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)

3:30 p.m., 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
Wednesday, November 16, 2016 — 7A

Chesson seeks breakthrough to boost ‘M’

A year ago, Jehu Chesson was 

most commonly seen wide open, 
awaiting a pass that he would 
probably turn into a touchdown.

Chesson’s 
redshirt 
junior 

season underwent a second-half 
breakout that saw him climb 
into the conversation as one of 
the Big Ten’s best receivers and 
even threw his name into NFL 
draft consideration toward the 
end of last season. And then 
came the injury.

Playing against Florida in the 

Citrus Bowl, Chesson sustained 
a leg injury and had to go on 
crutches. He wasn’t medically 
cleared until just before fall 
camp, forcing him to miss out on 
nearly the entire offseason.

In the time since his return, 

he hasn’t made the same impact 
he did late in 2015. He has just 
two receiving touchdowns and 
is averaging 44.6 yards per 
game, a significant drop-off for 
a player who caught over 110 
yards in three of Michigan’s 
last four games last season. But 
when asked about the drop-off 
on Tuesday, Chesson declined 
to blame the injury for his 
decreased production.

“I felt normal going into 

camp,” he said.

In 
the 
Wolverines’ 
14-13 

loss against Iowa on Saturday, 
Chesson was held in check for 
just two catches for 30 yards. On 
one crucial play late in the game, 
he appeared to have a chance to 
haul in a critical first down, but 
instead the ball was pulled away 
by Iowa’s Manny Rugamba.

The first down alone would 

not have been enough to give 
Michigan the win on its own, but 
it would have put the Wolverines 
in field-goal range with a full 
set of downs. Tuesday, Chesson 
took responsibility for the play.

“I let the guys down on that 

one,” he said. “Something I’ll 

learn from, and we just gotta 
keep pushing. Obviously you’ve 
gotta use your hands, regardless 
of where the ball is, the 
expectation is to make that play. 
We need that play so badly.”

One factor that could provide 

Chesson a spark is a potential 
change at quarterback. Multiple 
outlets reported Monday that 
Wilton Speight would miss the 
remainder of the regular season 
with 
a 
broken 
collarbone, 

though Michigan coach Jim 
Harbaugh denied those reports.

He did admit, though, that 

Speight was injured, so there 
is a possibility Michigan could 
switch to redshirt junior John 
O’Korn under center.

Speight seemed to develop a 

rapport with fifth-year senior 
receiver Amara Darboh, who 
became 
the 
quarterback’s 

go-to target on deep balls. But 
Chesson, who filled that role 
for Jake Rudock last season, is 
still very much a threat in the 
passing game. It’s possible he 
will find chemistry with O’Korn 
should Michigan call on the 
backup, which could signal an 
increase in targets for Chesson.

Against Maryland, Chesson 

played his most productive 
game of the season, pulling 
down five catches for 112 
yards and a touchdown. After 
that performance, Harbaugh 
was quick to say there was no 

special mandate to target the 
fifth-year senior.

“It wasn’t a plan to feed Jehu, 

but it’s been a really interesting 
dynamic,” 
Harbaugh 
said. 

“I would say this. Here’s the 
greatest share of it, really, is I 
thought there were times last 
year where Jehu was playing 
great. 
Amara 
became 
the 

beneficiary of that in games 
last year, and then Amara 
would have a big game, so 
it’s probably no coincidence. 
Amara’s been doing some great 
things — last week had a big 
game, 11-catch game, over 100 
yards — and then Jehu becomes 
the beneficiary of that.”

Now, though, with a new 

quarterback in the huddle, the 
target distribution could change 
once again. Chesson has long 
been expected to break through, 
and perhaps O’Korn could use 
his playmaking ability in the 
event Speight can’t go.

But, at least publicly, he says 

he won’t go into the game with 
any specific goal of upping his 
game to help O’Korn.

“Once you start thinking 

about it as playing up to 
something, then what were you 
doing when you weren’t playing 
up to that?” Chesson said. “I 
don’t 
personally 
have 
that 

mindset because I want to play 
at a level that I can be consistent, 
through and through.”

