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Friday, November 22, 2019 — 7

What to watch for: Michigan battles Indiana

All week, Michigan’s players 
and coaches have been asked 
whether Saturday’s trip to 7-3 
Indiana constitutes a trap game. 
And all week, the response has 
been resounding: The Hoosiers 
are too good for that.
The logic backs it up — 
Indiana nearly won at Penn 
State last weekend and ranks 
14th nationally in passing yards 
per game. On paper, it’s the 
Wolverines’ fourth or fifth-
toughest game of the season to 
date, depending on your opinion 
of Iowa.
And yet, there’s an irresistible 
inclination to look at what lies 
ahead, 
toward 
the 
looming 
elephant in the room that visits 
Ann Arbor eight days from now.
It’s 
an 
understandable 
inclination in any season, when 
Michigan’s matchup with Ohio 
State is circled on calendars 
years 
in 
advance. 
That’s 
especially true this year, when 
that matchup is the Wolverines’ 
one remaining chance to define 
their season as a success.
So, no matter what Michigan 
says, this week will always be 
viewed through a unique lens: 
How does it affect the Ohio 
State game?
With that in mind, The Daily 
breaks down what to watch for 
as the Wolverines attempt to 
answer the questions they face 
before the Buckeyes come to 
town.
Shea building on momentum
A month ago, the resounding 
dialogue 
surrounding 
Shea 
Patterson’s season was to write 
it off as a failure. In nearly every 
statistical 
category, 
he 
had 
regressed from a stellar 2018 as 
he appeared uncomfortable in 
Josh Gattis’ pro-spread, read-
based offense.
Late in the first half against 
Penn State five weeks ago, 
Patterson hit his nadir, sulking 
off the field after a hideous 
screen-pass interception as the 

Nittany Lions surrounded him 
in celebration.
Since then, he’s done a 180, 
offering a masterclass in how 
to run Gattis’ offense. Over the 
Wolverines last three games, 
he’s completed 43 of 67 passes 
for 635 yards, seven touchdowns 
and zero interceptions, peaking 
with a career-high 384 yards 
against Michigan State last 
weekend.
Even 
against 
the 
reeling 
Spartans, that game offered 
a 
glimpse 
of 
Patterson’s 
dynamic potential — the type 
of performance Michigan will 
need in order to overcome 15 
years’ worth of demons against 
Ohio State a week from now.
In the present, it’s also the 
type of performance that will 
ensure the Wolverines don’t 
have any trouble with Indiana. 
The Hoosiers are passing for 
over 300 yards per game this 
year — a mark Patterson hadn’t 
hit in his Michigan career 
before Saturday.
A repeat of the mediocre 
performances that marred the 
beginning of Patterson’s season 
could leave Michigan struggling 
to catch up, introducing much 
more prescient questions than 
what comes a week from now.
How 
Michigan 
defends 
a 
high-octane, 
pass-first 
offense
Speaking of Indiana’s passing 
attack, this weekend will pit the 
Wolverines’ defense against an 
offensive style that they haven’t 
faced all season.
That in itself will provide 
a unique challenge for Don 
Brown’s defense, but it also 
carries larger implications. The 
Hoosiers’ pro-spread, one-back 
offense offers a watered-down 
version of Ohio State’s offense 
that torched Michigan for 62 
points a year ago.
That game brought the type 
of large-scale questions that 
have rarely faced Brown in his 
time at Michigan. They centered 
on the Buckeyes’ use of crossing 
patterns, getting their talented 

receiving corps in space against 
Brown’s man defense.
This 
year, 
Brown 
has 
responded 
with 
more 
zone 
defense than he’s ever used, 
countering the mesh concepts 
that 
teams 
like 
Iowa 
and 
Michigan State have used in 
their 
attempts 
to 
replicate 
Ohio State’s success. Saturday, 
though, will be the most stern 
test of the Wolverines’ zone 
defense, against one of the few 
pass-first offenses the Big Ten 
has to offer.
How Michigan responds will 
dictate expectations against the 
Buckeyes a week from now.
Can Ronnie Bell get in the 
end zone?
Okay, so maybe this one 
doesn’t 
affect 
Michigan’s 
chances against Ohio State.
It’s still fun to think about 
— something to watch for if 
the Wolverines break out to 
an early lead on Saturday and 
erase any doubt over the game’s 
outcome. Bell has been among 
Michigan’s brightest offensive 
stars this season, with his 67.8 
yards per game the most from 
a Wolverines’ receiver since 
Jeremy Gallon’s 105.6 in 2013.
It has been a revelation 
from Bell, who caught just 

eight passes a year ago, but has 
flourished in Gattis’ offense.
And yet, he still hasn’t found 
the 
end 
zone. 
It’s 
become 
a running joke among the 
Wolverines, with players chiding 
Bell each time he returns to the 
sidelines after coming up a few 
familiar yards short.
Breaking his streak against 
the Buckeyes would surely be 
more satisfying, but with just 
two games to play, Bell will take 
any touchdown he can get.
Prediction
When Vegas’ opening line set 
Michigan as 7-point favorites, 
the 
natural 
reaction 
was 
surprise. This is a matchup the 
Wolverines are annually favored 
in by 20 points and one they 
haven’t lost since 1987.
And yet, it was also fair, with 
the Hoosiers having pushed 
Penn State to the brink in State 
College last week. Since then, 
the line has opened up to 10, a 
reflection of Michigan’s brand 
name and current form.
Despite Indiana’s offensive 
prowess, that form should be 
too much for the Hoosiers to 
overcome, even if it’s far less 
comfortable than the Wolverines 
would like.
Michigan, 31-24

