2B — October 28, 2019
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
W
hen a stoic Nick
Eubanks stood at the
podium after a defac-
ing 35-14 loss at Wisconsin, his
assessment
was frank.
“It’s up
to us to find
an identity,”
Eubanks said
then. “We got
a game com-
ing up next
Saturday. We
gotta find it
quick.”
Up to that
point — a game in which Michigan
mustered next to nothing until
the depths of garbage time — the
Wolverines’ self-proclaimed iden-
tity had rarely been called into
question.
From the outset of the season,
Michigan’s offense has tried as
hard as it could to be different, in
any way, shape or form. “Speed
in space” was a distillation of a
promised reinvention. The procla-
mations of change were loud and
direct; offensive coordinator Josh
Gattis was going to modernize
it all, every play would require a
read, the bells and whistles would
sing.
Two things now appear clear.
One: That didn’t work as intended.
Two: That’s OK.
Because when things didn’t
work in the first half of the season,
the players and coaches realized
maybe the ways of old weren’t so
bad after all. It’s worth remember-
ing, the Wolverines finished 25th
in offensive SP+, their best such
ranking since 2011.
“We’re bringing back some
stuff that worked last year,” said
senior guard Michael Onwenu,
shortly after his offensive line
tossed around a stout Notre Dame
front Saturday night. “Watching
previous games and it’s important
to bring that back and do what
worked instead of trying every-
thing else.”
Onwenu and his unit spear-
headed a rushing attack that ran
for 303 yards on 57 carries in
Michigan’s 45-14 win over the
Irish. It did so in a manner eerily
akin to the Wolverines’ three-
game win streak over ranked
opponents last year. In those
games, wins over No. 15 Wiscon-
sin, No. 24 Michigan State and
No. 14 Penn State, the Wolverines
averaged 278.3 rushing yards on 51
attempts.
It was the defining stretch for
that team, when it found out who
it was and harnessed that into
some of the best football of the Jim
Harbaugh era.
This group appears primed to
hit a similar stride. In 21 drives
over the last six quarters, the
Wolverines’ offense has just five
three-and-outs. They have over
400 yards in four of their last five
games, with the lone outlier com-
ing against Iowa that is sixth in
SP+ defense, and, importantly,
came in a 10-3 win.
It’s a group unapologetically
anchored by a running game,
featuring the same core tenants
of last year’s ethos: pin-and-pulls,
traps and basic zone looks. It
would be remiss not to mention
offensive line coach Ed Warriner’s
role in this recalibration. He’s
the one that overhauled the run
scheme a year ago, and simplified
the offensive line requirements
that ultimately bred vast improve-
ment.
“Every team’s different,” War-
riner said last week. “There’s no
carry over. You’ve got carry over
players, but you have to establish
who you are and what you want
to do. And then you evaluate. At
some point, you have to say, here’s
what we’re good at.”
Still, Michigan fired Pep Ham-
ilton and hired Gattis for a reason,
and the recent simplification is not
inherently an indictment of that
decision. There’s a maturity in
understanding what you are and
what you aren’t, and not trying to
shove a square peg in a round hole
by hoping to solve the latter.
When Eubanks offered that
plea shortly after the loss to the
Badgers, he did so under the same
pretense of change. There was an
idea of what this offense was sup-
posed to be, and it hadn’t lived up
to the billing.
The identity is not “speed in
space” in the way most conceived
that vision, and the players don’t
seem to care.
“Our identity is whatever it is
for that week,” said junior center
Cesar Ruiz. “I don’t wanna say
one thing or another cause we can
attack it however we want to.”
Increasingly, though, this team
is learning that not all change is
good. This team now knows what
it is — something that could not
be said when Eubanks offered his
assessment. It’s a team that’s going
to look to pound the ball first, then
work off of it with a trove of down-
field weapons. It’s a team that can
lean on its defense, careful not to
make the game-changing mistake
offensively. It’s not a team that’s
going to reinvent the wheel. It is a
team that will dispose of inferior
ones, and win quite a few games.
It’ll beat some good teams, too. It’s
a team well in-line with the prec-
edent Harbaugh has set at Michi-
gan through five years.
That’s not such a bad thing,
after all.
A new but familiar identity
Wolverines fall, 1-0, against Rutgers
The No. 16 Michigan women’s
soccer team was winning in
every statistical category. If you
were watching the game and
didn’t look at the scoreboard,
it looked like the Wolverines
were going to cruise to another
victory.
They led in all categories but
one — goals.
Michigan
(13-4-1
overall,
8-2-1 Big Ten) dominated No. 21
Rutgers early on in the match
Thursday night. Up until the
43rd minute, it looked like the
Wolverines were positioned for
a win. But soccer is a fickle game
and can change in an instant,
and Michigan lost, 1-0.
In what was the Scarlet
Knights’
first
successful
offensive
set,
and
the
Wolverines’ first and only lapse
on
defense,
Rutgers
sliced
through the Michigan defense
and scored. The Wolverines
found themselves down and
couldn’t recover.
“Sometimes you can just be
a little unlucky and one thing
changes in a snapshot,” said
sophomore midfielder Raleigh
Loughman. “You just have to
keep your head up and keep
going.”
In the beginning of the first
half, Michigan dominated the
field by controlling the ball on
its side of the field, accompanied
by clean passing and transitions.
Every time the Scarlet Knights
took the ball onto their side
of the field, the Wolverines
tightened up on defense and
immediately cleared it back to
their offense.
In
the
first
half
alone,
Michigan had seven shots but
was unable to convert any of
those into goals. The Wolverines
set themselves up with many
opportunities
with
corner
kicks and crosses, but failed to
execute in front of the goal.
“I think the main thing our
team really needs to work on
is execution,” said freshman
forward Jayde Riviere. “We
have all the tools for it and we
have all the talent for it. We get
crosses in and we get people in
the box, it’s just the execution
of it.”
Throughout
the
season,
Michigan has not been used
to going into halftime with
a deficit. While this was an
unwelcomed change, it did not
change its mindset or gameplan
for the second half.
“At halftime, we told them
we just needed to be aggressive
and look to get going forward
a little more,” said Michigan
coach Jennifer Klein. “You got
nothing to lose and just go for
it. I thought we went out with
a good mentality and got great
opportunities. We were just
unfortunate.”
Coming
out
of
the
half
down by a goal, the team stuck
to its gameplan, focusing on
execution
and
converting
opportunities into goals, but
realized it needed to play with
a greater sense of urgency.
The Wolverines added seven
more shots in the second half,
totaling 14 for the game, and
held Rutgers to just seven shots
the entire 90 minutes.
“Obviously being down 1-0
there was a lot more urgency
to our game,” Loughman said.
“I felt like we were getting
forward more and being less
sloppy in our passes. We were
a little less complacent in the
second half than we were in the
first half.”
Klein credited the Scarlet
Knights’ commitment to their
defense and strong goalkeeping.
Looking
ahead
to
the
postseason, Loughman believes
Rutgers is a similar caliber team
that Michigan will face.
“Rutgers is a really strong
opponent and I think they are
evidence of what we are going
to find in the postseason,”
Loughman
said.
“We
have
to keep looking at that going
forward.”
In their penultimate regular-
season game, the Wolverines
were
trying
to
position
themselves for seeding in the
Big Ten Tournament. They are
currently neck-and-neck with
Wisconsin for the top spot in
the Big Ten standings.
“I hope (this game) gives
us a good spark and a sense of
urgency to finish strong,” Klein
said. “We will see where we end
up when it comes to Big Ten play
and NCAAs but hopefully this
loss sparks a response to go and
get it.”
In the last 10 seconds of
regulation, the Michigan men’s
soccer team almost earned a
penalty kick. The near buzzer
beater
would
have been the
highlight
of
the
season
for
Michigan
if it was not
a clean slide
tackle.
The
Wolverines
(7-4-4 overall,
2-1-3 Big Ten)
tied 1-1 against
the Wisconsin
Badgers (2-10-
3, 0-4-2), in what seemed
to
be
a
lopsided
soccer
game.
Michigan
dominated
Wisconsin in shots 17 to eight.
Michigan was in complete
control throughout the entire
match. It was a frustrating
result for the Wolverines who
held the majority of the clinical
chances.
“We really had clear cut-
chances,
but
I
think
we
absolutely
dominated
the
match from start to finish,”
said
Michigan
head
coach
Chaka Daley. “There was 22
fouls here, and 13 corners.
With all of that, we had a lot
of opportunities. Wisconsin
fought for their lives because
they had to with no real
chances for them.”
Michigan
was
knocking
on the door five minutes into
the second half while looking
for the first goal of the game.
Sophomore
forward
Soso
Emovon provided a spark off
the bench for the Wolverines.
He led one of Michigan’s best
chances to score in the 48th
minute. Emovon thunderously
ran down the right side of the
pitch and crossed the ball to
freshman
midfielder
Harry
Pithers. Pithers was unable to
make a strike on the left alone
ball from five yards out.
