The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Friday, April 14, 2017 — 7
What to Watch For: Michigan football spring game
While
the
quarterback
controversies of years’ past
will get a break this go around,
Michigan football coach Jim
Harbaugh and his staff are
tasked with the
job of refilling
nearly
the
entire
offense
and
defense.
Over the last
few
weeks,
a
handful
of
names
have
begun
to
separate
themselves
from the pack.
Those standout players will
be revealed this Saturday, as the
Michigan football team takes
the field for its annual spring
football game.
Harbaugh’s third spring game
means his recruits are finally
taking over the majority of the
roster, and underclassmen will
be called upon to fill many of the
available voids this upcoming
season. Players like sophomore
defensive end Rashan Gary
and freshman wide receiver
Donovan Peoples-Jones are the
spotlight names for a team that
lost its “face of the program”
player Jabrill Peppers.
The Maize and Blue teams
go head to head on Saturday
afternoon. Here’s what to watch
for during the spring football game.
1. Try and keep up with
Chris Evans
The
days
when
former
running back De’Veon Smith
beasted, clawed and powered
his ways through opponents’
front
lines
are
long
gone.
Smith’s brusing style — and his
superior pass blocking — will be
sorely missed, but a new slate of
tailbacks have emerged.
Leading
the
group
is
sophomore
Chris
Evans,
who
recently
discussed
his
offseason
progress
after
a
strong freshman campaign. His
speed became evident in the
opening game of 2016, when he
scored on two long touchdown
runs against Hawaii. Evans
has also mentioned his growth
physically as he aims to boost
his blocking abilities and also
overpower opponents like his
predecessor, Smith.
Evans
shapes
up
to
be
Michigan’s go-to running back,
after leading his position group
in all but one category of testing
at the team’s spring combine.
Other
running
back
candidates to keep an eye on
are redshirt freshman Kareem
Walker, fifth year senior Ty
Isaac and junior Karan Higdon.
2. Early enrollees getting in
the mix
Another handful of open
spots on Michigan’s offense are
out wide. With the departure
of Jehu Chesson and Amara
Darboh — Michigan’s core wide
receiving pair for the last two
years — more starting spots
have opened up. According to
redshirt
junior
quarterback
Wilton
Speight,
a
pair
of
early-enrollees
—
Donovan
Peoples-Jones and Tarik Black
— have been making remarkable
catches in practice and are in a
position to earn serious playing
time this fall.
People-Jones and Black will
dress up in the maize and blue
for the first time Saturday,
and expect to see Speight and
possible
backup
quarterback
freshman Brandon Peters (more
on that below) sending the ball
in their direction.
Other receivers to note are
sophomore
Kekoa
Crawford,
senior Maurice Ways, senior
Drake Harris and sophomore
Eddie McDoom.
3. Meet and greet the new
defense
Defensive coordinator Don
Brown is a mean, angry dude.
No wonder 10 of the 11 starters
decided to leave.
Only
fifth-year
senior
linebacker
Mike
McCray
returns, and right in front of
him will be four new starters
on the defensive line. Expect
to see sophomore Rashan Gary
and senior Chase Winovich earn
lots of playing time as defensive
ends. In the middle at the
defensive tackle positions, look
for fifth-year senior Maurice
Hurst and senior Bryan Mone.
Gary played in all 13 games as a
freshman but did not start. With
one sack and five tackles for loss
last year, Gary is expected to
pick up where former defensive
ends Chris Wormley and Ryan
Glasgow left off.
The back of the defense will
feature a lot of new names, as
well. The Wolverines have to
replace their entire secondary.
Thus far, sophomore cornerbacks
Lavert Hill and David Long have
gotten praise, while junior Tyree
Kinnel and sophomore Josh
Metellus appear to have locked
up the safety spots. Meanwhile,
at
the
hybrid
VIPER
spot,
sophomores
Khaleke
Hudson
and Jordan Glasgow will have
the unenviable job of filling in for
the now-departed Peppers.
4. Speight’s backup is…
Freshman
quarterback
Brandon
Peters?
Fifth-year
senior John O’Korn? While
former
Wolverine
Shane
Morris announced his transfer
earlier this year, O’Korn made
his intentions clear — he was
staying. Regardless, the starting
quarterback spot is locked up.
Speight led the Wolverines’
offensive unit last year, and
plays an even more important
role in 2017 as one of the few
returning starters.
Unlike in the previous two
years, there is no debate about
who will start. The Morris-
or-Rudock
and
Speight-or-
O’Korn battles won’t repeat
for a third time, but if Speight
suffers another injury, as he
did late in the regular season
last year, someone may have
to take over. Peters seems the
likely candidate. The redshirt
freshman will start for the
Maize team this year — Speight
is starting for the Blue team
— and has clearly impressed
the coaching staff in recent
practices.
Bonus: Versatility
And just for fun, keep an eye
out for Michigan’s potentially
most
versatile
player
since
Jabrill Peppers.
Fifth-year
senior
holder
Garrett Moores announced via
Twitter that he will be playing
for both the Maize and Blue
teams at the spring game this
year. Moores was the recipient
of the Mortell Holder of the Year
Award in 2016, and even ran for
a two-point conversion against
Rutgers last season.
The 2017 Michigan football
spring game will feature new
faces on all sides of the ball,
but perhaps no position is more
secure. Moores has his spot
locked up better than anyone
else does.
Editor’s note: Janes wrote
this story from Hong Kong.
The Daily felt that was worthy
of acknowledgement.
TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Sophomore running back Chris Evans flashed breakaway speed last season and will be among a group of running backs tasked with replacing De’Veon Smith.
Michigan
Spring
Game
When:
Saturday 1
P.M. ET
Where:
Michigan
Stadium
‘M’ downs Oklahoma
for first ranked win
If only looking at the hit
column, it would seem that No.
18 Oklahoma had done its job
against the No. 13 Michigan
baseball team. The Sooners held
the Wolverines to just four hits,
well below Michigan’s season
average of 9.96 hits per game.
However, the Wolverines (6-3
Big Ten, 27-7 overall) found other
ways to manufacture runs in
their 5-2 win against Oklahoma
(5-4 Big Twelve, 27-10 overall).
“Well you got to look at the
number of guys on base,” said
Michigan coach Erik Bakich.
“Holding the zone and taking
advantage of some mishaps by
their starter – and their starter is
a good pitcher. If we chased and
did him some favors, he could
have had a quality start today. We
did a nice job of swinging at the
right pitches or not swinging at
the wrong ones.”
Headed into the matchup, the
Wolverines knew they had their
hands full, as Oklahoma ranks
fourth in the country with 10.1
strikeouts per game, sixth with
6.95 hits allowed per nine innings
and ninth with a 2.73 earned-run
average.
“We like to say we treat every
opponent the same, and we do,”
said junior left-hander Oliver
Jaskie. “When we play a good
team we don’t do anything
different,
but
everyone
was
definitely excited for this one, this
was marked on our schedule.”
It’s easy to see why. The
victory marked the first win
against a ranked opponent for the
Wolverines of the season.
After Jaskie pitched a one-
two-three top of the first inning,
Michigan tallied zero hits in the
bottom half of the inning.
Yet
the
Wolverines
still
managed to score three runs, on
five walks and a hit batter.
Sophomore second baseman
Ako Thomas started the inning
off with a walk and proceeded to
steal second. Lugbauer walked
two at-bats later. Then, redshirt
sophomore Miles Lewis walked
and so did Jake Bivens – scoring
Thomas. Senior designated hitter
Nick Poirier was then hit by a
pitch, scoring Lugbauer. And in
the next at-bat, sophomore right
fielder
Jonathan
Engelmann
walked to drive home the third
and final run of the inning.
The very next inning, the
Sooners responded with two hits
to produce a run of their own,
making it 3-1.
Through the first four innings,
Michigan
could
manufacture
only one hit. Following a leadoff
walk in the fifth by senior
centerfielder Johnny Slater, the
Wolverines earned their second
hit on a home run to dead center
by Lugbauer, pushing the lead
to four. The homer marked
Lugbauer’s tenth of the season.
Oklahoma showed some fight
though. The next inning, first
baseman Austin O’Brien hit a solo
shot that cleared the elevated
wall in left field, cutting the score
to 5-2. But, that would be the last
run of the game for the Sooners.
While Michigan finished the
game with just four hits, they
managed eight walks and a hit by
pitch for 13 total base runners.
Jaskie also returned to his
typical form following a subpar
start last Friday against Illinois.
In seven innings pitched, Jaskie
allowed just two runs on five hits
and struck out six, his fifth win of
the season.
“His outing couldn’t have
gone worse last Friday,” Bakich
said. “And to be able to pitch
seven (innings) and only give
up two (runs) was exactly what
we needed and a good bounce
back for him as well. It speaks
to his character. He’s a kid who
is extremely well trained, very
mentally tough.”
Getting the first win of the
series may prove the difference
for the remainder of the series.
“It’s
like
a
postseason
atmosphere,”
Lugbauer
said.
“To get a big win like that on a
(Thursday) night is just good for
our confidence going into our
next two games.”
BASEBALL
HUNTER SHARF
Daily Sports Writer
Competition emerging in the backfield
Jay Harbaugh was almost
1,300 miles away from Ann
Arbor when he found out about
his new job.
At about 11 p.m. in Houston
in January, Harbaugh was
sitting in his hotel room when
he received a phone call from
his father, Jim. The elder
Harbaugh delivered the news —
Jay would be the new running
backs coach next season.
While some might have been
surprised by the decision given
that the younger Harbaugh
had never played or coached
the position, Jay went to bed
excited to take on a new role in
his father’s program.
Between his time spent with
the tight ends for the Michigan
football team last year and
with the quarterbacks for the
NFL’s Baltimore Ravens a few
years back — where his uncle,
John, is the head coach — Jay
seems equipped to handle the
challenge.
“The
way
that
coaching
works is — if you’re doing it
right — you’re kind of absorbing
everything,” Harbaugh said. “…
There’s a totality in coaching,
whether it’s offense or defense,
of seeing the big picture.”
In
his
experience,
quarterbacks focus on pass
protections and tight ends
focus on route running and
run game blocking, so the main
difference with running backs
is carrying the ball — a skill
Michigan’s talented backfield
crop
already
possesses
in
spades.
Though they must recover
from the loss of senior De’Veon
Smith, the Wolverines still
return key contributors from
last season’s squad, namely
rising sophomore Chris Evans,
junior Karan Higdon and fifth-
year senior Ty Isaac.
The trio combined for 1,495
yards on 234 carries with 15
touchdowns
while
splitting
time behind Smith. Clearly the
feature back, Smith gained 901
yards on 181 carries and scored
10 touchdowns on his own.
Without a clear number one
this season, Evans, Higdon and
Isaac all have an opportunity
to emerge as major facets of
Michigan’s run game.
“You’d like to be able to trust
your whole group,” Harbaugh
said
after
spring
practice
Thursday. “I’ve never liked
thinking about running backs
like that, assuming that two
or three guys aren’t going to
be good. I want everyone to be
good.”
Added Higdon: “I definitely
think
we’ll
have
multiple
guys
in
there,
considering
everybody brings something
different and every guy is
different and can attack the
game in different ways. We’ve
got a lot of weapons, so it’ll be
fun.”
While all three will likely
earn their fair share of playing
time, that doesn’t mean they
aren’t fighting for carries.
Just
like
at
seemingly
every other position for the
Wolverines this year, Evans,
Higdon and Isaac have been
locked in a tight battle over the
course of spring camp. That
spirit of competition has been
exemplified by the posting of
depth charts in the meeting
room
of
each
respective
position group.
These depth charts shed
light on both the good and
bad areas of each player’s
performance
in
comparison
to
his
teammates.
Listing
dropped
balls
and
missed
assignments as much as yards
and carries, these depth charts
serve the purpose of keeping
Michigan on its toes.
“It’s a meritocracy around
here, so it just makes sense
for everyone to understand
and to have it out in the open,”
Harbaugh said.
More than just a simple
motivational tool, the depth
charts
amp
up
the
level
of
intensity
between
the
Wolverines, who understand
how much effort they have to
put in to bypass the players
ahead of them or maintain
their edge over the players
behind them.
“It’s
definitely
a
stiff
competition,”
Higdon
said.
“Each and every day, you gotta
bring it. Each and every day,
you see someone do something
that makes you go, ‘Wow.’ ”
Added Isaac: “I’m going into
practice every day trying to
be the starter. If you’re ahead
of me, I’m trying to beat you
out. If you’re behind me, I’m
trying to put some distance in
between us.”
The way Harbaugh sees it, the
spring game will be a turning
point
in
the
competition
between his trio of backs.
Besides quarterback, running
back is the one position where
the tempo of live competition
can make a sizable difference
in the relative performance of
a player.
Isaac, part of the Maize team,
and Evans and Higdon, members
of the Blue team, will face off
head-to-head with the chance
to separate themselves in the
competition. Saturday, any one
of them could take the first step
toward earning more playing
time on Saturdays in the fall.
“It starts now,” Higdon said.
“Spring is what sets you up for
the fall. Spring is where you
make your statement.”
BETELHEM ASHAME
Managing Sports Editor
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michigan running backs coach Jay Harbaugh is hoping to use every running back at his disposal through 2017.