Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, September 27, 2016 — 7
T E A M S T A T S
MICH
OPP
Points/Game
52.0
13.8
First Downs/Game
23.5
14.5
Rush Yards/Game
229.8
122.5
Yards/Rush
5.4
3.4
Rushing TDs
15
2
Passing Yards/Game
238.0
147.2
Completion %
64.3%
49.1%
Yards/Pass
7.6
5.6
Passing TDs
9
4
Interceptions
1
3
Offensive Plays/Game
74.0
62.5
Total Offense
467.8
269.8
3rd-down Conversions
54.4%
12.0%
4th-down Conversions
62.5%
45.5%
Sacks/Game
4.3
1.3
Kick return average
15.7
20.0
Punt return average
23.6
17.5
Punting average
41.5
38.0
Field Goals-Attempts
4-6
2-5
Fumbles/Lost
4/1
7/3
Penalty Yards/Game
43.5
48.8
Time of Poss
32:26
27:34
I N D I V I D U A L S
PASSING
Player
Cmp
Att
Yds
TD
INT
Speight
72
114
875
9
1
O’Korn
5
8
32
0
0
Morris
4
4
45
0
0
TOTALS
81
126
952
9
1
RUSHING
Player
Att
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD
Smith, D.
39
259
6.6
42
2
Evans
29
213
7.3
43
3
Isaac
33
150
4.5
25
2
Higdon
22
145
6.6
40
3
McDoom
7
56
8.0
19
0
Chesson
5
36
7.2
17
1
Peppers
2
24
12.0
17
0
Davis
2
17
8.5
10
0
Hill
9
17
1.9
4
4
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
TEAM
3
-4
-1.3
0
0
Allen
1
-11
-11.0
0
0
Speight
10
-17
-1.7
9
0
TOTALS
170
919
5.4
43
15
RECEIVING
Player
No.
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD
Darboh
17
248
14.6
45
4
Butt
19
234
12.3
25
3
Chesson
8
145
18.1
35
0
Perry
4
88
22.0
54
1
Hill
6
47
7.8
15
0
Poggi
4
28
7.0
15
0
Ways
1
22
22.0
22
0
Isaac
1
21
21.0
21
0
McDoom
3
20
6.7
8
0
Evans
3
19
6.3
14
0
Crawford
1
18
18.0
18
0
Smith, D.
7
16
2.3
9
0
Hirsch
1
15
15.0
15
0
Jocz
1
12
12.0
12
0
McKeon
2
10
5.0
5
0
Bunting
2
6
3.0
4
0
Asiasi
1
3
3.0
3
1
TOTALS
81
952
11.8
54
9
PUNT RETURNS
Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD
Peppers
10
227
22.7
54
1
Jocz
1
27
27.0
0
0
Perry
0
6
--
6
1
TOTALS
11
260
23.6
54
2
INTERCEPTION RETURNS
Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD
Stribling
1
51
51.0
51
1
Hill, D.
1
27
27.0
27
1
McCray
1
22
22.0
22
0
TOTALS
3
100
33.3
51
2
FUMBLE RETURNS
Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD
Hill, L.
1
9
9.0
9
0
TOTALS
1
9
9.0
9
0
KICKOFF RETURNS
Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD
Peppers
2
81
40.5
55
0
Henderson
2
28
14.0
15
0
Lewis
2
21
10.5
18
0
Hudson
1
6
6.0
6
0
Hill, K.
2
5
2.5
5
0
TOTALS
9
141
15.7
55
0
KICKOFFS
Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
TB
Allen
29
1872
64.6
17
Foug
7
403
57.6
2
TOTALS
20
1243
62.2
10
PUNTING
Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
Lg
Allen
11
456
41.5
55
TOTALS
11
456
41.5
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
LEADING TACKLERS
Player
Solo Ast
Tot
TFL
SK
PBU
Gedeon
12
26
38
6.0
2.0
-
Peppers
22
11
33
9.5
2.5
-
Thomas
15
10
25
-
-
1
McCray
12
10
22
4.5
2.5
3
Winovich
5
14
19
4.0
2.0
-
Gary
6
9
15
4.5
1.0
-
Glasgow, R.
-
13
13
1.0
0.5
-
Godin
5
7
12
1.5
1.0
-
Hill, D.
6
6
12
2.0
-
1
Wormley
6
6
12
3.5
3.0
-
Hurst
5
6
11
4.0
2.0
-
Clark
6
4
10
-
-
3
Stribling
3
5
8
0.5
-
3
Kinnel
4
3
7
-
-
-
Charlton
1
4
5
2.0
1.5
-
Watson
2
3
5
-
-
-
Bush
2
3
5
-
-
-
Glasgow, J.
3
1
4
-
-
-
Hudson
2
2
4
-
-
-
Uche
2
2
4
-
-
-
Marshall
1
2
3
-
-
-
Wroblewski
-
3
3
-
-
-
TOTALS
129
154 283 45.0 18.0
13
2016 SCHEDULE
HAWAII (1-3)
W, 63-3 (1-0)
UCF (2-2)
COLORADO (3-1)
PENN ST. (2-2)
WISCONSIN (4-0)
3:30, Michigan Stadium, ABC
at RUTGERS (2-2)
7 or 8 p.m., Piscataway, N.J.
ILLINOIS (1-2)
3:30 p.m., Michigan Stadium
at MICH. ST. (2-1)
East Lansing, Mich.
MARYLAND (3-0)
Michigan Stadium
at IOWA (3-1)
8 p.m., Iowa City, Iowa
INDIANA (2-1)
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) W, 49-10 (4-0)
Braden, O-line coming off strong performance
Like his fellow offensive
linemen, Ben Braden heard the
criticism. And like the rest of
the unit, he had heard it before.
But when the Michigan football
team rushed for just 119 yards
against Central Florida, Braden
— the Wolverines’ fifth-year
senior left guard — had to take it
from unlikely sources.
“Even my family and friends
will be like, ‘What was going
on with that?’ or ‘We expected
more from you guys,’ and yeah,
we always expect to have more
rushing yards,” Braden said.
“Sometimes it just depends on
the game and what scheme the
defense has.”
Saturday, two weeks after
that
lackluster
performance,
the Wolverines erased doubt.
They rushed for 326 yards,
their highest total since the
2014 season opener against
Appalachian State and their
most in a Big Ten game since
Oct. 13, 2012, against Illinois.
The
breakout
game
was
rewarding especially for Braden,
who missed the Sept. 3 season
opener against Hawaii to avoid
aggravating a lower-back strain.
After he fully recovered, he
jumped back into action the next
week against Central Florida,
splitting time with freshman
Ben Bredeson and then playing
the entire game Saturday against
the Nittany Lions.
Braden said he hasn’t suffered
any setbacks since the injury
and now feels better than he did
even at the end of last season.
According to Michigan coach
Jim Harbaugh, he played 80
snaps, the most on the team — a
title usually reserved for redshirt
sophomore Jabrill Peppers.
But this week, Michigan’s
offense ran 84 plays compared
to Penn State’s 55, putting the
offense on the field for most
of the game. The Wolverines’
running
game
controlled
the clock, and while some of
the other proficient rushing
performances
have
been
boosted by big plays, the 326
on Saturday was a result of a
bruising attack.
Michigan gained 40, 39, 37,
30 and 25 yards on five runs, but
no more than 11 on any other.
Even without those carries, the
Wolverines still would have
averaged a modest 3.5 yards per
carry.
The pounding took a toll on
Penn State, too. At one point in
the second half, Michigan called
seven consecutive runs — five
dive plays and two toss plays
— and rolled over the Nittany
Lions to the tune of 43 yards and
a touchdown.
“I loved it,” Braden said. “It
was a lot of fun. I haven’t had
that much fun in a while … that
is always awesome. It’s always
a sense of satisfaction as an
offensive lineman when you
run that many yards and you
have that many points and score
many touchdowns. You see your
running backs hitting huge run
plays, and you just feel like, ‘All
right, we did our job because
he’s 10, 15 yards down the field,
or more.’ ”
More often, the opposing
offensive players are the ones
standing with
their
hands
on
their
hips
in
the
second halves
of
games,
buckling
under
the
physicality of
Michigan’s
defense.
Saturday, Penn State’s defense
showed similar wear toward the
end of those drives in the second
half. The Wolverines strung
together six possessions of at
least nine plays apiece.
Michigan’s rushing attack
also
showed
less
diversity
and more of a rhythm than in
previous weeks. The Wolverines
can use several weapons in
their ground game, including
four running
backs,
two
fullbacks and
speedy
wide
receivers
Jehu Chesson
and
Eddie
McDoom.
But
on
Saturday,
42
of Michigan’s
49 carries went to the backfield,
and many of those went up
the middle. Two sweeps to
McDoom, two scrambles by
redshirt sophomore quarterback
Wilton Speight and three kneel-
downs were the only exceptions.
The four running backs each
ran for at least 6.7 yards per
carry, a good sign for a rushing
attack that was still looking to
establish continuity between
four players.
“I like so many things,”
Harbaugh said. “De’Veon, boy
does he run hard, gosh. He had
one of his runs early in the game
where he broke in there, six or
seven yards, and then bounced
off a tackle, did the spin, kept
going. Somebody’s trying to hit
him, and he’s still going.