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Editor

Chuck Raab’s empty seat

About an hour before every 
home 
game, 
the 
Michigan 
women’s basketball coaches hold 
what’s called a “Chalk Talk” for 
the season-ticket holders. It’s 
essentially an opportunity for 
the die-hard fans to hear how 
the coaches feel about the game 
and ask a few questions before 
tip-off.
Chuck 
Raab 
never 
went 
to 
a single Chalk 
Talk. 
The 
way 
he 
saw it, he had 
his own job to 
do. Every game, 
as soon as the 
doors opened an 
hour and a half 
before 
tip-off, 
Chuck would scamper down 
to the courtside seats that he’d 
owned since 2003, pull out the 
personalized signs he’d made 
for each player and cheer on the 
team as they went through their 
warmups. 
Many of the players would 
greet Chuck on the sideline, 
and he always responded with 
a warm smile, a high five and 
words of encouragement. 
Chuck passed away on Nov. 6. 
He was 69 years 
old. As the most 
loyal 
supporter 
of 
women’s 
basketball in Ann 
Arbor — if not the 
entire country — 
he left a stamp on 
the program far 
greater than the 
cost of his now 
vacant courtside 
seat. 
“He 
touched 
each and every one of (our 
players),” said Michigan coach 
Kim Barnes Arico. “The amount 
of phone calls I got when Chuck 
passed, from years even before 
me. … Each one of them had their 
own special relationship with 
him.”
***
It’s no secret that the women’s 

basketball team doesn’t get the 
attention it probably deserves at 
Michigan. Despite winning the 
NIT Championship in 2017 and 
making the NCAA Tournament 
each of the past two seasons, 
the Wolverines play their home 
games in front of a mostly-
empty arena. Rows beyond the 
baselines are often spotted with 
one or two fans, and the upper-
level seats are blocked off by a 
black curtain. 
None of that 
ever mattered to 
Chuck. 
Through 
16 
seasons, 
three 
head 
coaches 
and four NCAA 
Tournament 
bids, 
Chuck 
was a constant 
presence 
on 
the 
sideline. 
Even in the lowest of times 
— say, an abysmal 2004-2007 
stretch where Michigan went a 
combined 4-44 in Big Ten play 
— he was there, a maize and blue 
Hulk glove on one hand and a 
“Go Blue!” sign in the other. 
“(He) had a really big impact 
for a lot of years,” said sophomore 
guard Danielle Rauch. “Just to 
know that there’s someone that 
really believed in us that hard, 
drove us to want to do good and 
make him proud, 
because he had 
so much belief 
in us. … He just 
thought we were 
the 
greatest, 
and that’s really 
special.”
Even for road 
games, 
Chuck 
always 
made 
sure 
the 
team 
knew 
he 
was 
behind them. For 
the first few hundred feet of 
countless bus rides to the team’s 
road games, Chuck was always 
right alongside, shouting words 
of encouragement and waving 
his maize and blue flag. And 
when they came back from the 
road trip — keep in mind that 
this is a winter sport in Michigan 
— he’d be right there, ready to 

congratulate them on a job well 
done. 
“I can remember nights when 
we came home at two, three in 
the morning after great wins on 
the road, and Chuck would be out 
front ready to greet us,” Barnes 
Arico said. “The times where 
we’d be in the middle of the 
snowstorm, and he’d be waiting 
on the corner … he’d have his 
Michigan flag, and he’d run up as 
far as he could until our bus took 
off.”
***
Beyond the typical greetings 
and high fives before and after 
games, the team took special 
notice when Chuck went through 
struggles of his own. During his 
first brush with cancer some 
years back, the team knew they 
had to somehow return the favor 
for his years of loyalty. 
So, they repaid him with a gift 
truly fitting for their biggest fan 
— a team photo signed by every 
coach and player, something he 
treasured for the rest of his life. 
“He venerated that object 
so much,” his son, Jason Raab, 
said. “He got very emotional 
when we talked about it. He 
told me how grateful he was 
for it, and he just couldn’t 
believe they would do that for 
him. Despite all the support he 
showed the team, he was just a 
really humble guy, so that really 
demonstrated his passion and his 
humility regarding the women’s 
basketball team.”
Jason had been aware of 
his dad’s love for the women’s 
basketball program, but it wasn’t 
until the funeral that he found 
out how far it really went. Every 
member of the current team 
attended the funeral and met 
with the Raab family afterward 
— another testament to the 
impact that Chuck had on them 
as people. They shared stories 
about Chuck’s passion for the 
game and what he meant to 
the program. One player — 
sophomore forward Emily Kiser 
— showed the family a video of 
Chuck running alongside the 
bus as they took off for a road 
game. 
***

