8A — Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Facing McSorley, Michigan looks for redemption

After allowing season highs of 
506 yards and 42 points to Penn 
State in last season’s blowout, the 
Michigan football team’s defense 
can seemingly rest easier. This 
Saturday, it doesn’t have to line 
up across some of the threats 
that keep defensive coordinator 
Don Brown up at night.
There is no whiteout crowd 
in Happy Valley, no DaeSean 
Hamilton 
or 
Mike 
Gesicki 
running the sidelines and, most 
notably, no Saquon Barkley to 
gash the Wolverines’ defense.
But 
some 
teams 
have 
indescribable 
characteristics 
that 
can 
cause 
fits. 
The 
14th-ranked Nittany Lions are 
one of them.
“They don’t have Saquon, 
but they’re still Penn State,” 
said 
redshirt 
sophomore 
defensive tackle Carlo Kemp. 
“They’re still super successful, 
super dangerous and they’re a 
couple plays away from being 
undefeated.”
And in Penn State quarterback 
Trace McSorley, No. 5 Michigan 
will still face off against an 
offensive weapon it had no 
answers for last year.
McSorley threw for 282 yards 
and a touchdown in last year’s 
game, but carried the ball 11 
times for 76 yards and three 
touchdowns. Sure, Barkley and 
the headaches he presented are 
now in the NFL. But running 
back 
Miles 
Sanders 
and 
McSorley are still executing run-
pass-options as well as anyone in 
the country.
With a chance at redemption, 
the 
defense’s 
success 
is 
contingent on stopping McSorley.
“Terrific 
player,” 
said 
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. 
“Consistently plays really well. 
Always is a threat in the passing 
game, defending the passing. 
He’s running the ball a lot more 
this year, really effectively. He’s 
quite a quarterback. Their win-
it factor shows up over and over. 

Big challenge for our team this 
week.”
With junior linebacker Devin 
Bush Jr. likely spying McSorley 
and a weaker run game (read: 
not the best in the country), the 
Wolverines could see a more 
balanced, but still explosive 
offense.
“They got some key guys that 
they like to go to,” said junior 
safety Josh Metellus. “Like No. 
1, KJ (Hamler), he’s a fast guy, 
he creates space well himself 
and he has acceleration to take a 
five-yard play to an 80-yard play. 
And then on the outside they’ve 
got No. 84 (Juwan Johnson), 
we know he’s a good deep ball 
threat and a possession guy too. 
If they need a third-and-nine, 
they’ll go to him on a curl route 
or something.”
And like any powerhouse 
offense, it all runs through it’s 
quarterback.
“He keeps plays moving with 
his feet, extending plays really 
well,” Metellus continued, “and 
that’s one of those things that 

— as a defensive back in man 
coverage — you don’t want the 
play to extend because now you 
cover your man for six seconds 
instead of three or four. That’s 
what makes their passing attack 
hard to defend.”
Michigan 
has 
played 
quarterbacks that are also light 
on their feet this season. Notre 
Dame’s 
Brandon 
Wimbush, 
Nebraska’s 
Adrian 
Martinez 
and 
Michigan 
State’s 
Brian 
Lewerke all fit that bill, with only 
Wimbush finding any semblance 
of success. McSorley will be 
the most decisive and quick 
quarterback it will see all year.
The Wolverines’ defense is 
boiled down to manning an 
assignment on a given play. It’s 
simple enough in practice, but 
failure in execution could be the 
difference between a stop and a 
touchdown.
“Just making sure you read 
your keys properly,” Kemp said. 
“Make sure you do your job, don’t 
try to do too much. If you have 
the quarterback, make sure you 

have the quarterback, because if 
you don’t, then you’ll look at him 
going that way.”
Kemp, whose face briefly 
shifted from a smile to a 
concerned 
look, 
pointed 
behind his back. He, and the 
whole Michigan defense, saw 
themselves 
chasing 
Barkley 
and McSorley often against the 
Nittany Lions a year ago.
Brown was adamant that last 
year’s defensive performance 
keeps him restless. Metellus 
knows he’s telling the truth, 
because he feels the same. Their 
frustration extends from a loss, 
and exposing a highly-touted 
defense.
Beyond that, feeling helpless 
is something Michigan’s defense 
has rarely confronted.
“I’m sure everyone on the 
defense felt they could’ve done 
something to improve the output 
of the game,” Metellus said.
With a second chance to tackle 
McSorley, the defense doesn’t 
need much more motivation than 
that.

Mann to continue receiving opportunities

Two is better than one.
Last 
season, 
then-
sophomores Jack LaFontaine 
and Hayden Lavigne split time 
at goaltender for the first half 
of the season until Lavigne 
wrestled away control of the 
starting job.
Though Lavigne retains a 
hold on the position through the 
first five games of the season, 
the emergence of freshman 
goaltender Strauss Mann has 
provided the Michigan hockey 
team (3-2) with a viable second 
option. Even after Lavigne 
recorded a shutout on Friday 
against St. Lawrence, Mann 
received the nod the following 
evening. And for Michigan 
coach Mel Pearson, having two 
good netminders is better than 
one.
“(Lavigne)’s 
a 
good 
goaltender,” 
Pearson 
said. 
“It’s nice to have one really 
good goaltender, but it’s even 
better to have two really good 
goaltenders. So, I just wanted to 
make sure Strauss got in.”
In Pearson’s time as an 
assistant for the Wolverines, the 
team would traditionally ride 
one goaltender, including Scott 
Sharples, Steve Shields and 
Marty Turco. Last season was 
a bit of an anomaly for Pearson 
who was getting a feel for his 
two sophomore goaltenders in 
his debut season 
as head coach for 
Michigan. Now 
in 
his 
second 
season 
at 
the 
helm, 
Pearson 
has a freshman 
in Mann who 
has 
shown 
the 
ability 
to 
provide quality 
play 
in 
the 
crease.
Mann allowed only one goal 
on 19 shots in Saturday’s 3-1 
victory after showing some 
signs of struggle in a 5-4 loss 
at 
Western 
Michigan 
last 
weekend.
“I wanted to get Strauss 
in and just to get him a home 
game,” Pearson said. “We sort 

of threw him into the deep end 
right off the bat at Western 
Michigan, it’s a tough place to 
play and I just wanted to get 
him a home game ... And I want 
some competition.”
As 
for 
Mann, 
the 
competitiveness 
between 
himself 
and 
Lavigne 
only 
drives him to be 
better.
“As a goalie, 
there’s only one 
guy 
that 
can 
be in the net at 
a time,” Mann 
said. “So that’s 
something 
I’ve 
really 
had 
to 
deal 
with 
my 
whole career so that’s nothing 
new. Everyone is just trying 
to play their best when they’re 
in the net and that’s just been 
my approach. When I get my 
chance just do what I can do 
and hopefully things will work 
out in the long run.
“I think the best goalies 

are really competitive, and I’d 
like to think I’m competitive 
as well. We both know we’re 
friends off the ice, so anything 
that happens on the ice is just 
hockey and just competing and 
at the end of the day just looking 
to make each other better. 
So, no one ever 
takes offense to 
anyone wanting 
to 
stop 
pucks 
or 
getting 
competitive 
on 
the ice, it’s just 
the nature of the 
game.”
Lavigne 
will 
likely 
continue 
to 
receive 
the 
majority of the 
time between the pipes. But 
with Big Ten play beginning 
next 
Friday 
against 
Notre 
Dame, Pearson knows that he 
may have to ride the hot hand if 
one goaltender stakes a claim to 
that level of success.
Thus 
far, 
both 
Lavigne 
and Mann have put up nearly 

identical 
numbers 
in 
three 
and two regular season starts, 
respectively. Lavigne has a 
3.04 
goals 
against 
average 
with a .864 save percentage, 
while Mann has a 3.07 goals 
against average and a .860 save 
percentage.
Though he’s 
currently 
the 
clear 
backup 
now, 
Mann 
embraces 
the 
opportunity 
to 
continue 
to improve on 
and off the ice 
and earn more 
playing time.
“(Lavigne 
and I) have a 
really good relationship and 
definitely 
push 
each 
other 
on and off the ice. We have a 
good line of communication 
and 
definitely 
talk 
about 
goaltending a lot and how we 
can make each other better 
and push each other. It’s been a 
good relationship so far.”

Karan Higdon takes 
on leadership role

After the Michigan football 
team’s last game, a 21-7 win 
over Michigan State, there 
was a lot to talk about.
So when Karan Higdon 
sat in the visitors’ press 
conference room at Spartan 
Stadium, 
he 
was 
asked 
about pregame antics and 
motivation and doubters. The 
senior running back had an 
answer ready.
“Every 
week, 
it 
seems 
that people, with the playoff 
rankings or whatever it may 
be, find a reason to critique 
us 
about 
why 
we 
don’t 
deserve to be a top-ranked 
team,” Higdon said. “Last 
week it was we don’t show 
up in big games. This week, 
it’s Michigan State’s got the 
No. 
1-ranked 
defense. Blah, 
blah, blah. We 
showed up and 
we did our job. 
That’s all that 
matters, 
and 
that’s what it 
is.”
Higdon was 
positioned 
in that press 
conference 
between 
sophomore 
wide 
receiver 
Donovan Peoples-Jones and 
junior 
quarterback 
Shea 
Patterson. He answered a 
majority of the questions 
during 
the 
presser, 
and 
he 
gave 
calm, 
confident 
responses.
When the three players 
stood up afterward, Peoples-
Jones and Patterson smiled at 
Higdon, giving him high-fives 
and handshakes before they 
exited stage right. The game, 
and Higdon’s words, seemed 
to have pumped them all up.
Higdon was named captain 
before the season, and he 
exudes the confidence of one, 
both in front of 
the media and 
elsewhere.
When 
the 
Wolverines beat 
the 
Spartans, 
and Wisconsin 
before 
that, 
they sealed the 
games on the 
ground, feeding 
Higdon 
over 
and over and 
bludgeoning 
the opposing defense into 
submission. 
He 
is 
the 
workhorse of the offense.
On 
Monday, 
facing 
the 
media for the first time since 
East Lansing, Higdon said he 
feels he has always run with 
an aggressive, downhill style. 
What he has been trying to 
develop this season, is his 
leadership skills.
“Being 
more 
vocal,” 
Higdon said. “Holding guys 
to a higher standard, making 
sure we’re all on the same 
page and that I’m not just 
playing and leading through 
my play, but being vocal and 
making sure that guys are on 
top of their stuff, keeping that 
focus, keeping that higher 

energy.”
The ability to be a vocal 
leader and a strong performer 
go hand-in-hand, though.
If Higdon wasn’t leading 
the team with 831 yards 
and six touchdowns on the 
ground, if he hadn’t taken 
nearly the entire workload 
after junior running back 
Chris Evans went down with 
an injury, or if he hadn’t put in 
work off the field to become 
Michigan’s bell cow, his voice 
wouldn’t have a place on the 
team in the first place.
But he has done all those 
things, and his voice does hold 
water with the Wolverines.
“(Higdon) has been getting 
a bulk of the carries these last 
eight weeks, and you can tell 
he knows he’s a leader,” said 
junior safety Josh Metellus. 
“He knows guys look up to 
him, and he’s 
taken that with 
a high head and 
like, 
‘Alright, 
if people want 
me to be the 
leader, I can 
be the leader.’ 
You know, he’s 
speaking 
up. 
Whatever 
he 
doesn’t 
like, 
he says it. Or, 
you know, if he 
wants to talk to the team, give 
us some encouragement, he 
does. Everybody really listens 
to him.”
Added redshirt junior left 
tackle Jon Runyan: “Karan’s 
a guy that’s not afraid to call 
anybody out. When guys are 
slacking, missing a block or 
not catching the ball, having 
him, knowing that he has your 
back even when he says that 
stuff, it’s very nice. Karan’s a 
great dude. Everybody loves 
him, rallies around him, and 
it’s great having him out there 
with us.”
To Runyan, the way Higdon 
has earned respect is the 
same thing he 
expects 
from 
those 
around 
him. He calls 
people 
out, 
because 
he 
wants them to 
work as hard 
as he does.
From 
Higdon’s 
perspective, 
that likely has 
more 
to 
do 
with the constant push to get 
Michigan to its highest level 
of performance.
For his teammates, though, 
Higdon’s respect for them 
means something, too.
“For Karan, it’s coming 
in, doing your job, working 
hard 
every 
day,” 
Runyan 
said. “Don’t get too boastful 
about yourself, and you’ll 
eventually earn his respect. 
I think I’ve definitely done 
that. Everyone on the offense 
has done their part to earn 
that, and that’s something 
really special when a type of 
player like Karan’s caliber, 
you earn his respect.”
The 
feeling 
is 
almost 
definitely mutual.

ETHAN WOLFE
Daily Sports Writer

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Junior safety Josh Metellus has recorded 30 tackles and three picks through eight games so far this season. 

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Senior running back Karan Higdon has embraced his position as captain. 

MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor

“That’s all that 
matters, and 
that’s what 
it is.”

“Karan’s a guy 
that’s not 
afraid to call 
anybody out.”

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Freshman goaltender Strauss Mann has a 3.07 goals against average and .860 save percentage so far this season.

JORGE CAZARES
Daily Sports Writer

“We sort of threw 

him into the 

deep end right 

off the bat...”

“As a goalie, 

there’s only one 

guy that can be in 

the net at a time.”

