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