T E A M S T A T S

 

MICH
OPP

Points/Game
44.5
11.0

First Downs/Game
23.6
13.3

Rush Yards/Game
236.3
113.1

 Yards/Rush
5.3
3.1

 Rushing TDs
37
3

Passing Yards/Game
231.5
131.6

 Completion %
63.2%
43.9%

 Yards/Pass
8.3
5.5

 Passing TDs
17
9

 Interceptions
4
11

Offensive Plays/Game
72.5
59.9

Total Offense
467.8
244.7

3rd-down Conversions
46.5%
19.7%

4th-down Conversions
61.5%
34.8%

Sacks/Game
3.3
1.4

Kick return average
17.8
21.0

Punt return average
18.0
8.1

Punting average
41.9
39.0

Field Goals-Attempts
12-17
6-12

Fumbles/Lost
10/4
12/5

Penalty Yards/Game
45.7
43.8

Time of Poss
32:59
27:01

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

PASSING

Player
Cmp
Att
Yds
TD
INT

Speight
160
257
2156
15
4

O’Korn
13
18
114
2
0

Morris
4
5
45
0
0

TOTALS
177
280
2315
17
4

RUSHING

Player
Att
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD

Smith, D.
121
592
4.9
42
8

Evans
65
508
7.8
57
3

Higdon
61
415
6.8
45
6

Isaac
69
411
6.0
53
5

Peppers
21
161
7.7
63
3

McDoom
15
154
10.3
33
0

Chesson
9
47
5.2
17
1

Henderson
5
37
7.4
13
1

Hill, K.
22
36
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
26
-36
-1.4
10
1

TOTALS
445 2363
5.3
63
37

RECEIVING

Player
No.
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD

Darboh
43
746
17.3
46
6

Butt
38
460
12.1
37
4

Chesson
27
446
16.5
40
2

Perry
7
124
17.7
54
1

Hill
12
93
7.8
15
1

Evans
6
87
14.5
56
0

McDoom
5
59
11.8
33
0

Poggi
6
45
7.5
15
0

Crawford
3
43
14.3
18
1

Smith, D.
11
38
3.5
17
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

Harris
2
11
5.5
7
0

McKeon
2
10
5.0
5
0

Bunting
2
6
3.0
4
0

Johnson, N.
1
4
4.0
4
0

Peppers
2
3
1.5
5
0

TOTALS
177
2315
13.1
56
17

 

PUNT RETURNS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD

Peppers
16
276
17.2
54
1

Jocz
1
27
27.0
0
0

Evans
1
15
15.0
15
0

Perry
0
6
--
6
1

TOTALS
18
324
18.0
54
2

INTERCEPTION RETURNS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD

Stribling
4
60
15.0
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
11
122
11.1
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
8
198
24.8
55
0

Lewis
3
34
11.3
18
0

Hill, K.
3
28
9.3
13
0

Henderson
2
28
14.0
15
0

Evans
1
26
26.0
26
0

Hudson
1
6
6.0
6
0

TOTALS
18
320
17.8
55
0

KICKOFFS

Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
TB

Allen
68
4356
64.1
36

Foug
8
460
57.5
2

Tice
3
189
63.0
0

TOTALS
79
5005
63.4
38

PUNTING

Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
Lg

Allen
33
1382
41.9
56

TOTALS
27
1138
42.1
56

FIELD GOALS

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

Allen
12-16 75.0% 0-0 7-7
3-5
1-3
1-1
51

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
31
53
84
13.0
3.5
2

Peppers
38
21
59
14.0 4.0
-

McCray
27
29
56
9.5
3.5
4

Thomas
29
21
50
-
-
6

Hill, D.
29
11
40
3.5
-
3

Winovich
9
23
32
7.5
4.0
-

Wormley
14
16
30
7.5
5.0
-

Glasgow
8
22
30
5.0
2.0
1

Hurst
16
12
28
8.5
3.0
-

Gary
10
15
25
5.0
1.0
-

Charlton
10
14
24
5.5
5.0
-

Godin
9
14
23
2.0
1.0
-

Lewis
13
5
18
2.5
-
7

Stribling
10
8
18
1.0
-
9

Kinnel
10
4
14
1.0
-
-

Watson
6
5
11
-
-
-

Bush
6
5
11
0.5
-
-

Clark
6
4
10
-
-
3

Glasgow, J.
7
4
11
-
-
-

Metellus
6
2
8
1.0
1.0
-

Hudson
3
5
8
0.5
-
1

Furbush
3
5
8
1.0
-
-

Pearson
2
5
7
-
-
-

TOTALS
325 328 653
90
33
37

2016 SCHEDULE

HAWAII (4-7)

W, 63-3 (1-0)

UCF (6-4)
COLORADO (8-2)
PENN ST. (8-2)
WISCONSIN (8-2) at RUTGERS (2-8)
ILLINOIS (3-7)
at MICH. ST. (3-7) MARYLAND (5-5)
at IOWA (6-4)
INDIANA (5-5)

Michigan Stadium

at OHIO ST. (9-1)

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)
L, 14-13 (9-1)

Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, November 15, 2016 — 7

Injury puts Speight’s status in question

The Michigan football team 

may have lost more than just the 
game on Saturday, as redshirt 
sophomore quarterback Wilton 
Speight suffered a shoulder 
injury late in the 14-13 loss at 
Iowa and now could miss this 
week’s 
home 
finale 
against 

Indiana.

Reports from MGoBlog and 

The Detroit Free Press each 
cited a source who said Speight 
broke his collarbone and would 
miss the rest of the regular 
season.

Speight said Saturday night 

that his shoulder was bothering 
him during the game. On the last 
pass he threw, Iowa defensive 
end Parker Hesse came in 
unblocked and hit Speight in the 
left shoulder. Speight came up 
holding his arm and grimacing.

During 
his 
weekly 
press 

conference Monday — before the 
reports of a broken collarbone 
— Harbaugh gave no specifics 
on Speight’s injury regarding 
severity, 
possible 
structural 

damage or prognosis.

“When we’ll know is based 

on what the doctors say and 
how Wilton’s feeling, what he’s 
able to do in terms of practice, 
et cetera,” Harbaugh said. He 
added that the decision on 
Speight’s status could be made 
as late as game time Saturday.

A broken collarbone, though, 

would mean that Speight would 
certainly miss at least this 
week’s game and next week’s 
showdown at Ohio State, and 
perhaps whichever bowl game 
Michigan lands in around New 
Year’s Day. The injury usually 
takes at least six weeks to heal, 
which would put Speight back at 
practice around the time of the 
bowl game.

If Speight can’t play Saturday, 

the starting job would likely 

go to Houston transfer John 
O’Korn, who has played several 
snaps as a backup in blowouts 
this season. He is 13-for-18 for 
114 yards and two touchdowns 
in seven games, though he has 
not started.

Still, 
Speight’s 
absence 

would be a blow to Michigan’s 
offense next week against the 
fifth-ranked Buckeyes, if not 
this week against the Hoosiers. 
His 
struggles 
Saturday 

notwithstanding 
— 
Speight 

completed just 11 of 26 passes for 
103 yards and a late interception 
at Iowa — he has been one of 
the offense’s most productive 
players.

“That would be tough — 

Wilton’s done a great job, 
he’s been a great leader for us 
and he’s stepped up for us in 
countless situations throughout 
the whole entire season,” said 
senior tight end Jake Butt on 
Monday. “But John’s a great 
leader, too. John will get ready 
to go, and he’s one of those guys 
that leads by example with his 
work ethic. So as an offense, 
we’ll all stand behind whoever’s 
in that huddle.”

O’Korn, who transferred to 

Michigan in 2015 after Harbaugh 
was hired, sat out last season per 
NCAA transfer rules and spent 
the year on the scout team. He 
and redshirt junior Shane Morris 
battled Speight for the starting 
job for the duration of spring 
and fall camps before Speight 
ultimately won out.

But some lopsided scores in 

the Wolverines’ victories have 
inserted O’Korn plenty of times. 
On Oct. 8, when Michigan 
trampled Rutgers, 78-0, O’Korn 
played the entire second half.

“If John’s number is called, 

we’re fully confident in him,” Butt 
said. “We’ve seen what he can 
do since he got here. He’s been 
a hard worker, great note-taker, 
great leader. He’s got everything 

you need to do to get the job 
done. So if his number is called, 
if it turns out that Wilton can’t 
go, he’ll be ready to go, and we’re 
fully confident in him.”

Speight’s 
first 
encounter 

with the Michigan quarterback 
job came just over a year ago, 
also because of an injury. The 
Wolverines’ starter, Iowa transfer 
Jake Rudock, suffered an injury 
on a hit at Minnesota on Oct. 
31. Speight came in and threw a 
game-winning touchdown pass 
to fifth-year senior wide receiver 
Jehu Chesson to lead Michigan to 
a 27-23 victory.

Rudock returned the next week 

against Rutgers and won four 
of his last five starts, alleviating 

any concern. This year, the 
Wolverines find themselves in 
another predicament, though this 
one may be more serious.

“Wilton stood back there — 

we’ve seen him take some hard 
shots all season,” Butt said. 
“Kind of similar to how Rudock 
did last year. Just kept bouncing 
back and putting the team first. 
He understood he was in pain. I 
think he knew he wasn’t the only 
guy. We’re all sacrificing for the 
greater good of the team right 
here.”

That put him on track to 

become the starter, a job he has 
kept all season. The redshirt 
junior transfer played for a year 
and a half at Houston, making 

his last start in a loss to Central 
Florida on Oct. 2, 2014.

He is smaller than Speight 

and a less consistent passer, but 
he does add more of a running 
dimension. Despite losing the 
competition this summer, O’Korn 
has earned nothing but praise 
since he started on the practice 
field.

“John’s been great — he’s 

been amazing,” redshirt junior 
defensive tackle Maurice Hurst 
said. “They were competing until 
basically the start of the season 
for the starting spot. They’re 
both really great players, and I 
definitely have full confidence 
in John, have full confidence in 
Wilton.”

JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton Speight suffered a shoulder injury in Michigan’s 14-13 loss to Iowa.

Harbaugh credits seniors for stopping ‘freight train’

For a month at the end of 

2014, the Michigan football 
team was a group with no coach 
and no sign that things were 
heading in a positive direction.

The Wolverines were coming 

off a 5-7 season and had fired 
coach Brady Hoke. The roster 
was 
composed 
of 
talented 

recruits, but they couldn’t even 
muster wins against Maryland 
or Rutgers to secure bowl 
eligibility.

Jim Hackett, then Michigan’s 

interim Athletic Director, gave 
those players a chance to decide 
what they needed to get back on 
track. Over the course of several 
meetings, Hackett asked the 
players what qualities they were 
looking for in a new head coach — 
ideally, one who could bring out 
all that untapped potential.

Luckily for the Wolverines, 

Hackett found a coach who met 
all the players’ criteria: Jim 
Harbaugh.

The turnaround has been well-

documented and well-publicized 
— a 10-3 record last season 
and a 9-0 start this year before 
Michigan was upset by Iowa on 
Saturday night.

But 
with 
Senior 
Day 
at 

Michigan Stadium coming up this 
week, the man who kickstarted 
the 
Wolverines’ 
renaissance 

directed the attention to the 
players 
who 
stuck 
around 

through it all.

“This class has meant so 

much 
to 
me 
personally, 
to 

Michigan football, to all of us,” 
Harbaugh said. “You look at 
these guys — the direction of the 
program was going a certain way, 
almost like a locomotive. These 
upperclassmen, these seniors, 
guys last year who played as well, 
it meant a lot to get it stopped, to 
get that momentum stopped. Like 
stopping a freight train.

“I credit them for not only 

getting it stopped, but even 
harder, getting it turned on the 
tracks and headed the other 
direction.”

Senior tight end Jake Butt is 

just one of many Wolverines who 
have been through the wringer 
over the last few years, hoping 
their work would eventually pay 
off.

The players never doubted they 

had the talent to be successful 
— they just needed a push in the 
right direction.

“We always knew we had 

talent,” Butt said. “It was just 
about putting all the pieces 

together. Coach Harbaugh, he’s 
like a wizard, man. He brought in 
unbelievable coaches, and it took 
a lot of time, a lot of hours, a lot 
of hard work and a lot of sacrifice 
by everyone on this team and 
around the program, but it was 
all for the right reasons. And now, 
here we are with a chance to do 
something great.”

Butt said before the season 

that one of the biggest mental 
shifts under Harbaugh was an 
increased urgency to not let one 
loss turn into two. That mindset 
has paid off so far — Michigan has 
yet to lose back-to-back games 
under Harbaugh — and now it 

will be tested again this week, 
as it tries to rebound from a last-
second upset by the Hawkeyes.

The Wolverines have claimed 

to be treating every game the 
same way so far this season, and 
Harbaugh has been a picture of 
that. Butt said Harbaugh tells 
his players to go 100 percent all 
the time — never 110 percent. 
That 
steadiness 
has 
created 

an increased urgency to leave 
nothing up to chance, especially 
after losses.

Of course, it helps to have a 

senior class that refuses to “hit 
the panic button.” According 
to Butt, they’ve been around 

long enough to know that one 
loss doesn’t necessarily warrant 
drastic changes.

If they’ve learned anything 

from their roller-coaster ride at 
Michigan, it’s how to lose and 
come back stronger.

“We’ve got a ton of seniors 

on both sides of the ball and 
special teams,” Butt said. “We’ve 
got experienced coaches that 
have 
experienced 
big 
wins, 

heartbreaking losses at different 
levels and as players. We all kind 
of understand a little bit how this 
goes, and having said that, we’ll 
be able to handle this situation 
pretty well.”

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Senior tight end Jake Butt is one of the senior members of the Michigan football team playing his final game at Michigan Stadium on Saturday.

JACOB GASE

Daily Sports Editor

