8 — Friday, March 1, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Senior Night laugher
Wolverines dominate wire-to-wire, beat Nebraska, 82-53
Position review: Special teams
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:
special teams.
Michigan’s
special
teams
unit came into the year a largely
raw bunch that had seen its ups
and downs the year before.
But from the time sophomore
defensive back Ambry Thomas
returned a kickoff 99 yards
for a touchdown in the season
opener against Notre Dame,
it
also
flashed
its
unique
potential.
The
group’s
contribution
went mostly unseen, but it was
quietly one of the Wolverines’
biggest
strengths.
Whether
through clutch kicking, long
punts or electric returns, the
special
teams
helped
keep
Michigan in some games and
turned others into blowouts.
Junior punter Will Hart was
a revelation. After spending
last season backing up then-
freshman Brad Robbins, Hart
stepped into the spotlight after
Robbins
missed
the
entire
season with an injury. He
punted for an average of 49.98
yards with a long of 65, while
totaling 19 punts of at least 50
yards. That earned him the Big
Ten Punter of the Year award
and a first-team All-Big Ten
nod.
While the other positions
were more unsettled, many
contributors
stepped
up,
especially
on
the
return
unit. Sophomore safety Brad
Hawkins and freshman wide
receiver
Ronnie
Bell
both
contributed, and Bell ripped
off a 53-yard kick return in the
Peach Bowl that showcased
his future potential as a return
man.
HIGH POINT: Michigan’s
offense had stalled — again.
Jake Moody came to bail it out
— again.
It was late in the fourth
quarter and Indiana — a team
that had no business sticking
with the Wolverines this long
— had just scored a touchdown
to cut Michigan’s lead to eight.
With the game down to one
score, the Wolverines needed a
safety net, and when they faced
fourth down again, Moody got
the call.
His 29-yard attempt sailed
straight through.
The kick was his sixth field
goal on the day. Not only was it a
program record, it was Moody’s
first
game
placekicking.
Previously, Moody had stuck
to kickoff duties, but with
Michigan’s
normal
kicker,
redshirt
sophomore
Quinn
Nordin, out with an illness,
it was Moody’s turn to step
up. The Wolverines won the
game, 31-20, largely thanks to
Moody’s contributions.
Moody’s
breakout
game
also
provided
some
much-
needed stability to the kicking
corps. Nordin has a strong
leg, but was prone to misses
from easy distances. Due to
his performance against the
Hoosiers, Moody started the
remaining two games of the
season and hit four of his five
attempts, including a 48-yarder
against Florida in the Peach
Bowl.
LOW POINT: At halftime
against Wisconsin, there was
frustration.
Michigan
had
thoroughly
outplayed
the
Badgers
to
that point, but led by just six.
Against a team like Wisconsin,
it seemed like the Wolverines’
trouble finishing drives could
come back to bite them.
The slim lead was partially
thanks to one of Nordin’s bad
days. After missing a field goal
in the first quarter, he missed
another just before halftime,
squandered a pair of promising
drives.
Nordin’s misses ultimately
didn’t
come
back
to
bite
Michigan as it pulled away in
the second half to win, 38-13,
but they showed the potential
dangers that could come with
an inconsistent kicker — part
of the reason Moody eventually
took over the starting role.
Against the Hoosiers, the
kicking unit bailed out its
offense when not much was
working. Against the Badgers,
the offense was there to bail out
its kickers at their low point.
THE
FUTURE:
The
Wolverines’ special teams in
2018 were largely populated
by fresh faces. Of the main
contributors, only Hart was
an upperclassman, and he still
has one more year of eligibility.
That bodes well for the future,
as more development from its
young players will bolster an
already strong unit.
That’s particularly true of the
returners. Sophomore receiver
Donovan Peoples-Jones at punt
return and the committee of
Thomas, Hawkins and Bell at
kick return certainly flashed
potential.
Peoples-Jones
scored an electric touchdown
against Nebraska, employing
his signature spin move to take
a punt to the house. Facing
an 18-point deficit late in the
second quarter against Notre
Dame, Thomas scored a kick-
return
touchdown
to
give
Michigan hope of a comeback.
But with it, its inexperience
showed as well. Against Ohio
State, Thomas caught a kick
that was about to sail over
his head and out of bounds,
significantly
hurting
the
Wolverines’ field position in a
critical moment. Both he and
Peoples-Jones
occasionally
made mental mistakes that
spurred questions over whether
their roles would be better
filled by someone else.
The extra year of experience
will help combat those slip-
ups, and Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh’s
willingness
to
try others at punt and kick
return will give other speedy
young players, like Bell, a
chance to emerge. Meanwhile,
Peoples-Jones’ spin move and
Thomas’ blazing speed give
the group large upside despite
inconsistency.
Should
Nordin
and
Moody
both
remain
with
the
team,
Nordin’s
range
could
complement
Moody’s
consistency.
Moody’s
only
missed field goal on the year
was from 52 yards — a distance
Nordin has shown he can
hit. Moody will likely handle
regular kicking duties in the
future, but Nordin could come
in to try long attempts and give
the Wolverines a higher ceiling.
Meanwhile, after cementing
his status as one of the top
punters in the nation, Hart has
one year left to build on his
success. Big Ten games have a
reputation for being defensive
battles where field position is
key. Against Michigan State —
a game in which offense was
hard to come by — Hart punted
eight times for an average
of 45.8 yards, including a
65-yarder. Michigan will likely
have more such games in the
future, and Hart has shown
that he can put his team in a
good position to win by making
opposing offenses work that
much harder.
Overall, the special teams
had unsung success for the
Wolverines this season, and the
unit’s youth and emergence of
new stars bode well for another
year of helping Michigan win
behind the scenes.
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer
From Will Hart to Jake Moody to Donovan Peoples-Jones and more, Michigan brings back much of its special teams
EVAN AARON/Daily
Freshman kicker Jake Moody made four of his five kicks against Florida in the Peach Bowl after taking the kicker’s job from Quinn Nordin during the season.
Somehow,
Isaiah
Livers
caught the pass, legs in the air,
teetering on the edge of the
court. His pink shoes barely
landed in bounds as he lobbed
the ball to Jordan Poole.
The
possession
started
with junior center Jon Teske
rebounding his missed layup,
then getting down on the floor,
fighting for a loose ball and
shoveling it to junior guard
Zavier Simpson. It ended with
Poole catching the ball at
halfcourt and finding Teske,
wide open on the perimeter for
three — his second triple in the
first five minutes.
It was that kind of night for
the Michigan men’s basketball
team (25-4 overall, 14-4 Big
Ten), who got off to a quick
start and never
relented,
winning
82-53
over
Nebraska
(15-14, 5-13) in
the final home
game
of
the
season.
“We
jumped
on
them
right
away,”
Teske
said. “I wasn’t
expecting
to
win by 30 (but)
we played well, got on them
early, which helps. Offensively,
defensively, we really got on
them tonight.”
Shots were falling no matter
who was on the court. With
redshirt junior wing Charles
Matthews out with an ankle
injury,
others
—
including
sophomore
forward
Isaiah
Livers, freshman guard David
DeJulius and freshman forward
Colin Castleton — were forced
to contribute, and that they did.
Matthews’ absence proved to
be no problem. Livers, who got
the start in his place, started
off the game by rattling in a
contested trey. He finished
with 12 points and 10 rebounds
for his first career double-
double.
“Charles, he does a lot of
great things,” Livers said. “I
tried to replace him as best as
I could, trying
to grab 50-50
balls,
just
knock
open
shots
and
go
dunk on other
people’s heads.
… But without
Charles,
nothing’s really
gonna change.
The ball’s still
gonna
move,
shots are still
gonna go in. We’re still gonna
be Michigan.”
Seconds after subbing in,
meanwhile, Castleton — whose
last points were in December
— slipped in a layup. When
he scored his final points on
a jumper with 1:24 left in the
second half, cementing his
11-point breakout game, he
exited to a standing ovation.
After Nebraska cut the lead to
17 by forcing a three-and-a-half
minute field goal drought, Teske
responded by sinking another
3-pointer.
Two
possessions
later,
Simpson
grabbed
a
rebound and tossed a half-court
pass to Poole. Poole threw down
a thunderous one-handed dunk,
skidding across the floor before
calmly sinking the and-one.
But Teske was the real star
of the show. He was a matchup
nightmare for Nebraska, driving
to the basket at will and drawing
fouls when he couldn’t hit a shot
for a career-high 22 points.
After he completed the double-
double with his 10th rebound,
Teske hit a layup on the ensuing
possession for the cherry on top,
then subbed out for the final
time, giving the freshmen and
walk-ons a go at it.
“Jon did not take a three in
practice the last two days,” said
Michigan coach John Beilein. “
… All of a sudden he just grabs
it and shoots it in and does it
again, so I think that set the
stage. It seems this is part of
the mental edge, it seems on
Senior Nights, this happens
all the time. There’s just this,
all of a sudden, we’re playing,
and maybe we’re playing more
relaxed as well.”
After the game was over and
Senior Night festivities done,
the Wolverines stood in the
Maize Rage section, singing the
fight song in front of their home
crowd for the final time this
season.
They were nothing but smiles.
Ignas Brazdeikis hit the floor
and 12,707 hearts stopped.
The freshman forward lay on
his back, clutching his left knee
in pain, and all of Michigan’s
worst fears seemed to be coming
to fruition.
On
Wednesday,
the
Wolverines found out Charles
Matthews wouldn’t be able to
suit up for his own Senior Night
with a right ankle injury. Now,
their leading scorer was down on
the ground after a collison under
the basket just 13 seconds before
halftime.
A trainer helped him up, and
Brazdeikis gingerly made his
way to the bench under his own
power. When he took the floor
to start the second half, Crisler
Center exhaled. By the time he
hit his fourth 3-pointer of the
game, Michigan led by 24 with
seven minutes remaining, and
the harrowing moment at the end
of the first half was a forgotten
footnote in the Wolverines’ 82-53
win over Nebraska on Thursday.
“I sprinted over and I was like,
‘Please no, please no, please no,’”
said sophomore forward Isaiah
Livers. “He said he was alright,
he probably just tweaked it a
little bit. … You see his playing, he
hit four threes, so he was playing
very well after that.”
And so was everyone else
wearing a maize jersey. Michigan
scored its most points since Dec.
8. It shot 56 percent from the
field and 55 percent from three. It
recorded 19 assists on its 30 made
baskets. Brazdeikis, Livers, junior
center Jon Teske and freshman
forward
Colin
Castleton
all
scored in double-figures.
It was the Wolverines’ most
dominant performance in weeks,
and it couldn’t have come at a
better time.
“Great bounce-back for our
guys after the other day,” said
Michigan coach John Beilein.
“It was great that we turned it
around, coaching staff turned it
around.”
The “other day,” of course,
was the Wolverines’ 77-70 loss to
Michigan State, in which it blew
a six-point lead with 15 minutes
remaining. With or without
Matthews, Michigan needed a
response in the worst way.
“We had a bad taste in our
mouths,” Teske said. “We wanted
to come out defensively, just
shut them down and offensively,
knock down open shots.”
The Wolverines did that from
the start. Livers, who replaced
Matthews in the starting lineup,
nailed his first three just two
minutes into the game. Teske
— who didn’t attempt a three in
practice the last two days, per
Beilein — hit from the left wing
on the next trip down the court,
and Michigan was up, 8-2, and
off and running.
When a team loses a rivalry
game
in
the
fashion
the
Wolverines did Sunday, bouncing
back is the obvious storyline.
That kind of mental response is
intangible. What isn’t, though,
was Michigan’s extreme height
advantage over the Cornhuskers,
who play only one player taller
than 6-foot-8.
Teske (22 points and 10
rebounds)
and
Castleton
(11 points in nine minutes)
stand
7-foot-1
and
6-foot-
11,
respectively.
Nebraska
didn’t have an answer, as the
Wolverines had no trouble in
finding their big men down
low — and occasionally, on the
perimeter, where Teske hit all
three of his 3-pointers.
“We knew if we go harder off
the screen that they were gonna
switch,” Livers said. “So when
we see that you got a 7-footer
and a 6-foot-10 guy with long
arms, they know how to keep
the ball above their head, that’s
an easy assist and easy bucket. It
was great to see that they were
playing big today instead of just
playing small.”
That performance was quietly
engineered
by
Michigan’s
backcourt. Nothing junior Zavier
Simpson or sophomore Jordan
Poole did was electrifying —
save for Poole’s out-of-nowhere
tomahawk dunk in the second
half.
But in a way, that was the
point. Simpson and Poole’s job
was simple: find the open man —
usually a big man — and keep the
ball moving. With just six shot
attempts, but 15 assists combined
between them, they did just that.
“They didn’t have to shoot
the ball to make us win,” Beilein
said. “The ball moved. Yesterday
in practice, we could see the ball
move. Didn’t stick like it has in
some games. That’s how you
score 80 points.”
As for the mental response?
“Maybe we’re playing more
relaxed as well,” Beilein said.
“After we got beat the other day,
I think people just say, ‘OK, we
learned a great lesson, let’s just
go out there and take the next
right shot and don’t worry about
it. Don’t press to try and show
anything, just make the next
right play.’ ”
It’s been a theme this year,
according to players and coaches
—
Michigan
plays
its
best
basketball when it plays freely
and without tension. And as the
Cornhuskers were reminded, the
Wolverines are quite good when
they play their best basketball.
“If they’re gonna play for
a
conference
championship,
you can’t lose at home,” said
Nebraska
coach
Tim
Miles.
“Certainly can’t lose at home to
a 10th place team. … I think that
just (Michigan) making shots
early deflated our guys some. But
hey, this is not a league where
you can feel sorry for yourself.”
After
Sunday’s
loss,
the
Wolverines didn’t.
Michigan bounces back after rivalry loss to the Spartans
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Freshman center Colin Castleton scored a career-high 11 points on Thursday.
JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Editor
But without
Charles,
nothing’s really
gonna change.