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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | November 21, 2016
Michigan 20, Indiana 10
‘The Game,’ at last
Michigan-Ohio State is
the biggest game in college
football season, just like
Brady Hoke always wanted
» SportsMonday Column,
Page 2B
Garden Fresh
The Michigan men’s
basketball team made
a statement with two
resounding victories and a
championship in New York
» Page 3B
John O’Korn ran up behind
De’Veon Smith and lifted him
up.
The senior running back
had just powered in his second
touchdown of the game to put
No. 3 Michigan up 20-10 over
the Hoosiers. It was a moment
of relief for the Wolverines,
who had trailed for most of the
contest.
O’Korn struggled throughout
his first start at Michigan, but
one thing always seemed to work:
handing off the ball to Smith.
So now, after Smith seemed to
will the Wolverines to a major
lead that they would ultimately
maintain, the redshirt junior
quarterback raised up the player
who put the team on his back.
The running back accrued
158 yards for two touchdowns,
saving his longest run for
his 39-yard score in the final
seconds of the third quarter. He
averaged 6.9 yards per carry,
and instead of running backs
coach Tyrone Wheatley steadily
rotating Michigan’s four leading
running backs like usual, Smith
was given the ball over and over
again for good reason.
“Yeah, I mean, (Smith was)
grinding out first downs,” said
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.
“De’Veon, he played with great
motivation and some great play
by the offensive line. It felt like
old-fashioned, slobber-knocker
football …
“De’Veon breaking tackles
— even the hard runs, the yards
after contact, pushing for the
first down was critical.”
Though Smith’s heroics were
more visible in the second half,
he was a major contributor in
the first as well. He broke loose
for a 25-yard run on 4th-and-2
in the second quarter to set up
for the Wolverines’ first score
of the game, a 28-yard field goal
made by fifth-year senior kicker
Kenny Allen.
“You know, it was a very
important game for us seniors,
and I believe our team wanted
to go out with a bang, and that’s
what we did,” Smith said. “We
weren’t getting it done in the first
quarter. We were getting three-
and-outs on offense and defense
was still sticking in there for us,
but we wanted to go out with a
bang and that’s what we did.”
Smith credited the offensive
line for his success, and that
humility is what redshirt junior
linebacker Mike McCray thinks
makes him so good.
“He works hard, probably
more than anybody on the
team,” McCray said, “and he
has the heart to get the extra
yards that he wants to get and
what we need.”
On Senior Day, Smith showed
some of that heart when he
refused to go down, bowling
over an Indiana defender on that
25-yard run on fourth down.
Moments like this are what
make fifth-year senior defensive
tackle Ryan Glasgow call him an
“absolute animal.”
“I remember the first time I
ever tackled De’Veon was in a
KELLY HALL
Daily Sports Editor
SNOW DE’
I
t appeared Dymonte
Thomas was first, followed
shortly by Khalid Hill.
Before long,
everyone
joined: Ben
Braden,
Delano Hill,
AJ Pearson.
One by
one, those
seniors took
turns diving
headfirst into
the snow that
by then had covered the field
at Michigan Stadium, like they
had all finished a game of snow
football in the backyard and
wanted to take a few moments to
revel in the atmosphere.
Anyone did it. Thomas, who
made eight tackles Saturday. Hill,
who has scored a team-high 10
touchdowns. Pearson, who has
hardly played in his entire career.
It did not seem to matter. They
all stayed, all waited out the
worst times of their careers and,
on Saturday, all survived.
Until this weekend’s 20-10
win against Indiana, the
Wolverines had cruised past
opponents, held off opponents
and did whatever it was they
did to Rutgers. They had not
yet done merely the minimum
it took to escape, as other teams
have so far this season.
Saturday, that was enough,
especially for these seniors.
They know they could have
squandered their College
Football Playoff hopes. They
know they could have fumbled
In final game at Michigan Stadium,
Smith carries Wolverines to victory
A fitting scare, and a
deserved celebration
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
See SMITH, Page 2B
See SENIORS, Page 2B
Design: Christine Lee
JAKE
LOURIM