In the 75th minute, the
Wolverines’
ultra
attacking
efforts finally paid off. Senior
forward Jack Hallahan tapped
the ball around the 15-yard box
which cleared off the shin of a
Badger defender into the back
of the net for an own goal.
Two
minutes
after
the
own
goal,
junior
midfielder
Marc
Ybarra’s
tackle led to a
questionable
penalty
call.
Badger
midfielder
Noah
Leibold
shimmied
his
way into sinking
the goal down
the
middle
for
Wisconsin.
Daley had no issues with the
penalty. “There was a small
patch of opportunity, and I
was not able to see the penalty
call,” Daley said. “It was out of
our hands.”
Senior goalkeeper Andrew
Verdi was the most important
player
for
the
Wolverines.
Verdi was carried out with an
injury during overtime, but
his efforts were not unnoticed.
Five minutes into extra time,
Verdi made a miraculous save
in, “what seemed to be a sure
goal well outside the penalty
box,” Daley said. “He was
excellent. Andrew saved our
butt in overtime. He made two
great saves and hopefully he’s
okay.”
Andrew
Verdi
is
the
backbone
of
the
Michigan
men’s soccer team, literally and
figuratively.
The senior goalkeeper is
the team’s last line of defense.
Often times, he is the difference
between wins and losses.
And
on
the
Wolverines’
Senior Night on Friday, he
proved that to be true, making
saves in a gritty 1-1 draw
against Wisconsin.
After Wisconsin’s lackluster
offensive
performance
in
the first half, Verdi was far
more busy in the latter 45
minutes of the match. The
keeper had two saves, one a
punch-out and another while
jumping vertically. He allowed
a goal during a 77th-minute
Wisconsin penalty try. A late
regulation skirmish off a corner
kick also kept the keeper on his
toes.
In extra time against the
Badgers, a loose ball created
a
golden
opportunity
for
Wisconsin to win the game,
and upset the Wolverines in
Ann Arbor.
Verdi had other plans.
A
Badgers’
striker
faced
Verdi
with
a
one-on-one
chance, almost a surefire goal
under most circumstances.
Verdi sprawled quickly on
all fours and got his entire
body in front of the shot. As a
result, the ball bounced right
back to the Wisconsin striker,
whose second shot was then
denied by a strong clearance
by senior centerback Abdou
Samake,
keeping
Michigan
alive. Unfortunately for Verdi
and the Wolverines, the keeper
was injured during the play.
After the game, Michigan
coach Chaka Daley was unsure
of the status of his injury.
“No, I don’t have any updates
on (Verdi’s) health,” Daley said.
“But he was excellent. He saved
our butt down here in overtime
with a great save and had two
other great saves.”
Ultimately,
the
stalemate
formed
in
regulation
was
never broken, and the match
concluded in a frustrating 1-1
draw after 110 minutes of play.
But the draw does not tarnish
the value and impact Verdi and
the other seniors have had to
the team.
“(The seniors) have had an
interesting time here,” Daley
said. “In their first year, we
struggled. They’ve seen a little
bit of adversity. They saw some
good times in ‘17 and ‘18, and
we’re still growing.”
Verdi
epitomizes
Daley’s
description. As a sophomore,
he started in 13 games in a
successful campaign. His junior
year, he didn’t see any playing
time, as every start went to
keeper
Henry
Mashburn.
Now, in his senior season, the
staple between the Wolverines’
posts has started every single
match and has been a critical
part of the team’s success. His
three saves against Wisconsin
showcased his importance to
the team.
With Michigan approaching
the postseason, Verdi’s injury
status could be monumental
to the Wolverines in their
efforts to avenge their Big Ten
tournament final loss from
2018. At the moment, Daley
is strictly focused on getting
Verdi back on the pitch.
“I’m
not
worried
about
postseason, to be fair,” he
said. “I’m just worried about
if Andrew’s OK, first and
foremost.”
Senior Night Stalemate
Michigan comes up short on Senior Night, drawing Wisconsin, 1-1, as Andrew Verdi comes up big in overtime
AUSTIN KARNICK
For The Daily
LIOR KOLTON
For The Daily
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior goalkeeper Andrew Verdi made a crucial save in overtime to keep the score level against Wisconsin, securing a draw against the Badgers on Friday.
(Goalie)
Andrew (Verdi)
saved our butt
in overtime.
For more coverage of Michigan
soccer, visit MichiganDaily.com
MAX
MARCOVITCH
ALEC COHEN/Daily
The Michigan offense tallied over 400 yards for the fourth game in its last five.
LILY ISRAEL
Daily Sports Writer
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Sophomore defender Janiece Joyner was forced to leave at the end of the game.