player
No.
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD
Darboh
10
204
20.4
45
4
Butt
15
192
12.8
25
3
Chesson
7
127
18.1
35
0
Perry
2
66
33.0
54
1
Hill
5
32
6.4
9
0
Ways
1
22
22.0
22
0
Isaac
1
21
21.0
21
0
McDoom
3
20
6.7
8
0
Crawford
1
18
18.0
18
0
Hirsch
1
15
15.0
15
0
Poggi
3
13
4.3
8
0
Jocz
1
12
12.0
12
0
McKeon
2
10
5.0
5
0
Bunting
2
6
3.0
4
0
Evans
2
5
2.5
3
0
Smith, D.
4
0
0.0
8
0
TOTALS
60
763
12.7
54
8
PUNT RETURNS
Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD
Peppers
8
173
21.6
54
1
Jocz
1
27
27.0
0
0
Perry
0
6
--
6
1
TOTALS
9
206
22.9
54
2
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
Peppers
2
81
40.5
55
0
Henderson
2
28
14.0
15
0
Hill, K.
2
5
2.5
5
0
TOTALS
6
114
19.0
55
0
KICKOFFS
Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
TB
Allen
21
1354
64.5
12
Foug
7
403
57.6
2
TOTALS
20
1243
62.2
10
PUNTING
Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
Lg
Allen
10
412
41.2
55
TOTALS
10
412
41.2
55
FIELD GOALS
Player
FG
Pct.
1-19 20-29 30-3940-49 50+ Lg
Allen
4-6 66.7% 0-0
1-1
3-4
0-1 0-0 39
DEFENSE
Player
Solo Ast
Tot
TFL
SK
PBU
Peppers
19
9
28
9.5
2.5
-
Gedeon
8
17
25
4.0
2.0
-
McCray
10
9
19
4.5
2.5
3
Thomas
8
8
16
-
-
1
Winovich
4
11
15
3.0
1.5
-
Gary
5
8
13
3.5
1.0
-
Hill, D.
6
5
11
2.0
-
1
Glasgow, R.
-
11
11
1.0
0.5
-
Wormley
4
5
9
1.5
1.0
-
Godin
3
6
9
1.0
-
-
Clark
6
3
9
-
-
2
Stribling
3
5
8
-
-
1
Kinnel
4
3
7
-
-
-
Bush
2
3
5
-
-
-
Hurst
2
3
5
1.0
1.0
-
Watson
2
3
5
-
-
-
Wroblewski
-
3
3
-
-
-
Glasgow, J.
3
-
3
-
-
-
Marshall, L.
1
2
3
-
-
-
Uche
1
2
3
-
-
-
Dwumfour
2
-
2
1.0
-
-
Jones
1
1
2
-
-
-
Allen
1
1
2
-
-
-
Charlton
-
2
2
-
-
-
Hudson
2
-
2
-
-
-
Pearson
1
-
1
-
-
-
McDoom
1
-
1
-
-
-
Crawford
-
1
1
-
-
-
Smith, D.
1
-
1
-
-
-
Miller
-
1
1
-
-
-
Hill, L.
-
-
-
-
-
1
TOTALS
100
122
222 32.0 11.0
9
2016 SCHEDULE
HAWAII (1-3)
W, 63-3 (1-0)
UCF (1-2)
COLORADO (2-1)
PENN ST. (2-1)
3:30, Michigan Stadium, ABC
WISCONSIN (3-0)
3:30, Michigan Stadium
at RUTGERS (2-1)
7 or 8 p.m., Piscataway, N.J.
ILLINOIS (1-2)
3:30 p.m., Michigan Stadium
at MICH. ST. (2-0)
East Lansing, Mich.
MARYLAND (3-0)
Michigan Stadium
at IOWA (2-1)
8 p.m., Iowa City, Iowa
INDIANA (2-0)
Michigan Stadium
at OHIO ST. (3-0)
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) W, 45-28 (3-0)
Harbaugh keeps opponents guessing
It’s
clear
by
now
that
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh
is always looking for even the
slightest edge on his opponent.
As early as his first spring
practice at Michigan, he talked
about trying to get one mile per
hour faster, one percent better.
That
competitive
drive
spreads to his game plans, where
the one thing opponents can
expect is the unexpected.
The
Wolverines
picked
redshirt
sophomore
Wilton
Speight to start at quarterback
in Week 1 and stuck with him
for the first two games until the
outcome was well in hand.
