B
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

