8A — Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

T E A M S T A T S

 

MICH
OPP

Points/Game
48.0
10.7

First Downs/Game
24.7
12.9

Rush Yards/Game
251.7
107.4

 Yards/Rush
5.5
3.1

 Rushing TDs
36
3

Passing Yards/Game
245.8
138.9

 Completion %
65.4%
44.1%

 Yards/Pass
8.7
5.7

 Passing TDs
17
8

 Interceptions
3
10

Offensive Plays/Game
73.8
59.0

Total Offense
497.4
246.3

3rd-down Conversions
48.2%
19.0%

4th-down Conversions
61.5%
30.0%

Sacks/Game
3.3
1.3

Kick return average
17.6
21.3

Punt return average
17.9
8.8

Punting average
36.0
31.9

Field Goals-Attempts
10-15
4-9

Fumbles/Lost
8/3
12/5

Penalty Yards/Game
45.4
46.0

Time of Poss
33:37
26:23

I N D I V I D U A L S T A T S

PASSING

Player
Cmp
Att
Yds
TD
INT

Speight
149
231
2053
15
3

O’Korn
13
18
114
2
0

Morris
4
5
45
0
0

TOTALS
166
254
2212
17
3

RUSHING

Player
Att
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD

Smith, D.
109
564
5.2
42
8

Evans
57
456
8.0
57
3

Higdon
58
418
7.2
45
6

Isaac
68
404
5.9
53
4

Peppers
17
150
11.5
63
3

McDoom
13
150
11.5
33
0

Chesson
9
47
5.2
17
1

Henderson
5
37
7.4
13
1

Hill, K.
21
34
1.6
4
9

Morris
3
19
6.3
14
0

Davis
2
17
8.5
10
0

Crawford
3
15
5.0
11
0

O’Korn
6
12
2.0
3
0

Hirsch
1
2
2.0
2
0

Wilson
1
1
1.0
1
0

Beneducci
1
1
1.0
1
0

Hewlett
2
-1
-0.5
0
0

Gedeon
1
-2
-2.0
0
0

Allen
1
-11
-11.0
0
0

TEAM
10
-15
-1.5
0
0

Speight
22
-33
-1.5
10
1

TOTALS
410
2265
5.5
63
36

RECEIVING

Player
No.
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD

Darboh
42
741
17.6
46
6

Butt
34
421
12.4
37
4

Chesson
25
416
16.6
40
2

Perry
6
114
19.0
54
1

Hill
12
93
7.8
15
1

Evans
5
84
16.8
56
0

McDoom
5
59
11.8
33
0

Crawford
3
43
14.3
18
1

Smith, D.
11
38
3.5
17
0

Poggi
5
33
6.6
15
0

Wheatley
2
27
13.5
21
1

Ways
2
24
12.0
22
0

Henderson
1
23
23.0
23
0

Isaac
1
21
21.0
21
0

Asiasi
2
18
9.0
15
1

Hirsch
1
15
15.0
15
0

Jocz
1
12
12.0
12
0

McKeon
2
10
5.0
5
0

Harris
1
7
7.0
7
0

Bunting
2
6
3.0
4
0

Johnson, N.
1
4
4.0
4
0

Peppers
2
3
1.5
5
0

TOTALS
166
2212
13.3
56
17

 

PUNT RETURNS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD

Peppers
15
257
17.1
54
1

Jocz
1
27
27.0
0
0

Evans
1
15
15.0
15
0

Perry
0
6
--
6
1

TOTALS
17
305
17.9
54
2

INTERCEPTION RETURNS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD

Stribling
3
60
20.0
51
1

Hill, D.
3
36
12.0
27
1

McCray
1
22
22.0
22
0

Thomas
1
4
4.0
4
0

Lewis
2
0
0.0
0
0

TOTALS
10
122
12.2
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
7
182
26.0
55
0

Lewis
3
34
11.3
18
0

Henderson
2
28
14.0
15
0

Evans
1
26
26.0
26
0

Hudson
1
6
6.0
6
0

Hill, K.
2
5
2.5
5
0

TOTALS
16
281
17.6
55
0

KICKOFFS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
TB

Allen
63
4038
64.1
35

Foug
8
460
57.5
2

Tice
3
189
63.0
0

TOTALS
64
4041
63.1
30

PUNTING

Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
Lg

Allen
27
1138
42.1
56

TOTALS
27
1138
42.1
56

FIELD GOALS

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

Allen
10-14 71.4% 0-0 6-6 3-5
1-3 0-0 45

Tice
0-1 0.0% 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0

LEADING TACKLERS

Player
Solo Ast
Tot
TFL
SK
PBU

Gedeon
27
47
74
11.5
3.5
2

Peppers
33
20
53
13.5
3.5
-

McCray
23
26
49
10.0
3.5
4

Thomas
22
17
39
-
-
6

Hill, D.
26
10
36
2.5
-
2

Winovich
8
23
31
6.5
3.0
-

Glasgow, R.
6
22
28
5.0
2.0
1

Wormley
10
14
24
5.5
4.0
-

Hurst
12
11
23
8.5
3.0
-

Gary
8
15
23
5.0
1.0
-

Godin
8
13
21
2.0
1.0
-

Charlton
7
13
20
5.0
4.5
-

Lewis
11
5
16
2.5
-
7

Stribling
7
8
15
1.0
-
9

Kinnel
9
4
13
1.0
-
-

Watson
6
5
11
-
-
-

Bush
6
5
11
0.5
-
-

Clark
6
4
10
-
-
3

Glasgow, J.
5
4
9
-
-
-

Metellus
6
2
8
1.0
1.0
-

Hudson
3
5
8
0.5
-
1

Furbush
3
4
7
1.0
-
-

Pearson
2
5
7
-
-
-

TOTALS
275 306 581
84
30
36

2016 SCHEDULE

HAWAII (4-6)

W, 63-3 (1-0)

UCF (5-4)
COLORADO (7-2)
PENN ST. (7-2)
WISCONSIN (7-2) at RUTGERS (2-7)
ILLINOIS (3-6)
at MICH. ST. (2-7) MARYLAND (5-4)
at IOWA (5-4)

8 p.m., Iowa City, Iowa

INDIANA (5-4)

Michigan Stadium

at OHIO ST. (8-1)

Noon, 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) W, 14-7 (5-0) W, 78-0 (6-0) W, 41-8 (7-0) W, 32-23 (8-0) W, 59-3 (9-0)

Calmer Speight wins Harbaugh over

Coming into fall camp a year 

ago, Wilton Speight was pretty 
sure he was never going to be 
Jim Harbaugh’s quarterback — 
and it wasn’t just because he’s 
allergic to milk.

In the new coach’s first spring 

camp in 2015, Speight struggled 
through four-hour practices, 
took 
expletive-filled 
tongue-

lashings from Harbaugh and 
found himself buried on the 
depth chart. Heading into the 
fall, the then-redshirt freshman 
had had enough.

“I was on the phone with my 

parents, basically saying, ‘OK, 
I’m out. Let’s find a different 
school,’ ” Speight said.

Speight had his parents reach 

out to other colleges — North 
Carolina State emerged as an 
early favorite because of some 
family ties there — and he was 
dead-set on leaving Ann Arbor. 
He told some of his teammates 
he was leaving, including his 
camp roommate, then-redshirt 
freshman 
receiver 
Drake 

Harris, and he planned to go to 
Harbaugh’s office the first week 
of camp and tell him the same.

On the morning Speight woke 

up to do it, though, Harris asked 
him, “Are you sure?”

Speight wasn’t. He never 

made it to Harbaugh’s office, and 
he ended up playing through the 
rest of camp.

He 
ultimately 
won 
the 

second-string job, and the rest 
is history. A season later, he is 
the starting quarterback for the 
third-ranked, 9-0 Wolverines 
and has thrown 15 touchdowns 
and just three interceptions.

If there was any lingering 

doubt 
about 
Speight 
from 

Harbaugh, 
the 
second-year 

coach shattered it in a press 
conference 
the 
Monday 

following Michigan’s win over 
Michigan State last week.

“I think we’re looking at a 

budding — really good player,” 
Harbaugh said. “I almost said 
‘budding star.’ I mean, it’s 
really close to that. He’s doing 
so many good things, and he’s 
been almost flawless, really, 
when he has time and space to 
see things.”

Now, Speight can look back 

at the exhausting practices 
and tough-love coaching and 
realize that he was getting 
tougher and stronger the whole 
time. That realization didn’t 
come to him until this spring, 
when he emerged as the clear 
frontrunner for the starting 
job over redshirt juniors John 
O’Korn and Shane Morris.

More 
importantly, 
he’s 

appeared calm on the field all 
season, which is a feat that 

hasn’t always come easy for 
him. Speight said he’s the type 
of person to break a paddle if he 
loses a ping-pong game. When 
he was younger, he would stop 
speaking to his mom if she beat 
him in a game 
of “HORSE” in 
their backyard.

But thanks to 

his high school 
basketball 
coach, 
who 

doubles 
as 
a 

“mindfulness 
teacher,” Speight 
has found a way 
to 
maintain 
a 

level head when 
he’s under center.

“I practiced a ton with him, 

almost like a meditation-type 

thing,” 
Speight 
said. 
“We 

figured out whenever I click my 
buckle in my helmet or lick my 
fingers before a snap, that kind 
of brings me back to this chill 
mode. In football, I feel like I’ve 

kind of mastered 
it, but I’m still 
working on the 
other stuff.”

That 

calmness 
has 

helped 
him 

improve 
every 

week. 
Multiple 

teammates, 
including fifth-
year 
senior 

offensive 

lineman Ben Braden on Tuesday 
night, have compared Speight’s 
trajectory to last year’s starter, 

Jake Rudock, who rode his late-
season success to become an 
NFL draft pick.

And 
finally, 
Speight 
has 

earned 
the 
endorsement 
of 

Harbaugh, 
who 
speculated 

that it might be time “to throw 
(Speight’s) hat in the ring” for 
Heisman Trophy consideration.

As for Speight’s milk allergy 

— which often forced his family 
to buy raw milk in a Whole 
Foods parking lot (“The cow’s 
name was Apple, if you guys 
were wondering,” he said) — he 
hasn’t told Harbaugh yet. After 
all, it was a long road to get on 
his coach’s good side.

“He just gets so into his milk 

brand and his whole milk and 
stuff,” Speight said. “I’ll let him 
have his whole milk.”

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton Speight was once a long way from running the show, but he stuck around and became one of Michigan’s leaders.

JACOB GASE

Daily Sports Editor

Michigan’s defense facing struggles on edge

There’s 
not 
much 
the 

Michigan football team doesn’t 
do well on defense.

By 
now, 
the 
statistics 

have been well covered. The 
Wolverines are the best in the 
country in scoring defense, 
passing 
defense 
and 
total 

defense. 
They 
rarely 
allow 

teams to extend drives, much 
less score touchdowns.

So it was a bit of a surprise 

Saturday when Maryland was 
able to repeatedly exploit the 
same apparent weakness in the 
Wolverines’ defense.

“(Maryland 
coach 
DJ) 

Durkin, he was our (defensive 
coordinator) last year, and when 
he was here he felt as though we 
struggled with tempo and on the 
edges,” said redshirt sophomore 
linebacker Jabrill Peppers. “So 
we kind of thought that we were 
going to get a game plan similar to 
that. We didn’t know how much 
spread it was going to be and how 
open they were going to have us.”

Throughout 
the 
game, 

Maryland 
continuously 

attacked the edges when it 
needed a play. Sometimes it was 
on an outside rush. Other times 
it was a tunnel screen. Usually, 
it was effective — at least as 
effective as an offense can be 
while scoring just three points. 
But the low point total wasn’t 
necessarily indicative of how 
effective they were when using 
the screen game.

On the final play before 

halftime, wide receiver D.J. 
Moore took a screen 47 yards 
and looked bound for the end 
zone. But at the 1-yard line, 
redshirt junior linebacker Mike 
McCray was able to stop him 
short and preserve the shutout.

“Great effort can cancel out 

a lot of those things,” said fifth-
year senior defensive tackle Ryan 
Glasgow. “Clock ran out. That was 
a really big play for our defense, 
big stop by Mike and (senior 
safety) Dymonte (Thomas).”

The screen was the main factor 

that led the Wolverines to allow 
more passing yards (289) against 
the Terrapins than they had all 
season. Michigan’s vaunted pass 
defense was still highly effective 
in coverage, as evidenced by its 
six pass breakups and three sacks, 
but on screens, the dynamic was 
different.

The quarterback gets the 

ball out fast to avoid some of 

the pressure from the defensive 
line, and the cornerbacks are 
rarely close enough to break 
up the pass. That leaves the 
play’s outcome up to pursuit 
from defenders and blocking 
by the offense. And when it 
came to screens on Saturday, 
Maryland’s offense appeared to 
have the edge.

Peppers said the effectiveness 

of 
the 
screen 
was 
more 

about good play-calling from 
Maryland than it was any 
specific challenge inherent to 
the play. (“It’s not really tough 
to tackle,” he said.)

Glasgow even offered an 

antidote to the problem, simple 
as it may be.

“It’s just smelling a rat,” 

Glasgow said. “Someone getting 
in the way, causing a cutback 
and people hustling to the ball. 
That’s basically all. It comes 
down to effort.”

It’s a concept Michigan may 

be tested on soon. Even while the 
Wolverines run up blowout wins 
over Maryland, Rutgers and 
other Big Ten non-contenders, 
there are real threats still out 
there. Ohio State is plenty 
capable of running the same 
types of plays, and the Buckeyes 
would do so with significantly 

better talent.

There’s no reason to believe 

Michigan 
can’t 
correct 
the 

issue — earlier in the year, it 
had trouble in contain, but it 
worked out those kinks rather 
quickly. But still, the members 
of the Wolverines’ defense are 
cognizant of the urgency.

“We 
didn’t 
make 
the 

adjustment we needed to, and 
I feel like (we will) learn from 
that right now,” McCray said. 
“We’re going to improve on 
this game because we know 
they’re probably going to try 
to do the same thing. So we’re 
ready for it.”

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Michigan’s defense had issues setting the edge Saturday against Maryland, giving up a season-high 289 passing yards even in an otherwise dominant performance.

MAX BULTMAN

Managing Sports Editor

“I was ... basically 

saying, ‘OK, I’m 

out. Let’s find a 

different school.’ ”

