Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Wednesday, December 7, 2016 — 7A

Wolverines move on from crushing loss

Until about 4 p.m. on Nov. 

26, Ryan Glasgow’s final season 
as a Michigan football player 
was at its highest point. The 
Wolverines had a chance to beat 
Ohio State in Columbus that day, 
and if they had, they would have 
kept playing, starting with the 
Big Ten Championship this past 
Saturday.

When Michigan lost on the 

final play of double-overtime a 
few minutes later, its season was 
suddenly altered. The players 
had last week off while the 
coaches were out recruiting, 
with only the bowl game left to 
prepare for.

Somehow, 
the 
Wolverines 

had to move on. So when they 
boarded the bus to return to Ann 
Arbor, Glasgow pulled out his 
iPad and watched the game film. 
He watched it again that night. 
And then he came into the film 
room at Schembechler Hall the 
next day and watched it again.

He estimated that he saw the 

defensive film about eight times 
before Tuesday or Wednesday 
last week.

“That’s a game that will stick 

with me for a while, because 
we’re so close to beating Ohio 
State at the Horseshoe, No. 2 
versus 3, one of the biggest games 
in a long time, and just came up 
short,” Glasgow said.

The sting of the Ohio State 

loss lingered for many players. 
The Buckeyes, too, were off last 
week, but they were coming off a 
win and felt confident about their 
College Football Playoff chances 
at No. 2 in the rankings.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” 

Glasgow said. “You can cite all 
the referee controversy you want, 
but we didn’t play well enough 
to take it out of the hands of the 
referees. I’m not partial either 
way, what people are saying 

about it. Can’t really do much 
about it anymore.

“Really disappointing, you go 

five years here, try and prepare as 
hard as you can, 
try 
and 
work 

as hard as you 
can, and to leave 
winless against 
Ohio 
State 
is 

something 
I 

don’t even think 
I’ve 
fathomed 

yet.”

Meanwhile, 

Wisconsin 
and 

Penn State, two 
teams Michigan beat early in 
the season, practiced all week 
and played for the Big Ten title 
Saturday in Indianapolis while 
the Wolverines sat at home.

During the week, the players 

had to find another way to pass 

the time, relieved of the 20 hours 
per week they spend practicing 
during the season. Some studied, 
some watched TV and some 

played games.

“It was weird,” 

said 
senior 

cornerback 
Channing 
Stribling. 
“There’s 
never 

been 
a 
time 

when we’ve been 
off, 
not 
doing 

anything.”

And 
some 

players — such 

as Glasgow, who is taking just 
six credits this semester as a 
fifth-year senior — struggled to 
occupy themselves.

“It’s different — you feel like a 

normal student for a week, kind 
of,” Glasgow said. “But then it 

just gets boring.”

Such is the predicament when 

a team’s season ends abruptly. 
For most of the season, Michigan 
thought it would keep playing 
until the Big Ten Championship. 
Instead, heartbreak had a chance 
to settle in.

Glasgow 
then 
took 
the 

opportunity to talk about the 
opportunity to play Florida State 
in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30. 
Tuesday, the Wolverines’ dead 
period ended when they went 
back to practice in preparation 
for the bowl game. They have 15 
practices to stay at the level they 
played at for most of the season. 
Then, in a few weeks, Glasgow 
will have one last chance to cap 
his career, add to his NFL Draft 
stock and create some game film 
he’ll enjoy watching on the way 
home.

Season review: 
Running backs

Editor’s 
Note: 
With 
the 

Michigan football team’s 2016 
regular season in the books, 
the Daily looks back at the 
performance of each unit this 
year and looks ahead to the 
future in 2017. In this edition: 
running backs.

Before 
the 
start 
of 
the 

Michigan football team’s 2016 
season, fans wondered which 
running back would emerge 
from the pack. As it turned 
out, no one back consistently 
received the bulk of the carries 
through the first half of the 
season. 
Sophomore 
Karan 

Higdon led in rushing yards in 
some contests, but in others, 
freshman Chris Evans or senior 
De’Veon Smith came out on top.

That changed in the final 

stretch 
of 
the 
Wolverines’ 

season. Smith racked up more 
than 100 yards in three Big Ten 
games, becoming Michigan’s 
leading running back with 810 
yards and 10 touchdowns. He 
rushed for the Wolverines’ 
only two touchdowns against 
Indiana 
and 
validated 
his 

position as the lead back.

Though Smith didn’t have a 

signature game against Ohio 
State and posted fewer than 30 
yards in games against Iowa 
and Hawaii, he became the 
Wolverines’ go-to back in most 
dire situations.

Next season the Wolverines 

will need to replace Smith, 
but judging by the talent that 
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh 
has corralled in just two 
seasons, it’s easy to expect 
someone to emerge.

HIGH POINT:

Though it took Smith a couple 

games to find his footing, Evans 
showed 
Michigan 
Stadium 

his potential in his first-ever 
collegiate game. He went off 
for 112 yards, averaging 14 
yards per run and scoring 
two touchdowns against the 
Rainbow Warriors.

Smith 
saved 
his 
best 

performance 
for 
the 

Wolverines’ 
second-to-last 

game of the season. His 158 
yards against the Hoosiers 
were a career best, and they 
also 
saved 
Michigan 
from 

losing two Saturdays in a row. 
As backup quarterback John 
O’Korn struggled to get things 
moving through the air, Smith 
accounted for the Wolverines’ 
only touchdowns. He ripped 
off a 39-yard run in the third 
quarter to put Michigan up 
20-10, allowing the Wolverines 
to enjoy their senior day in the 
snow.

Collectively, Michigan’s best 

rushing effort came in late 

September. 
The 
Wolverines 

rushed 
49 
times 
for 
326 

yards 
against 
the 
Nittany 

Lions, 
scoring 
six 
rushing 

touchdowns in the process. 
Evans, 
Higdon, 
Isaac 
and 

Smith all made it into the end 
zone, helping Michigan to a 
49-10 victory over Penn State.

LOW POINT:

After four running backs 

received 
more 
than 
five 

carries each against Hawaii, 
fans hoped to see a slimmed-
down rotation against Central 
Florida. Instead, carries were 
distributed evenly again, but 
production wasn’t anywhere 
near as high as it was the week 
prior. The Knights controlled 
the Wolverines on the ground 
and held them to 119 rushing 
yards. Smith led Michigan in 
rushing yards, but this time, he 
ran for just 38 yards.

The 
Wolverines’ 
running 

game also screeched to a halt 
against Iowa, which was a bit 
more disastrous. They suffered 
their first loss of the season 
after Iowa held Michigan to 
double-digit 
rushing 
yards. 

The Wolverines averaged a 
lowly 2.8 yards per run in 
Kinnick Stadium, and they 
came up short, 14-13, as the 
receiving corps struggled, too.

THE FUTURE:

Running backs coach Tyrone 

Wheatley has indicated that 
he prefers to use three to four 
backs throughout the season in 
order to keep his players’ legs 
fresh. If his past responses are 
at all indicative of what we’ll 
see in the future, a rotation will 
be used once more.

Though Smith will be lost to 

graduation, freshman Kareem 
Walker could get a chance 
to show what he’s made of 
after redshirting this year. 
Harbaugh kept Walker out 
this season, opting to have him 
focus on academics instead, but 
the highly touted recruit will 
be exciting to watch in 2017.

Evans, who mentioned that 

he wants to put on more weight 
so he can be a bruising back 
like Smith, showed flashes 
of greatness throughout his 
freshman year. He finished just 
behind Smith in rushing yards, 
and it wouldn’t be surprising to 
anyone if he ended up leading 
the unit next season.

Higdon 
and 
Isaac, 
who 

ran for 422 and 417 yards, 
respectively, will round out 
the group. The backs will be 
experienced in 2017, and it’s 
likely that they’ll be counted 
on heavily as Michigan loses 
its top three receivers (Amara 
Darboh, Jake Butt and Jehu 
Chesson) to graduation. 

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Senior running back De’Veon Smith led Michigan’s rushing attack in 2016.

KELLY HALL

Daily Sports Editor

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Fifth-year senior defensive tackle Ryan Glasgow came up just short in his final chance to beat Ohio State.

JAKE LOURIM

Managing Sports Editor

“That’s a game 
that will stick 
with me for 

a while.”

Loss to Xavier exposes flaws in the post

Last Thursday, the Michigan 

women’s basketball team, in 
what appeared to be a matchup 
of equal talents, wiped the floor 
with Georgia Tech in a 92-52 
rout.

The Wolverines had been 

buoyed 
by 
their 
offensive 

prowess in each game prior, but 
for the first time, it seemed like 
the defense could also hold its 
own against a strong offensive 
team.

Michigan was firing on all 

cylinders and doing it consistently 
on its way to a hot 7-1 start.

“It was a pretty good game,” 

said Michigan coach Kim Barnes 
Arico after the contest. “We 
kicked their butt. I didn’t think 
that we were going to come in 
here and do that. ... You always 
have to be ready. We always talk 
about the team and not being 
caught up in our individual stuff.”

The 
Wolverines 
especially 

overpowered 
Georgia 
Tech 

with their height, as 6-foot-5 
sophomore center Hallie Thome 
and 5-foot-11 junior forward 
Jillian Dunston controlled the 
paint on both ends, combining 
for 23 points, 17 boards and four 
blocks.

After the Wolverines’ stellar 

showing, they marched onward 
to their fifth consecutive road 
game to take on an unproven 
Xavier team that had yet to face a 
Power Five conference team.

But by the end of Monday’s 

game, 
Michigan’s 
top-10 

offense looked unfamiliar, as 
the Musketeers held it to just 
58 points — 28 at halftime — 
in a 61-58 Xavier victory, just 
four days after the Wolverines’ 
40-point win over the Yellow 
Jackets.

The 
Musketeers’ 
defense 

overwhelmed 
Michigan 
and, 

according to Barnes Arico, they 
didn’t even have to guard every 
player to do it.

“(Xavier) really just keyed 

on certain defenders … (Junior 
guard) Katelynn (Flaherty) and 
Hallie (Thome) more so than 
anybody else. It forced other 
players to step up. That limited us 
from getting any second-chance 
opportunities.”

When Thome was removed 

in the first half due to early 
foul trouble, her absence was 
apparent and Michigan’s outside 
shooting couldn’t make up for it 
like it had in its previous contests. 
Xavier’s offense wasn’t clicking, 
either, but it did what it needed to 
come out on top.

Thome 
and 
Dunston 
put 

up a strikingly different stat 
line against the Musketeers — 
just four points and 11 boards 
combined on 2-for-10 shooting.

Maybe it was the Wolverines’ 

exhausting road game stretch 
to blame, or Xavier’s aggressive 
game plan. Maybe it just wasn’t 
Michigan’s night. But what is 
certain is that the Michigan of 
Monday looked nothing like 
the Michigan of Thursday, and 

that’s because the Wolverines’ 
weaknesses in their small lineup 
were revealed.

This is Michigan’s second 

consecutive 7-2 start, but the 
Wolverines 
will 
try 
not 
to 

replicate last season, when they 
went 4-7 in its next 11 games.

The 
Wolverines 
sit 
108th 

in the NCAA in rebounds per 
game (41.0) and 102nd in blocks 
per 
game 
(4.0). 
Even 
with 

natural shooters like Flaherty 
and 
freshman 
guard 
Kysre 

Gondrezick leading the offense, 
Michigan’s low post presence is 
not contributing at the level of a 
tournament team, and it’s shown 
in both of its losses.

Barnes Arico was reluctant to 

point blame for the loss to Xavier, 
but she knows her team is still yet 
to find a groove.

“I think this game will help 

us to get better,” Barnes Arico 
said. “It definitely exposed some 
things we have to work on, and 
it’ll definitely help us moving 
forward.”

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Sophomore center Hallie Thome was not able to contain an aggressive Xavier offense in the Musketeers’ 61-58 victory over the Wolverines on Monday.

ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer

