2B — October 21, 2019
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

M

ichigan played its 
best football game of 
the season Saturday. 
Michigan also 
lost, notching 
a second Big 
Ten defeat, 
which equates 
to something 
of a death 
knell in mod-
ern college 
football.
It’s diffi-
cult to square 
these two dis-
tinct facts, so I won’t try to do so. 
There are surely hot takes to be 
read, and this won’t be one. Josh 
Gattis’ offense looked better, 
particularly in the second half. 
Shea Patterson offered his best 
performance of the season. After 
an early speed bump, the Wol-
verines’ defense settled in quite 
comfortably. The talent of this 
team is present — and, at times, 
quite obvious.
Michigan outgained Penn 
State, 417 to 283, and could have 
easily posted 35-plus points 
had it capitalized on five drives 
inside Nittany Lions territory 
that resulted in zero points. It’s 
a game the Wolverines probably 
should have won. Where have we 
heard that before?
This column obviously takes 
on a whole different tenor if 
Ronnie Bell catches that pass in 
the end zone, if a couple 50/50 
calls go Michigan’s way, if Pat-
terson doesn’t errantly throw an 
interception on the screen pass in 
the second quarter, if—we could 
entertain these equivocations 
all day.
All that’s left to say — after 
a game which will mark Jim 
Harbaugh’s seventh loss to a 
ranked opponent on the road in 
eight tries and his eighth loss in 
eight games as an underdog — is 
that there are no more moral 

victories. This is Year Five. Half 
a decade into what should have 
been a golden age of Michigan 
football, the 
Wolverines will 
have not a thing 
to show for it. 
This program is 
not what it thinks 
it is, plain and 
simple.
The second 
half against Penn 
State showed 
glimpses of what 
this team could 
be if it ever reached its apex. Pat-
terson was in a groove, dealing to 

his trove of weapons. The offense 
had tempo and purpose, wearing 
down a Nittany Lions defense 
that entered the 
game top-10 in 
SP+ defense. The 
defense was as 
aggressive and 
imposing as it 
perceives itself. 
It was at once a 
glimmer of hope, 
and a cruel twist 
of the knife — the 
full comeback 
ending mere 
yards shy, No. 7 Penn State escap-
ing with a 28-21 win.

The performance in the sec-
ond half Saturday, one of the best 
halves of football this team has 
played in years, 
changes noth-
ing. Just because 
Harbaugh’s team 
surpassed the 
menial expecta-
tions it set for 
itself through 
the first six 
games does not 
excuse another 
in a remarkably 
consistent line of 
disappointments. 
“I’m not gonna sit down and 

feel sorry for ourselves,” said 
junior defensive end Kwity 
Paye. “We still have a lot of big 
teams to play — 
we have Notre 
Dame, a ranked 
team, Ohio State, 
a ranked team. 
There’s still plen-
ty of opportunity 
to be able to go 
out and finish the 
season great.”
You’d expect 
a player of Paye’s 
maturity to 
say that, of course, and it’s not 
entirely untrue. This team could 

quite possibly run the table to 
Ohio State; it opened as a slight 
favorite over No. 8 Notre Dame 
next weekend, and will almost 
certainly be favored against 
Michigan State, Indiana and 
Maryland. Winning those and 
then capping the year with a 
win over the Buckeyes would 
constitute some sort of success-
ful season, if unconventional and 
still hollow.
“Just complimented them on 
the effort they gave, the char-
acter they showed,” Harbaugh 
said, on what he told his team 
after the game. “Hold their heads 
high and come back at it again on 
Monday.”
Added senior VIPER Khaleke 
Hudson: “We’ve just got to move 
onto the next day. We’ve got to 
work even harder in practice and 
we’ve just got to stay on top of 
our film work and keep trusting 
our guys.”
It’s tiresome to hear, and 
must be more tiresome to live. 
There are still meaningful 
prisms through which to view 
the rest of the season. Increased 
opportunities for promis-
ing young players — the Cam 
McGrones, Zach Charbonnets, 
Daxton Hills, Chris Hintons 
scattered about the roster — 
will help enlighten present and 
future talent. Wins over Michi-
gan State (a requirement) and 
Ohio State (a bonus) would cer-
tainly do wonders to quell the 
angst in and around the team. A 
bowl win for the first time since 
2015 would mean something, to 
be sure.
But there are no more moral 
victories left to deduce any-
more. All that counts are the 
literal ones. And in the biggest 
moments, those remain absent.

Marcovitch can be reached via 

email at maxmarco@umich.edu or 

on Twitter @Max_Marcovitch.

No more moral victories

When 
Western 
Michigan 
(9-4-0 overall, 1-0-0 MAC) 
visited the Michigan men’s 
soccer team (6-4-3 overall, 
2-1-2 Big Ten) 
last 
Thursday, 
the 
visitors 
looked to use 
a 
seemingly 
simple 
tactic— 
turn 
the 
beautiful game 
into something, 
well, 
less 
beautiful. Their 
attempts proved 
successful as the 
Broncos beat the Wolverines 
2-1.
“It wasn’t much of a soccer 
game, which made it a lot more 
difficult for us,” said Michigan 
coach Chaka Daley.
A talented Western Michigan 
team, ranked 33rd in the country 
in the latest RPI poll, used 
physical play to its advantage 
to turn the game away from a 
chess match. Despite totaling 14 
fouls, the Broncos only earned 
one yellow card in the 14th 
minute.
Michigan looked frustrated 
trying to deal with Western 
Michigan’s 
energy 
while 
struggling to keep possession 
in the attacking half of the 
field and went into the half 
trailing 1-0. After a few more 
hard fouls in the second half, 

the frustration started to boil 
over, as Michigan exchanged 
frequently pleasantries with 
Broncos players.
Coach Daley did his best to 
cool his team down and refocus 
it on its own play.
“It’s tough, I 
think it should 
be sorted out by 
the 
officials,” 
Daley said. “But 
if it’s not, you 
have to make 
sure that you 
respond 
and 
continue to play 
and not get too 
distracted 
or 
emotional from 
it. I think our team got a little 
emotional as a result.”
Emotions reached a peak 
point after the final horn, the 
game ending in a 2-1 Western 
Michigan win. The Broncos 
performed a spirited rendition 
of their fight song in front of 
their supporters, to the great 
dismay of a few Michigan 
players who approached the 
opposing team with seemingly 
ill intent before being held back 
by teammates and coaches.
Theatrics 
aside, 
Western 
Michigan ultimately outplayed 
Michigan and could cruise 
back to Kalamazoo with an 
impressive win against the 
Wolverines. Undoubtedly the 
Wolverines will have their next 
bout with the Broncos circled 
on their calendars.

DOMINIC DIFRANCO
For The Daily

Once 
the 
outcome 
was 
decided, 
Western 
Michigan 
poured onto the field and sang 
their fight song at the top of 
their lungs. The fight song was 
appropriate in more than one 
way on Thursday. 
On a night where 20 fouls 
were committed, neither team 
pulled any punches both on 
and off the field. The Michigan 
men’s 
soccer 
team 
(6-4-3 
overall, 2-1-2 Big Ten) fell to 
2-1 to Western Michigan (9-4-1 
overall) . 
The Wolverines struggled 
in the first half against the 
Broncos’ high press, as the 
opposing side scored within 
the first minute. With senior 
forward Jack Hallahan out 
due to injury, the Wolverines 
lacked the creative spark to 
break down the opposition. 
Western 
Michigan’s 
tall 
back line cleared everything 
Michigan crossed into the box, 
making it difficult for its front 
line to get shots on target. The 
game got choppy by the end of 
the first half as the Broncos 
committed four fouls and had 
one yellow card, a preview of 
what was to come.
“We let a half pass us by,” 
said Michigan coach Chaka 
Daley. 
“We 
did 
ourselves 
a disservice by not being 
prepared for the energy they 
would bring. It wasn’t much of 
a soccer game which made it 
a lot more difficult for us, but 
we have to respond to those 
things.”
The 
Wolverines 
came 
out 
strong 
in 
the 
second 
half, scoring a 46th minute 
goal from graduate transfer 
Nebojsa Popovic. Freshman 
midfielder 
Harry 
Pithers 
played a one-touch pass high 
to the far end of the box to 
freshman forward Christian 
Pullselli, who headed it back 
to the center. Popovic met the 
ball and volleyed it home. 
“You need some personality 

players to break them down 
and we have three that weren’t 
available,” 
Daley 
said. 
“It 
makes it difficult and we knew 
it would be a challenge because 
we know those guys can unlock 
the game.”
Forty seconds later, Western 
Michigan responded with a 
high-shot goal at the top of 
Michigan’s six-yard box. Then, 
the Broncos shifted the tenor of 
the game, committing 10 fouls 
in the second half. Whether it 
was swinging for the man, not 
the ball, or throwing elbows 
while going up for a header, 
the message was clear from the 
Broncos.
“It’s tough,” Daley said. “I 
think it should be sorted out by 
the officials.”
Michigan followed Western 
Michigan’s 
goal 
with 
a 
great scoring chance in the 
51st minute. A low driven 
ball across the box came to 
Popovic, who shot it towards 
goal. But, Broncos goalie Isaac 
Walker came up with the save 
denying Michigan one of their 
best chances of the game.
“We’ve got to put it in the 
rear view mirror,” Daley said. 
“It’s a tough night for our 
group. We are disappointed we 
responded too late. We need to 
get back to the drawing board.”
Compared to Michigan’s six 
fouls, Western committed 14 
by the end of the match. The 
Broncos switched to a more 
compact formation and stuck 
five players in their back line to 
further stymie the Wolverines. 
This gave Michigan no choice 
but to move 6-foot-5 senior 
center back Jackson Ragen 
up top and bomb crosses into 
the box. Elbows were thrown, 
fingers were pointed and a 
rivalry brewed. 
“You 
have 
to 
respond, 
continue to play, and not get 
too emotional about it,” Daley 
said. I think our guys got a 
little bit too emotional. That’s 
a style or tactic for sure. We 
didn’t do a good job handling 
that.”

