The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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34 THE WOLVERINE JANUARY 2022 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL him win the Lou Groza Award as the na- tion's best kicker. Moody credits the entirety of the spe- cial teams unit for the honor and is proud of everyone involved. "It means the world to me," he said. "Not only me, but the coaching staff and everyone who is involved in it. My snapper, Will Wagner, and holder, Brad Robbins, have done a phenomenal job this year. It does not get any better than that. "We had a sit down at the beginning of the year, and we set our goals. That was our goal as a unit. We did not expect any- thing less. We reached our goal, which was really cool. Credit to those guys and also the guys up front. No blocked kicks helps us out a lot." Moody also credits special teams co- ordinator and tight ends coach Jay Har- baugh for the success of a unit that was listed first in the country in the Foot- ballOutsiders' FEI ratings of FBS special teams. "He's great as coach," Moody said. "You do not get named the best special teams unit in the entire country if you are a bad coach. He is phenomenal. Here, it is a professional relationship even with [head coach Jim Harbaugh] being his dad. Nothing is too family-oriented be- tween them. Everything is business here, and they do a great job working together." The offense was so successful down the stretch that Moody only attempted one field goal in the last four games of the regular season, a 39-yarder at Maryland. "I love it," he said. "As long as we are hitting a lot of extra points, that is all that matters. It usually means that we are winning games. I am not selfish about that stuff. It is nice to hit a field goal here or there, but as long as we win that is all that matters." There is a Baltimore Ravens influence within the program given the Harbaugh ties, but Moody also looks to one of the best specialists in the league for tech- nique tweaks. "The Ravens are a great special teams unit all around, so we like to watch them as a unit," he said. "Personally, I like to watch Justin Tucker since he is one of the best to ever do it. I just take some things from his technique and work it into mine. "Most kickers have their own natural form, so I don't like to tweak mine too Regular-Season Awards Roundup A special team prize was won this year for the Wolverines, when they captured the program's first Big Ten championship since 2004. A 12-1 season came to fruition thanks to a group effort, but there were plenty of standout performances along the way. Here is a rundown of each award handed out to members of the football pro- gram during the postseason: Redshirt freshman QB Cade McNamara: All-Big Ten (third team, coaches and media) Redshirt sophomore RB Hassan Haskins: All-American (second team, AFCA; third team, Associated Press), All-Big Ten (consensus first team) Freshman RB Blake Corum: All-Big Ten (third team, coaches; honorable mention, media) Freshman OL Zak Zinter: All-Big Ten (second team, media; honorable mention, coaches) Sixth-year senior OL Andrew Vastardis: All-Big Ten (second team, media; honor- able mention, coaches), Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree Redshirt junior OL Andrew Stueber: All-American (second team, AFCA), All-Big Ten (first team, coaches; third team, media) Redshirt sophomore OL Ryan Hayes: All-Big Ten (second team, coaches; honor- able mention, media) Redshirt freshman OL Trevor Keegan: All-Big Ten (honorable mention, coaches and media) Sophomore TE Erick All: All-Big Ten (honorable mention, coaches and media) Sophomore DL Christopher Hinton: All-Big Ten (honorable mention, coaches and media) Redshirt freshman DL Mazi Smith: All-Big Ten (honorable mention, coaches and media) Junior DE Aidan Hutchinson: Second in Heisman Trophy voting, Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year (second in program history, following LaMarr Woodley), Rotary Lombardi Award (second all time, Woodley), Chicago Tribune Silver Football Recipient (best player in the Big Ten), Lott IMPACT Trophy (defensive award, stands for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity), Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year, 2021 Big Ten Football Championship Game MVP, Unanimous All-American, First-team All-Big Ten, First-team Academic All-American Redshirt freshman LB David Ojabo: All-American (second team, AP), All-Big Ten (consensus first team) Freshman LB Junior Colson: Freshman All-American (Maxwell Football Club) Redshirt junior LB Josh Ross: All-Big Ten (third team, media; honorable mention, coaches) Sophomore DB Daxton Hill: All-Big Ten (first team, coaches; second team, media) Fifth-year senior DB Brad Hawkins: All-Big Ten (third team, media) Redshirt sophomore DB Vincent Gray: All-Big Ten (third team, media) Junior K Jake Moody: Lou Groza Award (nation's best kicker); All-Big Ten (first team, coaches; third team, media); Big Ten Kicker of the Year Head coach Jim Harbaugh: AP National Coach of the Year Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis: Broyles Award (college football's top assistant) — Anthony Broome Moody was the first kicker in program his- tory to capture the Lou Groza Award as the nation's best at his position. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL