4B — November 21, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
Five Things We Learned: Indiana
After
redshirt
sophomore
quarterback
Wilton
Speight
went down with a shoulder
injury last week, the Michigan
football team was already in for
a challenge in its matchup with
Indiana on Saturday.
A mid-game snow flurry,
though, magnified the problem
immensely.
The
Wolverines
trailed at halftime, 7-3, before
senior running back De’Veon
Smith
exploded
for
two
touchdowns and helped them
escape with a 20-10 victory.
Here’s what we learned from
Michigan’s 10th victory of the
season. (Or at least what we
think we learned. The snow
made it nearly impossible to see
the field.)
1. It was unfair to expect no
drop-off at the quarterback
position.
After the news of Speight’s
injury went public, his coaches
and
teammates
expressed
full confidence in his backup,
redshirt junior John O’Korn.
They pointed to his work ethic
and steady focus, claiming they
weren’t expecting much of a
drop-off.
In hindsight, that probably
wasn’t a fair assumption. O’Korn
is a talented quarterback, but
he hadn’t started in two years
and didn’t have the 10 games
of
experience
Speight
had
accumulated this season, and
that showed on Saturday. O’Korn
struggled throwing the ball —
though the weather factor can’t
be ignored — completing just
seven of 16 passes for 59 yards.
He
did
spark
the
team
with his feet, as a 30-yard
run on 3rd-and-8 helped set
up the Wolverines’ go-ahead
touchdown. It was one of just
three
successful
third-down
conversions Michigan had all
day.
2. De’Veon Smith deserves
the trust his coaches have in
him.
Some Wolverine fans seemed
a bit perplexed after Smith
received the bulk of the carries
in last week’s loss to Iowa
despite averaging just 2.3 yards
a carry. Still, running backs
coach Tyrone Wheatley made
it clear this week that Smith is
his most trusted back, citing his
experience and development.
Smith didn’t wait long to
validate
his
coach’s
trust
again, posting a career day
Saturday with 158 yards and two
touchdowns. His valiant effort
in the third quarter proved to
be the difference in the victory,
swinging a 10-6 deficit into a
20-10 lead that Michigan clung
to for the rest of the game.
3.
The
Wolverines’
secondary isn’t invincible.
It’s still unwise to throw the
ball near senior cornerbacks
Jourdan Lewis and Channing
Stribling — the two combined
for four more pass breakups
on Saturday and remain one of
the top defensive back duos in
the country. The Wolverines’
secondary allowed a few big
plays through the air, though,
allowing Indiana to temporarily
seize control of the game.
In the second quarter, Hoosier
receiver Luke Timian picked up a
31-yard reception after Michigan
senior safety Delano Hill fell
down in coverage, setting up
Indiana’s only touchdown of
the game. Later, receiver Nick
Westbrook made a great catch
on a 37-yard gain despite tight
coverage from Stribling, but
Indiana had to settle for a field
goal after the Wolverines picked
up a stop on third down.
Michigan was fortunate that
the Hoosiers failed to capitalize
on their opportunities, but the
Wolverines’ trend of allowing
a few big plays per game could
be problematic with No. 2 Ohio
State looming next week.
4. Special teams can still
make a difference.
Other
than
fifth-year
senior kicker Kenny Allen’s
rediscovered success, it had
been a quiet few weeks for
Michigan’s special teams unit.
The Wolverines’ kick coverage
squad got back to its old habit
of blocking punts on Saturday,
though, and that helped swing
the momentum in Michigan’s
favor.
First, it was fifth-year senior
tight end Michael Jocz getting
a hand on a punt in the second
quarter, giving the Wolverines
the ball in Indiana territory.
They ended up kicking a field
goal for the first points of the
game. Later, it was freshman
safety Khaleke Hudson who
blocked another punt in the
fourth quarter.
Michigan
ultimately
squandered the second scoring
opportunity, but it benefited
from great field position all
afternoon.
The
Wolverines’
average starting position was at
their own 39-yard line, while the
Hoosiers’ was at their own 21 —
thanks in large part to Allen, who
had three 50-plus yard punts and
four inside the 20-yard line.
5.
BOLD
PREDICTION:
Michigan beats Ohio State.
Michigan may have looked
sluggish the last two weeks, but
“The Game” has a way of waking
teams up quickly. Even in 2013
and 2014, when the struggling
Wolverines
were
essentially
playing for nothing, they put
a scare into the Buckeyes and
threatened their national title
hopes.
This year’s edition of the
rivalry game has higher stakes
than any year since 2006.
The winner should be in the
driver’s
seat
for
a
College
Football Playoff berth, while
the loser will likely be on the
outside looking in. A surprise
return from Speight would go
a long way toward helping the
Wolverines’ chances, but his
status remains hush-hush.
Regardless,
Michigan’s
defense will be ready to go, and
its offense could benefit from
a contest with more stable
weather conditions. It’s never
easy to win in Columbus, but
the Wolverines have more than
a fighting chance.
JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Fifth-year senior kicker Kenny Allen has rebounded nicely since an apparent midseason slump. Allen had three punts of more than 50 yards on Saturday.
Finn, ‘M’ finish second in bittersweet end
Erin Finn thought she finally had
it.
After passing Notre Dame’s Anna
Rohrer in the final straightway, just
200 meters separated Finn from
Michigan’s first individual cross
country
national
championship
since Katie McGregor in 1998.
Despite the incredible nature
of Finn’s career — which includes
three Big Ten Athlete of the Year
awards — it has been marked by
misfortune, falling just short at
the most inopportune times: she
lost her shoe in the 2015 National
Championship and injured her foot
before the 1000-meter Olympic
qualifiers
last
year.
Saturday’s
race, which took place on her 22nd
birthday, provided an opportunity
for the senior to finally capture the
crown her career deserved.
“I thought that once I passed
Anna Rohrer and made up that
ground, I thought that the title
might be mine,” Finn said, “I had
no idea that Karissa Schweizer was
coming behind me.”
Mere seconds away from the
finish line, Finn turned her head
to see Schweizer pass her. It was
a bittersweet moment, as the
Wolverines ran to a suprising
second-place finish — good for
Michigan’s best-ever result — just
one point behind Oregon. But Finn
fell just shy of the championship
that has eluded her for so long.
“She did everything she could —
similar to the team,” said Wolverine
coach Mike McGuire. “She fought
hard to get in the lead with about
300 meters to go, but Schweitzer
had a great kick at the end and was
the better athlete today. She was the
deserving champion today, and we
tip our hat to her.”
Finn looked poised to capture a
triumphant moment, running the
6,000 meters in 19:44 — just 2.6
seconds slower than Schweizer’s.
“Unfortunately,
it
wasn’t
enough,” Finn said. “I thought it
was, but I can rest in the fact that
I could not have tried any harder
or given it any more. But it was
definitely a little heartbreaking, a
little bittersweet to come so close.”
Even
though
Finn
never
captured that elusive individual
national championship, McGuire
is unequivocally sure that she’s the
best runner in program history.
“Erin’s the best distance runner
we’ve ever had.” he said. “I’ll put up
her body of work, and I don’t even
think Katie would dispute it.”
Michigan’s finish was aided by
juniors Avery Evenson and Gina
Sereno, who finished in 18th and
30th, respectively, and earned All-
America honors. Freshman Maddy
Trevison, 46th, and redshirt junior
Jaimie Phelan, 65th, also scored.
Trevison gave Michigan an
impressive boost, finishing seventh
out of all freshmen runners in her
first collegiate championship race.
“All five of our scorers — and
even Jamie Morrissey at number six
— had great races,” McGuire said.
“Maddy stepped up and probably
ran 30 seconds faster than she did
a month ago; Jaimie Phelan really
came on with a really strong last
kilometer
where
she
probably
passed upwards of 20 people. So
in our scoring positions, we really
couldn’t have asked for much more
than what we got.”
Despite the surprising nature of
the second-place result — the team
entered the race ranked fifth and
simply desired to reach the podium
Saturday — the “what-ifs” crept
into the minds of Michigan runners
following the championship, as one
position separated the Wolverines
from a share of the national title.
“We were all kind of sitting here
on the bus like, ‘Where could I have
taken one more place?’ or ‘Where
could we have gotten that last
point?’ ” Evenson said. “We’re never
going to blame one person, but it’s a
what-if sort of situation.”
“What if” is a question that has
followed Finn in the most painful of
ways. She will go down as one of the
greatest athletes in school history,
as she contributed to an all-time
showing for her team, and, yet, she
fought back tears when reflecting
on her career.
“I’m going to go back to
bittersweet,” Finn said. “It’s been
an incredible ride, and I’m so
grateful to be a Wolverine and have
finished that with my teammates.
That fact that I could trust that
every single one of them went out
on the course giving everything
they had — and knowing that I was
doing the same — there’s nothing
more special than that.”
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Writer
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
THE MICHIGAN
DAILY TOP-10 POLL
2. OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes
joined Northwestern and BYU
in the elite club of teams that
won in East Lansing this year.
1. ALABAMA: Let’s be honest:
No one wants Bama.
9. COLORADO: The Buffaloes
are high this week, which is a
surprise to exactly no one.
3. MICHIGAN: The last
year the Wolverines won in
Columbus, the president-
elect lost the popular vote.
Just saying.
6. WISCONSIN: Does TJ
Watt get to be in all those
commercials now?
5. WASHINGTON: By
the transitive property,
Washington would lose by 59
to Bama. Boom, math’d.
7. OKLAHOMA: Just when
you thought the Big 12 was
dead, one team is suddenly
kinda ‘meh’ again.
4. CLEMSON: Dabo Swinney
is more than ready to dab on
any haters who think Clemson
isn’t playoff-worthy.
8. PENN STATE: Congrats to
the Nittany Lions, who are the
highest-ranked team to have
lost by at least 39 points.
10. WESTERN MICHIGAN:
We’re pretty sure Kalamazoo
is still too hungover from
GameDay to see the Broncos’
Top 10 debut.
Each week, Daily sports staffers fill out ballots,
with first-place votes receiving 10 points, second-
place votes receiving nine and so on.