4B — Wednesday, January 3, 2018
SportsWednesday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Report says Frey set to 
leave for Florida State

Greg Frey’s first stint in Ann 

Arbor lasted three years.

His second? That could be 

much shorter.

According to a report from 

Josh Newberg of 247Sports.com, 
Michigan’s 
offensive 
tackles 

and tight ends coach didn’t 
travel home with the team from 
Tampa after Monday’s Outback 
Bowl. Instead, Frey and his wife 
drove up to Tallahassee to meet 
with new Florida State head 
coach Willie Taggart.

Frey may not have coached 

alongside 
Taggart before, 
but 
he 
does 

have significant 
shared history 
with 
the 

Seminoles, 
having 
played 

for 
Florida 

State’s 
1993 

championship 
team.

The 
report 

implies 
Frey 

has been in ongoing talks with 
Taggart, who was officially 
hired Dec. 5.

According 
to 
Newberg, 

there’s a “good chance” Frey’s 
departure is finalized in the 
near future.

Such a move would represent 

a second consecutive offseason 
with a significant shake-up 
in 
the 
offensive 
coaching 

staff. Following last season, 
the Wolverines saw former 
assistant coaches Jedd Fisch 
and Tyrone Wheatley leave for 
jobs elsewhere. Jim Harbaugh 
brought in Frey as one of 
the replacements along with 
passing game coordinator Pep 
Hamilton.

He was seen as a key cog in 

the development of Michigan’s 
offensive line, joining offensive 
coordinator Tim Drevno, who 

was responsible for interior 
linemen.

Frey, an acclaimed coach who 

has developed numerous NFL-
caliber linemen such as Taylor 
Lewan, Jason Spriggs and Dan 
Feeney throughout stops at four 
different schools, also served 
as the Wolverines’ run game 
coordinator.

Known as a dogged recruiter, 

Frey was responsible for signing 
Jalen Mayfield and Ryan Hayes, 
two four-star offensive tackles, 
and 
Luke 
Schoonmaker, 
a 

three-star tight end, in the 2018 
class.

In 
his 
one 

year 
on 
staff, 

Michigan 
experienced 
mixed 
results 

along 
the 

offensive 
line. 

The Wolverines 
struggled 
with 

pass protection, 
especially 
on 

the 
right 
side 

of 
the 
line, 

where Michigan 

started three different players 
at right tackle. The Wolverines 
surrendered 36 total sacks, 
ranking No. 114 in the nation.

The 
rushing 
attack 
saw 

more positive results, although 
the Wolverines limped to the 
finish. In their final three 
games (all losses), they rushed 
a combined 115 times for 232 
yards, averaging 2.0 yards per 
carry. On the year, Michigan 
averaged 177.7 rushing yards 
per game. According to the 
S+P ratings, the Wolverines’ 
rushing attack ranked No. 14 in 
the nation.

During 
Frey’s 
previous 

tenure, Michigan’s offensive 
line 
play 
improved 
quickly 

enough that he was able to see 
the fruits of his labor. That 
doesn’t appear to be the case 
this time around. 

Shea Patterson can’t fix Michigan on his own

T

AMPA, Fla. — A procla-
mation came from the 
first row of Raymond 

James Sta-
dium.

“It’s Pat-

terson sea-
son,” one fan 
screamed 
in Brandon 
Peters’ direc-
tion.

And thus, 

the prover-
bial cloud 
hanging over 
the redshirt freshman’s head 
became very, very literal.

He stood on the sideline, hel-

met perched upon his head.

He was a lonely man, playing 

one of football’s loneliest posi-
tions. He had just gone four-and-
out with four incompletions, 
the Michigan football team’s 
penultimate gasp in a 26-19 loss 
to South Carolina in the Outback 
Bowl.

Little did he know his world 

was about to get a whole lot 
lonelier. His defense gave him a 
final chance at playing hero. He 
would throw his second pick of 
the game, on 4th-and-1, to seal 

the win for the Gamecocks once 
and for all. Then he would trot 
off the field accompanied only by 
Sean McKeon.

So yes, it well may be ‘Patter-

son season.’ The former Ole Miss 
quarterback is officially in Ann 
Arbor, set to enroll in classes 
and begin offseason workouts 
while he awaits the fate of his 
eligibility.

But here’s the rub: Shea Pat-

terson can’t fix Michigan’s prob-
lems.

After the game, asked what 

was necessary for the program 
to get to the next level, Jim Har-
baugh offered little clarity and 
no specificity.

“We’ll look at every aspect 

of it,” he said, “and we’ll make 
improvements.”

Not long after, Karan Higdon 

was asked to summarize Michi-
gan’s 8-5 season.

“I think it’s definitely a learn-

ing season,” he said. “We learned 
a lot about ourselves, a lot about 
our program, a lot about our 
coaches, our players, and I think 
going into next year we’ve got to 
put it all together. … We’ve gotta 
capitalize on those things and fix 
the little things as well.”

The problem is that Michigan 

certainly has improvements to 
make, but they’re not a matter of 
the “little things,” as the issues 
have been described all season.

And despite the Wolverines’ 

optimism with each passing 
week that they were one step 
away from a 
breakthrough, the 
fact remains that 
they’re not.

That doesn’t 

change that, in the 
week leading up 
Monday’s match-
up, the consensus 
was rather simple.

A matchup with 

the Gamecocks 
was an opportu-
nity for progress, a springboard 
for 2018.

But given a month to prepare, 

it was anything but. And the 
evidence was strung across four 
quarters in Raymond James 
Stadium.

Near the seven-minute mark 

of the second quarter, freshman 
Brad Robbins was replaced with 
Will Hart after hitting three 
of his first four punts under 35 
yards, only to be reinstated on 

the next fourth down when Hart 
hit a line drive himself.

With just over nine minutes 

left in the third quarter, Higdon 
fumbled inside the five-yard line 
with a chance to put the Wolver-
ines up by 19.

Then came the fumble on 

Michigan’s 
own 21-yard 
line and 
the 17-point 
onslaught 
that gave the 
Gamecocks the 
lead and the 
two intercep-
tions.

All the 

while, the 
Wolverines 

relied on their kicker to generate 
points and watched as a make-
shift offensive line that is largely 
indicative of the future was 
manhandled.

If this all sounds familiar, it’s 

probably because it happened in 
Arlington against Florida, too.

As for the cherry on top?
Asked how long it took South 

Carolina to figure out Michigan’s 
offense, cornerback JaMarcus 
King left things pretty plainly.

“Two drives.”
Taking that all into account, it 

may be time for fans to prepare 
for a tough reality.

Shea Patterson can beat a 

defense with his legs. As things 
stand, he isn’t fast enough to 
make up for his offensive line.

He has a pretty arm, but won’t 

produce 300-yard outings if his 
offense is predictable.

He has a fanbase hungry for 

him, hungry for a savior.

But they felt that way about 

Peters, too, not so long ago. And 
the same problems that undid 
him remain, leaving Michigan 
in a bit of a conundrum.

The Wolverines have a lot to 

fix themselves. Shea Patterson 
can’t do it for them. 

Santo can be reached at 

kmsanto@umich.edu or on 

Twitter at @Kevin_M_Santo

KEVIN 
SANTO

“We’ll look at 
every aspect 

of it and 

we’ll make 

improvements”

Freshmen perform 
 

well in Greensboro

The Greensboro Aquatic 

Center is a considerable 591 
miles away from Ann Arbor. 
It’s not a stretch to say that 
most other visiting divers 
would feel like a fish out of 
water there.

However, two freshmen 

divers for the No. 4 Michigan 
women’s 
swimming 
and 

diving team, Nikki Canale 
and 
Christy 
Cutshaw, 

had their own home-pool 
advantage while competing at 
the 2017 USA Diving Winter 
National 
Championships 

in their home 
state of North 
Carolina.

Over 
the 

course of the 
six-day 
meet 

from 
Dec. 

13-18, 
Canale 

and 
Cutshaw 

both 
finaled. 

Cutshaw 
finished 
second in the 
synchronized 
platform and sixth in the 
platform, 
while 
Canale 

placed eleventh in the three-
meter final. Diving coach 
Mike Hilde attributed some 
of the divers’ performance 
to 
being 
in 
familiar 

territory, but was impressed 
nonetheless.

“I know that they were 

excited 
that 
friends 
and 

family were in town and 
there 
were 
people 
there 

to 
support 
them,” 
Hilde 

said. “It was kind of a rare 
occasion because there’s not 
a lot of times where you’re in 
a place that you’re from. But 
it was a great experience. My 
two freshmen divers were 
competing at a high level … 
both ended up in the finals 
and both did pretty well.”

Hilde also highlighted the 

freshmen’s toughness in the 
face of adversity. Many of 

the divers at the meet were 
upperclassmen or divers who 
were already out of college, 
while this was Canale and 
Cutshaw’s 
first 
collegiate 

dive of such high stakes.

“They’re young girls and 

are new to the college scene,” 
Hilde said. “Not everybody in 
this meet was a college diver 
but a majority of them are 
or were graduating divers, 
so just to see their mental 
toughness And the way they 
handle themselves was the 
main thing. They’re battling 
with the best so it’s also a 
very good positive motivator 
going forward.”

The divers 

will 
return 

home 
to 

Canham 
Natatorium on 
Jan. 13, where 
both the men’s 
and women’s 
swimming 
and 
diving 

programs will 
host Indiana. 
As the meet 
will 
mark 

the women’s program’s first 
home meet since Sept. 29, 
Hilde is looking forward 
to seeing the team rallying 
around each other and the 
Wolverine community.

“They 
can 
stay 
home, 

continue to train and study 
without leaving their own 
place and going back and 
forth,” 
Hilde 
said. 
“It 

changes the way because we 
don’t have too many meets 
coming up, and you can really 
get into the rhythm for what 
we want to get done at the Big 
Ten’s. You’re not away from 
all your peers and fellow 
athletes to rally around, so 
it’s nice to have that chunk of 
time back home.”

For Cutshaw and Canale 

though, that chunk was just 
a bit longer, and all the more 
triumphant. 

WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING

RIAN RATNAVALE

Daily Sports Writer 

“... It’s nice to 

have that chunk 

of time back 

home.”

‘M’ falls to Iowa as Thome, Flaherty struggle

Michigan 
had 
all 
the 

momentum in the world. 

The No. 21 Wolverines (1-1 Big 

Ten, 12-3 overall) fought back 
from a nine-point deficit with 
five minutes to go in the game 
to make it two with just under 
four minutes left. The No. 23 
Hawkeyes (2-0, 14-1), proceeded 
to slam the door shut with more 
force than the Incredible Hulk.

Iowa’s Chase Coley hit an 

elbow jumper to make the lead 
four. Kathleen Doyle put in a 
transition layup to extend it to 
six, then added another layup off 
a backdoor cut to make it eight. 
When Megan Gustafson beat the 
shot clock to make it 10 with 1:21 
to go, that was all she wrote.

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball team fell on Sunday, 
82-72, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena 
in Iowa City. The loss snaps an 
eight-game winning streak and 
keeps coach Kim Barnes Arico 
from passing Sue Guevara for 
first place on the program’s all-

time wins list. 

Senior guard Katelynn Flaherty 

managed to put up 24 points 
on 8-of-19 shooting, spurring 
Michigan’s fourth-quarter run 
with six straight points. However, 
she was the only Wolverine with 
more than 11 points on the night.

“I 
thought 

we had a couple 
opportunities 
of some other 
people to make 
plays, 
whether 

that be getting 
stops 
on 
the 

defensive 
end, 

or even on the 
offensive 
end 

with the defense 
they 
were 

playing, denying Katelynn and 
denying (Nicole) Munger a little 
bit,” Barnes Arico told WTKA. 
“But we really couldn’t get too 
many other people going.

“I thought Kayla Robbins did a 

decent job of giving us some real 
good minutes as she’s done the 
last couple of games. But other 
than that, we really struggled to 

get going.”

The Hawkeyes managed to 

keep the Wolverines quiet with 
a triangle-and-two defense that 
flummoxed them.

“They 
face-guarded 

Katelynnn 
and 
face-guarded 

Nicole and we really weren’t able 

to get them any 
open 
looks 
the 

rest of the game,” 
Barnes 
Arico 

said. “We really 
struggled 
with 

that. And I would 
imagine 
that’s 

how teams are 
probably 
gonna 

defend us, so we 
gotta 
continue 

working on that.”

The game was decided down 

low. Gustafson, who averages 
22.1 points and 12.6 rebounds 
per game for Iowa, lived up to 
her billing. She finished with 27 
points and 11 rebounds on 8-of-9 
shooting from the field, getting 
junior center Hallie Thome into 
foul trouble early and spending 
the rest of the game scoring over 

double-teams. 

“I thought we did a great job in 

the first half of really crowding 
(Gustafson),” Barnes Arico said. 
“I think some of their other role 
players made a couple shots and 
I think that made our kids a little 
bit nervous, to come on out and to 
guard some of them. When they 
did, that really opened things up 
for Gustafson.”

Thome herself was shut down 

by Gustafson and the rest of 
Iowa’s defense. Despite the foul 
trouble, she played 31 minutes, but 
managed just seven points, her 
second-worst mark of the season.

Michigan has, for the most 

part, spent the season feasting on 
non-conference opponents, their 
only two losses coming against 
two top-three teams. On Sunday, 
it learned the hard way that the 
competition in the Big Ten, on 
the road, is a good deal tougher.

“Welcome to the Big Ten,” 

Barnes Arico said. “Where every 
night, if you’re not focused, if 
you’re not locked in, if you’re not 
ready to go for 40 minutes, you 
can be beat.”

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Junior guard Nicole Munger struggled with Iowa’s triangle-and-two defense, as No. 21 Michigan dropped a close road game to No. 23 Iowa.

ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer

“If you’re not 
ready to go for 
40 minutes, you 

can be beat.”

ORION SANG

Managing Sports Editor

FOOTBALL

(Frey) didn’t 
travel home 
with the team 
from Tampa.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Transfer quarterback Shea Patterson will need help from the rest of the Michigan football team to fix its issues. 

