2B — Monday, October 1, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Winovich is the voice of the defense
B
efore
the
season
began, the
week of the
Notre Dame
game, Chase
Winovich was
dealt some
unexpected
bad news.
After a
season in which he led the
Michigan football team in
sacks, tackles for loss and
fumble recoveries, Winovich
was one of the unquestioned
leaders on the Wolverines’
defense which finished third
nationally in total defense.
He saw himself as a leader
too.
So, when Michigan
announced its captains,
voted on by the players,
and Winovich wasn’t one of
them, he was understandably
disappointed.
“That one stung a little bit,”
Winovich said that week, on
Aug. 28, before giving some
context. “But at the end of the
day, when you think about it,
I came back to win a national
championship.
I didn’t come
back to win
a popularity
contest, so, you
know, it’s on the
board. That’s
all I’m gonna
say. My role as
a leader is still
the same. I woke
up that day, was
not the captain.
I woke up the next day, was not
the captain. End of the day, it’s
out of my hands. So I’m moving
on.”
He said that last part while
mimicking wiping his hands
clean. Perhaps he was telling
the truth. His play has only
gotten better from last year’s
coming-out party — captaincy
or not.
Winovich is tied for the
most tackles for loss in the
nation through five games this
season. He once again leads
the Wolverines
in sacks, and
he is second
on the team in
tackles, behind
linebacker
Devin Bush.
He is the
workhorse of
Michigan’s
defense, and
that was never
more obvious
than in the Wolverines’
win over Northwestern on
Saturday.
Winovich led Michigan with
nine tackles, eight of which
were solo and three of which
were for losses.
He practically lived in the
Wildcats’ backfield all game
long, breaking through their
line so often you couldn’t help
but notice his dominance.
“The ends, I think
Chase had one of his better
ballgames,” said Michigan
coach Jim
Harbaugh after
the game. “Just
the way he was
flying around
and hustling all
night. I mean,
play after play
after play after
play.”
Winovich’s
production
obviously
helped the Wolverines in their
emotional, comeback win. And
after every game like that,
there are questions asked and
stories told about sideline
or locker room interactions
that fired up a team or an
individual player.
On Saturday night,
Winovich was the subject of a
few stories.
“Chase is a character, and
he’s a tremendous leader
on this team,” said junior
quarterback Shea Patterson.
“All he’s gotta
do is look at
you, and you
know what
he’s saying. He
sparked a fire in
me in the locker
room and on the
field in the third
quarter. That
helped me out
a lot.”
“I told a lot
of the guys when we were
down, I looked each person in
the eye, because I didn’t want
the message to be dispelled,”
Winovich said. “I said, ‘This
is the part where we double
down on all the hard work
we’ve done. All the preparation
that we’ve gone through. And
they can’t take this from us.’
Even when we were losing I
said that. It was our game. It
was nothing they could do. But
I’m just so fired up about that
game, and it feels great.”
Another story
that popped
up was from
practice last
week.
On Thursday,
Winovich spoke
to the defense
in an effort to
inspire them for
a game that may
have looked like
a cakewalk.
“I said, you know, ‘It’s in
a sense their season, and it’s
our season.’ ” Winovich said.
“You know, we lose this game,
who knows how that affects
our chances at the playoffs
and a Big Ten Championship.
And for them, this would have
been the greatest night of their
lives. And obviously we spoiled
that.”
It might seem odd to hear
these stories of Winovich’s
leadership from Winovich
himself. For many people, that
would make the stories less
believable.
But Winovich isn’t a
bullshitter. He’ll call an
opponent’s offense predictable
after a game if he feels that’s
the case. He’ll tell you candidly
that he was hurt when he
wasn’t named captain.
There was one more bit of
truth from Aug. 28.
After a question about his
offseason and the progress he
had made, Winovich started
by mentioning the tools he’s
added and credited strength
and conditioning coach Ben
Herbert. Then he finished with
a prediction.
“It’s gonna be fun,”
Winovich said. “That’s all I’m
gonna say about this season.
Yeah, it’s gonna be fun.”
In hindsight, that almost
looks like foreshadowing.
Winovich had fun on Saturday.
His team did too.
“It was electric,” Winovich
said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever
experienced a Michigan locker
room that was that — like, the
juice was flowing through
everyone from the coaches to
the managers to
the equipment
staff. It was
going through
everyone.”
Part of that
can be credited
to Winovich,
who has stayed
true to his word
that his role has
not changed. He
has dominated
on the field and done his best
to inspire his teammates.
Winovich didn’t win the
popularity contest at the
beginning of the year. But
he’s moved on from that. The
reason Winovich came back
— his national championship
goals — are still in play. And
Winovich is leading the push.
Persak can be reached on
Twitter at @MikeDPersak or
on venmo at @Mike-Persak.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich is tied for the most tackles for loss in the nation with 10.5 throughout five games so far this season.
MIKE
PERSAK
‘M’ suffers from frequent penalties
For
yet
another
season,
Michigan is one of the country’s
most penalized teams in 2018.
Teams have accepted an average
of 9.2 infractions for 84.2 yards
per game against the Wolverines
— 13th and 15th worst nationally,
respectively.
That’s up nearly three penalties
a contest from 2017, marking the
third season Michigan ranks
below average in the category
under coach Jim Harbaugh.
Yellow
flags
were
again
plentiful for the Wolverines in
their come-from-behind victory
at Northwestern on Saturday.
Michigan was called for six
penalties in the first half, their
effects compounded by the costly
moments in which they came.
Facing
third-and-long
early in the second quarter,
Northwestern threw a fade to the
endzone, looking to capitalize on
a man-to-man matchup between
David Long and receiver Bennett
Skowronek. The junior corner fell
behind the route, however, and
was forced to grab Skowronek to
prevent an easy touchdown. Long
was called for pass interference,
setting up a punch-in score for the
Wildcats two snaps later.
Junior corner Lavert Hill was
flagged for a hold later in the
second quarter, as he and Long
struggled against Northwestern’s
quick passing plays and slants
early. Thorson completed nine of
his first 11 passes.
But
perhaps
the
most
momentum-thwarting
penalty
was a false start by redshirt
junior tight end Zach Gentry late
in the second quarter. Looking
for points before heading to the
locker room, Gentry jumped on
fourth-and-three,
forcing
the
Wolverines to bring on their
punting unit in Wildcat territory.
While
Michigan
adjusted
both its discipline and play in the
second half, those errors were far
from confidence-inspiring. As
nearly 16-point favorites in front
of a split crowd, the Wolverines
were expected to cruise through
Saturday.
They showed they could have
with
20
unanswered
points
to finish the game. But those
penalties and self-inflicted errors
created Michigan’s razor-thin
margin for error.
It was also the second horrid
defensive start on the road for the
Wolverines in as many tries. A
month ago, Notre Dame jumped
out to a 21-3 lead after now-backup
Brandon Wimbush torched the
Wolverines secondary. Penalties
had their roll then, too. Junior
safety Josh Metellus was ejected
after a targeting call on the game’s
second drive.
Khaleke Hudson has become
all
too
familiar
with
that
controversial player-safety rule.
For the second consecutive week,
the junior VIPER sat out the first
half after targeting penalties the
week prior.
Fans, meanwhile, will point
to a questionable penalty that
didn’t go the Wolverines’ way. On
a zone-read in the fourth quarter,
senior
running
back
Karan
Higdon was penalized for a hold
Harbaugh said was a “phantom
call.”
“I asked for it specifically just
to make sure they didn’t come
back later and say it was some
other player,” Harbaugh said.
“They called it on 22, they called
it on Karan, so I asked the referee,
‘Go ask the side judge who he
called it on.’ So there wasn’t some
different explanation days from
now.”
Fifth-year
senior
defensive
end Chase Winovich also said he
was “baffled” by what he thought
were a litany of missed holding
penalities against Northwestern’s
offensive line.
Officials make mistakes. It’s
part of college football. Many of
those mistakes happened to not
benefit Michigan on Saturday.
But it doesn’t discount a
worrying trend. Penalties, for yet
another week, proved numerous
and detrimental. And as the Big
Ten slate heats up, it could be
only a matter of time before they
culminate in another loss for the
Wolverines.
“We’ve got to make it clear that
there were no penalties, so there’s
no grey in-between for the refs
to throw that flag,” said junior
linebacker Josh Uche. “Like I
said, it was self-inflicted stuff, but
we adjusted.”
MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Editor
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
The Wolverines were called for six penalties in the first half of Saturday’s game.
“Chase is a
character, and
a tremendous
leader...”
“But I’m just so
fired up about
that game, and
it feels great.”
“I didn’t come
back to win
a popularity
contest...”