6A — Thursday, November 17, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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 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)
O’Korn has teammates’ confidence
In all likelihood, John O’Korn
is now the starting quarterback
of the Michigan football team.
That was a sentence a lot of
fans expected to read before
the first game of the season,
before the emergence of redshirt
sophomore
Wilton
Speight
ultimately relegated O’Korn to a
backup role.
But
now,
with
Speight
sustaining
an
unspecified
shoulder injury in a loss to
Iowa last week, the starting job
appears to finally be in O’Korn’s
hands.
For a team with College
Football Playoff hopes — the
third-ranked
Wolverines
(6-1
Big Ten, 9-1 overall) still control
their own destiny despite the loss
— losing a starting quarterback
with just two regular-season
games
remaining
might
be
a cause for panic. O’Korn’s
teammates, though, don’t seem
to have that mindset.
“We’re gonna be running
the same exact plays,” said
senior tight end Jake Butt.
“John’s been doing a great job
understanding his role, and he’s
been ready every single week
and preparing every single week
as if he were the starter. If his
number is called, I’m confident —
everyone’s confident — that John
will be able to get this job done
for us.”
It doesn’t seem to be blind
confidence, either. Several of
O’Korn’s teammates pointed to
his methods of preparation and
said they’re not expecting much
of a drop-off.
That preparation started last
season, when O’Korn had to
sit out a year after transferring
from
Houston.
He
couldn’t
play in games, but he was the
quarterback of the scout team
and earned scout player of the
week honors several times.
Even after losing the job this
year, O’Korn didn’t scale his
preparation back. According to
Butt, O’Korn likes to sit in the
front row at meetings, is one of
the first players to watch film and
is one of the best note-takers on
the team.
Though
he
hasn’t
been
calling
the
shots
on
the
field,
O’Korn
has earned the
respect
of
his
teammates
—
including
fifth-
year
senior
defensive
lineman
Chris
Wormley, who said he wishes he
spent as much time preparing as
O’Korn did.
“John’s done a great job all
year of being a leader, whether
(he’s) playing or not,” Wormley
said. “He’s still a leader in my
eyes, at least. He watches film
after practice probably more
than
anybody
I’ve ever seen at
the college level,
which is weird
for
somebody
that isn’t asked
to play as much
as he does. ...
But
with
him
doing that for
the
last
two,
three
months,
it’s gonna help
him out big time if he’s starting
on Saturday.”
O’Korn won’t have Speight’s
10 games of preparation under
his belt, but he does have one
extra tool to help him out: his
feet.
Standing two inches shorter
and 30 pounds lighter than
Speight, O’Korn has a proven
ability
to
move
around
in
the pocket and even pull off
designed runs — as evidenced
by his performance in this year’s
Spring Game, where he tallied 28
rushing yards and a touchdown.
“You see Wilton try and
scramble and it looks like it
hurts,” Wormley said. “But for
O’Korn, he’s a little shiftier, a
little faster and more athletic.
He’s got a great arm, so I’m
excited to see what he can do
too.”
The rest of the team seems
quietly confident, as well —
according to running backs coach
Tyrone Wheatley, it’s “plug and
play.” Wheatley confessed that in
practice, he’s usually zoned in on
his own position group, but he’s
noticed no peripheral difference
under center.
For Michigan to accomplish
its lofty goals — starting with
beating Indiana on Saturday
and winning a possible playoff-
deciding matchup at No. 2 Ohio
State after that — it will need
those differences to be as muted
as O’Korn’s teammates expect
them to be.
“O’Korn is gonna do well —
you don’t look at it as a drop-off,
you don’t look at it as anything
different,” Wheatley said. “It’s
the next guy in. Game normal.”
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Redshirt junior quarterback John O’Korn may be thrust into action on Saturday if redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton Speight is unable to play.
JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
“We’re gonna
be running
the same
exact plays.”
Wolverines look back on chaotic finishes
Chris Wormley had been in the
situation before. He looked, then
took a deep breath. And then he
had one thought: Get off the field.
Iowa’s Keith Duncan had just
kicked a game-winning 33-yard
field goal as time expired, and then
came the Hawkeye fans streaming
onto the field. Wormley knew he
wouldn’t want to be caught up in
that chaos.
And as he hurried off the field
— his only prerogative to get to
the locker room quickly — an Iowa
fan accidentally collided with the
6-foot-6,
302-pound
defensive
lineman and flew backward to the
turf.
“I was heading for the locker
room after that loss, so I wasn’t
thinking too much about who was
in my way, who’s not in my way,”
Wormley said Tuesday. “I hope
he’s doing OK.”
It looked like a scary moment
at first, but Wormley said he
feels better about it now that he
knows the fan is OK. The fifth-
year senior even joked that he’d be
willing to be the “poster child” for
a brochure at every game called
“Field Storming 101” that taught
fans how to avoid injury.
The fact is, Wormley has been
through plenty of moments like
Saturday’s, though that was the
first iteration in the past two
years that induced a rush of fans
from the seats. In that span, the
Wolverines have played in four
games decided on the final play,
winning two (at Minnesota last
Oct. 31 and at Indiana last Nov. 14)
and losing two (versus Michigan
State last Oct. 17 and at Iowa on
Saturday).
“It wasn’t the greatest feeling
I’ve ever had, I would say that,”
said redshirt sophomore tight
end Ian Bunting about Saturday.
“I kind of just walked off the field
quickly to avoid as many people
as I could. It was just … it sucks
to lose. It’s never good to lose.
Especially when you’ve won all
your games this season other than
that one.”
The
most
famous
crucial
play of the four, of course, was
last year’s muffed punt snap
against Michigan State, which
the Spartans returned for a
touchdown and a 27-23 victory.
That time, a full crowd of 111,740
watched in shock as the game
changed and the visiting players
piled on each other in the end
zone with no time left.
Michigan followed that up with
last-second escapes in two of the
next three weeks. At Minnesota,
the Wolverines trailed for most of
the second half and lost starting
quarterback Jake Rudock to an
injury. But then-backup Wilton
Speight stepped in and threw
a go-ahead touchdown to Jehu
Chesson with 4:57 left and added
a two-point conversion that put
his team up by three.
The Golden Gophers marched
down the field on a 13-play,
74-yard drive and landed inside
the 1-yard line. There, Michigan’s
defense stuffed a quarterback
sneak as time expired, a play that
— like the others — many watched
with bated breath.
“I guess just everything’s out
of your control at that point,”
said redshirt junior defensive
tackle Maurice Hurst. “… There’s
nothing you can really do. You
really (don’t) want to just have to
have that feeling that you wish
you could have done more. …
That’d be terrible if you felt like
you could have done a little bit
more to change the outcome of
the game.”
Yet
the
Wolverines
found
themselves in a similar position
two weeks later at Indiana.
Depleted on the defensive line
and facing an up-tempo spread
offense, they again trailed in the
fourth quarter before forcing
overtime on a touchdown pass
from Rudock to Chesson with
two seconds left. In the second
overtime, safety Delano Hill
broke up a fourth-down pass to
preserve the victory and bring his
teammates rushing onto the field
to celebrate.
Michigan had coasted in seven
of its first nine wins this year by
at least 17 points, and Saturday
was the latest drama it had faced
in a game all season. This time,
the Wolverines ended up on the
wrong end of it. They have seen
both sides enough to know that it
makes for a nerve-racking finish
in either case.
“It depends on what side you
end up on,” Bunting said with a
wry smile. “If you end up on the
side that we were on last week, it’s
disappointing and it’s frustrating.
But that’s football, and it’s gonna
happen. That’s what we sign up
for. We sign up for, when we come
to Michigan, to play in games like
that and to win games like that.”
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Fifth-year senior defensive end Chris Wormley has seen more than his fair share of last-second finishes in his career, including Saturday at Iowa.
JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor