8 — Thursday, October 24, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

To Nico Collins, it was as 
perplexing on the re-watch as in 
the moment.
He saw the ball in the air on 
Saturday, readjusting to the 
slightly-underthrown 
deep 
ball, hauling in what appeared 
to be a momentum-shifting 
45-yard reception down to the 
Penn State 10-yard line. Exactly 
what the doctor ordered for an 
offense looking to respond to a 
red-hot Nittany Lions start.
Then 
he 
saw 
the 
flag. 
Offensive 
pass 
interference. 
Catch 
nullified. 
Momentum 
drained.
“Oh yeah, I saw it in slow 
motion. It was terrible,” Collins 
said. “ … He was pulling on me. 
I was kinda pulling on him. We 
were both competing for it … 
but (the call) was on me. Can’t 
complain about it.
“It can kinda be hard, cause a 
play like that is very explosive. 
If we had got that, we’d be down 
on the 15-yard line in a position 
to score. So we gotta go all the 
way back from where we was.” 
It was one of two offensive 
pass 
interference 
calls 
on 
Michigan during the game, 
the types of 50/50 plays that 
are easier to single out in 
what ended a razor-thin, one-
possession game. In the end, 
the Wolverines were flagged 
eight times for 48 yards, while 
Penn State had five penalties for 
58 yards. That relatively even 
distribution did little to quell 
complaints.
“There were some (bad calls), 
definitely,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach Jim Harbaugh. “You have 
the human reaction of what 
your human reactions are and 
sometimes it’s not fair. I’ve said 
for a long time, the only fair is 
the county fair. Respect it. You 

can be disappointed sometimes. 
“Looked at those, make no 
excuse and move onward.”
Kwity Paye breaking out
With any defensive end, the 
sacks and tackles-for-loss are 
what catch the casual fan’s eye. 
Junior Kwity Paye certainly is 
no exception.
His 
dominant 
2.5-sack 
performance against Iowa laid 
the foundation for what appears 
to be a breakout season. And 
yet, to defensive line coach 
Shaun Nua, those are hardly the 
only notable football traits he 

possesses.
“I don’t know if he can grow 
even more with how well he 
plays the run,” Nua said. “He’s 
confident, and just doesn’t panic 
with all the RPOs and all the 
bluff that tight ends will have, 
the split zone, he just doesn’t 
panic. He knows exactly when 
they’re trying to kick him out, 
and when they’re not trying 
to kick him out. He’s always 
in his gap with great pad level 
and hands inside. So plays with 
great, phenomenal base. You’ll 
hardly see him on the ground. 

And then when he gets a pass 
rush, he can convert fast. He’s 
doing a great job.”
Paye and sophomore Aidan 
Hutchinson — self-nicknamed 
“salt 
and 
pepper” 
— 
have 
entrenched themselves firmly at 
the end positions, each offering 
versatility in their skillsets. 
In addition to his praise for 
Paye, Nua called Hutchinson a 
“complete player”, noting the 
duo’s ability to flip spots at any 
given time and fill each role.
Together, 
they’ve 
allowed 
Michigan’s defense to hardly 

skip a beat after the departures 
of Rashan Gary and Chase 
Winovich from a season ago.
Slow starts persist
In the aftermath of last 
week’s 21-0 blitz in the first 
half, Michigan has spent the 
week reflection on the trend 
of starting slowly in big games. 
Over 
the 
course 
of 
eight 
different top-15 matchups in the 
last two seasons, the Wolverines 
have been outscored 117-83 in 
the first half, including a 21-7 
deficit to the Nittany Lions and 
a 28-0 deficit to Wisconsin, both 

this year.
The 
answer 
to 
the 
two 
questions on everyone’s mind? 
No, the players don’t have one 
central rationale for the slow 
starts. Yes, they know they’ve 
got to do better.
“We can’t keep letting that be 
a trend,” said senior offensive 
lineman 
Ben 
Bredeson 
on 
Monday, “falling behind and 
having to come back. There (are) 
times when we got to start fast.”
Saturday, No. 8 Notre Dame 
comes to town. That would seem 
like an apt time to start fast.

Michigan football notebook

Kwity Paye’s perfection of run defense, Nico Collins’ comments on the offensive pass intereference call and more

MAX MARCOVITCH
Managing Sports Editor

Still plenty to play for, players say

When the ball hit Ronnie Bell’s 
hands then dropped harmlessly 
onto the turf, it symbolized the end 
of more than just the game.
In big-time college football, two 
losses mean no College Football 
Playoff. While a Big Ten title is still 
theoretically possible, it’s now very 
unlikely. Those were Michigan’s 
biggest goals coming into the 
season. No matter how much fight 
the Wolverines showed Saturday, 
those goals are essentially gone.
Under 
these 
kinds 
of 
circumstances, there is inevitably 
a debate about what the rest of the 
season means, and what there is to 
play for if there are no accolades on 
the horizon.
For Michigan, those answers 
seem to lie in the remaining games 
on the schedule — and a steadfast 
belief in themselves.
“A lot of people saying we have 
nothing to play for,” said fifth-
year senior offensive tackle Jon 
Runyan on Tuesday. “But we have 
everything to play for. We got all 
these guys in the locker room, we 
got all our coaches, we have our 
families that we’re playing for.”
Universally, players and coaches 
pointed to the next game on the 
schedule — a home game, at night, 
against traditional rival and top-10 
opponent in Notre Dame. Win that 
game, and while it might not mean 

anything in the conference race, 
it’ll mean something to a program 
that’s been invested in this rivalry 
for over a century.
In his Monday press conference, 
Jim 
Harbaugh 
preached 
the 
same thing he does before every 
game — “this week is the most 
important game of the season” — 
and while that may not be literally 
true anymore in the context of 
the Playoff, the significance of 
Saturday, and of upcoming rivalry 
games against Michigan State and 
Ohio State, isn’t lost on anyone.
On Monday, senior defensive 
tackle Carlo Kemp faced the 
scrum as normal, but the way he 
answered questions seemed like 
anything but a traditional media 
session. Instead, his words seemed 
like an impassioned speech, a plea 
for everyone to stop treating the 
season like it was over.
“What’s left to play is, we’ve 
got our whole season left,” Kemp 
said. “We’re at the midway point. 
We’ve got five games coming up. 
… And we’ve got three of the most 
important 
rivalries 
in 
college 
football coming up. You’ve got 
Notre Dame, you’ve got Michigan 
State and then you’ve got the game 
at the end of the year.
“And those are the games that 
you play for. Those are the teams 
that you’re gonna want to play for, 
and we’re not just gonna sit here 
and be like, ‘Alright, we’re done,’ 
and go out there and just coast the 

rest of the season.”
The Wolverines lost to the 
Fighting Irish last year. They have 
yet to beat the Spartans at home 
in Harbaugh’s tenure. And the 
Buckeyes? The 0-4 record speaks 
for itself. Those facts themselves 
present plenty for Michigan to play 
for — even if it’s not in the way it 
originally hoped.
Defensive line coach Shaun 
Nua and sophomore defensive 
end 
Aidan 
Hutchinson 
both 
admitted that it was tough to 
accept Saturday’s loss. But Nua 
was pleased with the response in 
Tuesday’s practice and the focus 
they showed in the face of adversity.
Against 
Notre 
Dame, 
the 
Wolverines will get the chance to 
prove that the season still means 
something to them, that there are 
still things to play for, even if there 
isn’t a trip to Indianapolis or New 
Orleans waiting for them at the 
end.
“Yes, we lost, but you’ve gotta 
remember, this isn’t our last game 
of the year,” Kemp said. “It’s not 
like, ‘Alright, we’re done, let’s 
start packing up and we’ll get 
ready for next season.’ We have 
top-10 matchups coming up and 
the big thing is, we have one this 
Saturday. And we have another 
opportunity on the national stage 
to go out there, play in front of our 
own fans and go out there and 
represent Michigan and play on a 
big stage.”

Franz Wagner embracing college

For many student athletes, 
taking the leap to college 
represents much of the same, if 
just on a bigger stage with more 
responsibilities.
Wake up. Go to school. Go to 
practice. Complete homework. 
Eat a ridiculous amount of 
calories. Go to sleep. Repeat.
Very few incoming college 
athletes buck this trend in the 
time between their high school 
days and their fledgling college 
careers. 
Franz 
Wagner 
is 
an 
exception. 
After finishing high school 
early, the guard played a year of 
professional ball for Alba Berlin 
in Germany’s Bundesliga. Now, 
he’s back in a classroom, and 
the 6-foot-8 wing couldn’t be 
happier about it.
Any high school students 
reading 
this 
are 
almost 
certainly 
scratching 
their 
hands at the moment. How 
could someone ever possibly 
elect to go back to school, 
especially after getting a taste 
of a professional basketball 
player’s lifestyle?
For Wagner, the answer to 
that question comes in the form 
of all of the resources Michigan 
has to offer, including allowing 
him to become a more well-
rounded human being. With 
the 
perspective 
of 
having 
played professional basketball, 
Wagner now appreciates a life 
that does not solely focus on the 
sport. 
“(Last year) I played the 
whole year of basketball, and 
I felt like it was really for the 
first couple of months, and I 
enjoyed it,” Wagner said. “Not 
having to go to school because 
I finished high school a year 
early, and that was really cool 
for the first couple of months. 
But after a certain period of 
time, you feel like, at least I felt 
like, I needed something more. 
And that’s part of why I came 
here.”
As 
a 
college 
freshman, 
Wagner enjoys spending time 
in the dorms and meeting new 

people who are not enmeshed 
in the world of basketball. He’s 
embracing his classes as well 
as expanding on his hobbies 
which include keeping up with 
politics and the media. 
It shows a wisdom beyond 
his years to recognize a desire 
to 
develop 
a 
well-rounded 
personality after having tasted 
life as a professional — an 
experience that will perhaps 
lend itself handily to his play on 
the court as well.
Coming in as a highly-touted 
freshman accompanied by a 
metric boatload of praise, many 
in the program are turning 
to Wagner to fill the void left 
by last season’s top offensive 
weapons 
in 
Jordan 
Poole, 
Ignas Brazdeikis and Charles 
Matthews.
The wing’s basketball IQ, 
passing 
ability, 
length 
and 
defensive ability have excited 
many around Crisler Center, 
which makes the news of his 
recent injury so devastating for 
the program. Wagner fractured 
his wrist and will now miss the 
next four to six weeks. 
It’s a crucial blow for the 
Wolverines early in what’s 
sure-to-be 
a 
transformative 
season, but once Wagner steps 
back into the lineup, his talents 
will shine through. At least, 
that’s what associate coach Phil 
Martelli believes.
“I would just suggest that if 
anybody’s on the fence, if there 
are tickets available, get your 
tickets,” Martelli said, “because 

you’re gonna want to see this 
kid play. He’s a guy that you 
come to practice every day and 
you leave and you just scratch 
your head. To be that age, to be 
that cerebral, to be that pure.
“And it’s subtle. It’s like, how 
did he know to defend there? 
How did he know to go with the 
right hand? He’s, and I don’t 
want to put a lot of pressure on 
him, but he’s rain man. He’s a 
rain man in basketball. He’s a 
savant.”
With such high praise and 
professional playing experience 
already under his belt, it’s no 
wonder the freshman will play 
at the next level again one day. 
Whether it be in the NBA like 
his brother, former Michigan 
standout Moe Wagner, or back 
overseas, Franz Wagner will be 
a professional basketball player.
So, why come to college in 
the states at all? Surely learning 
the American game as opposed 
to the European style played a 
role in the decision, but Wagner 
strongly asserts that becoming 
more well-rounded is a priority 
at this point in his life.
“I came here for a reason, and 
it’s not just to play basketball 
at this time,” Wagner said. “I 
really want to make the most 
of my time here. I don’t want to 
think too much about the future 
and stuff like that, I want to 
live in the now right now, and I 
think that’s the only way to get 
better, really. If you think too 
much about the future, it’s not 
gonna help you.”

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor

JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Writer

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Junior wide receiver Nico Collins caught a 45-yard pass in the second quarter, but it was called back for a questionable offensive pass interference, as the drive ultimately stalled out without a score.

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Senior defensive lineman Carlo Kemp said that his team still has plenty to play for, starting this weekend..

COURTESY OF MICHIGAN ATHLETICS
Freshman Franz Wagner played for Alba Berlin in the Bundesliga last year.