4B — October 9, 2017
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Defense deserves better

I

t’s no secret at this point.

Michigan’s defense

is good enough to win a

championship.

Football, though, is a team

game — as
fifth-year
senior
linebacker
Mike
McCray
alluded
to after
his team’s
14-10 loss
to Michi-
gan State.

“(When

the) offense (is) doing bad, we’re
doing bad,” he said. “We can’t
get frustrated with them; they
can’t get frustrated with us.”

It’s the type of answer you’d

expect from McCray, the con-
summate teammate who was
elected captain before the sea-
son.

Deep down, though, you won-

der if there is any frustration
from him, or from any other
member of the defense. And if
there is — that’s easily under-
standable.

In the second half — before

an eight-play, 26-yard drive that
took just enough time off the
clock to make life even more
difficult for the Wolverines on
their final drive of the game —
the Spartans had the ball seven
times.

The results of those seven

possessions? Six three-and-outs
and one four-and-out after they
elected to go for it on fourth
down.

It was the definition of abso-

lute dominance from Michigan’s
defense — the type of outing
that we’ve become accustomed
to seeing with Don Brown call-
ing the shots.

And yet that Herculean

performance wasn’t enough,
because as absurdly good as
Michigan’s defense was, the
offense simply could not exe-
cute.

After the game, McCray said

that coming out of halftime,
his unit’s goal was to give the
offense the ball as many times
as possible.

Here’s what the Wolverines

did with those eight posses-
sions: three-and-out, 33-yard
touchdown drive, interception,
interception, interception, punt,
punt and a desperate 43-yard
drive that ended with the ball
harmlessly falling to the turf.

It was a sight for sore eyes,

and it was a sight that will haunt
Jim Harbaugh and his offensive
coaching staff for the rest of the
week, perhaps for the rest of the
season. This, after all, was an
easily winnable game — and the
Wolverines even had the blue-
print for doing so.

Coming out of halftime faced

with a 14-3 deficit, Michigan
began a war of field position.
The defense kept the Spartans
pinned deep, and when a Jake
Hartbarger punt was returned
to the Michigan State 33-yard
line, the Wolverines pounced.

After yet another three-and-

out forced by the defense, the
offense looked poised to build

on its prior success. Michigan
fed junior running back Karan
Higdon four consecutive times,
and he turned those carries into
23 yards and two first downs.

And then the Wolverines

tried to pass.

They were called for hold-

ing. They called another pass,
and O’Korn scrambled for eight
yards. They called another pass
— and O’Korn threw it to the
other team.

“When we got momentum

going,” Harbaugh said, “we
turned it over.”

Michigan stuck with the pass

stubbornly, like a puppy might
do with an old chewed-out toy.
It called for passes even amidst
what O’Korn deemed a “torren-
tial downpour,” which certainly
didn’t make life any easier for
him. And it got the same result
nearly every time — a bad one.

The Wolverines ran 13 pass

plays in the second half before
a desperate final drive where
Michigan State played things
safe and allowed easy comple-
tions underneath. On those 13
plays, O’Korn completed four
passes. He was sacked and

forced to scramble once each.
He threw three interceptions.

O’Korn, as good of a team-

mate as any, didn’t give much
away after the game.

“I wasn’t upset with any of

the calls at all,” he said. “I was
just upset with myself.”

But, like with the defense,

any frustration would’ve been
understandable. After all, he
himself commented on the diffi-
culty of throwing in the rain.

There’s merit in debating

whether the players simply have
to execute, or whether they
were put in a position to suc-
ceed Saturday night. There are
now many more questions than
answers facing this team after
such a dispiriting loss.

And yet, one thing was dev-

astatingly clear: Michigan’s
defense deserves better.

“You can’t expect to win,”

O’Korn said, “when you turn the
ball over that many times.”

Truer words have never been

spoken.

Sang can be reached at

otsang@umich.edu or on

Twitter @orion_sang.

ORION
SANG

EMMA RICHTER/Daily

Junior wide receiver Grant Perry was part of a Wolverine offense that let its defense down Saturday night.

FOOTBALL
Offensive line fails ‘M’

Fifth-year senior quarterback

John O’Korn scrambled from the
pocket all game long — rolling left,
rolling right and running up the
middle. He gained 24 yards on the
ground.

The problem for the No. 7

Michigan football team (1-1 Big
Ten, 4-1 overall) was that O’Korn
was never supposed to rush.

“None of them were designed

runs,” O’Korn said of his many
scrambles.
“They
were
all

pass plays. Guys weren’t open,
(Michigan State) had good coverage
or protection broke down.”

The struggles appeared most on

the offensive line, where Michigan
couldn’t contain the Spartans’
pressure. The Wolverines lost the
battle in the trenches, and duly lost
the game, 14-10.

Midway through the second

quarter, Michigan State defensive
end Kenny Willekes burst through
the offensive line to sack O’Korn.
Willekes had lined up to the
left, matching up with redshirt
sophomore right tackle Nolan
Ulizio.

Ulizio was beat, and O’Korn was

taken down.

After Ulizio’s struggles, the

coaches subbed him out for
redshirt junior Juwann Bushell-
Beatty. The substitution wasn’t
part of the original game plan,
according to coach Jim Harbaugh,
but the coaches felt that they had to
make a change.

However,
nothing
really

changed.

O’Korn was sacked again before

halftime — Michigan State’s third
sack of the second quarter. By the
end of the game, the Spartans had
sacked O’Korn four times for a total
of 33 yards.

Ulizio and Bushell-Beatty split

the duties Saturday. Despite plenty
of options at the position — redshirt
sophomore Jon Runyan has also
appeared there — few have seemed
to work.

“Those two guys — Juwann and

Nolan — they compete their butts
off,” said senior left tackle Mason
Cole. “They’ll continue to do that.
Our coaches will put the best guys
out there. Whether it be Nolan
in the first half or Juwann in the
second half, it doesn’t matter.

“We trust Nolan out there. We

trust Juwann out there. Doesn’t
matter to us.”

But it should matter. The right

tackle position has been Michigan’s
weakest link this season. The
offensive line struggles go from left
to right.

Cole, a veteran and the offensive

captain, lines up out left and
is one of Michigan’s strongest
players. Next to him at left guard is
sophomore Ben Bredeson, another
highly-touted lineman who molded
well to the college game.

At center is fifth-year senior

Patrick Kugler, who came off the
bench in the past few years, and
finally earned a starting role. To
the right of Kugler is sophomore
Michael Onwenu, the Wolverines’
best option at right guard.

And then comes right tackle.

Nobody has proven themselves as
the worthy starter. Cole and other
teammates talked about how Ulizio
and Bushell-Beatty keep competing
— just as they did through spring
training and fall camp.

Yet after all this time, neither

has separated from the pack, and
it’s showing. O’Korn simply isn’t
getting much time to pass.

“Protection all this year has

been a big focus for us,” Cole said.

Cole and O’Korn stood by their

teammates, but it’s clear that the
position is contributing to the
issues of an already dysfunctional
offense.

The offensive line broke against

the Spartans, and it is hard to
foresee an improvement when
Michigan still has to play Penn
State, Wisconsin and Ohio State.

“Part of it is on me,” O’Korn

said. “I’ve got to get us in the right
protection.”

A small part of it is on O’Korn. A

bigger part of it is on the offensive
line.

TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

Five Things We Learned: Michigan State

Talk about a season killer.
It’s
hard
to
imagine
No.

17 Michigan (1-1 Big Ten, 4-1
overall) competing for the Big
Ten Championship — or the
College Football Playoff — after
No. 21 Michigan State came out
victorious in the night game this
weekend.

The 14-10 loss revealed what

many expected would happen
at some point in the season: The
Wolverines’ offensive struggles
would catch up to them, and
Michigan would dig itself a hole
that was too big to crawl out of.

Here are five things we learned

from the Wolverines’ loss on
Saturday.

1. Michigan can’t just rely on

its defense

Once again, Michigan’s defense

— the top-ranked unit in the
country in yards allowed per game
with 213 — shut down its opponent
in the second half. The Spartans
didn’t tally a second-half first
down until their final drive of the
game.

The Wolverines failed to get a

sack for the first time this season,
but tallied three quarterback
hurries.

Two sophomores, cornerback

Lavert Hill and safety Josh
Metellus,
combined
for
four

pass breakups and played a big
part in holding Michigan State
quarterback Brian Lewerke to just
98 passing yards.

Michigan shut Lewerke down

after halftime, but there was little
the defense could do to help when
the offense turned the ball over
five times.

2.
O’Korn’s
performance

against Purdue might not be
representative

Two hundred and seventy

yards, a touchdown and a 69
percent completion rate? That’s
what O’Korn threw for when he
came off the sideline to replace an
injured Wilton Speight two weeks
ago against Purdue.

Expecting him to perform

that well every weekend, though,
might not be fair.

While Speight’s efforts were

criticized left and right in the

beginning of the season, Michigan
coach Jim Harbaugh continued to
back up his decision that Speight
was the team’s best option at
quarterback. When Speight went
down, it was tough to imagine how
the Wolverines would respond.

Reasonably though, Michigan

fans were less worried after
O’Korn lit up the Boilermakers,
hitting his receivers and tight ends
the entire afternoon.

But
against
the
Spartans’

lockdown coverage, the fifth-year
senior and transfer from Houston
couldn’t produce like he had the
week before.

O’Korn
completed
just
38

percent of his passes and gave
up three interceptions. O’Korn’s
best throw of the game came on
a 17-yard pass to junior receiver
Grant Perry, who landed on
Michigan State’s one-yard line.

3. The offensive line struggles

are the source of the problem…

Redshirt
sophomore
Nolan

Ulizio got the start at right tackle.
After he got beat on a second-
quarter
sack,
redshirt
junior

Juwann Bushell-Beatty replaced
him, but Bushell-Beatty was not
any more effective.

The struggles at the position

gave O’Korn little time to work
in the pocket, as Michigan State’s
pressing defense continued to
break through the offensive line.

O’Korn was sacked four times

and only passed for 86 yards in the
second half. If the offensive line
can’t create gaps or protect the
quarterback, there isn’t enough
time for any components of the
offense to get to work.

4. But the receivers are

struggling too

On the third-to-last play of the

game, sophomore receiver Eddie
McDoom dropped a wide open
pass
from
O’Korn.
Michigan

would’ve been at the Spartans’
31-yard line with 21 seconds left,
but McDoom couldn’t reel in the
catch.

O’Korn connected with four

receivers in the second half,
throwing for just 86 yards after
the break.

Junior Grant Perry has stepped

up as Michigan’s leading receiver
since freshman Tarik Black’s
season was cut short due to a foot
injury. But other receivers like
freshman Donovan Peoples-Jones
and sophomore Kekoa Crawford

just haven’t made a big impact.

The Wolverines needed big

plays to swing momentum, but
they never got any and couldn’t
overcome their errors.

5. Not-so-bold Prediction:

The Minnesota game probably
won’t be at night

The Nov. 4 game between

Michigan
and
Minnesota
is

the only home game left on the
Wolverines’ schedule that does not
yet have an announced time for
kick off.

The game against Michigan

State was held at night due to the
national attention it would receive.
It had all the dimensions to be an
instant classic: the in-state rivalry,
a highly-ranked team and the first
time the Spartans came to Ann
Arbor since the botched punt.

A game against Minnesota

won’t have any of those factors.

And after this first loss, it’s

tough to imagine the Wolverines
beating No. 3 Penn State on the
road in two weeks. If Michigan
is 6-2 going into a matchup with
the irrelevant Golden Gophers, a
national television network will
have no desire to air that game on
primetime.

TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

VOLLEYBALL
Wolverines plagued
by inability to finish

With
the
Michigan

volleyball
team
(2-4
Big

Ten,
12-6
overall)
facing

match point against No. 6
Minnesota,
senior
outside

hitter Adeja Lambert tracked
the ball, soaring into the air
and connecting her hand to
the ball with sheer force.

Her spike flew straight into

the net.

She looked down at the

floor in disappointment as
the Golden Gophers’ cheers
washed over the otherwise
quiet
Cliff

Keen Arena.

Suddenly,

Michigan had
lost its third
set — and the
match.

Saturday

afternoon, the
Wolverines
were
swept

by
No.
6

Minnesota
(4-2, 14-2), losing 25-21, 25-21,
25-20. It was their first home
loss of the season.

Despite
the
sweep,

Michigan appeared to have
victory in its clutches in all
three sets. It held several
large leads, including a 17-12
advantage in the first set and
a seemingly insurmountable
16-8
lead
in
the
second

set.
For
large
stretches,

the
Wolverines
looked

tremendous, dominating one
of the best teams in the nation.

But the Wolverines never

capitalized on those leads.

“We have to get better,” said

coach Mark Rosen. “We don’t
have to get monumentally
better, but we’ve got to get
better. Especially when it
really matters — in the crunch
points, at key times.”

Toward the ends of sets,

Michigan
wilted
while

Minnesota flourished.

In the first set, Minnesota

won six of the last seven
points.

In the third set, the Golden

Gophers scored the last five
points.

These
two
massive

runs were both fueled by
a
combination
of
stifling

defense from Minnesota, who
stuffed the Wolverines with
14 blocks, and what Rosen
called
a
one-dimensional

Michigan attack.

“We’ve got to have more

options and use more options,”
Rosen said. “I thought we
did that early on in sets but

I think when it
got late, we got
a
little
more

predictable.”

There
were

moments,
though,
when

the Wolverines
did utilize their
role
players

well,
such
as

senior opposite
hitter Katherine

Mahlke.

Mahlke’s
left-handed

strikes added a much-needed
variety
to
the
Michigan

attack, temporarily confusing
the
Minnesota
blockers.

Midway through the second
set, she pounded a kill down
the middle of the court to
halt a seven-point run for the
Gophers. Mahlke had three
kills on just four attempts,
leading the Wolverines with
an excellent attack percentage
of 0.750.

However, her performance

was indicative of her entire
team’s performance — good,
but not good enough.

Going
forward,
Rosen

believes he can solve his
team’s late-game issues.

“Balance is gonna be really

important
for
us
moving

forward,” he said. “That’s
what’s gonna help us close
games out.”

DYLAN CHUNG

For the Daily

I think when
it got late, we

got a little more

predictable.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Sophomore wide receiver Eddie McDoom struggled to bring in a crucial pass on Michigan’s final drive of the game.