8A — Friday, November 11, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

What to Watch For: Iowa

The spotlight has shone on 

the Michigan football team all 
season, and this Saturday, the 
bright lights of Kinnick Stadium 
will, too.

As prevalent as the Wolverines 

have been all season, they have 
played only one night game, Oct. 
8 at Rutgers, in one of the most 
lopsided games in college football 
this year. This week, Michigan 
gets a true prime-time treatment 
with an 8 p.m. kickoff at Iowa (3-3 
Big Ten, 5-4 overall) on ABC’s 
Saturday Night Football.

The eyes of many have been on 

the third-ranked Wolverines (6-0, 
9-0) since September, but now, 
in the final quarter of the season, 
the pressure ramps up even more. 
Michigan will again enter the game 
as a heavy favorite, and its opponent 
will be searching for an upset.

In this series, the Hawkeyes 

have had the edge recently. They 
have won four of the past five 
meetings, the first two against 
Rich 
Rodriguez’s 
struggling 

Michigan 
teams. 
They 
also 

handed Brady Hoke’s first team 
one of its two losses in 2011 in 
Iowa City, and they knocked off 
the Wolverines again in 2013. The 
teams have not played since.

Here’s what to watch for when 

they battle again Saturday:

1. How does Michigan start 
the game?

The Wolverines have been 

dominant for almost all 60 
minutes in their games this 
season, but they have struggled at 
times in the first series or two. On 
offense, they started the season 
with an interception on their first 
play, and punted in under two 
minutes on each of their next four 
first drives. They did not score on 
an opening series until Week 7, 
though they have done so in every 
week since.

On defense, Michigan has been 

stifling for the most part, but it has 
cracked in the earlygoing a couple 
of times. Against Michigan State, 
LJ Scott and the Spartans’ ground 
game rolled over the Wolverines in 
eight plays covering 80 yards, and 
even last week against Maryland, 
the Terrapins possessed the ball 
for almost four minutes.

Michigan has given up just 11 

offensive touchdowns all season, 
but two have come on the first 
drive. Iowa’s best chance to win 
Saturday is to score a third, gain 
some momentum and keep it. 
If the Hawkeyes can’t establish 
themselves early, the Wolverines 
can coast.

2. What’s Iowa’s game plan?

In 
the 
past 
two 
weeks, 

Michigan State and Maryland 
have 
at 
least 
given 
future 

Michigan opponents a few tips on 
how to move the ball against the 
Wolverines. The Spartans tried 
the ground game, as Scott carried 
22 times for 139 of the team’s 217 

rushing yards. Then, Maryland 
had some success through the air, 
passing for 289 yards last week.

Both 
of 
those 
strategies 

involved 
getting 
playmakers 

into space on outside runs or 
flat passes to try to avoid the 
teeth 
of 
Michigan’s 
defense. 

It’ll be interesting to see which 
route Iowa takes. The Hawkeyes 
don’t have many of the open-
field threats that the past two 
opponents had — they rely more 
on winning the battle up front and 
pounding the ball between the 
tackles, a tactic the Wolverines 
typically stifle.

Either way, that matchup may 

decide the game. Iowa is 5-0 this 
season when rushing for at least 
100 yards and 0-4 when missing 
that mark. In the past two weeks, 
the Hawkeyes have totaled just 
113 yards on the ground and lost to 
Wisconsin and Penn State. Iowa 
also ranks 104th in the country 
in third-down conversions — a 
bad recipe against Michigan’s 
top-ranked defense — so if the 
Hawkeyes can’t figure out a way 
to make those situations more 
manageable with runs on first and 
second down, they’ll struggle.

3. Can Wilton Speight have his 
fourth straight best game of 
the season?

After 
last 
week’s 
rout 
of 

Maryland, Speight is officially 
rolling. In just the first half 
Saturday, he was 13-for-16 for 292 
yards and two touchdowns. He has 
also somewhat quietly put together 
a touchdown-interception ratio of 
15-to-3. Because of their defense, 
the Wolverines haven’t needed 
him to do a ton. That could change 
in the final quarter of the season 
as Michigan travels to Iowa and 
Ohio State and hosts Indiana in 
between.

This might be Speight’s toughest 

test yet, too. The Hawkeyes rank 
just 62nd in the country in passing 
defense, but they have been 
consistent except for a 49-35 win 
at Purdue last month in which 
they gave up 458 yards through 
the air. Iowa should bring its best 
performance for a home night 
game at Kinnick Stadium.

Michigan’s schedule has been 

kind to Speight so far, with only 
one trip outside the state in the 
first nine games. That was a road 
night game, but it was also a 
78-0 victory at Rutgers in which 
Speight played only the first half 
and was never tested.

4. Which Detroit star shines 
brighter?

For just the second time in their 

college careers, Michigan senior 
cornerback Jourdan Lewis and 
Iowa senior cornerback Desmond 
King will face off on the field. But 
the history between the two goes 
back to their high school days, 
when Lewis starred at Detroit 
Cass Tech and King led Detroit 
Crockett and then East English 
Village Prep.

Both 
players 
earned 
All-

American honors last season, and 
both saw the field as freshmen 
when 
the 
Wolverines 
and 

Hawkeyes last played in 2013. King 
edged Lewis on the stat sheet (three 
tackles and two pass breakups 
versus two tackles) and on the 
scoreboard (Iowa won, 24-21). 
Since then, both have had much 
more success, becoming two of the 
best cornerbacks in the nation.

Lewis, who often talks about 

his playing days at Cass Tech, still 
remembers their earlier meetings, 
such as Crockett’s two victories in 
the matchup in 2011. He and King 
will have plenty of opportunities 
to make the final statement in 
the last collegiate edition of their 
rivalry Saturday.

Michigan gears up for BU

Two weeks ago, the No. 18 

Michigan hockey team kicked 
off its schedule away from 
home on the East Coast, where 
it recorded losses to Vermont 
and Dartmouth. Last week, the 
Wolverines completely switched 
gears on the opposite end of the 
country, tallying a win against 
Arizona State, 4-1.

With a 4-3-1 record in tow, the 

Wolverines will return home this 
weekend to battle No. 4 Boston 
University in a pair of home 
games Friday and Saturday for 
their second Autism Awareness 
series in program history.

The Terriers boast a 4-2-1 

record for the season so far, 
almost identical to Michigan, save 
for a single loss. However, Boston 
possesses one of the strongest 
defensive and offensive rosters in 
the nation with four first-round 
NHL Entry Draft picks.

“Their defense, they don’t give 

you much,” said Michigan coach 
Red Berenson. “Their goalie, I 
think he had three shutouts in 
a row, a kid named Oettinger. 
We recruited him and he went 
to Boston. And he’s gotten 
better, he’s off to a good start, 
he’s a freshman goalie from the 
program. (Freshman forward 
Will Lockwood) played with 
him last year. So, their defense is 
a challenge.

“Their defense will be good, 

and their offense, they’ve got two 
top lines that can score. They’re 
way ahead of us in scoring. And 
those guys are leading the way, 
so we’ve really got to be aware of 
their good players.”

One 
of 
those 
players 
is 

freshman forward Clayton Keller, 
who was just named Hockey East 
Rookie of the Week. He leads the 
Terriers in scoring with five goals 
and is second in points with nine. 
He falls behind only freshman 
forward Patrick Harper, who has 
tallied 11 points so far this season.

In goal, Boston is likely to start 

Jake Oettinger in front of the net. 
So far this season, he’s played in all 
seven of the Terriers’ games, and 
he has a save percentage of .941.

But even with two top scoring 

lines saddled with players like 
Keller and Harper, and a defense 
led by Oettinger, Boston will 
still face a challenge against the 
Wolverines.

Lockwood, who played with 

Oettinger in the United States 
National 
Team 
Development 

Program, is leading Michigan in 
goals and points with five and 
eight, respectively. This number 
also ties him at third for rookies 
in NCAA Division I hockey and 
puts him in a good matchup 
against Keller.

Freshman 
forwards 
Sam 

Piazza and Jake Slaker have 
both 
scored 
the 
second-

highest number of goals for the 
Wolverines with three each, 
while Piazza is also following 
Lockwood in points with seven.

Overall, the Wolverines will 

have a tough weekend ahead. 
Boston’s 
heavy 
roster 
and 

highlighted players will pose 
a serious threat to Michigan, 
despite 
Lockwood’s 
presence 

on the ice and the Wolverines’ 
depth in the goaltender position. 
The Terriers have had success 
in suppressing their opponent’s 
offense 
and 
capitalizing 
on 

opportunities, 
averaging 
3.9 

goals per game and limiting their 
opponents to only 1.7.

It’ll be an uphill battle for 

Michigan. Despite the challenge 
Boston 
poses, 
though, 
the 

Wolverines will be fueled by the 
opportunity to beat a team ranked 
as highly as the Terriers.

“We’re working on things to 

be better,” said Berenson. “We 
don’t just work on the opponent, 
we’re working on us. We’ve got 
to be better at whatever it is. I 
think we’re building our game, 
but we know the game that we’re 
going to need when we play them. 
Tomorrow we’ll put it all together.”

Kieffer-Wright shows athleticism, 
sparks Michigan against Indiana

After finishing the first set 

on an 8-2 run and starting the 
second on a similar streak, 
the Michigan volleyball team 
saw its momentum evaporate 
midway 
through 
the 
set. 

Indiana had climbed back 
to take a 10-9 lead, and the 
Wolverines needed a spark.

Enter Claire Kieffer-Wright.
The junior middle blocker 

came up with a kill after a 
lengthy 
rally, 
kick-starting 

Michigan to a 6-0 run in which 
Kieffer-Wright registered two 
blocks and two kills. It was 
sequences such as this one 
that defined the contest for the 
Wolverines. Whenever they 
needed someone to step up 
and make an impact, Kieffer-
Wright was there.

“We just realized that we 

can’t wait for Indiana to lose,” 
Kieffer-Wright said. “We have 
to come out there and we have 
to attack them. We were out for 
blood the whole night.”

Overall, 
Kieffer-Wright 

registered 12 kills, 7 blocks and 
an attack percentage of .421 
in No. 17 Michigan’s three-
set sweep of Indiana. Her 
athleticism and energy has 
been vital for the Wolverines, 
as coach Mark Rosen stated 
that they are somewhat lacking 
in those categories.

“She uses her athleticism 

really well,” Rosen said. “She’s 
fast, she’s really explosive 
off one foot, and in the last 
couple weeks she’s been really 
producing a lot offensively 
because of that speed.”

This description shouldn’t 

be surprising to those familiar 
with the Michigan women’s 
track and field team, as Kieffer-
Wright stars as a high jumper 
for the Wolverines in the 

spring. But Rosen also touted 
her impact beyond just her 
physical qualities or statistics.

“(Her contribution) is not 

only the points she’s scoring 
and her athleticism, but her 
personality,” 
Rosen 
said. 

“She’s super competitive, fiery 
— whenever she gets a kill, 
there’s an emotional charge 
from that. We talk a lot in 
our program about producers 
versus consumers, and she’s 
constantly producing in every 
way that she 
can.”

All 
season 

long, 
Rosen 

has 
been 

impressed 
with 
his 

team’s 
next-

person-up 
mentality, 
and 
the 

potential 
for 

any one player 
to be dominant any game. 
Wednesday 
night, 
it 
was 

Kieffer-Wright’s turn.

Dominating from the start, 

she scored the first point of 
the match on a kill, and she 
registered another after the 
Hoosiers 
had 
jumped 
out 

to the next five points. The 
timeliness of her contributions 
was of great importance as 
well, especially in the second 
set. 
After 
powering 
the 

Wolverines’ 
surge 
midway 

through the set, she combined 
with senior outside hitter Kelly 
Murphy on a block to finish off 
the set and send the match to 
intermission.

The 
previous 
meeting 

between Michigan and Indiana 
resulted 
in 
disappointment 

for 
the 
Wolverines, 
as 

they 
returned 
home 
from 

Bloomington on Oct. 29 with 
a 3-1 loss. In that match, they 
allowed the Hoosiers’ middle 

blockers to control the game. 
On 
Wednesday, 
Kieffer-

Wright and the Wolverines’ 
other middle blocker, senior 
Abby Cole, were able to almost 
completely flip that script.

“One of our main points 

this week in practice that we 
worked on with (the Hoosiers) 
in mind was serving and 
getting them off balance,” 
Kieffer-Wright said. “We were 
really capitalizing on blocking 
their middles.”

With 

Michigan’s 
relative 
deficiency 
in 
athletic 

ability, it may 
have to rely 
on 
Kieffer-

Wright 
more 

and 
more, 

especially 
heading 
into 

one of its most 

challenging stretches of the 
season. To close out the regular 
season, the Wolverines will 
face the top three teams in the 
nation — Nebraska, Minnesota 
and Wisconsin, respectively 
— and will also meet No. 15 
Michigan State twice.

“We gotta continue to get 

better against teams that bring 
speed,” Rosen said. “We’re 
going to see that against 
Minnesota, 
they’re 
faster 

than Indiana and Indiana’s 
really fast. ... Michigan State’s 
probably one of the top five or 
six (most physical) teams in 
the country. They’re just big, 
and they’ll get after you.”

Coming off of a strong recent 

stretch 
of 
performances, 

Kieffer-Wright 
adds 
an 

important 
and 
different 

definition to the Wolverines. 
As they continue to grow 
as a team, she might be the 
embodiment of this evolution.

Junior middle blocker sparked Wolverines with crucial 
run, 12 kills, seven blocks in Wednesday sweep of Indiana

VOLLEYBALL

JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer

“She’s constantly 

producing in 
every way she 

can.”

JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

GRANT HARDY/Daily

The Michigan football team looks to keep rolling against Iowa on Saturday.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Sam Piazza has three goals on the season heading into this weekend’s series.

LANEY BYLER
Daily Sports Writer