Looking back, Jason chuckled 
at the sight. “That was one of 
the first times I’d ever seen my 
dad run, certainly that late in 
his life, so that was really cool 
to see.”
Part of what made the video 
so special was how the Chuck 
running 
alongside 
the 
bus 
differed from the man that 
his family knew at home. It 
wasn’t that he wasn’t positive 
or enthusiastic about life — 
positivity is something that 
Jason emphasized about his 

father — it was just that he 
showed it more quietly at home. 
“Most 
of 
his 
defining 
characteristics that you see at 
the game, he had at home, just 
minus the volume,” Jason said. 
“Anything that (my two sisters 
and I) would have wanted to look 
into, or any pursuits that we had, 
he would have been supporting 
us, with the same unconditional 
positivity, 
just 
without 
the 
jumping and screaming.”
The team played its first 
game without Chuck on Nov. 

8, notching a 76-55 victory 
over Western Michigan. Jason 
and the rest of the Raab family 
watched 
from 
the 
stands, 
reveling in a program that 
Chuck had dedicated nearly two 
decades of his life to. 
Barnes 
Arico 
says 
that 
Chuck’s seat is theirs if they 
want it. Jason stressed his 
father’s generosity as one of his 
defining traits. 
And his last generous gift to 
his family will be a courtside 
seat.

BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Writer

COURTESTY OF MICHIGAN ATHLETICS
Michigan women’s basketball superfan Chuck Rabb passed away on Nov. 6 after a battle with cancer.

Howard, ‘M’ ready 
for Houston Baptist

Who cares about a late-
November 
game 
against 
Houston Baptist? What even is 
Houston Baptist?
Hopefully, by the end of 
this, you’ll have both of these 
questions answered. Even in 
the 
supposed 
“throwaway” 
segments of the schedule, great 
games and lessons be found.
Last 
year, 
the 
Houston 
Baptist men’s basketball team 
walked into Winston-Salem, 
N.C. and left with a shocking 
victory over Wake Forest.
It was one of the early-
season upsets that rocks the 
college basketball world and 
does wonders for one lucky 
mid-major program. This year, 
early indicators suggest it was 
Evansville’s wild victory over 
then-No. 1 Kentucky.
All of that is to say that the 
Huskies have set a precedent 
for upsetting major programs 
in early tune-up games that are 
supposed to serve as automatic 
wins before power conference 
opponents hit the bulk of 
their season. Houston Baptist 
has already squandered an 
opportunity at such an upset 
just last week after falling to 
No. 12 Texas Tech, 103-74, 
last week. The Huskies are 
not looking to make the same 
mistake twice.
In order to pull off the 
improbable, Houston Baptist is 
going to have to rely heavily on 
the efficiency of its up-tempo 
offense which runs through 
junior guard Ian DuBose and 
senior guard Jalon Gates. 
DuBose — an instrumental 
part of the Huskies’ win over 
the Demon Deacons last year — 
is averaging 16.3 points and 6.7 
rebounds per game, building 
off a season that saw him 
finish on the second team all-

Southerland Conference. 
In one way or another, the 
surprising early season wins 
have 
an 
additional 
factor 
fueling the team to what may 
feel like a predestined outcome. 
Last year against Wake Forest, 
it came from the environment. 
DuBose 
and 
many 
of 
his 
teammates 
hail 
from 
the 
tobacco state and wanted to 
put on a show for their friends 
and families who drove up to 
attend.
“The 
environment 
was 
great,” DuBose told The Daily. 
“It raised our level of play. We 
were making shots, defending 
well, and everything was just 
clicking. I think that really 
helped us win. And I think just 
being at home.”
In the absence of such 
factors, it may be difficult 
to envision Houston Baptist 
pulling out a win in Crisler 
Center, but a willing opponent 
can never be written off in 
college basketball.
Beyond 
that 
program-
defining 
win, 
DuBose 
has 
experience going up against 
some of the best competition 
in the country — especially at 
point guard. Two seasons prior, 
both DuBose and Gates faced 
off against Michigan State’s 
now-All-American point guard 
Cassius Winston.
While that game was a 
40-point blowout, DuBose and 
Gates were the only ones who 
seemed capable of generating 
any offense, scoring 10 and 
17 points, respectively. The 
test now will be to see if the 
backcourt duo can replicate 
this 
action 
against 
senior 
guard Zavier Simpson — an 
astute player known for his 
lock-down defensive prowess.

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
Senior quarterback Shea Patterson had his best game at Michigan last week.

JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Writer

(He) had a 
really big 
impact for a lot 
of years.

He’d run as 
far as he could 
until our bus 
took off.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

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