2B — November 19, 2018
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
For better or worse, this is it
Y
ou’ll read this sentiment
several times this week:
The Michigan football
team will
play Ohio
State — its
biggest rival
— Saturday,
with a chance
to keep its
dreams alive.
The Wolver-
ines can exor-
cise their Big
Ten Cham-
pionship demons, their can’t-
beat-the-Buckeyes demons
and continue their trek toward
rising to the College Football
Playoff. Put another way, they
control their own destiny.
Those will be tired tropes by
the time kickoff comes around,
but that isn’t without good rea-
son.
Michigan is staying mum on
the topic. The Wolverines have
avoided any dream-killing loss
for 10 straight games, doing
what they must to get to this
position by beating any and
every team in their path. And
they claim they’ll maintain the
same mindset this week.
“It’s just another game,” said
junior quarterback Shea Pat-
terson. “We understand the
tradition and meaning behind
it, and we’re gonna attack it
the same way we have the past
10 or 11 weeks. We know that
they’re a good ball club, and at
their place, but we’re just gonna
prepare.”
The Wolverines have to say
that, of course. But this isn’t
another game, for all the rea-
sons listed above. It is a game to
prove this season has been for
something.
The last 14 seasons — the
time since Michigan last won
a share of the Big Ten — have
been leading up to this. Realisti-
cally, it’s been longer than that,
considering the Wolverines lost
to the Buckeyes that season.
The Wolverines haven’t beaten
Ohio State and won the Big Ten
in the same season since 2003.
“It is different,” said senior
running back Karan Higdon.
“It’s been awhile since this has
been a game
to determine
our fate in the
national champi-
onship, for a Big
Ten Champion-
ship. It definite-
ly is different
year.”
That isn’t
exactly true.
Michigan
was in this same
position in 2016,
when it came into The Game
ranked No. 2, while the Buck-
eyes were No. 3.
We remember how that went.
The Wolverines played about
as well as they could, except
they couldn’t tackle Ohio State
running back Curtis Samuel on
a 3rd-and-long. Then JT Bar-
rett squeezed
out a first down,
and then Michi-
gan ultimately
wilted, losing in
overtime.
If you think
back further,
the Wolverines
were here in
2006, too, when
the teams were
ranked first and
second, respec-
tively, and once again, the Buck-
eyes won.
What Higdon said is true in
that this feels like Michigan’s
best chance to actually go into
Columbus and win the game in
quite a while.
The 2016 Wolverines had
just lost to Iowa, and they were
probably at a
talent disadvan-
tage with how
the Buckeyes’
offense was
clicking. If it
weren’t for Ohio
State’s kicker
that afternoon,
The Game
wouldn’t have
even reached
overtime — let
alone double
overtime — that year.
In 2006, it was a knockdown,
dragout fight, but Troy Smith
was Troy Smith, and the Michi-
gan defense really struggled
against the Buckeyes’ spread
offense.
This season, though, the
Wolverines have blown through
every challenge
that has come
their way. They
killed Wisconsin
and Penn State,
and they physi-
cally dominated
Michigan State,
even if the score
didn’t reflect
the bludgeoning
that the yardage
totals did.
Those games
began the “Revenge Tour” that
has shaped how this season has
felt for Michigan.
All the wrongs that have been
done to the Wolverines over
coach Jim Harbaugh’s tenure
have been righted.
There is one more regular-
season score to settle.
“Everybody in the entire
country knows what this week-
end is,” said junior defensive
end Rashan Gary. “We know
what this weekend is. So we’re
gonna attack it. It’s been a
whole year having a bad taste in
our mouths. We’ve just gotta go
out, prepare the right way and,
you know, go out there on Sat-
urday and see what happens.”
Additionally, the Wolverines
are nearly at full strength. Even
with the injury to fifth-year
senior defensive end Chase
Winovich, who hurt his shoul-
der Saturday against Indiana,
Michigan has had very good
luck with injuries. Redshirt
freshman wide receiver Tarik
Black came back this season.
Junior defensive end Rashan
Gary came back too. And Win-
ovich’s backups, sophomore
Kwity Paye and freshman
Aidan Hutchinson, have proven
capable.
So there are no excuses to be
had.
It has all been leading up to
this game for Michigan.
Forget the past, forget what
has already happened this sea-
son and forget the future for
now.
If the Wolverines want to
reach that future, they need to
win Saturday. It’s as simple as
that.
You know it. I know it. They
know it. Now it’s time to see
if this whole season — the
10-game win streak, the talk of
a new attitude in the program,
the Revenge Tour — is for real,
or if it’s just another opportu-
nity in Columbus gone to waste.
Persak can be reached
at mdpers@umich.edu, on
Twitter at @MikeDPersak or
on venmo at @Mike-Persak.
EVAN AARON/Daily
The Michigan football team will travel to Columbus on Saturday for the Wolverines’ annual rivalry game with Ohio State holding a 10-1 record for the season.
Michigan slips past Indiana, 31-20, Ohio State looms
Oh, you thought this would be
easy, didn’t you?
With just a week before a
clash in Columbus, conventional
wisdom assumed the No. 4
Michigan football team would
cruise past Indiana (2-6 Big Ten,
5-6 overall) on Saturday.
There
was
nothing
easy
about it, though. Between costly
offensive miscues and defensive
lapses, injuries and turnovers,
and plenty in between, the
Wolverines’ performance will
leave much to be desired.
But as the saying goes: a win
is a win
Against a Big Ten foe in late
November, Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh will take it.
“When you’re in playoff mode
— that’s our mindset right —
playoff wins are big,” Harbaugh
said.
After
a
31-20
comeback
victory over the Hoosiers, the
Wolverines
(8-0,
10-1)
will
square off against Ohio State
next Saturday with the Big Ten
East on the line and College
Football
Playoff
hopes
still
squarely in the balance.
“Proud of our guys the way
they played today,” Harbaugh
said. “Onto the next game,
onto the big game, onto the
championship game. Onward.”
It was evident from the
outset Saturday would yield no
rout. Running back Stevie Scott
scored from 13 yards out to give
Indiana a 7-3 lead with 4:14 left
in the first quarter.
Newly-minted starting kicker,
freshman Jake Moody, cut that
lead to 7-6 on the next drive —
but only after junior quarterback
Shea Patterson and redshirt
junior tight end Zach Gentry
failed to connect on a seemingly
easy touchdown.
Michigan added another field
goal on the next drive to take
a 9-7 lead, but, again, wasted a
precious red zone opportunity.
In the half, the Wolverines came
away with just nine points in
four first half red zone trips.
“I couldn’t put my finger on it,”
said junior running back Karan
Higdon said of the struggles. “I
think it was us just not executing
and being efficient the way you
needed to be.”
With
miscues
piling
up,
responsibility fell on Moody,
who answered the call dutifully.
He finished 6-for-6 on field
goals, a school record for made
field goals in a game.
Even when Michigan’s offense
seemed to break, though — like
on a 41-yard touchdown catch
by junior tight end Nick Eubanks
in the second quarter — Indiana
had an answer, marching down
the field in three mintues to take
back the lead.
The most boneheaded mistake
of the game came at the end of the
first half. With the clock winding
down, Patterson found junior
tight end Sean McKeon near the
end zone. McKeon was tackled
short of the goal line, allowing
the half to expire without adding
points and the attempt to spike
the ball in time failed. Video later
surfaced of an Indiana defensive
lineman kicking the ball in an
attempt to delay the snap.
“They made a great play on it,
a great tackle in the field of play,”
Harbaugh said. “… There seemed
to be some problems getting the
ball back in. Whether that was us
not getting the ball to the official
quick enough or seeing that they
kicked the ball, I don’t know.”
The Wolverines came out of
the half clearly re-energized
and
re-focused,
particularly
defensively.
They
forced
a
three-and-out
on
their
first
defensive drive and drove 67
yards in 11 plays for a touchdown
immediately after to lead 22-17.
Despite an uneven performance
throughout, Michigan held onto
that lead the rest of the night.
“That kind of just tested our
resiliency. It kind of felt like the
Northwestern game a little bit,
just a gritty game, they’re a good
team,” said junior quarterback
Shea Patterson. “I think there’s a
lot of positives to take out of this.
When you’re tested, you either
give in to whatever or come out
resilient.”
Despite the result, Saturday’s
game will be clouded with
unease.
Fifth-year
senior
defensive end Chase Winovich
left in the third quarter with an
undisclosed injury. Fifth-year
senior running back Berkley
Edwards left the game in the
fourth quarter after getting hit
on a special teams play.
After the game, Harbaugh
said Winovich’s x-rays were
negative.
Despite
the
grim
nature of the injury, Harbaugh
was also optimistic Edwards
would be OK.
For Michigan it was one of
those games — ugly injuries,
inefficient red zone play, mental
and physical errors aplenty.
But, in the end, a win. And
a win that secures a date with
Ohio State next Saturday with
everything on the line.
“We’re
proving
stuff
to
ourselves,” Higdon said. “That
we can definitely be the best
team in the country. That we’re
definitely a top-four team. And
that we’re a playoff contender
and we deserve to be in the
playoffs. That only happens if we
continue to dominate each and
every week.”
Wolverines suffer emotional
injuries in win over Indiana
The Michigan football team
has gone relatively unscathed this
season in terms of injuries.
Really, the only notable ones
were redshirt freshman wide
receiver Tarik Black, who missed
a majority of the season with a
broken foot, and junior defensive
end Rashan Gary, who sat out four
games with a shoulder issue.
That has pretty much been the
extent of it for the Wolverines.
On Saturday night, despite
defeating
Indiana,
31-20,
Michigan’s injury luck turned on
its head.
It began, in earnest, in the
third quarter. Fifth-year senior
defensive end Chase Winovich
was rushing the passer, matched
up with the Hoosiers’ right tackle.
Right guard Simon Stepaniak
came over to help on Winovich,
dumped him to the ground hard
on Winovich’s left shoulder and
dove on top of him to keep him
down.
As it turns out, he kept Winovich
down for quite a while. Winovich
lay motionless on the field for a few
moments before being tended to by
trainers, as his teammates milled
around on the sideline, hoping
for the best. Junior quarterback
Shea Patterson — Winovich’s
roommate — even walked onto the
field to give Winovich some words
of encouragement.
“I don’t know the severity of
his injury,” Patterson said after
the game. “I know him really well.
I just told him I love him, and
we’re behind him no matter what
happens. That’s basically all you
can do. Just him, with his work
ethic and as a senior in his last
game … I just wanted to let him
know I was there and the whole
team was there for him.”
Reports later surfaced that
Winovich’s parents joined him in
the locker room, raising the level
of concern among Wolverine fans.
However, Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh said Winovich’s x-rays
and CT scans were negative after
the game.
From there, the Wolverines had
no choice but to rally together.
“It’s a brotherhood,” Gary said.
“So when you see one of your
brothers go down, of course you’re
gonna feel attacked and feel let
down and hurt. But, you know,
football is football, and when
they went out, now the game is
for them and us. So I tried to play
any snaps with Chase just how
he would when I wasn’t playing.
That’s my brother, and we just had
to play like that.”
That wasn’t the end of the
jarring injuries for Michigan.
In the fourth quarter, on a
kickoff return, fifth-year senior
backup running back Berkley
Edwards got blown up while
trying to block.
The offender, Indiana’s Cam
Jones, was ejected for targeting,
while Edwards was eventually
carted off the field on a stretcher
and brought to the hospital.
Edwards’ brother, Braylon —
the legendary former-Wolverines
receiver — updated the situation
later via Twitter.
“Berkley, everything looked
good when he left the stadium,”
Harbaugh said. “He did have a
concussion — he had a pretty
good-sized concussion. He looked
good when he left here, but he
was taken to the hospital as a
precaution, so we’ll have later
updates there.”
These
two
injuries,
in
particular, gave Michigan a sour
taste in its mouth.
After Edwards went down,
several players were jawing at the
Hoosiers’ sideline.
“It did get chippy,” said senior
running back Karan Higdon.
“… Obviously, the situation
with my brother Berkley Edwards
didn’t sit well with anybody, and
that was a situation that was
unfortunate, and it kind of shook
the team up a little bit.”
In both Winovich and Edwards’
cases, the prognoses were better
than originally expected.
Still, as Gary and Higdon said,
the pauses were long and clearly
emotional. But the Wolverines
simply had to rebound.
If the final score is any
indication, they did.
FOOTBALL
MIKE PERSAK
Managing Sports Editor
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Junior tight end Nick Eubanks notched a 41-yard touchdown for the Wolverines in the second quarter of Saturday’s game.
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor
MIKE
PERSAK
“We know what
weekend it is.
So we’re gonna
attack it.”
“It’s been a whole
year having a
bad taste in our
mouths.”