The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SportsMonday November 12, 2018 — 3B Teammates make Gary proud in homecoming PISCATAWAY — With a loosened brace draped over his right shoulder, Rashan Gary peered at the stat sheet on the podium in front of him. “Pssst,” Gary muttered to no one in particular. “It’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine.” The junior defensive end, in fact, repeated that phrase four times throughout his postgame press conference. On Saturday, it must have been “great” indeed. The Michigan football team bludgeoned Rutgers for the fourth time in as many years under coach Jim Harbaugh, this time winning, 42-7. It was a celebratory homecoming for numerous New Jersey natives on the Wolverines’ roster, including Gary — an alumnus of Paramus Catholic High School. But just a month ago, Gary’s return to his home state was in question. He missed three October games with an AC joint injury in his right shoulder, and rumors swirled that he might end his collegiate career before the season’s end. After all, the former No. 1 overall recruit’s talent had never been in question. Gary could have been a high pick in the 2019 NFL Draft without playing another snap for Michigan — in the same vein as Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa. But tucked inside the underbelly of Highpoint.com Stadium on Saturday, it became clear why Gary did not take that route. Gary’s reaction to the stat sheet in front of him was not some self-aggrandizing remark. Four tackles and one quarterback hit against the Scarlet Knights, though a solid performance, is not going to make his name jump on NFL Draft boards. So why was Gary so elated? “I just like seeing my brothers, man, just seeing what my brothers are able to do,” Gary said. “It’s ridiculous. I’m just happy to see my brothers eat. That just shows us as a team — looking at the stat sheet — that we’re improving individually and as a team.” The most noteworthy of those stats was Karan Higdon’s 44 yards, which put the senior running back over the 1000-yard mark just nine games into his season. When that was brought to Gary’s attention, he pumped his fist repeatedly. It was a benchmark Higdon had been hankering to eclipse, and Gary certainly knew it. Minutes later, junior quarterback Shea Patterson uttered a statement he has not been coy to share. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a team that’s been this close,” Patterson said. Yeah, that is as cliché as it gets — the types of things Michigan coaches would want Patterson to say publicly. But it feels genuine because Gary is exhibit A. Insurance policies are an inevitability these days, but Gary is literally risking millions of dollars by continuing to play for the Wolverines. He has ground to gain in mock drafts, sure, but all it takes is one play for things to go really south. But Gary said he never considered leaving. “I’m out there with my brothers,” Gary said. “I’m having fun flying around. Being around these guys, they give me energy. “Tell me how (my shoulder) looks.” Gary then moved his arms around rapidly, from side to side and up and down, like he was practicing some faux- karate moves. The shoulder looked fine — both then and during the game he chose to play in. “That’s a testament to his character,” Patterson said. “He could have easily sat the rest of the season out and kept his goals and dreams for a few months, but it’s all about the team. “That’s just what makes Rashan, Rashan.” Higdon finally gets his coveted 1,000 yards PISCATAWAY — Karan Higdon knew how close he was to the 1,000-yard mark for the season. After all, just this summer he sat at Big Ten Media Days and said he would have entered the NFL Draft had he crossed the 1,000-yard threshold in 2017-18. So the senior running back had to have known that his two-yard carry late in the second quarter against Rutgers on Saturday got him over the milestone. Yet, for the most part, Higdon kept it to himself. When asked about the milestone after the Michigan football team dominated the Scarlet Knights, 42-7, junior defensive end Rashan Gary said he hadn’t heard Higdon mention it this season. “I feel like Karan, he had a goal in his head,” Gary said. “He said it last year. There’s no reason to keep talking about it. You know, the season went on, he kept getting better and better — progressing, progressing. You know, he attacked his goal, and we knew it was coming by the way he worked and by the way he leads the team. So, you know, I’m happy for him.” Gary’s statement is a team- wide response. Well, almost all of it. The team- wide part: Anybody can see the improvements Higdon has made this season. Until Saturday, he had seven-straight 100-yard games. His teammates clearly respect him, or they wouldn’t have named him one of four captains before the season. The other part — that Higdon kept his yearning for the milestone a secret — isn’t entirely true. At the very least, he mentioned his quest for 1,000 yards to redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry, one of his close friends on the team and one of the players who would be blocking for Higdon on Saturday. “He was talking about it before today’s game,” Gentry said. “He was like, ‘We’ve gotta get me over that 1,000- yards mark.’ And that was a big, kind of, incentive for the offensive line to go out there and make sure we’re getting all of our blocks, because we do care about Karan and he has earned that. So we wanted to get him over that hump. “Oh yeah, he said that today, and I said, ‘We’ve got you. I’ll be blocking for you.’ ” For as inspiring as Higdon is to his teammates, the run that broke his season total into four figures was far from the most inspired Higdon has produced this year. He took a simple handoff on 3rd-and-5 and didn’t come close to the first down. In fact, the run was a part of an uninspired performance for Higdon, in comparison to what he has done the rest of the season. Higdon finished with just 42 yards on 15 carries, though he did punch in two touchdowns. Still, what Higdon did against Rutgers was enough to push him past 1,000 yards. “It’s unbelievable,” said junior quarterback Shea Patterson. “It’s really cool, especially, you know, going — we went with him in the spring and summer and saw all the hard work he put in. And, you know, he’s such a pivotal leader on this team. So just to see him accomplish that goal, it’s amazing, because we all know how hard he’s worked to get it.” Perhaps that work in the offseason was a product of what Higdon mentioned in July. If Gentry is to be believed, Higdon has been thinking about his 1,000 yards since then. On the other side, familiar misery P ISCATAWAY — Amid the bitter chill and doz- ens of devoted (or delusional) fans, the clock slowly winds Saturday’s game to a close. The scoreboard reads: “Michigan, 42. Rutgers, 7”. As the Scarlet Knights scamper for a first down, the PA announcer chimes in with a hearty “That’s a Rutgers… FIRST DOWN!” Two plays later, Wolverines sophomore cornerback Ambry Thomas intercepts a pass from Scarlet Knights quarterback Artur Sit- kowski. “We can still win!” yells a member of the Rutgers band. The last two remaining brave souls in the front row don- ning scarlet hold up three fin- gers. They boast ironic smiles as a Michigan third down approaches with under a min- ute left in the game. Devotion, delusion, what’s really the difference? Fandom requires plenty of both. The game comes to a merci- ful close, Rutgers notching its 33rd conference loss since join- ing the Big Ten in 2014. Play- ers share pleasantries. Some search for their families. Then the two programs walk down the tunnel at the same time, diverting into polar oppo- site paths. On one side of the locker room is a program blos- soming into a national jug- gernaut. With the win, the Wolverines marched one week closer to a potential Big Ten title and College Foot- ball Playoff appearance. “It’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine right now,” said junior defensive end Rashan Gary “That’s all I got to say.” On the other, a team slowly crawling toward season’s end. The Rutgers team meeting room is littered with motiva- tional quotes and checklists, as if offering a plea rather than encouragement. One — posted in between the meeting rooms, covering a full wall — lists special teams goals that have been met or failed to have been met in each game. Another includes a four-step “plan to win.” Rutgers coach Chris Ash starts his press conference by thanking reporters for coming, and you truly believe him. “Coming into the game (Michigan was) playing as good as anybody in the country,” Ash said. “Playing a team like that, you’ve got to play almost perfect football. We made some mistakes in all three phases of the game to let that score get the way it did.” He laments many of those mistakes. His team threw for just 59 yards — 19 of which came via a running back. His defense stopped just four of Michigan’s 12 third down attempts. In the end, what was a 7-7 game after the first quar- ter spiraled into the 42-7 blow- out everyone expected. He also lists achievements. He was proud to have been able to run for 193 yards against a stout Wolverines front. He thinks his team held up well in the trenches. There was a moment late in the first quarter, when Scarlet Knights running back Isaih Pacheco scampered 80 yards to tie the game at seven, and cast just a shadow of doubt on this forgone conclusion. The crowd was giddy. The players jumped around. Positiv- ity — a foreign feeling to many — spread around the stadium. “I felt like we’ve been there before,” Pacheco said, on the feeling around the team after the score. “This is a play we could do to any team. We’ve just gotta all play together.” Sitkowski felt a heightened belief, too. Maybe, just maybe, this one-win football team could pull off the unthinkable. “We believed as soon as we stepped foot on that field, man. We believed. We all believed. We’ve believed since we saw Michigan on our schedule,” Sitkowski said. “No matter what was going to happen we all believed in each other. It never crossed our mind. When Isaih hit that run, I tell ya, we were all excited. It shows that we can do it, man. We can do anything we put our minds to in life.” The Wolver- ines rattled off 35 unanswered the rest of the game — and Rut- gers returned to its interminable stasis of misery. Michigan junior quarterback Shea Patterson largely did as he pleased, completing 18-of-27 passes for 260 yards and three touchdowns in three tidy quar- ters of work. Sitkowski finished a beleaguered 8-of-19 for 40 yards and an interception. This is nothing new for Rutgers. This was just Saturday. After being asked a generic question about his team’s per- formance, Sitkowski responds with a 15-second answer that includes the phrase “we played hard” five times. In fairness, what is there left to say? His team hasn’t won a conference game in over a full calendar year. Since joining the conference in 2014, Rutgers has routinely served as the doormat of the Big Ten. Saturday eve- ning was just the next in line of beatdowns and humiliations. Sophomore center Cesar Ruiz emerges from the scrum of players after the game and walks up to Rutgers offensive lineman Micah Clark. Clark lets out a sigh and a smile. He needs not say more. Marcovitch can be reached at maxmarco@umich.edu or on Twitter at @Max_Marcovitch. MAX MARCOVITCH ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily Rutgers coach Chris Ash said his team made mistakes in Rutgers’ loss. “Playing a team like that, you’ve got to play almost perfect...” MARK CALCAGNO Daily Sports Editor MIKE PERSAK Managing Sports Editor ALEC COHEN/Daily Junior defensive end Rashan Gary returned to New Jersey on Saturday to face the Scarlet Knights with Michigan. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a team that’s this close.” ALEC COHEN/Daily Senior running back Karan Higdon crossed the 1,000-yard mark for the season in Saturday’s win over Rutgers. “I feel like Karan, he had a goal in his head.” “And, you know, he’s such a pivotal leader on this team.”