Then, on the third play from
scrimmage
Saturday
against
Colorado, Harbaugh inserted
third-string quarterback Shane
Morris for a single play, with
redshirt sophomore linebacker
Jabrill Peppers at running back
— and used Morris as the lead
blocker on Peppers’ 7-yard carry.
Why? The short answer is
because he could, just to throw
off the Buffaloes’ strategy.
“I think people expected us
maybe that we might rotate
quarterbacks in the first game,
but we didn’t, or the second
game, so (I) didn’t think they’d
be expecting it as much the third
game,” Harbaugh said. “There’s
some things that Shane does
well, some things that (backup)
John O’Korn does well. We
wanted to highlight them and
give them a chance to do some of
those things.”
A few moments later in
the
first
quarter,
Harbaugh
reached up his sleeve again. On
Michigan’s third series of the
game, the Wolverines already
trailed
Colorado,
14-0,
and
faced second-and-10 on the
Buffaloes’ 48-yard line. Perhaps
because Speight was still feeling
a hit from the previous drive,
Harbaugh put in O’Korn at
quarterback for one play. O’Korn
handed off to fullback Khalid
Hill and then jogged off the field.
Even after playing 17 ball
carriers and 16 pass catchers
this season, Michigan’s coach
still has more in his bag of tricks.
“We
always
have
those
options going forward, and it’s
good for your opponent to know
that you have those options
going forward,” Harbaugh said.
“(I) like them to think that all
things are possible.”
Michigan’s
next
opponent
— Penn State, which visits
Michigan Stadium on Saturday
— must now account for all
of
them
in
its
game-week
preparation.
Harbaugh often tries to throw
curveballs leading up to games.
In each of his two years at
Michigan, he did not announce
a starting quarterback until the
first snap of the season opener,
and he said he expected his
opponent to do the same. This
year, he has not yet released a
depth chart before any of the
four games.
And then game day comes,
and he always seems to have
an extra wrinkle — like, for
instance, using a third-string
quarterback as a lead blocker.
“I’ve never seen a team switch
three quarterbacks in during
a game,” said redshirt junior
defensive tackle Maurice Hurst.
“That’s different. I’ve seen two
quarterback systems — I’ve
never seen three, and especially
one lead blocking for one of our
plays.
“But it’s interesting. I like his
methods. I like what he does. It’s
really cool to watch to see how
our offense executes at times.
It’s really unique, and I don’t
think a lot of people are doing it
like we are.”
Most of Harbaugh’s alterations
require
corresponding
adjustments.
If
he
changes
running backs, the opponent
must prepare for different plays.
If he changes formations —
which he does on almost every
play — the opponent must put
in new personnel. If he changes
defenses, the opponent must
block differently or run plays
differently.
“It’s hard to prepare against
because there’s such a wide
variety of things, so you have to
predict each week what’s going
to happen almost, like, ‘All right,
they did this, but I could easily
see them doing this this week
versus us,’” Hurst said. “And
there’s stuff that we obviously
haven’t shown yet, and stuff that
the offense hasn’t shown yet, so
it’s just confusing for a team. It’s
something they have to prepare
for every week.”
On offense, the Wolverines
can play any one of four running
backs, five wide receivers, three
tight ends and two fullbacks. On
defense, Harbaugh has chosen
a defensive coordinator whose
tendencies seem to match his
own — the players say that Don
Brown, nicknamed “Dr. Blitz,”
can deploy a new blitz seemingly
every third down.
In
the
coming
weeks,
Michigan could roll out even
more
tricks.
Peppers,
who
can play almost anywhere on
the field, still has not played
significant
offensive
snaps
(which he did not do until the
Michigan State game in Week 7
last season). Senior cornerback
Jourdan Lewis could return as
soon as this week and be another
two-way player. And Harbaugh
could have any number of other
gimmicks in mind to fluster
opponents.
“We’ll probably install 15 or
20 different new plays a week
or have some different twists to
plays that we already run,” said
senior tight end Jake Butt. “But
that’s all just to make sure that
we will succeed on Saturdays.”
This week, Harbaugh matches
up against an opponent that will
have the same goal of keeping
its opponent off balance. The
Nittany Lions have unveiled a
no-huddle spread offense this
season to try to jumpstart their
productivity,
one
Michigan
hasn’t seen before.
