8 — Thursday, April 4, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Notebook: Harbaugh details spring depth chart, updates on injuries

About five minutes into his
press conference Wednesday
morning, Jim Harbaugh was
asked about Ben VanSumeran.
Questions about younger guys
— in this case, a sophomore
running back who appeared
in four games last season,
narrowly avoiding a redshirt —
are what spring pressers are for.
Hype builds and, most often,
recedes by the time the season
gets underway. The media tries
to figure out the depth chart,
and who’s playing where.
In the case of Michigan
football under Harbaugh, the
operative word in that sentence
has been tries.
Harbaugh
is
famously
secretive, rarely forthcoming.
He dismisses questions about
injuries. When an outlet tried
to file a Freedom of Information
Request to figure out the most
basic of things: the roster,
before the 2017 season, it was
stonewalled. A depth chart has
long been considered out of the
question. Let alone as a response
to a question that didn’t ask for
it.
“I would call it a hybrid in the
sense that a tailback can also
be an H-back,” Harbaugh said
of VanSumeran’s position. “But
he is definitely cemented in the
running back rotation as well.”
Then he kept going.
“Right now Tru Wilson is
the starter (at running back).
Julian Garrett’s backing up or
— Ben VanSumeren’s the backup
tailback right now, second team,
then Julian. Nick Capatina is a
person who tried out who’s in
school here and tried out and
looks like he’s making the team.
“Christian Turner is—I think
we’ll have Christian back either
this Sunday or by the following
Friday practice, so Christian
should make it back for four
or five practices. He had a soft
tissue, hamstring, early on in
practice, like day two. But he’s

progressing well.
“Hassan Haskins has also
been limited this spring. He has
a prior meniscus that’s—trying
to get through what he can in
spring ball, and so far it’s been
a couple practices. May make it
back for some practices toward
the end but I think he’s gonna
need a procedure when spring
football practice is over. Zach
Charbonnet is coming along
really well. He had an existing
injury coming out of high school
that was fixed when he got here
in January. Not going to be able
to do any spring ball this session
but he’ll be back and will do
fine.”
Got that? Good, because it
wasn’t the end. By the end,
Harbaugh
had
noted
Lucas
Andrighetto’s ACL tear, as well
as the sophomore’s achievements
in his high school championship
game. Andrighetto, mind you,
played zero games last year, and
likely wouldn’t this year even if
healthy.
By the end, Harbaugh had
been talking for 10 minutes
straight, touching on seven
different positional groups and
giving a verbal depth chart for
each of them.
Offensive line
No
surprises
here.
The
Wolverines return four starters
— Jon Runyan Jr., Ben Bredeson,
Cesar
Ruiz
and
Michael
Onwenu, from left to right —
and according to Harbaugh,
they will remain the starters.
At
right
tackle,
where
Michigan
is
looking
for
a
replacement for the graduated
Juwann
Bushell-Beatty,
Harbaugh said junior Andrew
Stueber and sophomore Jalen
Mayfield are “neck and neck.”
Still, for a unit that was a
constant source of questions last
year, this is a welcome calm.
“We’ve got the guys all around
and one of the things that we
really have is an offensive line
that can drive our offense,”
said offensive coordinator Josh
Gattis on Mar. 22. “I would

say that’s the strength of our
offense right now.”
Wide receiver
If the offensive line looks
every bit as expected, the
receiving corps is the complete
opposite.
Harbaugh
named
early
enrollee
Mike Sainristil,
junior
Oliver
Martin
and
redshirt
sophomore
Tarik
Black
as the current
starters.
That
comes
with
some
injury
caveats
— junior Nico
Collins, the Wolverines’ leading
receiver last season, is rehabbing
from surgery, per Harbaugh,
and progressing well. Things
may not be quite as good for
Donovan Peoples-Jones.
The junior is dealing with

a
soft-tissue
groin
injury,
according
to
Harbaugh,
that’s lingering longer than
the
program
anticipated.
Harbaugh
grouped
Peoples-
Jones in with defensive tackle
Michael Dwumfour as having,
“more
serious
injuries
than
we
previously
thought,”
saying
they
could
potentially
miss
game-time.
It
does,
however,
seem
that
Sainristil’s
chances of getting
on the field are
very much real.
“He has a level of quickness,
change of direction, speed,”
Harbaugh said. “Been really
eye-opening and really good for
the team.”
Defensive line
With
Dwumfour’s
injury

potentially
lasting
into
the
season, 3-technique becomes a
question in need of an answer.
For now, Harbaugh is turning
to junior Donovan Jeter, who he
says, “appears hellbent on being
the starting defensive tackle,”
though Ben Mason has gotten in
the mix as well.
The rest of the front four
— Aidan Hutchinson, Carlo
Kemp and Kwity Paye — seem
fairly
set,
though
there
is
some fluctuation amongst the
backups. In addition to Mason,
Harbaugh named Mazi Smith,
Luiji Vilain, Julius Welschof,
Taylor
Upshaw
and
Gabe
Newburg as players competing
for time.
Notes
•
Harbaugh named the
current quarterback depth chart
last week: Shea Patterson, Dylan
McCaffrey and Joe Milton, and
it remains unchanged.
•
Unsurprisingly,
Sean

McKeon and Nick Eubanks are
the current starters at tight end.
•
Right now, Josh Uche,
Devin Gil and Josh Ross lead the
two-deep at Sam, Will and Mike
linebackers, respectively.
•
Quinn
Nordin
and
Jake Moody, who took the
starting kicking job at the end
of last season, are in a tight
competition for the role this
season.
•
Peoples-Jones
and
Dwumfour are the only injuries
deemed serious by Harbaugh.
Cornerback
Lavert
Hill
is
currently rehabbing from a
procedure, Harbaugh said, but
may be able to make it back for
some of spring ball.
•
With Hill out, Vince
Gray
is
starting
at
corner
alongside
Ambry
Thomas,
with Brad Hawkins at nickel.
Harbaugh also named Josh
Metellus and J’Marick Woods
as the two starting safeties.

ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh gave updates on the Wolverines’ depth chart and various injuries during his press conference on Wednesday morning.

We really have ...
an offensive line
that can drive
our offense.

Wolverines crush Toledo, 24-3

Early in the first inning,
senior
first
baseman
Alex
Sobczak hit a line drive single
to right field to move senior
second baseman Faith Canfield
to home plate.
And the runs kept coming.
With 13 walks and 12 hits for
the No. 23 Michigan softball
team, the Wolverines shredded
Toledo on Wednesday, 24-3,
running through the batting
order almost four times in the
first two innings alone to win
by run rule. By the end of the
second inning, several walks
with bases loaded resulted in
more runs than hits and a 19-0
lead for Michigan.
Starting the game with a big
first inning, the Wolverines
ran through the batting order,
with four walks contributing
to six runs on the inning. But
Michigan’s avalanche of runs
didn’t take shape until, up 2-0
off a walk that forced senior
outfielder Natalie Peters home,
junior Haley Hoogenraad hit a
ground ball to third base. The
Rockets’ third baseman tossed
the ball to the catcher, who
dropped it, allowing Sobczak
to slide home on the error,
along with senior Mackenzie
Nemitz. A line drive hit by

senior
Faith
Canfield
also
increased the score to 6-0.
“We took advantage of 23
free bases,” said Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins. “You
can score six runs in the first
inning and not score again,
so it doesn’t necessarily carry
over, but as you have runs on
the board, your hitters can be a
little more loose and confident
and not feel that pressure and
get tight, so you see some of
that.”
But the day’s real highlight
was the second inning.
After
freshman
Lexie
Blair hit a fly ball for the
inning’s first out and Sobczak
slammed a double into center
field, Toledo’s pitcher walked
Nemitz,
foreshadowing
the
end of the inning.
Though
junior
Haley
Hoogenraad hit a line drive for
two RBI, the Wolverines’ next
six runs all came in on walks
or players hit by pitches with
bases loaded.
During
the
onslaught,
Hutchins started putting in
bench players, and freshman
catcher
Hannah
Carson
stepped to the plate. For her
first home run as a Wolverine,
Carson blasted a grand slam
to right-center field to empty
the loaded bases and move the
lead to 19-0. As she rounded

the bases, Hutchins threw an
M&M at her.
“I didn’t know at first
because it was a low line drive,
but then when I saw it go out I
was just super excited because
I’d never hit a grand slam
before,” Carson said. “It was
really exciting.”
Even after that monster
inning,
Michigan’s
power
didn’t diminish. For her first
college home run, freshman
infielder Gianna Carosone hit
a flyout. Hits by Hoogenraad
and Carson brought the score
after the third inning to 24-0.
And the defense thrived
as well as the offense. Before
leaving the game after the
third inning, freshman right-
hander Alex Storako allowed
no hits.
After the bench took over
the infield, Michigan allowed
three runs and scored none
in the fourth inning, but the
win nonetheless remained a
blowout.
“I told them to come back
tomorrow and be ready for a
hard practice because I like
confidence, but you don’t want
to get soft,” Hutchins said. “I
love home runs, but it’s just fun
that everybody but (sophomore
left-hander Meghan Beaubien)
got in that game and held their
own and did well.”

LILY FRIEDMAN
Daily Sports Writer

KARTIK SUNDARAM/Daily
Senior first baseman Alex Sobczak helped spark Michigan to a 19-0 lead over Toledo, a game it eventually won 24-3.