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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, September 6, 2017 — 7A

Michigan moves up to 
No. 8 in AP rankings 

After 
a 
dominant 
33-17 

win over then-No. 17 Florida 
last weekend, the Michigan 
football team jumped into the 
top-10 rankings this week. 

The Wolverines (1-0) came 

in at No. 8 in both the AP 
Top 25 and the Coaches’ Poll. 
Michigan moved up three 
spots from its position at No. 
11.

The 
last 
time 
the 

Wolverines were ranked in 
the top 10 was 
prior 
to 
the 

2016 
Orange 

Bowl in Miami. 
At 
the 
time, 

they 
were 

ranked No. 6, 
but lost to the 
11th-ranked 
Seminoles, 
33-32.

Saturday, the 

Wolverines’ 
young 
and 
relentless 

defense held the Gators to 
just 11 rushing yards, while 
Michigan’s 
offense 
was 

boosted by fifth-year senior 
running back Ty Isaac (114 
rushing yards, 11 carries) and 
redshirt 
sophomore 
kicker 

Quinn Nordin (four made field 
goals).

With 
the 
uninspiring 

performance, Florida dropped 
down to 22nd and 24th in the 
AP rankings and Coaches’ 
Poll, respectfully.

Michigan 
coach 
Jim 

Harbaugh lauded sophomore 
linebacker Devin Bush (seven 
tackles, two sacks) on Monday 
for 
his 
impressive 
outing 

against 
the 
Gators. 
Bush, 

along with the other defensive 
players, kept both of Florida’s 
offense in check.

Michigan’s 
upcoming 

opponent, Cincinnati, defeated 
Austin 
Peay 
(Clarksville, 

Tenn.) by a score of 26-14 in 
its opener. Still, the Bearcats 
aren’t expected to impose 
nearly as much of a threat as 
Florida, as the Wolverines 
are a 34-point favorite in the 
matchup.

National outlook
The 
Wolverines 
jumped 

ahead of Big Ten foe Wisconsin 
(1-0), which stayed put at No. 
9 after crushing Utah State, 
59-10. The Big Ten now has 
four teams in the AP top-10 

— No. 2 Ohio 
State and No. 4 
Penn State are 
the others — 
the most of any 
conference.

Michigan 

jumped 
into 

the 
top 
10 

after 
Florida 

State 
(0-1) 

suffered a 24-7 
loss 
against 

top-ranked 
Alabama. 
The 

now 10th-ranked Seminoles 
suffered 
a 
much 
more 

significant loss though, when 
quarterback Deondre Francois 
went down with a season-
ending injury.

The Crimson Tide have 

their sights set on returning 
to the College Football Playoff 
after losing to Clemson in 
the championship game last 
season.

Despite 
a 
handful 
of 

marquee 
opening-weekend 

matchups, the second week 
of college football isn’t short 
of 
excitement. 
Four 
top-

25 matchups will be played 
this weekend. No. 3 Clemson 
hosts No. 13 Auburn, No. 6 
Southern 
California 
hosts 

No. 14 Stanford and No. 15 
Georgia visits No. 24 Notre 
Dame. 

Kemp embracing backup role on D-line

Michigan redshirt sophomore 

defensive 
end 
Carlo 
Kemp 

comes from a “tough-love” kind 
of family. One of his uncles, 
Chuck Pagano, is the head coach 
for the Indianapolis Colts, and 
his other uncle, John Pagano, 
is a defensive assistant for the 
Oakland Raiders. 

Football flows deep in the 

Pagano family blood — and the 
Kemp family by extension — 
and when asked about the best 
advice he has ever received 
from his two uncles, Kemp 
laughed.

“They said they would not 

draft me,” Kemp chuckled. “I’m 
always working to hopefully 
change their minds one day.”

That day may not arrive just 

yet, but after redshirting his 
first year at Michigan, Kemp is 
confident he’s making strides 
in his game. Kemp arrived as 
an early enrollee prior to his 
freshman year and has now had 
over a year under his belt of 
lifting and learning how to play 
in Michigan’s defense.

He 
also 
has 
had 
the 

opportunity 
to 
go 
through 

spring 
practice 
twice, 
and 

feels that it has been very 
beneficial 
in 
boosting 
his 

overall technique and approach 
to the game, both mentally and 
physically.

Last year, Michigan defensive 

coordinator 
Don 
Brown 

admitted 
that 
he 
would’ve 

traded away Kemp for as little 
as two used footballs, but a lot 
has changed since then.

“Getting those two spring 

(camps) in for me really helped 
because that’s a lot of learning 
and a lot of coaching,” Kemp 
said. 
“Getting 
that 
second 

camp in leading up to Florida 
was really beneficial for my 
personal growth.”

Now working his way into 

the starting lineup is one of 
Kemp’s main goals. But with 
such a stacked defensive line, 
he understands that his ability 
to provide relief for the starters 
is just as important.

Kemp is fully embracing his 

role backing up sophomore 
defensive end Rashan Gary, 
one of Michigan’s standout 

defensive players this year.

“Depth is big for us,” Kemp 

said. “You want to make sure 
that when the starters come 
out, they feel confident that the 
person that’s going in behind 
them is going to succeed and 
do what we’re supposed to do 
on the field. For me, I know 
that when Rashan comes out, 
I want him to 
feel like he can 
go and get his 
breather.

“That 
way, 

when he goes 
back in, he can 
do what we all 
know 
that 
he 

can do at the 
highest 
level, 

without 
being 

exhausted 
because he has to play the 
whole game.”

In Kemp’s eyes, Gary has 

developed into a leader on 
the defensive line. Gary, the 
former top-ranked recruit in 
the nation for his class, was 
credited with two tackles and 
a quarterback hurry against 
Florida. 
Whenever 
Gary 

makes a play, whether it is in 
practice or in the game, Kemp 
is watching.

Kemp’s admiration for him 

goes beyond Gary’s physical 
talent 
and 
includes 
his 

knowledge of the game.

“Personally I look up to 

him a lot because he knows 
a lot about the game,” Kemp 

said. 
“If 
you 

wouldn’t 
take 

his 
coaching 

or watch what 
he does when 
he’s in, it would 
be 
pointless. 

I’m 
always 

watching 
him, 

and he’s always 
got really good 
advice for me. 
I just try to 

follow his example.”

Now that Gary’s starting 

on the D-line, Kemp will have 
plenty of opportunities to watch 
his teammate. Kemp subbed in 
for Gary on a handful of plays 
against Florida last weekend — 
enough to earn his first career 
tackle.

Kemp has been able to work 

his way into a stacked defensive 
line rotation, despite playing 
with a broken hand.

During a scrum with redshirt 

junior 
offensive 
lineman 

Juwann Bushell-Beatty, Kemp 
got his hand caught in Bushell-
Beatty’s shoulder pads on a pass 
rush. Kemp came out of the play 
with a broken hand in the first 
week of fall camp, but it didn’t 
stop him from playing.

He wore a big “club” cast, as 

he described it, that covered his 
entire right hand. He has since 
been upgraded to a cast that 
allows him to move his fingers 
around.

“I used to have the club,” 

Kemp said. “I just had a left 
hand, but now with my fingers 
I can grab stuff now.

“Grab stuff… grab people... 

grab whatever.”

His two NFL coaches-for-

uncles surely wouldn’t let him 
use a broken hand as an excuse, 
and Kemp won’t let it derail his 
efforts on the D-line either.

Peoples-Jones fearless at punt returner

As far as freshman debuts go, 

Donovan Peoples-Jones’ was 
fairly impressive. 

The 
first-year 
receiver 

started at punt returner for 
Michigan, returning five punts 
for 40 yards in his team’s 
33-17 victory over Florida. And 
while the total yardage may 
not seem like much, that was 
in part due to Florida’s special 
team coverage and the efforts 
of 
Johnny 
Townsend, 
who 

averaged 54.7 yards per punt 
with excellent hang time.

Nonetheless, Peoples-Jones 

displayed 
the 
athleticism 

that made him such a highly-
touted prospect out of high 
school. He fielded every punt 
he saw, never calling for a fair 
catch despite Florida’s special 
teamers barrelling down upon 
him. Each time he touched the 
ball, he was seemingly one or 
two broken tackles away from 
breaking a long return.

The freshman, though, was 

much more measured about his 
performance.

“I think I played okay,” 

Peoples-Jones 
said 
Tuesday. 

“There’s 
always 
room 
for 

improvement, and with this 
team, the amount of talent that 
we have, I think the sky’s the 
limit.”

His head coach offered praise 

following the game — with one 
caveat.

“Donovan 
Peoples-Jones 

(was) very good on the punt 
return,” said Jim Harbaugh. 
“Gotta get that ball a little 
tighter, better ball security.”

Peoples-Jones 
agreed. 
In 

his mind, “ball security equals 
job security.” That won’t affect 
how 
he 
decides 
to 
return 

punts, though. He sees his 
responsibility as giving the 
offense good field position, and 
if that means risking a big hit to 
field a punt, so be it.

“As a punt returner, you’ve 

got to kind of be relentless and 
fearless back there,” Peoples-
Jones said. “Anything that I can 
do for this team to help them 
win, I’m going to do it.”

While 
Peoples-Jones 
said 

that he was “really excited” for 
the opportunity 
to return punts, 
it’s likely he’s 
hoping 
for 

more 
snaps 

at 
receiver 

after 
arriving 

on campus as 
the 
nation’s 

top-ranked 
recruit at the 
position 
and 

the crown jewel 
of 
Michigan’s 

2017 recruiting class.

There 
doesn’t 
appear 
to 

be 
any 
consternation 
from 

Peoples-Jones on the lack of 
receiving targets, though. The 
coaches have a plan for him, 
and he trusts that plan.

Peoples-Jones 
— 
who 

enrolled early — has also had 
the benefit of help from an 
unexpected 
source: 
redshirt 

junior 
quarterback 
Wilton 

Speight.

The two were roommates 

in fall camp, and the veteran 

starting 
quarterback 
appears 
to 

have taken the 
freshman under 
his wing.

“It was great 

chemistry,” 
Peoples-Jones 
said. “... Every 
night we were 
together talking, 
just 
learning 

(about) the type 

of person (Speight) is. Him 
meeting me, just being around 
each other, helped a lot.

“He’s a great person. He’s 

one of my newer friends, and I 
like him a lot. … It can benefit 
me a lot. Questions that I might 
not be comfortable with asking 

the coaches, things that he 
knows that the coaches don’t 
know I can ask him, or we can 
have a connection there.”

While freshman receivers 

have typically had difficulty 
making an impact at Michigan 
— Mario Manningham set the 
record for most receiving yards 
with a relatively modest 433-
yard campaign his freshman 
year 
— 
Peoples-Jones 
does 

appear well-equipped to pick 
up the mental aspects of the 
game.

After all, it can’t be much 

harder than his class load.

“In the spring, I had a wide 

load of classes — calculus and 
physics — so it’s not much more 
than that,” Peoples-Jones said.

For now, there isn’t much 

calculus to do when he’s on the 
field. Peoples-Jones was blunt 
when asked about what was 
going through his mind while 
taking his first punt.

“I wanted to score,” Peoples-

Jones said. 

FOOTBALL

TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

The Big Ten 
now has four 

teams in the AP 

top-10

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh was impressed with the freshman’s wide receiver’s performance in his first career game.

ORION SANG

Daily Sports Editor

“You’ve got to 
... be relentless 

and fearless 
back there.”

TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Redshirt sophomore defensive end Carlo Kemp has learned a lot about Michigan’s defense by backing up Rashan Gary. 

“Getting that 
second camp 
... was really 
beneficial.”

Join the Sports Section 

of the Daily

Send us an email 
at sportseditors@
michigandaily.com