“But to watch our offensive
line pursue, that’s what really
got me excited. Our offensive
line
knows
it,
too,
when
De’Veon’s running the football.
Their pursuit was almost as
good as our defense’s pursuit.
And
that’s
gotten
better,
because they know that they got
a chance to get downfield and
make a block.”
The
offensive
line
now
heads into a stern test Saturday
against
Wisconsin,
which
deploys a defensive front much
like Michigan’s. The Badgers
rank 10th in the country in
rush defense, allowing just 80.5
yards per game, 42 fewer than
the Wolverines.
Making holes against that
unit will not be as easy as it
was against Penn State, but
with a fully healthy Braden,
the Wolverines are as prepared
as they can be. When told he
played 80 snaps on Saturday,
Braden said, “I didn’t know I
played that many. It went by
quick.”
JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Fifth-year senior offensive guard Ben Braden is settling back in after missing the season-opener with a back strain.
“I haven’t had
that much fun
in a while.”
Clark’s season-ending injury hits ‘M’ hard
It was one of the lowest
moments of his career on the
Michigan football team, but
Jeremy Clark was far from
alone.
When the fifth-year senior
cornerback tore his anterior
cruciate ligament while part of
a kickoff return in the fourth
quarter Saturday against Penn
State, most of the Wolverines’
sideline walked out to midfield
and gathered around Clark as
he was helped onto the cart that
took him to the locker room.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen
that before,” said Michigan
coach Jim Harbaugh. “It was
that way in the locker room
as well. We came together as
a team after the game in the
locker room, and half the team
went into the training room
to see Jeremy. He’s a highly
respected person on our team.”
Even
with
All-American
senior
cornerback
Jourdan
Lewis finally returning to action
last week, Clark is no small loss
for the Wolverines. Before this
weekend, Pro Football Focus
College Football had rated him
as the second-best cornerback
in the Big Ten, behind only his
teammate, senior cornerback
Channing Stribling.
Monday,
when
Harbaugh
officially
confirmed
the
season-ending injury, most of
Michigan’s players still had
Clark on their minds. Redshirt
junior fullback Khalid Hill was
part of the group to come out
and comfort Clark at midfield.
Having torn his own ACL in
2014, Hill was one of the few
players
who
could
actually
understand what his teammate
was feeling.
“To be in a game, in your fifth
year, that’s not how you want
to go out,” Hill said. “I wanted
to shed a tear with him (when)
he was on the field. I went to
him, grabbed him, told him,
‘Everything’s gonna be OK.’ If
he needed me, I’d be there for
him.”
Clark played safety before
Harbaugh entered the fold at
the end of 2014, and according
to fifth-year senior offensive
lineman Ben Braden, seeing the
work he put in to earn a job as
starting corner made it all the
more difficult to see him go
down.
As Harbaugh mentioned, the
support for Clark continued in
the locker room, where redshirt
sophomore defensive end Chase
Winovich was just one of many
players to share a moment
with him. Winovich wouldn’t
disclose what exactly was said,
but Monday, he reflected on just
how cruel football can be.
“I remember in camp, one of
our managers actually dislocated
his shoulder,” Winovich said.
“He was in a sling, and he wasn’t
even on the football field. It’s
crazy to think that nobody’s safe.
… It’s a shame that it happened
to Jeremy the way it did. I’m
sure he’s gonna come back from
it stronger than ever, like a
slingshot, but it’s heartbreaking
to see that happen to one of my
teammates.”
Harbaugh
said
Michigan
will try to pursue a medical
redshirt to get Clark a sixth
year of eligiblity. The NCAA
typically will grant a medical
hardship waiver to players who
are injured in the first half of
the season and have played
under 30 percent of the year,
but there is no guarantee. In
the meantime, the Wolverines
will have to scramble quickly to
replace Clark for this season.
Lewis
and
Stribling
are
extremely capable of holding
down the secondary as starting
corners, but the picture behind
them is less clear. Redshirt
sophomore cornerback Brandon
Watson will have to be a factor,
especially
after
seeing
an
increase in playing time this
season due to Lewis’ injury. And
Harbaugh anticipates that a pair
of freshman corners will need to
be thrown into the fire as well.
“Both
David
Long
(and)
Lavert Hill are gonna step to
the fore now,” Harbaugh said.
“They’ve been practicing and
playing a little bit, and now
they’ll be called on.”
JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Fifth-year senior cornerback Jeremy Clark left Saturday’s game against Penn State on a cart after tearing his ACL. He is out for the rest of the season.
Harbaugh confirms fifth-year senior corner has torn ACL, will miss the rest of the 2016 season