The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Carolina's Ace Sanders returned a punt 63 yards for a score, punctuating U-M's struggles. Kickoff coverage was equally porous, with opponents averaging 23.3 yards per return to rank Michigan 96th in the country. "Too many big plays. We were terrible," Ferrigno said. "Statistically we were near the bottom of our league and the bottom nationally. We weren't very good. "There's a place where you look across the board and there were seven or eight freshmen, but that's part of the deal. Some of those kids will run out there again this year and they'll be better at it. "We need to be more consistent kicking the ball, too. We started out the season and [junior] Matt Wile was out- standing on kickoffs, and then as the season progressed, maybe we were asking him to do too much — punt and kick, but he had to do it — and I think maybe he wore down a little bit." Splitting The Uprights Has Become Routine Michigan converted 85.7 percent of its field goal tries a year ago (18 of 21), with fifth-year senior Brendan Gibbons making 16 of 18 and Wile connecting on 2 of 3 (48- and 52-yarders). Gibbons surprised by making a 52-yard attempt at Nebraska, but his secondlongest field goal was 42 yards, and he will continue to handle the short- to medium-distance kicks. "We stay with the plan, and the plan has been anything over a 45-yarder, we go to Matt, and anything under-