The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2020 THE WOLVERINE 13 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS THEY SAID IT 4 Wolverines earned national honors from Pro Football Focus. Edge defender Josh Uche was named an honorable mention All-Amer- ican, while three others earned spots on the All-Freshman team: honorable mention run- ning back Zach Charbonnet, third-team cor- nerback Daxton Hill and second-team kick returner Giles Jackson. 5 Former Michigan head coaches made ESPN's count- down of the top 150 in college football history: No. 18 Fielding Yost (1901-23, 1925-26), No. 20 Bo Schem- bechler (1969-89), No. 42 Fritz Crisler (1938-47) and No. 50 Lloyd Carr (1995-2007) and No. 127 Bennie Oosterbaan (1948-58). 76 Is where U-M edge defender Josh Uche is listed on Pro Football Focus' big board for the 2020 NFL Draft. He is the only Wolverine that made the top 100, released Nov. 13. 1976-80 Was the last time Michigan won at least 10 games four times in five years. If they can beat Alabama in the Citrus Bowl, Jim Harbaugh will have accomplished this feat. He enters the game with a mark of 47-17 in Ann Arbor and three top-15 finishes with a chance for a fourth in 2019; U-M was just 46- 42 in the seven years prior to his hiring with a single top-15 showing under Rich Rodri- guez (2008-10) and Brady Hoke (2011-14). " While the Steelers likely franchise [linebacker] Bud Dupree, the organiza- tion probably won't be able to keep both him and [linebacker] T.J. Watt for the long term. Having Dupree for one more season while grooming Uche would give the Steelers a natural succession plan for the 2021 season." — The Athletic's Dane Brugler, who projected the Pittsburgh Steelers to select Michigan senior linebacker JOSH UCHE with their first pick, which comes in the second round, in his Dec. 4 mock draft 19 Was where ESPN ranked senior point guard Zavier Simpson among all college basketball players after the season's first month on Dec. 11. "Michigan has been better than expected this season and, specifi- cally, the Wolverine offense has been significantly more effective than anticipated," they wrote. "Simpson gets a big chunk of the credit there. The senior accounts for nearly half of the assists that occur during his minutes on the floor, and he's become a model of Haliburton-esque low- volume accuracy from the field. Most impressively, a 6-foot point guard is single-handedly bringing the hook shot back to the college game after a 30-plus-year absence. That's quite the body of work purely on offense coming from a first-team All-Big Ten Defensive selection." Only three Big Ten players ranked higher: No. 6 Cassius Winston of Michigan State, No. 7 Kaleb Wesson of Ohio State and No. 16 Anthony Cowan of Maryland. 4 College basketball coaches were deemed as "exceeding expectations" six weeks into the season by ESPN, one of which was U-M's Juwan Howard. The outlet called him "one of the early favorites for National Coach of the Year," and noted: "Opposing coaches who have scouted and watched the Wolverines in the first month of the season have come away impressed by Howard's coaching." " [Junior forward] ISAIAH LIVERS is one of the most improved players in the country. [Senior] Zavier Simpson is one of the best point guards in the country. And Michigan is one of the best teams in the country. Wolverines win the Battle 4 At- lantis. Will go from unranked to the top five on Monday." — CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein in a Nov. 29 tweet PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL