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Sports
Wednesday, September 20, 2017 — 7A

FLORIDA

W, 33-17 (1-0)

CINCINNATI
AIR FORCE

W, 36-14, (3-0) 

at PURDUE

West Lafayette, Ind.

MICHIGAN STATE

Michigan Stadium

at INDIANA

Bloomington, Ind.

at PENN ST.

State College, Pa.

RUTGERS

Michigan Stadium

MINNESOTA

Michigan Stadium

at MARYLAND

College Park. Md. 

at WISCONSIN

Madison, Wis.

OHIO ST.

Michigan Stadium
W, 36-14 (2-0)

2017 SCHEDULE

Long learns under Lewis, readies for new test

Comparisons 
have 
been 

popular around Schembechler 
Hall this year. 

For 
a 
young 
Michigan 

football team, it’s easy to 
understand 
why. 
Plenty 
of 

elite talent is gone. Shoes need 
to be filled. And the frames 
of 
reference 
are 
made 
to 

emphasize that the young talent 
are worthy replacements.

And on Tuesday night, the 

latest of those comparisons 
was 
revealed 
when 
senior 

receiver 
Grant 
Perry 
was 

asked, simply, what makes 
sophomore cornerback David 
Long good. 

“I see a lot of things in him 

that I saw in Jourdan Lewis and 
(Channing) Stribling,” Perry 
said. “He got a full year under 
their belt. They got to walk 
him through the ropes and he’s 
strong, he’s fast, he’s physical — 
you know, everything that you 
saw in Jourdan and Stribling, 
you see in David.”

That’s not bad company. 

And, upon further inspection, 
the comparison makes sense. 

Long said he still talks to 

Lewis every day of the week — 
or at least three if he’s busy.

And Long could arguably 

thank Lewis — who he dubbed 
as a role model — for his 
current starting role with the 
Wolverines.

When it came to the technical 

side of playing cornerback, 
Lewis played mentor from day 
one.

“When I first got here, I 

was in here a lot with Jourdan 
Lewis,” Long said. “… He 
helped me a lot with technical 
stuff. He was just helping me 
with stuff on the field, getting 
me comfortable with that.”

On Aug. 6, though, Long’s 

fate as Michigan’s starting 
cornerback wasn’t so certain, 
as defensive coordinator Don 
Brown was vocal in saying 
that up to seven players could 

compete for the two starting 
spots in 2017.

Fifteen days later, not much 

had 
changed. 
Cornerbacks 

coach Mike Zordich admitted 
that sophomore Lavert Hill 
had seized one starting job, 
but expressed his frustrations 
with the rest of the group’s 
consistency. As he put it then, 
he wanted someone to “grab it 
and run with it and take it.”

As it turns out, Long did. His 

coaches’ words motivated him. 
By the time Michigan opened 
against then-No. 17 Florida, he 
was the one who claimed the 
second corner spot alongside 
Hill. And given the way he has 
flashed his knack for tackling — 
recording five for a season high 
against Air Force — he won’t be 
letting go of it anytime soon.

“I just kept pounding away,” 

Long said. “My progress wasn’t 
where the coaches thought 
I needed to be, but I just 
kept working, didn’t let that 

discourage me, take it like 
a grain of salt. That’s what 
you’re supposed to do. You’re 
supposed to coach me, be hard 
on me and I’ve progressed as 
the weeks have gone on.”

But really, for Long, the 

progression has been going on 
for just over two years.

When he was a senior at 

Loyola High School in Los 
Angeles, Long doubled as a 
receiver and cornerback before 
arriving in Ann Arbor. Long 
said playing receiver helped 
him with the “book stuff” that 
comes with football. He was 
able to easily pick up schemes 
and learn coverages.

But 
Long 
admitted 
that 

he 
still 
wasn’t 
completely 

comfortable with the position 
until late in the summer. Now 
that he is, though, the small 
details of the position are 
starting to matter even more.

“Coach 
Brown 
is 
really 

preaching to me,” Long said, 

“ ‘See a little to see a lot’, so 
(I’m) working on my technique 
and it’s just slowing things 
down for me.”

This 
Saturday, 
Michigan 

could 
benefit 
from 
things 

slowing down for Long — and 
the rest of the secondary too.

Purdue is led by quarterback 

David 
Blough, 
who 
has 

completed 51 of his 67 passes for 
597 yards, six touchdowns and 
two interceptions. Blough isn’t 
playing rollover teams either. 
Three of those touchdowns 
and 362 of those yards came 
on the road against then-No. 
16 Louisville and at Missouri. 
And unlike Michigan, Purdue 
has scored a touchdown on 10 
of its 13 red zone trips.

Or put more simply, the 

Wolverines’ 
secondary 
is 

finally about to be tested.

What better way for people 

to really find out just how 
much Long has learned from 
Lewis?

Big Ten matchups twice as important for Michigan

As far as the No. 8 Michigan 

football team is concerned, its 
season starts now.

After 
two 
home 
non-

conference games that didn’t 
exactly go according to plan, 
the Wolverines (3-0) are eager 
to close the curtain. While 
their mentality has always 
been that the most important 
game is the next one, the 
pressure is cranked up a notch 
now that the Big Ten season is 
set to begin.

As 
Michigan 
coach 
Jim 

Harbaugh made clear Saturday 
night, conference games count 
for much more. With how close 
the Big Ten races have been in 
recent years — then-No. 2 Ohio 
State was left out of the Big 
Ten championship game after 
it allowed 17 fourth-quarter 
points in an eventual three-
point loss to then-No. 24 Penn 
State last October — Harbaugh 
said 
that 
Big 
Ten 
games 

are worth twice as much as 
nonconference contests.

His team has adopted that 

mantra, too.

“We want to win the Big 

Ten games. We want to win 
all of them,” said sophomore 
receiver Eddie McDoom on 
Monday. “We know that if we 
lose, it’s a big crush on the 
season, so we’re trying to go 
into the Big Ten season and 
tear it up.”

The 
Wolverines 
will 
be 

tested right off the bat when 
they head to Purdue for their 
conference opener Saturday. 
The Boilermakers are off to a 
surprising 2-1 start after an 
abysmal 3-9 season in 2016. 
Though they opened the season 
with a narrow neutral-field 
loss to then-No. 16 Louisville, 

they rebounded with blowout 
wins over Ohio at home and 
Missouri on the road.

Much 

credit 
for 

Purdue’s early 
resurgence 
is due to new 
head 
coach 

Jeff 
Brohm, 

who previously 
spent 
three 

years 
at 

Western 
Kentucky 
— 

compiling 
a 

30-10 overall record, a 19-5 
Conference USA record and a 
3-0 bowl game record. Not only 
were the Hilltoppers back-to-

back league champions in 2015 
and 2016, but they were ranked 
in the top 10 in the nation in 

scoring 
offense, 

passing 
offense 

and total offense 
all three seasons.

Brohm 
has 

taken 
that 

successful model 
and 
adapted 

it 
to 
fit 
the 

Boilermakers, 
rejuvenating the 
program in the 
process. 
While 

the Big Ten is traditionally 
known for stout defense and 
power running, Brohm and 
Purdue have taken the opposite 

approach, 
emphasizing 
a 

pass-heavy and high-scoring 
offense more emblematic of 
the Big 12. 

The 

Boilermakers 
are 
averaging 

286.7 yards per 
game and boast 
10 
passing 

touchdowns 
— 
a 
stark 

contrast 
from 

their 
average 

of 
173 
yards 

and four total 
touchdowns on the ground. 
The strategy has worked well 
for them in non-conference 
play, but how well it will fare 

in the Big Ten remains to be 
determined.

“They 
have 
a 
lot 
of 

confidence right 
now,” said senior 
linebacker Mike 
McCray. 
“They 

do a lot of things 
well on offense. 
They 
use 
two 

quarterbacks, 
they have athletic 
backs (and) they 
have an offensive 
line 
that 
uses 

great technique.

“... 
They’ll 
be 
a 
great 

challenge for us.”

Michigan 
knows 
how 

beneficial it can be to inject 

a team with a new coach and 
overall philosophy. Harbaugh’s 
arrival just three years ago has 
already turned the program 
around 
faster 
than 
many 

expected after its dismal 2014 
campaign, and the Wolverines 
see that same process could be 
happening now at Purdue. 

“When you get a new coach 

and you start winning, (there’s) 
just 
a 
lot 
of 
confidence,” 

said senior offensive tackle 
Mason Cole. “... And having 
confidence in this sport is a 
good thing to have. So, a team 
with a new coach that’s playing 
really well, it can be scary.”

Adding on to the challenge 

of facing the Boilermakers, 
who Cole described as a team 
“with a lot of new energy,” 
Michigan will be playing its 
first true road game of the 
season in West Lafayette.

Though the fans at Michigan 

Stadium 
weren’t 
entirely 

forgiving of the Wolverines’ 
plethora 
of 
non-conference 

mistakes — as boos rained 
down in back-to-back games for 
the first time in the Harbaugh 
era — a hostile environment on 
every down will be new terrain 
for Michigan to traverse.

“Going 
to 
Purdue 
and 

playing there is obviously a 
challenge,” Cole said. “... (It’s) 
playing on the road, playing 
against a team that’s been 
playing well, that has some 
momentum 
and 
has 
good 

players, too.”

The Boilermakers may not 

have posed much of a threat 
to the Wolverines in recent 
years, but Michigan has been 
humbled into the lesson that 
it can no longer afford to look 
past any team. With the Big 
Ten season now upon them, 
the 
Wolverines 
know 
that 

every game counts. Twice.

EMMA RICHTER/Daily

Senior offensive tackle Mason Cole was quick to acknowledge that a matchup against the Boilermakers on the road will be a difficult test for Michigan.

BETELHEM ASHAME

Managing Sports Editor

‘M’ stumbles in debut

After a rough first round at the 

East & West Match Play on Sunday 
morning, the Michigan women’s 
golf team was in last place with a 
score of 301. However, senior Emily 
White shot a 69 — three under par 
— in the second round later that day 
to lead the Wolverines, recovering 
from her initial round of 75.

But unlike White, who finished 

the stroke play competition tied 
for seventh, the Wolverines failed 
to rebound. At the end of Sunday’s 
stroke play, despite a second round 
score of 290, Michigan sat in fifth 
place — only one position shy of the 
four-team championship bracket, 
won by Iowa State.

“Our second round was the 

second lowest of the afternoon 
rounds on Sunday, so that was a 
good comeback,” said Michigan 
coach Jan Dowling. “We didn’t 
start very well on our first 18 on 
Sunday for the 36 hole stroke play 
portion. They came back really well 
and made a run to get into the top 
four for the match play part.”

The format for the event was 

different than other tournaments. 
It was a three-day event, comprised 
of 
stroke 
play 
Sunday 
and 

championship 
and 
consolation 

match play brackets on Monday and 
Tuesday.

Throughout the weekend, the 

Wolverines came up just short of 
victories as a team. Entering the 
consolation bracket as the first 
seed, Michigan faced Oregon State 
on Monday. Freshman Ashley Kim 
and junior Elodie Van Dievoet 
both won their matches, up by six 
with four holes left and two-up 
respectively, and Michigan was tied 
at two with the Beavers.

Senior Megan Kim, Ashley 

Kim’s older sister, was all square 
in her match through 18 holes and 
had to play extra holes. She ended 
up losing on the 21st hole when her 
competitor birdied, giving Oregon 
State a 3-2 victory.

“The other girl won it, and you 

got to give her credit,” Dowling said. 
“She made the birdie when she had 
to, so we were certainly outplayed.”

On Tuesday, Michigan faced 

Nebraska in a battle for seventh 
place. Megan Kim and White both 
won their matches, up by three 
with two left and up by three with 
one left respectively, thus securing 
two points for the team, while the 
Cornhuskers won two points of 
their own.

In the deciding match’s 18th hole, 

Van Dievoet’s opponent, senior 
Audrey Judd, converted on a clutch 
birdie attempt. The Wolverines lost 
2-3, finishing the bracket in last 
place.

“All of our matches were 

really close,” Dowling said. “They 
were competitive matches ... but 
unfortunately we got outplayed in 
those matches.”

Senior Kathy Lim represented 

Michigan in the individual match 
play portion of the tournament, 
after topping the field in 2015. Lim 
advanced to the finals, looking to 
claim her second title, but fell just 
shy.

There are still positive takeaways 

from the tournament for Michigan. 
Ashley Kim found success in her 
college debut, carding rounds of 
76 and 73 to tie for 21st during the 
stroke play competition, winning a 
point in match play.

Dowling also mentioned that 

having sisters on the team certainly 
helps with the overall team 
chemistry. She mentioned that the 
younger Kim sister was already 
quite familiar with the program 
when she arrived.

“For me as a coach, it has 

probably 
been 
the 
smoothest 

freshman 
transition 
I’ve 
ever 

experienced,” 
Dowling 
said. 

“Although she is a freshman on 
our team, she is someone they have 
known for a while already, so that 
has been really nice.”

Michigan needs to make some 

changes but must do so quickly. 
Next Monday they travel to Vail, 
Colo. for the Golfweek Conference 
Challenge.

We’re trying to 

go into the Big 

Ten season and 

tear it up.

Going to Purdue 

and playing there 

is obviously a 

challenge.

EVAN AARON/Daily

Sophomore cornerback David Long looked to Jourdan Lewis as a mentor during his first year in Ann Arbor.

KEVIN SANTO

Managing Sports Editor

MEN’S GOLF

ROHAN KUMAR

For the Daily