And
while
Harbaugh
acknowledged
the
difficulty
of stopping such an attack, he
hinted that he might have some
changes in place as well.
“Those are real options for us,
to change things up,” Harbaugh
said. “You like to do that. You
don’t like to just go out and
show the same alignment and
assignments
and
techniques
game after game after game.
You can count on changes,
adjustments being made.”
JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh likes his opponents to think “all things are possible” when they play Michigan.
Chesson not satisfied with performance
After lighting up Central
Florida for a combined 195
receiving
yards
and
two
touchdowns in their second
game of the season, Michigan
fifth-year senior wide receivers
Amara
Darboh
and
Jehu
Chesson looked right on their
way to becoming the best pass-
catching duo in the Big Ten.
But it was a different story
Saturday
against
Colorado.
Chesson finished the game with
no catches, and Darboh had just
two. Each managed to score
touchdowns using their feet —
Chesson turning on the jets for a
17-yard end-around and Darboh
riding some great blocks to turn
a dump-off pass into a 45-yard
score — but both struggled
to
find
success
downfield
against the Buffaloes’ talented
cornerbacks.
“Offensively, they tested us,”
Chesson said. “They blitzed
us really good. Also in the
secondary, they tested us. But
we didn’t respond as well as I’d
like us to respond, and I think I
can speak for the other leader of
the receivers, Darboh.”
Colorado
cornerback
Chidobe Awuzie was a known
threat
coming
in,
but
the
added bonus of strong play
from
fellow
defensive
back
Ahkello
Witherspoon
helped
the Buffaloes shut down the
Wolverines’ downfield attack
for most of the game. Darboh’s
touchdown and sophomore wide
receiver Grant Perry’s 54-yard
reception in the third quarter
were the two longest passes of
the day for Michigan, and both
receivers did the bulk of their
work after the catch.
Luckily for Michigan, redshirt
sophomore quarterback Wilton
Speight had a reliable safety net:
senior All-American tight end
Jake Butt.
After taking a number of
hits early on, including a strip
sack that led to a defensive
touchdown for the Buffaloes, a
rattled Speight was finally able
to recover in the second quarter
by targeting Butt on short passes
that ultimately set up two
touchdown drives.
Butt later downplayed his role
in the momentum swing, saying
that the offense was simply
taking the opportunities the
opposing defense gave it.
“That’s
just
kind
of
the
way the shots were called on
Saturday,” Butt said. “I don’t
look at it like we were trying
to get me the ball to spark the
team — we were just calling
the plays and I guess I would
just pop open and Wilton just
kind of found me underneath. …
It’s always good when you can
help your quarterback get into
rhythm a little bit, especially
when he’s getting hit or guys
aren’t getting open as much as
they would have liked.”
The Wolverines have the
luxury of multiple weapons on
offense if players are having
an off day, and Speight has said
previously that he would trust
any one of his three favorite
targets in a one-on-one matchup,
no matter who is playing in the
secondary. Chesson knows he
still has that trust, but neither he
nor Darboh were satisfied with
their
personal
performances
Saturday.
It wasn’t so much an issue
of Michigan’s receivers being
unable to create separation, he
said, but rather not doing their
part to make plays in single
coverage.
“See ball, get ball,” Chesson
said.
“It’s
frustrating
for
(Speight), I know, when he
trusts us to make a play and
we don’t make a play. It’s also
frustrating for us, but whenever
we get the opportunity when
it’s a one-on-one or whatever it
is, when the ball’s up in the air,
that’s the mentality you have to
have.”
The
Wolverines’
concern
at the receiver position can’t
be very high — Darboh and
Chesson were the third-best
receiving in the Big Ten last
year in terms of yardage, and
that was with Chesson not really
taking off until the second half
of the season.
Still, Michigan will need all
of its receivers — not just Butt
— to be firing on all cylinders
against tougher opponents down
the road, and that fact isn’t lost
on Chesson. In fact, he’s glad
there’s still room for the offense
to develop.
“You don’t want to say this
is the best it can be, right?”
he said. “Because if it is, you
have lots of games to go. ... It’s
growing, it’s gonna continue to
grow, and we have no option but
to get better.”
JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Fifth-year senior receiver Jehu Chesson had zero catches against Colorado, the first time since he was shutout against Ohio State in Nov. 2014.