The Michigan football team played one of its best halves of football in years. But we’re past the point of moral victories.

MAX

 MARCOVITCH

Michigan offense stifled in physical matchup,
fight breaks out after ugly 2-1 loss to WMU

NICK MOEN
For The Daily

‘M’ rebounds with win 
over hapless Rutgers

The Michigan volleyball team 
had a fatigued Rutgers squad 
on the ropes late in the second 
set, desperately scrambling to 
patch 
together 
a 
sustained 
attack. Sensing 
a break in the 
Wolverine 
defense, 
the 
Scarlet Knights 
rallied, 
but 
freshman 
middle blocker 
May 
Pertofsky 
rushed to the 
ball, greeting it 
with an emphatic solo block. On 
the very next play, in the exact 
same spot, the Rutgers attack 
was stuffed again, this time by 
redshirt freshman outside hitter 
Grace Persson. 
The rest of the night played 
out in much the same way for 
the Wolverines (13-5 overall, 6-2 
Big Ten), who swept the Scarlet 
Knights (6-13, 0-8) to the tune 
of 25-10, 25-15, 25-16. Following 
consecutive Big Ten losses to 
No. 5 Nebraska and No. 8 Penn 
State, Michigan wasted no time 
righting the ship against another 
conference foe. 
“We knew Rutgers wasn’t as 
strong of an opponent, but for us, 
we always judge on our side of the 
net,” said Michigan coach Mark 
Rosen. “It’s about how are we 
playing comparative to our level 
rather than the opponent, and 
that’s probably one of the most 
dialed-in team wins, playing for 
each other.”
The Wolverines set the tone 
early with a swarming, physical 
defense that left few gaps on the 
court, frustrating the Scarlet 
Knight attack, which was unable 
to correct course even after 
burning two timeouts in the 
first set. Rutgers had no answers 
for the freshman tandem of 
Pertofsky and middle blocker 
Jess Robinson, who combined for 
25.5 points and 10 blocks. 
Michigan’s 
competence 

in both phases of the game 
continued during the match, as 
the Scarlet Knights scored on 
45.2 percent of their possessions 
when receiving the serve, while 
the Wolverines scored on a gaudy 
81.4 percent of theirs. Not a single 
Scarlet 
Knight 
reached double-
digit 
points, 
while Pertofsky, 
Robinson 
and 
sophomore 
outside 
hitter 
Paige Jones all 
tallied 
10 
or 
more. 
“I 
thought 
tonight we were 
just really clean,” 
Rosen said. “When you hit almost 
.500 and side out at 80 percent, 
you know, those are numbers that 
are crazy. (A hitting percentage 
of) .250 is a good number, and 
we were double that tonight. We 
were really efficient.”
The 
Wolverines’ 
efficiency 
was the product of a fluid, 
communicative attack befitting 
an 
older, 
more 
experienced 
group. Each player seemed to 
be innately aware of the other’s 
presence on the court, filling in 
the defensive gaps as necessary. 
“I 
think 
our 
team 
has 
gotten along really, really well, 
especially in the quickness in 
which we were put together,” 
Robinson said. “To pull off wins 
in a conference this hard, you 
have to be working together all 
the time.”
While 
Michigan’s 
pair 
of 
freshman flashed its two-way 
potential, 
the 
team 
should 
remain competitive within the 
conference by leveraging the 
talents of veterans like senior 
setter Mackenzi Welsh, who 
added two blocks and one of the 
team’s seven service aces.
“It’s not just our freshmen that 
are carrying the load right now,” 
Rosen said. “I think this team 
has a ton of potential to just keep 
getting better, and I’m pleased 
with the direction we’re heading 
in, but we’ve gotta win some of 
these big matchups.”

JOSEPH ARONOFF
For The Daily

This team has a 
ton of potential 
to ... keep 
getting better.

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has now lost seven of eight games against ranked opponents on the road during his five years coaching the Wolverines.

We’ve just 
got to work 
even harder in 
practice...

I’m not gonna 
sit down and 
feel sorry for 
ourselves.

CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
Michigan coach Chaka Daley said physical play should be handled by officials.

It’s tough, I 
think it should 
be sorted out by 
the officials.

