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.