The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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16 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2019 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS MICHIGAN'S TOP PERFORMERS Men's gymnastics rising-junior Cameron Bock: He earned a bronze medal in the parallel bars event final July 31 in Lima, Peru, partici- pating as a member of Team USA at the 2019 Pan American Games. The rising-junior had excelled in the days leading up to July 31 as well, guiding his club to a silver medal three days earlier in the team competition, in which he qualified for individual finals on floor (13.700) and bars (14.400 score, which was the best on the U.S. squad). Bock starred in the Pan Am Cham- pionships last year as well, helping the U.S. reel in a gold medal after taking home four individual medals — silver on pommel horse (13.567), a n d b ro n ze i n t h e a l l - a ro u n d (81.9990), floor (14.033) and parallel bars (14.233). Men's soccer rising-senior for- ward Jack Hallahan: The United S occer Coaches announced he had been tabbed to t h e 3 6 - m e m b e r MAC Hermann Tro - phy watch list Aug. 1, after finishing as a semifinalist for the honor last season. The accolade is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is given annually to the most outstanding male and female athletes in the sport. Hallahan star ted 18 of the 21 matches he appeared in last season, and compiled 24 points (eight goals and eight assists) while also lead- ing the Big Ten in shots (60), and finishing third in goals, assists and points. His efforts earned him the league's Offensive Player of the Year and unanimous first-team All-Big Ten honors. Women's basketball rising-soph- omore forward Naz Hillmon: She led the USA Basketball U19 club to the gold medal at the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup July 20-28 in Bangkok, Thailand. Hillmon served as a cap- tain for a USA crew that went un- defeated at the event, and started POINT ❙ COUNTERPOINT WHICH U-M ROAD GAME IS THE TOUGHEST? Most of Michigan's tough games are in Ann Arbor this year, but there are always going to be some tough road contests in the Big Ten. In 2019, the Wolverines will travel to both Madison and Happy Valley to take on the Badgers and Nittany Lions, respectively. Both games figure to be pretty tricky, but which one will prove the most difficult? A 'White Out' At PSU Is The Most Difficult Road Game By Brandon Brown Penn State head coach James Franklin doesn't scare a lot of people in terms of his X's and O's, but he has recruited extremely well over the past few years and will likely host Michigan at night during one of their famed "White Outs." The Nittany Lions have won some big games when their more-than 100,000 fans are decked out in white. The most notable wins were in 2005 over No. 6 Ohio State, 2016 over No. 2 Ohio State and in 2017 against No. 19 Michigan. That last one was a 42-13 beatdown. None of those games have any bearing on what will happen Oct. 19, but it doesn't change the fact that it's an extremely raucous environment to play in. Many players from the Big Ten have expressed how difficult it can be to play there. It's tough for quarterbacks to change plays at the line of scrimmage and even tougher for linemen to communicate with one another. All of that makes playing Penn State in Happy Valley Michigan's most difficult road trip in 2019. Wisconsin Will Be The Biggest Road Test By Chris Balas Michigan has won a number of games at Penn State over the years, and this is a rebuilding Nittany Lions team. FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt summed it up nicely when we asked him about U-M's toughest road game during Big Ten Media Days, and he responded with Wisconsin. "Everybody is just going to talk about the environment with Penn State," he said. "But here's the problem with them — they've played their last 33 games as a ranked team with [quarterback] Trace McSorley. A majority of those were also with [running back] Saquon Barkley and [offensive coordinator] Joe Moorhead." He's right, and while many are citing Wisconsin's lack of a proven quarterback as a reason U-M will traipse into Madison and handle the Badgers Sept. 21 … well, it's not realistic. Wisconsin has to replace four of five starters on the line, too, but they've always got guys who can run block, and they have an All-American back in Jonathan Taylor. If the Badgers can shorten the game by bleeding clock with the run game, they'll have a very good shot to win in one of the Big Ten's toughest environ- ments. Michigan and Penn State have traded blowouts the last three years, with the home team prevailing each time, including U-M's 42-7 victory in Ann Arbor a season ago. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL