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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, September 21, 2017 — 7A
McKeon finding room in rotation
The starting job at tight end
last year belonged to former
Wolverine
Jake
Butt,
and
everyone knew it.
Butt was an All-American,
the offensive captain and a fan
favorite.
Sean McKeon, on the other
hand, was a freshman much
further down on the depth chart
of the 12-man tight end group.
The now-sophomore played in
just four games last year, and
when he did get on the field, it
was just for a few snaps.
In all of 2016, McKeon made
two catches for a total of 10
yards.
Now, he is part of a four-man
rotation for the No. 8 Michigan
football team (3-0) alongside
redshirt
freshman
Nick
Eubanks, redshirt sophomore
Zach Gentry and redshirt junior
Tyrone Wheatley Jr.
In just three games this
season, McKeon has already
eclipsed his production from
last year. So far, he has five
catches for 38 yards, and in the
season opener, he was targeted
three times.
“Every
game
I
get
my
confidence
a
little
more,”
McKeon said Tuesday. “First
game, I was definitely a little
nervous
playing
Florida
in
Dallas, but as the weeks go on,
I feel a little more confident,
understand the offense better
and am ready to go.”
The Wolverines’ offense has
relied on tight ends at a few
points this season. When the
unit struggled against Florida,
Eubanks hauled in a 48-yard
pass
from
redshirt
junior
quarterback Wilton Speight, and
one of the biggest plays of the
Cincinnati game was Gentry’s
36-yard catch-and-run in the
third quarter.
At times this year, Michigan’s
offense has come out in a set that
includes two or three tight ends
at a time. McKeon emphasized
how important it is that they
continue to bring physicality
to the run game and have sure
hands in the passing game.
Last year’s passing game
coordinator, Jedd Fisch, viewed
Butt
as
one
of
the
team’s
most
valuable
weapons.
New
passing
game
coordinator Pep
Hamilton might
not
emphasize
the
position
group as much
as
Fisch,
but
McKeon and the
others are still
getting plenty of reps.
“Coach Pep may be a little
more
relaxed
in
meetings.
Coach Fisch was maybe a little
more uptight,” McKeon said,
laughing.
“They’re
definitely
both great coaches, though. I
really like both of them… (Fisch)
is a serious guy.
“Not that Coach Pep’s not
serious,” he joked again.
Transitioning from Fisch’s
scheme to Hamilton’s wasn’t
difficult
for
McKeon.
The
formations
and
play styles are
fairly
similar,
and
the
only
differences
are the names
for
plays
and
terminology that
the two coaches
use.
McKeon
got
his
first
live-
action
taste
of
Hamilton’s
system in the 2017 Spring
Game, and has improved “leaps
and bounds” in the past year,
according to fellow tight end and
redshirt junior Ian Bunting.
“Sean’s really become more
of a complete player,” Bunting
said. “Over the summer, he
was working a lot on his route
running and his pass catching,
and he’s come a long way in that.
He’s a great blocker, too. All the
guys in the room recognize that.”
McKeon’s skill set continues
to grow, as does his confidence,
each week. As the team moves
into the Big Ten season this
Saturday, he knows that he
needs to do everything he can to
help the offense improve.
Michigan hasn’t yet displayed
its
full
offensive
set,
and
McKeon is confident that his
group’s role will increase as the
season progresses.
After all, last year, Michigan
could always rely on Jake Butt.
Whether it was finding a block
or catching a pass, Butt was
there.
McKeon wants to do the
same.
TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
EVAN AARON/Daily
Sophomore tight end Sean McKeon has made a big move up the depth chart between freshman and sophomore year.
Gary, Brown believe there could
be more in store for ‘M’ defense
On
Monday
afternoon,
Rashan
Gary
stood
in
Schembechler Hall with a sly
grin on his face.
The sophomore defensive
end had just been asked how
much of the Michigan defense
has been “seen”
three
weeks
into the season.
He
looked
down
for
a
split
second,
as if to ponder
the
question,
before
looking
up,
breaking
into
a
smile
and giving his
answer.
“We haven’t
even started opening it up
yet,” Gary said. “That’s the
scary and most fun part. We
haven’t really opened up our
defense yet. You’ll see.”
He’s certainly right — if
this is just the beginning
for
the
defense,
opposing
Big Ten teams may not quite
understand what’s about to hit
them.
Through
three
equally
earth-shattering
performances, the Wolverines
have made the
case that they
could be as good
— if not better —
than last year’s
historically
good
unit.
Michigan ranks
fifth nationally
in total defense,
fourth in yards
allowed
per
possession and
fifth in yards
allowed per play.
Gary’s
performance,
though, may serve as an apt
metaphor for just how good
this defense could be.
In each game, he’s been
close to registering a bone-
rattling sack — or multiple.
Yet the stats remain just out of
reach. And even
then,
modest
production
aside, Gary has
been a force in
both
the
run
and pass game.
So
—
what
will
happen
once
Gary
finally
gets
his
hands
on
opposing
quarterbacks? It’s a similar
question
to
asking
what
Michigan’s defense could look
like once it reaches the heights
its players think it is capable
of.
“First few weeks (I’ve) been
growing every week, been
getting better and better, but
at the end of the day, I feel like
there’s a lot more that I’ve still
got to show,” Gary said. “It’s
gonna be great once you start
seeing it.
“I feel like last year three
games (in) to
this year three
games
(in),
it’s completely
different
from
the player I am.
There’s always
going
to
be
something I can
get
better
at.
Y’all gonna see.
I’m not gonna
talk too much
but y’all gonna see when I
start popping off.”
Take the one major gaffe
from Saturday’s 29-13 win over
Air Force, for example. On
their third pass attempt of the
game, the Falcons busted open
a 64-yard touchdown, thanks
to a breakdown in Michigan’s
coverage.
“They
brought
#1
back
inside, they brought him back
out into motion, the corner
should have hung onto him,
the safety should have spun
high, we ended up 2-on-1 over
there and no post player,”
said
defensive
coordinator
Don Brown on Wednesday.
“Everything else was pretty
much squared away, but that’s
on me. I didn’t do a good
enough job of presenting that
to them during the practice
week.”
It was a mistake that, as
Brown
intimated,
can
be
erased with the right amount
of film study. That paints a
bigger picture — if a defense
that held Air Force to its
second-lowest yardage total
since
2014
can
somehow
improve, there’s no telling
what ceiling it could have.
And
that’s
why
Brown,
when asked what’s left for
the defense, gave an answer
similar to his star pupil.
“Oh,” he said, “we got a lot
left.”
EVAN AARON/Daily
Sophomore defensive end Rashan Gary thinks that Michigan has just scratched the surface of its potential this season.
ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor
FOOTBALL
Big Ten Breakdown:
Week Three of 2017
No. 4 Penn State
Previous result: W, 56-0 vs.
Georgia State
Top performer: Quarterback
Trace McSorley — 18-of-29,
309 yards, four touchdowns
Upcoming matchup: at Iowa
No. 8 Michigan
Previous result: W, 29-13 vs.
Air Force
Top
performer:
Receiver
Donovan
Peoples-Jones
—
two returns, 104 yards, one
touchdown; two receptions, 52
yards
Upcoming
matchup:
at
Purdue
No. 9 Wisconsin
Previous result: W, 40-6 vs.
Brigham Young
Top performer: Quarterback
Alex Hornibrook — 18-of-19,
256 yards, four touchdowns
Upcoming
matchup:
vs
Northwestern
No. 10 Ohio State
Previous result: W, 38-7 vs.
Army
Top
performer:
Running
back J.K. Dobbins — 13 carries,
172 yards, two touchdowns
Upcoming
matchup:
vs.
UNLV
Illinois
Previous result: W, 20-7 vs.
then-No. 22 South Florida
Top
performer:
Running
back Mike Epstein — 8 carries,
56 yards, one touchdown
Upcoming
matchup:
vs.
Nebraska
Indiana
Previous result: Cancelled,
vs Florida International
Top performer: N/A
Upcoming
matchup:
vs.
Georgia Southern
Iowa
Previous result: W, 31-14 vs
North Texas
Top
performer:
Running
back
Ivory
Kelly-Martin
— 11 carries, 74 yards, two
touchdowns
Upcoming
matchup:
vs.
Penn State
Maryland
Previous result: Bye week
Top performer: N/A
Upcoming
matchup:
vs.
Central Florida
Michigan State
Previous result: Bye week
Top performer: N/A
Upcoming
matchup:
vs.
Notre Dame
Minnesota
Previous result: W, 34-3 vs
Middle Tennessee
Top
performer:
Running
back Kobe McCrary — 23
carries,
107
yards,
three
touchdowns
Upcoming
matchup:
Bye
week
Nebraska
Previous result: L, 21-17 vs
Northern Illinois
Top
performer:
Wide
receiver De’Mornay Pierson-
El — eight receptions, 101
yards
Upcoming
matchup:
vs.
Rutgers
Northwestern
Previous result: W, 49-7 vs.
Bowling Green
Top
performer:
Running
back Justin Jackson — 18
carries,
121
yards,
three
touchdowns
Upcoming
matchup:
Bye
week
Purdue
Previous result: W, 35-3 at
Missouri
Top performer: Quarterback
David Blough — 22-of-28, 187
yards, one touchdown
Upcoming matchup: vs. No.
8 Michigan
Rutgers
Previous result: W, 65-0 vs.
Morgan State
Top
performer:
Running
back
Johnathan
Lewis
—
11 carries, 58 yards, four
touchdowns
Upcoming
matchup:
at
Nebraska
The Daily provides a brief overview
of the current conference landscape
BETELHEM ASHAME
Managing Sports Editor
“... there’s a
lot more that
I’ve still got to
show.”
“We haven’t
even started
opening it up
yet.”
“(He has) really
become more
of a complete
player.”