MARINA ROSS/Daily

Fifth-year senior wide receiver Jehu Chesson had an impressive game against Maryland on Nov. 5, but he’s still looking to replicate his numbers from last season.

MAX BULTMAN

Managing Sports Editor

Evans, freshmen move forward after defeat

After the Michigan football 

team lost to Iowa over the 
weekend, 
senior 
running 

back De’Veon Smith told his 
teammates that they needed that 
loss, and they could learn from it. 
He felt the Wolverines had gotten 
too comfortable, and in order to 
move forward, they would have 
to focus more in practice.

Freshman 
running 
back 

Chris Evans listened to his older 
teammate. For the freshmen on 
the team, the loss at Kinnick 
Stadium was their first-ever 
taste of defeat.

“Yeah, I was surprised (by 

how the loss felt),” Evans said. 
“When they ran on the field, I 
was like, ‘Oh my goodness,’ like 
this is some crazy stuff. It was 
ridiculous.”

He went on to describe the 

Hawkeye fans storming the field 
as “like a movie.”

The loss didn’t feel real until 

hours later, when Michigan was 
waiting for its plane to take off 
on the tarmac.

“As I was sitting there, I’m 

like, ‘Dang, we just really lost,’ ” 
Evans said. “And then it popped 
up on the TVs behind the seats, 
a recap of it and stuff, so that 
really hit hard.”

The freshmen on the squad 

have their own group chat, and 
when it sank in that the team 
would no longer be undefeated 
for the first time in their short 
careers, emotions flared.

“We could tell how people 

switched, like changed, because 
we haven’t really been in that 
situation,” Evans said. “So we 
saw really people’s true colors 
after they got mad, and their 
anger built up and stuff. We’re 

just talking, like we just gotta 
make sure we keep our heads on 
straight when it’s our time.”

In a way, the freshmen have 

been spoiled by Michigan’s 
success. At the same time, the 
rookies have contributed to this 
season and have ownership for 
its success just as much as some 
of the veterans do.

Evans was the leading rusher 

against Iowa, and defensive end 
Rashan Gary, offensive lineman 
Ben Bredeson and wide receiver 
Eddie McDoom all played major 
roles in their units as well.

Despite 
Evans’ 
relative 

success against Iowa, rushing 

eight times for 52 yards, he was 
still upset with his performance.

“I feel like I would get through 

the gap,” Evans 
said. “But I was 
getting down on 
myself because 
I feel like the 
offense, 
we 

really needed a 
big play, but I felt 
like I couldn’t do 
that for us.”

The freshmen 

reaction 
to 

the 
loss 
was 

somewhat expected. But older 
teammates have been there 

before, and some are even 
impressed with the way they’re 
handling it. Those who have 

experienced 
losses 
before 

agree 
that 

perhaps 
an 

initial exposure 
to it could be 
positive.

“I 
think 

they’re all fired 
up and ready to 
attack this week 
of 
practice,” 

said 
redshirt 

sophomore 
tight 
end 
Ian 

Bunting. “We have a very mature 

group of freshmen and a lot of 
guys that are playing. That was 
a big learning experience for 
them I think, and for everyone 
on the team.”

For someone like Evans, who 

this summer plastered to his 
ceiling magazine articles that 
wrote him off as an instant 
redshirt, the loss stung. After 
overcoming criticism that he 
wouldn’t be able to contribute 
in 2016, this was his first major 
defeat.

Against 
Indiana, 
the 

Wolverines will get to see for the 
first time how their freshmen 
rebound.

Young running back was shocked by last-second loss, vows to ‘make sure we keep our heads straight’

MARINA ROSS/Daily

Freshman running back Chris Evans led Michigan with 52 rushing yards Saturday, but he also suffered the first loss of his career at Michigan.

“When they 

ran on the field, 
I was like, ‘Oh 
my goodness.’ ”

KELLY HALL

Daily Sports Editor

