The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2019 THE WOLVERINE 51 (since 2013) prior to 2019 had been 42 in 2017. Eight Wolverine players wound up earning All-Big Ten honors at season's end, including junior outfielder Jordan Brewer, who was named the league's Player of the Year. Female Sport Coach Of The Year — Bev Plocki, gymnastics: She wrapped up the 2019 campaign by leading Michigan to a 23-5-1 overall record and a 9-0 mark in league action, which included the school's sixth straight title at the Big Ten Championships, its third regular-season league crown in seven years and a final overall ranking of No. 5 nationally. U-M earned that No. 5 spot by fin- ishing third out of four teams at the April 19 NCAA Semifinal in Fort Worth, Texas, tallying a score of 197.200 (its second-highest score ever in 24 appearances). That mark also in- cluded a team score of 49.3375 on the balance beam, the school's best ever in the event. Plocki took home the Women's Col- legiate Gymnastics Association North- east Regional Coach of the Year honor April 18, marking the 10th time she had won the award in her 30 years at the helm in Ann Arbor. In fact, the Big Ten title was her 24th, breaking her tie with former Indiana swimming coach James Counsilman for the most conference champion- ships in any sport in the league's his- tory. The Wolverines won each of their Big Ten regular-season matchups by at least 0.800 points, further exemplifying how dominant they were during their 9-0 showing. U-M concluded the 2019 campaign with a scoring average of 196.902, which was the fourth best ever for the program. In addition, each of the last seven seasons are now ranked as the top seven scoring averages in U-M his- tory under Plocki. BREAKOUT PERFORMERS OF THE YEAR Male Breakout Performer Of The Year — NICO COLLINS, Football: The Alabama native made a minimal im- pact as a freshman wide receiver in 2017 (three catches for 27 yards in four games), but exploded onto the scene as a sophomore, leading the club with 632 receiving yards and checking in sec- ond in both touchdown catches (six) and receptions (38). The 6-4, 218-pounder earned All- Big Ten honorable mention from the coaches at year 's end, along with the team's Most Improved Offensive Player of the Year award. The sophomore did his best work in U-M's biggest games, hauling in a career-high 91 yards and tying his personal-best with two touchdowns in Michigan's Nov. 24 loss at Ohio State. Collins' 80 yards in the Peach Bowl setback to Florida, meanwhile, were the second most of his career. He turned into a favorite target of ju- nior quarterback Shea Patterson as the year went on, reeling in at least three receptions in six of the Wolverines' fi- nal seven affairs. Collins also proved to be incredibly reliable, with Pro Football Focus re- vealing that he did not drop a single pass during the entire 2018 campaign. Female Breakout Performer Of The Year — Nicki Hernandez, soc- cer: Although Hernandez played in 14 matches as a freshman midfielder in 2017, she made a minimal impact on the stat sheet with just one goal, one assist and three points. She then turned into arguably the best player on the team in 2018, lead- ing the squad in goals (eight), assists (six) and points (22), while checking in second in shots on goal (22). The Illinois native also started all 19 matches and netted four game- winning goals (sophomore midfielder Sarah Stratigakis had two and was the only other player on the roster to tally more than one). Hernandez's outstanding season got off to a sizzling start from the get-go, scoring a goal in each of U-M's first four matches. Her best performance came in a 6-1 win over Central Michi- gan Sept. 7, when she registered two goals and two assists in a six-point out- ing. Hernandez's efforts wound up earn- ing her United Soccer Coaches All-Re- gion second-team honors. BEST TEAM WINS Best Male Team Win — Basketball, Nov. 14 at No. 8 Villanova: It's obvi- ously impressive any time a club can pick up a road win against a top-10 foe, but to beat them by 27 points (U-M took down the Wildcats 73-46) on their home court is incredibly rare. Michigan headed to Villanova early in the 2018-19 campaign as underdogs for a rematch of the 2018 national title game (which the Wildcats won, 79- 62), but this time got the better of VU, coming away with a dominant blow- out victory on national television (Fox Sports 1). U-M controlled the contest from the tip, jumping out to leads of 24-10 and Wideout Nico Collins went from three catches for 27 yards in four games as a freshman to 38 grabs for a team-high 632 receiving yards as a sophomore in 2018. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN