8 — Friday, February 1, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
With the Michigan football
team’s 2018 regular season in the
books, The Daily looks back at
the performance of each unit this
year and peers ahead to the future
in 2019. In this edition: wide
receivers.
Amid a disappointing 8-5
season in 2017 that was marred
by inconsistent play from the
quarterback
position,
Grant
Perry led all Michigan wide
receivers with 307 receiving
yards. Improvement, of course,
was the minimum expectation.
But with the addition of junior
quarterback
Shea
Patterson
from Ole Miss, hopes for the
Wolverines’
talented
pass
catchers lay much higher.
Instead, despite a scattering of
impressive performances, those
hopes were marred by a lack of
consistency
and
opportunity.
Sophomores Nico Collins and
Donovan People-Jones paced the
group with 632 and 612 yards,
respectively — ranking 151st
and 161st nationally — making
it
five
consecutive
seasons
without a 1,000-yard receiver for
Michigan.
Behind them, the Wolverines’
struggles at the position only
worsened.
Sophomore
Tarik
Black missed most of the season
with a broken foot for the
second consecutive year. In his
stead, Perry placed third among
Michigan’s receivers with 147
yards — just ahead of freshman
Ronnie
Bell
and
sophomore
Oliver Martin.
HIGH
POINT:
With
the
Wolverines
embattled
in
a
defensive
struggle
against
Michigan
State,
Patterson
dropped into the pocket, stared
down his favorite target and let
fly. Seconds later and 79 yards
away, Peoples-Jones strolled into
the end zone untouched.
It was the type of career-
defining moment Peoples-Jones
envisioned when he committed
to Michigan two years ago as
the top wide receiver recruit
in the country, catapulting the
Wolverines to their seventh
consecutive win and first on the
road over a ranked opponent
since 2006.
Michigan’s
receivers
as a whole, peaked — not
coincidentally
—
when
the
team as a whole did, amid its
midseason push for a College
Football Playoff spot.
A week later, in a 42-7 win over
Penn State, Peoples-Jones and
Collins shone again. Collins — a
four-star recruit in the same year
as Peoples-Jones — highlighted
the performance with a 47-yard
grab, and Peoples-Jones again
caught the key touchdown pass,
dragging his feet along the side
of the end zone to put Michigan
up 14 midway through the
second quarter.
Against Rutgers the following
week, it was Collins who caught
two
touchdowns,
including
a trademark jump ball over
cornerback Avery Young in the
corner of the end zone. That
ability to make contested catches
quickly became Collins’ most
reliable attribute, as he finished
with six touchdowns on the
season, including two against
Ohio State.
“The biggest thing is the way
(the receivers) catch the ball,”
said
Michigan
coach
Jim
Harbaugh
after
the
Rutgers
game. “All the
pass
receivers,
still the amount
of drops is really
so low right now
for
the
year.
The way they’re
catching the ball
is
really
good.
Also, the separation they’ve
gotten in the passing game. The
precision in how they run the
routes has been really good. The
third thing I would point out is
their blocking.”
LOW POINT: Peoples-Jones
and Collins stood along the
Michigan
sideline,
watching
from afar as the Wolverines’
offense struggled more than
its bevy of talent should have
allowed for.
This is not a description of any
specific moment. Rather, it’s a
repeated
scene
that
became
emblematic
of
Michigan’s
ultimately
disappointing
season. For each
highlight-reel
catch
from
its
top receiving duo
came a slew of
drives in which
the targets went
elsewhere, the offense stagnated
and the Wolverines fell short of
their lofty potential.
In
that
same
win
over
Michigan State, Michigan’s top
duo combined for just 16 yards in
the nearly three quarters before
Peoples-Jones’
touchdown,
as Perry and tight ends Nick
Eubanks
and
Sean
McKeon
finished
second,
third
and
fourth, respectively, in receiving
yards.
In the Wolverines’ season-
defining loss to Ohio State, it
took 16 pass attempts before
Patterson completed a pass to
Collins. By the time he grabbed
a second reception, the Buckeyes
led 41-19.
Meanwhile, Black — another
highly-touted signing from the
2017 recruiting class — managed
just four catches for 35 yards
after returning from injury. He
was the class’ most productive
receiver early in his freshman
season, racking up 149 yards in
his three games at Michigan
before his first broken foot
sidelined him for the rest of that
season. Since then, he has only
seen sporadic usage, despite
being declared fully healthy in
early November.
The trio’s success when on the
field led to calls for more three-
receiver sets, but the Wolverines
instead opted to rely on their
tight ends and running game.
When they were used together,
the results often followed, such
as in a 71-yard first-quarter drive
in the Peach Bowl, during which
the three combined for 61 yards
and a touchdown.
Unfortunately for Michigan,
that seldom happened. Instead,
the receiving corps’ success was
sporadic,
capping
Patterson’s
ceiling in his first season with
the Wolverines.
THE FUTURE: The future,
as with the present, lies in the
hands of Peoples-Jones, Collins,
and to a lesser extent, Black.
Just two years ago, those
three — along with Martin
— comprised one of the most
impressive receiver hauls in
recent memory. But through two
seasons, they have managed just
1,857 combined yards.
On Jan. 10, though, the group’s
outlook took a sharp turn for the
better when Michigan hired
offensive
coordinator
Josh
Gattis from Alabama, where he
was the co-offensive coordinator
and wide receivers coach. Gattis
helped coach a potent Crimson
Tide passing attack that averaged
320.2 yards per game. Four of
Alabama’s
receivers
finished
with at least 693 yards — more
than any Wolverine pass catcher
— including Jerry Jeudy, who
won the Biletnikoff Award for
the nation’s best receiver with
1,315 yards and 14 touchdowns.
A
year
ago,
Michigan’s
offensive expectations hovered
near an all-time low. Now, with
Gattis in tow, an NFL-caliber
quarterback under center and a
prized recruiting class entering
its junior year, 2019 has all the
ingredients to be the Wolverines’
best offense in years. Whether
or not it gets there may rest on
the shoulders of its talented
receiving corps.
Behind Enemy Lines: The Daily sits down with Iowa forward Tyler Cook
The
Michigan
men’s
basketball team (20-1 overall,
9-1 Big Ten) will face its
toughest test since losing to
Wisconsin two weeks ago when
it travels to Iowa City to play
Iowa (16-5, 5-5).
The Hawkeyes have been
one of the biggest surprises
in the Big Ten this season,
playing their way into NCAA
Tournament
contention
after missing out in the past
two
years.
They
struggled
to a program-worst 4-14 Big
Ten record a year ago, but
have
already
improved
on
that win total with five in
conference play so far this
year
—
including
victories
over Ohio State and Nebraska.
The biggest improvement has
come on the defensive end,
where they currently have the
nation’s 120th-ranked adjusted
defensive efficiency — up from
242nd a year ago.
Offensively, they were 19th
last season before improving
to 10th this year on the back
of a team-leading 16.6 points
per game from junior forward
Tyler Cook. The Daily sat down
with Cook at Big Ten Media
Day in October.
The
Michigan
Daily:
What’s been the leadership
role of players who were on the
team when Iowa last made the
NCAA Tournament in 2016?
Tyler Cook: Coming in when
I was a freshman, we had Peter
Jok. And he was a great leader
from the standpoint of, he led
by example. When you looked
at Pete, he was always the first
guy in the gym and always the
last guy to leave. So when you
ask guys like myself or Jordan
(Bohannon) or Nicholas (Baer)
or Isaiah (Moss), that was
kinda our first impression of
what leadership looks like. So
whether we choose to lead in
that same way or if we choose to
be more vocal, we always gotta
realize that it starts with what
we do first. Holding ourselves
accountable as individuals and
then we can begin to other
accountable as well.
TMD: Do the current players
still keep in contact with Jok?
Cook: Yeah, most definitely.
I talk to Pete probably a couple
times a week, at least. And he’s
back on campus during the
offseason as well. So we talk
with Pete and see Pete all the
time.
TMD: What kind of advice
does he have for you guys going
into the season?
Cook: Really just to keep
working, and keep working
hard. Because preseason stuff,
it only holds so much weight.
The real show starts when
we get on the floor. So when
November comes, we lace them
up and we’re ready to go, that’s
when it really counts. So he just
always tells us to keep working
stay in the lab, don’t listed to
what other people have to say.
And just do what we know what
to do and we’ll be fine.
TMD: Have you looked at
the preseason rankings? Do
you use them as inspiration?
Cook: I haven’t looked at
the team standings yet. But
they probably have us at the
bottom. We got a team full
of guys that have really been
overlooked and underrated for
the majority of our career so
far so it’s nothing new to us. It’s
more fuel to the fire and I think
we use it to our advantage.
TMD: What went into the
decision-making
process
to
enter your name in the NBA
draft last summer?
Cook: Toward the end of the
season, I pretty much knew
what I was gonna do, in terms
of putting my name in the
draft. I had a lot of interest, got
a chance to work out for a lot
of good organizations and got
some good information as well.
Made a lot of new friendships,
new relationships and stuff.
The decision to come back was
tough, but I made it and I’m
happy I came back. Hopefully,
I’ll be in a better position —
whether that be next year or
the next year — for myself.
TMD: What feedback did
they give you?
Cook: Teams aren’t gonna
tell you, ‘Okay, you did bad in
today’s workout.’ It’s kinda
really on the individual to
realize your strengths based
on what they say they saw
from you over the season,
what they say they saw they
liked, how you performed in
the workout, going to head-
to-head with whatever guys
they bring in with you. So at
the end of the day, they really
leave the decision up to you
wholeheartedly and let you
make your own decision.
TMD:
What
was
coach
(Fran) McCaffrey’s advice to
you through that process?
Cook:
Coach
was
super
supportive
of
myself
and
basically just let me know that
whatever decision I ended up
making, he was 100 percent
behind me. He forwarded me
all the information that he got,
we talked a lot throughout the
process. I’d go to him for advice
and stuff like that. So coach is
— I couldn’t ask for anything
more from him throughout
that process. He was great and
I wouldn’t expect anything else
from him.
TMD: Have you used that
experience of going through
that process to mentor some of
the younger guys who might go
through that in the future?
Cook:
Most
definitely.
Whenever I get information
that can help myself get better
or help any of my teammates get
better, I always try to forward
that on to them. Because I want
my guys to be successful as
well, in whatever they choose
to do. So whatever they ask
me, as to how it was like, I
give them my honest opinion,
what I thought about it, what
they’ll see in the future. And
I’ll continue to do that as well.
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer
Position Review: Wide receivers
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Iowa forward Tyler Cook tested the NBA Draft waters last summer, before ultimately returning to the Hawkeyes for his junior season, in which his team has been a surprise contender in the Big Ten.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Sophomore wide receiver Nico Collins led all Michigan receivers with 632 receiving yards, good enough to rank 151st in the nation, along with six touchdowns.
The amount of
drops is really
so low right now
for the year.