2B — October 18, 2017
SportsWednesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
The 94-word blueprint for an upset
I
t was an honest, inward
reflection. Asked to evalu-
ate his play through the
last two weeks — performances
that have yielded 256 yards
and three
intercep-
tions with a
47.3 percent
completion
rate — fifth-
year senior
quarter-
back John
O’Korn took
accountabil-
ity.
“I need
to pick it up, there’s no way
around it,” he said. “Definitely
not up to my own goals and
aspirations. I need to pick it up,
simple as that.”
Not long after, O’Korn was
asked if the postgame conver-
sations with Jim Harbaugh,
offensive coordinator Tim
Drevno and passing game coor-
dinator Pep Hamilton focus
on the broader statistics of the
passing game.
“I don’t think I’m very con-
cerned about the stats and I
don’t think they are either,” he
said. “What they want me to
do is manage the game, man-
age the offense and things like
delay of games and turnovers
can’t happen. You saw the turn-
overs improve at Indiana, now
we just gotta manage the play
clock a little bit better.
“Like I said, just hit guys
when they’re open, execute
the plays that are called. Our
run game’s rolling, our defense
is rolling. It’s on us as a unit,
quarterbacks and receivers, to
pick it up.”
And there it was: 94 words,
and the blueprint for an upset
in State College.
Everything O’Korn said was
correct. Michigan’s defense
still tops the national rankings.
The Wolverines’ run game
— after junior running back
Karan Higdon posted Michi-
gan’s first 200-yard rushing
performance since Denard
Robinson’s in
2012 — looks
alive and well.
With a
matchup
against the
second-ranked
Nittany Lions
beckoning,
though, there
is no avoiding
it: the passing
offense mus-
tered just 58 yards and 2.9 yards
per attempt against Indiana.
Those stats should be concern-
ing. O’Korn does need to step
up, but it doesn’t fall solely on
his shoulders and the Wolver-
ines don’t need him to play
hero — no matter how enticing
that may be for a Pennsylvania
native who grew up 45 minutes
from Beaver Sta-
dium and whose
mom works as a
waitress in State
College serving
Penn State players
and the coaches’
wives.
More simply,
they need him to
take what comes
to him.
Harbaugh
admitted that Penn State
doesn’t give up many big plays.
Through six games, the Nittany
Lions have allowed just three
scores of 20-plus yards — all
against Iowa.
Michigan, on the other
hand, has lived on them. Of the
Wolverines’ 13 offensive touch-
downs, seven have come on
plays of 25-plus
yards.
The key,
then, is in
O’Korn’s own
words. He
needs to man-
age the game.
He needs hit
the open receiv-
er. It sounds
simple, but that
doesn’t make it
any less true.
Harbaugh wouldn’t directly
address if he formulates an
offensive game plan catered
toward avoiding risk and play-
ing to his defense’s strengths.
“Play to win the game,” he
said. “It’s every week though.
I’d say it was emphasized this
week, but it’s emphasized every
week with our
offense.”
In this case,
though, playing
to win the game
revolves around
the Wolverines’
defense. It’s cen-
tered on the run
game too.
With his per-
formance against
Indiana, Higdon
made the case that he can be a
workhorse back for Michigan.
And if he can’t, Chris Evans
and Ty Isaac are waiting in the
wings. Either way, the Wol-
verines have the capability to
shorten the game against the
Nittany Lions.
As for Michigan’s defense —
which will now be tasked with
stopping running back Saquon
Barkley — it is holding oppo-
nents to just 82.1 yards on the
ground per game, good for sixth
in the nation.
Even with this defensive
unit, though, there’s only so
many times Barkley can have
the ball in his hands before he
burns you. And even if Barkley
doesn’t burn them, quarterback
Trace McSorley will.
“You’ve got to keep them off
the field,” Higdon said. “You’ve
got to keep their playmakers off
the field, and that’s how we’re
gonna thrive in this game.”
Which circles things back to
O’Korn.
Missing a wide-open Dono-
van Peoples-Jones on a would-
be 60-yard touchdown didn’t
come back to bite the Wolver-
ines against Indiana. Making
the same mistake against Penn
State will. Those opportunities
will be few and far between.
But throwing to Kekoa Craw-
ford in double coverage, as he
also did against the Hoosiers, is
asking for a turnover — the one
thing that could take away this
defense’s leverage.
Maintaining that leverage
and keeping the game simple
enough to play to the Wolver-
ines’ strengths will be crucial in
State College. If O’Korn makes
his reads, hits the throws and
doesn’t turn it over, all while
allowing Michigan’s stable of
backs to shorten the game, he
will have created the circum-
stances needed to pull off the
upset.
And his mom may have some
disgruntled customers Sunday
morning.
Santo can be reached at
kmsanto@umich.edu or on
Twitter @Kevin_M_Santo.
SPORTSWEDNESDAY COLUMN
KEVIN
SANTO
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Fifth-year senior quarterback John O’Korn needs to manage the game, not play the hero, for Michigan to have a chance to beat No. 2 Penn State on Saturday.
I need to pick
it up, there’s no
way around it.
You’ve got to
keep them off
the field.
Wolverines on brink
of outright B1G title
The No. 3 Michigan field
hockey team officially has a
shot at an outright conference
championship. With a weekend
sweep, the Wolverines clinched at
least a share of the regular season
Big Ten championship, their first
title since 2011.
The championship is in its
grasp because Michigan has been
on fire as of late. Coming into the
weekend, it boasted an undefeated
Big Ten record and had allowed
just two goals in its last eight
games combined — all of which
were victories.
This weekend, it added even
more fuel to the fire.
Friday, the Wolverines (7-0
Big Ten, 13-2 overall) easily
dispatched Indiana (0-6, 6-10)
in Bloomington, winning 2-0.
Michigan continuously swarmed
the Hoosiers’ attackers, creating
turnovers and suffocating every
offensive plan that Indiana tried to
execute.
Michigan senior goalkeeper
Sam Swenson’s most difficult
challenge of the game was likely
fighting off boredom, as the
Wolverines didn’t surrender a
single shot attempt to the Hoosiers.
“We’ve been defending with
a whole lot of team speed and
doubling down on the ball with our
forwards,” said Michigan coach
Marcia Pankratz. “We’ve been
really diligent in continuing to play
team defense.”
The victory against Indiana was
the Wolverines’ eighth shutout
in their last nine games — an
unprecedented stretch that has led
Michigan to within one shutout of
its program record of 10.
After the relative ease of their
Friday shutout, the Wolverines
faced much more formidable
opposition on Sunday afternoon,
playing at then-No. 22 Iowa (1-5,
5-10).
At the start of the match, both
sides struggled to generate any
offense — neither team had a single
shot for the first 20 minutes of the
match.
Then,
the
floodgates
were
opened.
Shortly after chalking up their
first shot with roughly 10 minutes
left in the half, the Wolverines took
the lead when fifth-year senior
midfielder Esther De Leijer rifled
a shot into the right corner of the
goal.
Just
over
a
minute
later,
freshman midfielder Kayla Reed
streaked down the right side of
the field, dusting her defender and
centering the ball to sophomore
midfielder
Fay
Keijer.
Keijer
then deftly redirected the ball to
junior forward Emma Way, who
emphatically pounded it in the
back of the cage for Michigan’s
second goal.
And quickly after, sophomore
forward Meg Dowthwaite spun
past a defender and crushed the
ball into the net — her fifth straight
game with a goal.
“(Dowthwaite’s)
skills
are
just outstanding,” Pankratz said.
“She’s able to finish and make real
polished world-class goals. It’s
been fun to watch.”
And
just
like
that,
the
Wolverines were up 3-0.
But they couldn’t rest easy.
Iowa’s
sputtering
offense
roared to life in the second half,
and suddenly, the Hawkeyes had
scored two goals. With under four
minutes remaining in the game,
Iowa aggressively pushed all of
its players forward for a penalty
corner, desperately trying to knot
the game at three.
Iowa forward Maddy Murphy
received a pass, wound up her
shot, and nailed the ball. She beat
Swenson — but not the goalpost.
Her shot glanced off the left post,
and the Hawkeyes would fail to
generate another chance.
Despite
Iowa’s
second-half
goals, Pankratz was still full of
praise after her team’s 3-2 victory.
“(The Hawkeyes) were taking a
lot of risks, and that just changed
the momentum of the game,”
Pankratz said. “But I was really
proud of our team for really
holding on and getting the win.”
FIELD HOCKEY
Michigan recognizes weight of Penn State game
If
the
No.
19
Michigan
football team hopes to make the
Big Ten Championship — or go
even further — it essentially has
to win out the rest of the season.
“You can lose one,” said
senior left tackle Mason Cole,
“but you can’t lose two.”
No two-loss team has ever
made
the
College
Football
Playoff. And with one loss
already on their record, the
Wolverines (2-1 Big Ten, 5-1
overall) face their biggest test
yet this weekend on the road at
No. 2 Penn State.
A loss removes them from the
Playoff discussion, but a win
keeps those hopes alive.
It’s Harbaugh’s third year at
Michigan, and the team doesn’t
want to settle for just another
random bowl game in Florida.
Few analysts, fans or media
outlets are giving Michigan
much of a chance against the
Nittany Lions.
The
critics
rip
on
the
Wolverines’ struggling offense
and,
more
specifically,
the
errant passing game.
“You try to zone it out, but
you definitely hear (the critics),”
said sophomore receiver Kekoa
Crawford. “Personally, I like
that. I like being the underdog,
being doubted.”
The doubts kept pouring in
after the Wolverines scraped
past Indiana in overtime.
Michigan dropped two spots
in the rankings and got lined up
as an 11-point underdog on the
same day. It was “one slap in the
face after another,” as redshirt
junior defensive end Chase
Winovich described it.
“It’s pivotal for the season
because (Penn State) won the
Big Ten Championship last
year, and they’re a great football
team,” Winovich said.
The matchup carries far
more weight than it did last
year,
when
the
Wolverines
embarrassed the Nittany Lions
in a 49-10 stomping in Ann
Arbor.
The
Wolverines’
defense
bottled up running back Saquon
Barkley, holding him to just
59 yards. The secondary shut
down Penn State quarterback
Trace McSorley, sacking him
six times and allowing just 130
yards in the air.
Michigan held Penn State to
just 191 total offensive yards
in 2016, but a lot has changed.
Now, the Nittany Lions average
456 yards per game.
“I was kind of surprised
that (Penn State) really turned
things around,” Winovich said.
“During the game, I don’t think
we had the highest regard for
them. … I’m sure they were
embarrassed in their own way.
No one likes to lose by that
much.”
Penn State was 2-2 at that
point last year. It had already
lost to Pittsburgh, and yet
nobody
would’ve
predicted
what happened next.
The Nittany Lions upset
Ohio State and ran all the way
to the Big Ten Championship.
And after getting snubbed from
the Playoff, they put on a show
in a Rose Bowl classic against
Southern California.
Barkley ran for 194 yards,
and McSorley threw for 254.
It
was
that
Rose
Bowl
performance that sparked an
offseason
filled
with
hype
about the dynamic Barkley-
McSorley duo.
So far in 2017, the two have
delivered.
Barkley averages 217 all-
purpose yards per game and
has scored nine touchdowns.
McSorley has thrown for over
1,500 yards with 13 touchdown
passes, and he has even run for
four scores as well.
Penn State has all the talent
it needs to continue winning
in the Big Ten. Aside from
Ohio State, it’s hard to imagine
another Big Ten East team
taking the Nittany Lions down.
Michigan believes it can be
that team. It believes it can make
the Big Ten Championship. And
it believes there’s a spot for it in
the College Football Playoff.
But if it loses again, there
won’t be.
DYLAN CHUNG
For the Daily
TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Senior left tackle Mason Cole recognizes the importance of the Penn State matchup, admitting that the Wolverines can’t afford to lose another game this season.