Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, November 30, 2016 — 7A
T E A M S T A T S
MICH
OPP
Points/Game
41.0
12.5
First Downs/Game
22.3
14.3
Rush Yards/Game
223.2
116.8
Yards/Rush
5.0
3.1
Rushing TDs
40
7
Passing Yards/Game
216.1
135.9
Completion %
62.3%
44.5%
Yards/Pass
7.8
5.4
Passing TDs
19
9
Interceptions
6
12
Offensive Plays/Game
72.5
62.3
Total Offense
439.3
252.7
3rd-down Conversions
44.2%
20.9%
4th-down Conversions
66.7%
38.5%
Sacks/Game
3.7
1.5
Kick return average
18.6
21.0
Punt return average
15.6
7.3
Punting average
42.6
38.5
Field Goals-Attempts
16-21
8-16
Fumbles/Lost
13/5
13/5
Penalty Yards/Game
46.3
39.9
Time of Poss
32:57
27:03
I N D I V I D U A L S T A T S
PASSING
Player
Cmp
Att
Yds
TD
INT
Speight
183
293
2375
17
6
O’Korn
20
34
173
2
0
Morris
4
5
45
0
0
TOTALS
207
332
2593
19
6
RUSHING
Player
Att
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD
Smith, D.
165
810
4.9
42
10
Evans
80
565
7.1
57
3
Higdon
68
422
6.2
45
6
Isaac
74
417
5.6
53
5
Peppers
27
167
6.2
63
3
McDoom
15
154
10.3
33
0
Chesson
11
61
5.5
17
1
Hill, K.
25
39
1.6
4
10
Henderson
5
37
7.4
13
1
O’Korn
12
31
2.6
30
0
Morris
3
19
6.3
14
0
Davis
2
17
8.5
10
0
Crawford
3
15
5.0
11
0
Poggi
1
4
4.0
4
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
11
-16
-1.5
0
0
Speight
29
-53
-1.8
10
1
TOTALS
538 2679
5.0
63
40
RECEIVING
Player
No.
Yds
Avg
Lg
TD
Darboh
52
826
15.9
46
7
Butt
43
518
12.0
37
4
Chesson
31
469
15.1
40
2
Perry
13
183
14.1
54
1
Hill
14
105
7.5
15
2
Evans
6
87
14.5
56
0
Smith, D.
13
59
4.5
17
0
McDoom
5
59
11.8
33
0
Crawford
4
47
11.8
18
1
Poggi
6
45
7.5
15
0
Isaac
2
42
21.0
21
0
Wheatley
2
27
13.5
21
1
Ways
2
24
12.0
22
0
Henderson
1
23
23.0
23
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
207 2593 12.5
56
19
PUNT RETURNS
Player
No.
Yds
Avg. Long
TD
Peppers
21
310
14.8
54
1
Jocz
1
27
27.0
0
0
Evans
1
15
15.0
15
0
Perry
0
6
--
6
1
TOTALS
23
358
15.6
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
Peppers
1
11
11.0
11
0
Thomas
1
4
4.0
4
0
Lewis
2
0
0.0
0
0
TOTALS
12
133
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
10
260
26.0
55
0
Lewis
5
87
17.4
45
0
Henderson
3
39
13.0
15
0
Hill, K.
3
28
9.3
13
0
Evans
1
26
26.0
26
0
Hudson
1
6
6.0
6
0
Bunting
1
0
0.0
0
0
TOTALS
24
446
18.6
55
0
KICKOFFS
Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
TB
Allen
77
4941
64.2
45
Foug
8
460
57.5
2
Tice
3
189
63.0
0
TOTALS
88
5590
63.5
47
PUNTING
Player
No.
Yds
Avg.
Lg
Allen
46
1961
42.6
67
TOTALS
46
1961
42.6
67
FIELD GOALS
Player
FG
Pct.
1-19 20-29 30-3940-49 50+ Lg
Allen
16-2080.0% 0-0 9-9 5-7
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
37
67
104 15.5
4.5
2
Peppers
47
25
72
16.0
4.0
-
McCray
36
36
72
12.5
4.5
7
Thomas
35
28
63
-
-
7
Hill, D.
35
13
48
3.5
-
3
Glasgow, R.
14
25
39
9.5
4.0
1
Wormley
17
22
39
9.0
6.0
-
Charlton
17
21
38
11.0
8.5
1
Winovich
10
24
34
8.5
5.0
-
Hurst
17
14
31
9.5
3.5
-
Gary
11
16
27
5.0
1.0
-
Stribling
18
9
27
3.0
1.0
12
Godin
11
14
25
2.0
1.0
-
Lewis
17
6
23
3.5
-
10
Kinnel
11
6
17
1.0
-
-
Glasgow, J.
8
4
12
-
-
-
Watson
6
5
11
-
-
-
Bush
6
5
11
0.5
-
-
Clark
6
4
10
-
-
3
Mone
2
8
10
1.0
-
1
Furbush
3
6
9
1.0
-
-
Metellus
3
6
9
1.0
1.0
-
TOTALS
398 394 792
115
44
50
2016 SCHEDULE
HAWAII (5-7)
W, 63-3 (1-0)
UCF (6-5)
COLORADO (9-2)
PENN ST. (9-2)
WISCONSIN (9-2) at RUTGERS (2-9)
ILLINOIS (3-8)
at MICH. ST. (3-8) MARYLAND (5-6)
at IOWA (7-4)
INDIANA (5-6)
at OHIO ST. (10-1)
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) W, 20-10 (10-1) L, 30-27 (10-2)
Wolverines’ fate up in the air
After the Michigan football
team lost in double overtime to
No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday,
redshirt sophomore quarterback
Wilton Speight speculated that
the Wolverines’ chances to make
the College Football Playoff were
“slim to none.”
Three days later, it’s not clear
whether he’s correct or not, but
one thing is for sure: Michigan
will need help.
The Wolverines slotted in
at No. 5 in the second-to-last
CFP rankings revealed Tuesday
night, behind No. 1 Alabama,
No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Clemson
and No. 4 Washington — all of
which, with the exception of the
undefeated Crimson Tide, have
only one loss on their résumés.
Michigan
stands
as
the
highest-ranked
two-loss
team in the country and has
head-to-head wins over No. 6
Wisconsin, No. 7 Penn State
and No. 8 Colorado.
Many
pundits
believe
Alabama and Ohio State are locks
for the playoff, meaning that the
Wolverines would need Clemson
or Washington to lose their
conference championship games
to get back in the playoff picture.
What complicates matters,
though, is that the Badgers
and Nittany Lions will meet
for the Big Ten Championship
on Saturday, thanks to Penn
State’s
division-tiebreaking
win over Ohio State. And
the
eighth-ranked
Buffaloes
have an opportunity to upend
Washington and add the Pac-12
Championship to their résumé.
Consequently,
Michigan
may be the most divisive team
still in contention. Even ESPN’s
panelists squabbled over the
Wolverines during the release
show Tuesday night, delving into
the arguments for and against
Michigan making the playoff.
Host Rece Davis pointed to the
Wolverines’ weak road schedule,
mentioning that they only beat
2-10 Rutgers and 3-9 Michigan
State, while losing to Iowa and
Ohio State.
Analyst
Joey
Galloway
preached the importance of
conference
championships,
citing
the
final
2014
CFP
rankings, in which TCU fell from
No. 3 to No. 6 after the Buckeyes
won the Big Ten Championship.
He
also
pointed
out
the
unprecedented
possibility
of
two non-conference champions
from the same division making
the playoff.
“If Penn State wins the East
and wins the Big Ten, and you,
say, ‘Great job, great season, let’s
go back and get two teams from
the East and put them in,’ now
we’re talking crazy,” he said.
On the other side of the
argument,
Kirk
Herbstreit,
who did color commentary
for the Wolverines’ game in
Columbus, raised the question
of “most deserving” versus
“best.” In Herbstreit’s opinion,
Michigan’s
performance
against the Buckeyes — and its
three head-to-head wins over
fellow contenders — proved
the Wolverines were one of the
top teams and that they should
advance to the playoff with a
Washington loss Friday.
Of
course,
none
of
the
panelists’ opinions factor into the
decision. And the chairman of the
CFP selection committee, Kirby
Hocutt, emphasized that the
ultimate goal of the committee is
to get the “four very best teams”
into the playoff, regardless of
conference championships and
past years’ precedents.
This
week,
Hocutt
said
Washington and Michigan had a
very small margin of separation.
Things could only get more
difficult next week as Clemson,
Washington,
Michigan
and
Colorado, as well as either
Wisconsin or Penn State, could
all have two losses, bringing up
the difficult question of how to
separate them.
“When
two
teams
are
comparable, there’s razor-thin
margins between the two, that’s
when we go to the protocol and the
metrics,” Hocutt said on ESPN.
“Conference
championships,
strength of schedules, head-
to-head, and outcomes against
common opponents.
“Those four are not in any
particular order. None of those
four are weighted above the
other. It’s up to each member
of the selection committee to
determine if there’s a priority
of one of those four metrics to
them and which one carries the
most weight.”
At the end of the day, he
reiterated, the committee’s job is
to find the four best teams based
on overall résumés.
What that means for the
Wolverines is anyone’s guess.
‘M’ hosts Hokies in Big Ten/ACC Challenge
With games such as No.
3 North Carolina vs. No. 10
Indiana,
No.
14
Louisville
vs.
No.
16
Purdue,
No.
17 Wisconsin
vs.
No.
22
Syracuse
all
on
the
schedule; the
Big Ten/ACC
Challenge
has
its
fair
share
of
heavyweight
bouts.
But another
big game in
the Challenge
will
take
place inside Crisler Center
Wednesday night between the
Michigan
men’s
basketball
team and Virginia Tech (5-1).
Both teams, who were on
opposite sides of the bubble last
season, with Michigan making
the NCAA Tournament and the
Hokies going to the NIT, come
into the game with bounce-
back wins. The Wolverines
(5-1) beat Mount St. Mary’s
on Saturday after losing to
South Carolina, and the Hokies
downed Nebraska on Sunday
after losing to Texas A&M.
“We got a quality game on
our hands,” said Michigan
coach
John
Beilein.
“It’s
really odd that the bubble
teams (from last year) that
have (players) back are the
teams we’re playing, whether
it’s South Carolina, UCLA,
Marquette and now Virginia
Tech.”
After a lackluster loss in
Columbia, S.C., where they shot
just 19.2 percent and made only
1 of 25 from behind the arc, the
Wolverines bounced back to
defeat the Mountaineers, 64-47.
Led by the trio of senior
guard
Derrick
Walton
Jr.,
senior forward Zak Irvin and
sophomore
forward
Moritz
Wagner, who all put up double-
digit point totals, the Wolverines
powered their way past Mount
St. Mary’s for the victory.
“We knew we just had to
bounce back (from the loss to
South Carolina),” Irvin said.
“Every team goes through
those games where the ball
doesn’t fall for you. The game
doesn’t go your way, and I
knew I had to come with a
mindset to be able to bounce
back, and I think the team did
that as well.”
Michigan
shot
much
better against a much smaller
opponent in the Mountaineers
and regained some of its stroke
that allowed it to shoot its way
past Marquette and Southern
Methodist prior to its loss to
the Gamecocks.
On the other side of the
court, Virginia Tech, which
was projected to finish 10th in
the Atlantic Coast Conference
this season, has impressed
early on in the season. The
Hokies started the year with
four straight victories before
a narrow three-point loss to
Texas A&M at
the
Wooden
Classic
in
Fullerton, Calif.
Coach Buzz
Williams’ team
is led by 6-foot-
7 forward Zach
LeDay,
who
ranks first on
the
team
in
both
points
and rebounds,
averaging 16.3 and 7.7 per
game, respectively.
Virginia
Tech’s
biggest
strength has been its shooting
and its transition offense. The
Hokies are shooting at almost
50 percent this season and
play an up-tempo style that
Michigan
has
not
had
to
defend yet this
season.
“They’re
a
really
smart
team,” Beilein
said.
“They
shoot the ball
really
well.
They
remind
me
of
some
of the better
teams we’ve had, who have a
lot of shooters and have a lot of
guys who can see the floor.
“That ball is going to come
through the basket and pushed
up the floor right down our
throat. So if our transition
defense isn’t good enough, they
will get 80 on us.”
While Virginia Tech’s style
of offense is something that the
Wolverines haven’t yet seen
this season, it is one that they
will see down the road.
Beilein
highlighted
Michigan State and Indiana
as teams that play with an
up-tempo style that Michigan
will see later on in the season.
So while the Hokies may not
have the talent of the Spartans
or the Hoosiers, Virginia Tech
will pose a good challenge for
Michigan before tougher Big
Ten foes come to town.
FOOTBALL
Peppers,
defense
dominate
awards
The
Michigan
football
team’s defense dominated its
opponents all year long. Tuesday
night, it dominated the Big Ten’s
award show.
All 11 of Michigan’s defensive
starters received honors from the
Big Ten, with eight making either
first or second team All-Big Ten and
three earning honorable mentions.
Jabrill
Peppers
was
the
big winner, taking home the
Nagurski-Woodson
Defensive
Player of of the Year, Butkus-
Fitzgerald
Linebacker
of
the
Year and Rodgers-Dwight return
specialist of the year awards. In
fact, only one of the four individual
defensive awards not given to
Michigan — the conference’s
Smith-Brown Defensive Lineman
of the Year award was given to
Ohio State’s Tyquan Lewis.
Peppers was the first player
to win three awards since the
conference expanded its awards
program in 2011.
Peppers, who is in the running
to be a Heisman Trophy finalist,
tallied 16 tackles for loss in
the regular season and had
one interception. He made an
impact all over the field, lining
up
defensively
at
linebacker,
safety and cornerback, as well as
playing offense and serving as the
Wolverines’ main return man.
A redshirt sophomore, Peppers
is just the fourth Michigan player
to win Defensive Player of the
Year, following Charles Woodson
(who also won the Heisman in
1997), Larry Foote (2001) and
LaMarr Woodley (2006).
He was also one of four
Wolverines named first team
All-Conference
on
defense,
along with senior defensive end
Taco Charlton, fifth-year senior
defensive end Chris Wormley
(coaches) and senior cornerback
Jourdan Lewis.
Lewis took home the Tatum-
Woodson Defensive Back of the
Year award, capping a season in
which he took away half the field
for the Wolverines. Even with
teams seldom throwing his way,
Lewis broke up 12 passes and
intercepted two. He allowed just
eight receptions all season.
His biggest highlight-reel play
came on a fourth-down deep ball
against Wisconsin, when Lewis
made an outstretched, one-handed
grab to ice the game. Lewis was the
anchor of the nation’s No. 1 pass
defense, a distinction reflected
in the vast number of Wolverines
honored Tuesday during the Big
Ten Network’s hour-long award
special.
Fifth-year
senior
defensive
tackle
Ryan
Glasgow,
senior
cornerback Channing Stribling,
senior
safety
Delano
Hill
(coaches) and senior linebacker
Ben Gedeon (media) were named
to the second team.
Earning honorable mentions
were fifth-year senior defensive
tackle
Matt
Godin
(coaches),
redshirt
junior
linebacker
Mike McCray and senior safety
Dymonte Thomas.
Fifth-year senior Kenny Allen
was the second team All-Big Ten
punter and an honorable mention
at kicker.
The Coach of the Year awards
were split between Wisconsin’s
Paul Chryst (coaches) and Penn
State’s James Franklin (media),
the two coaches who will compete
for the Big Ten title in Indianapolis
this Saturday.
All 11 defensive
players earn All-
Big Ten accolades
MAX BULTMAN
Managing Sports Editor
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Zak Irvin and Michigan delivered a bounce-back performance Saturday.
MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
Virginia Tech
at Michigan
Matchup:
Virginia
Tech 5-1;
Michigan 5-1
When:
Wednesday
7 P.M.
Where: Crisler
Center
TV/Radio:
ESPN2
“They remind
me of some of
the better teams
we’ve had.”
JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Editor