The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 119 SPECIAL TEAMS as good as their snappers and holders, and the Wolverines have options for the former. Redshirt junior Camaron Cheeseman (6-4, 235) is the incumbent with two seasons of experience. "The first year he did great. This past year he was a little up and down, but still solid," Kornblue said. "They're bringing in a grad transfer, and I think he's pretty solid. I think it will be a really interesting competition." That transfer, Trey Harper, is a bit bigger at 6-5, 245 and comes to U-M from FCS pro- gram Duquesne, where he was named first- team All-Northeast Conference by Phil Steele last year and was a second-team choice by the same outlet in 2017. He reportedly has pin- point accuracy and can really run in coverage. Scheme will determine which direction the Wolverines go here, but Kornblue believes they brought Harper in for a reason. "Accuracy on the snap is the first priority, but in certain schemes you want someone who is able to block and in others you want an athletic guy to get downfield," he said. "What Michigan has done the last couple years is ad- just schemes based on who they have. I think they prefer more pro-style, bigger guys, and that's what they have coming in." Hart should continue to handle the hold- ing duties after performing well in the role last year. "That chemistry can't be overstated," Ko- rnblue said. "[Former U-M holder] Garrett Moores was one of the reasons Quinn had such a great redshirt freshman year; not just because he was a really, really good holder, but because of his personality and leadership too. "Will stepped in and did well. I think there was only one hold I saw last season that was clearly not great. The more time you have, the more comfortable a kicker gets with the holder, and the better he can do his job." Punters Should Be A Strength Hart couldn't have handled the punting job much better a year ago. He was one of the Big Ten's biggest surprises, earning Sports Illustrated second-team All-America honors, unanimous first-team All-Big Ten laurels and the Big Ten Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year award. The former walk-on averaged just 37.7 yards on 13 tries in 2017, before giving way to scholarship freshman Brad Robbins, who finished at 40.4 yards on 64 attempts. When Robbins went down with a back in- jury prior to last season, Hart stepped up to average a single-season school-record 47.0 yards on 43 punts, with 19 traveling 50-plus yards and 15 landing inside the 20. "I'm not surprised he did well. In high school I saw he had potential, but he was not consistent," Kornblue said. "His consistency Redshirt junior Will Hart set a school record by averaging 46.98 yards per punt last season, breaking the old mark of 45.03, set in 2012 by Will Hagerup. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN FYI Sophomore Jake Moody's 91.0 percent conversion rate (10 of 11) last season ranks third all time at Michigan among single-season efforts for kickers with at least 10 attempts. Only J.D. Carlson (92.9, 1989) and K.C. Lopata (91.7, 2007) rank better. The Wolverines returned a kickoff and punt for touchdown in the same year for the first time since 1994. Junior Ambry Thomas went 99 yards with a kick return at Notre Dame, and junior Donovan Peoples-Jones took a punt back 60 yards to the house against Nebraska. Peoples-Jones became the first Michigan player since Steve Breaston in 2003-04 to return punts for touchdowns in back-to-back years. He notched a 79-yard punt return touchdown against Air Force, the longest by a Wolverine since 2006, in 2017 before going the distance a year later against the Cornhuskers. Redshirt junior punter Will Hart set Michigan's single-game record for punting average (minimum three attempts) at 59.3 yards per kick in a Sept. 22 blowout win over Nebraska. He was a semifinal- ist for the Ray Guy Award honoring the nation's top punter. YEAR-BY-YEAR KICKING LEADERS PUNTING Year Player Punt Attempts Avg. Punt Long 2018 Will Hart 43 47.0 65 2017 Brad Robbins 64 40.4 58 2016 Kenny Allen 54 43.3 67 2015 Blake O'Neill 53 41.3 80 2014 Will Hagerup 53 42.9 63 2013 Matt Wile 61 40.6 69 2012 Will Hagerup 33 45.0 62 2011 Matt Wile 17 41.6 58 2010 Will Hagerup 33 43.6 72 2009 Zoltan Mesko 52 44.5 66 FIELD GOALS Year Player FG Att. FG Made Long 2018 Quinn Nordin 16 11 50 2017 Quinn Nordin 24 19 55 2016 Kenny Allen 23 19 51 2015 Kenny Allen 22 18 47 2014 Matt Wile 21 15 48 2013 Brendan Gibbons 20 15 47 2012 Brendan Gibbons 18 16 52 2011 Brendan Gibbons 17 13 43 2010 Seth Broekhuizen 9 3 37 2009 Jason Olesnavage 15 11 51