The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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32 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2022 M ichigan's entire snap (senior Wil‑ liam Wagner), hold (graduate punter Brad Robbins) and (senior Jake Moody) kick "battery" is back from a special teams unit that ranked No. 1 in the country last season per Football Outsiders. The same goes for the top cover men, like senior safety Caden Kolesar, who head coach Jim Harbaugh called U‑M's best special teams player. "Don't be surprised if he's voted a team captain," Harbaugh said on the "In The Trenches" podcast. "Tremendous leader, both on special teams and on defense." Moody, a preseason first‑team All‑ American, is looking to become the first‑ever two‑time Lou Groza Award winner as the nation's top placekicker, and Robbins is a candidate for the Ray Guy Award (best punter). Grad student walk‑on Rhett Anderson was impres‑ sive as a placekicker in the spring game, and sophomore Tommy Doman pro‑ vides depth at both punter and kicker. The Maize and Blue also have several options at kick and punt returner. Junior A.J. Henning took over both roles by the end of last season, bringing back 7 kicks for 177 yards and 1 touchdown and 29 punts for 274 yards. He earned third‑ team All‑Big Ten honors for his special teams production. Junior wideout Roman Wilson and ju‑ nior running back Blake Corum are also capable of returning kicks. Graduate student wide receiver Ronnie Bell has taken reps at the punt returner spot in fall camp. He was the main man there to begin last season, before injuring him‑ self on a 31‑yard return in the second quarter of the season opener against Western Michigan. "I've always been a punt returner, so I feel like I'm comfortable being a punt returner," Bell said. "I'm good with be‑ ing a punt returner, so that's something that I want to do." The decision was up to him, not a push from the coaches. "I just kinda went back there," Bell said with a smile. The unit has high expectations as a whole, with college football analyst Phil Steele projecting it to once again be the best in the land this season. But there hasn't been any entitlement, Harbaugh noted. "[Coordinator Jay Harbaugh's] got them playing lights out, and that was last year, and that doesn't mean anything," the head coach said. "Last year was last year — you almost throw it away. I don't want to hear about it; this is this year. "You see the same kind of fervor in the way they attack everything that they do." — Clayton Sayfie U-M RELATIVELY HEALTHY HEADING TOWARD THE OPENER As of Aug. 14, Michigan appeared to have avoided any major injuries. Sopho‑ more quarterback J.J. McCarthy missed spring with a shoulder injury, but he was back to full strength and competing with senior Cade McNamara for the starting job. Junior offensive lineman Reece At‑ teberry has worked his way back from a lower body injury to put himself in posi‑ tion for playing time again in 2022. "[He] got hurt in the spring, but he's had some real physical dominant plays already in the early fall camp," head coach Jim Harbaugh said after a week. The only player still out as of the opener — sophomore corner Ja'Den McBurrows. He suffered a knee injury last year and is working his way back. "He's not 100 percent, but he's back with us," secondary coach and c o ‑ c o o rd i n a to r S te ve C l i n k s c a l e said. "Ja'Den is like junior Clink. He's MICHIGAN FOOTBALL The Wolverines' Stellar Special Teams Unit Is Back For More Graduate student punter Brad Robbins averaged 46.3 yards per punt last year and is an inte- gral part of U-M's overall special teams unit that was ranked No. 1 headed into 2022 by noted college football analyst Phil Steele. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS 2022 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time (ET)/TV Sept. 3 COLORADO STATE 12 p.m. (ABC) Sept. 10 HAWAI'I 8 p.m. (BTN) Sept. 17 CONNECTICUT 12 p.m. (ABC) Sept. 24 MARYLAND 12 p.m. (FOX/FS1) Oct. 1 at Iowa TBA Oct. 8 at Indiana 12 p.m. (TBA) Oct. 15 PENN STATE TBA Oct. 22 BYE — Oct. 29 MICHIGAN STATE TBA Nov. 5 at Rutgers TBA Nov. 12 NEBRASKA TBA Nov. 19 ILLINOIS TBA Nov. 26 at Ohio State 12 p.m. (FOX) Dec. 3 Big Ten Championship 8 p.m. (FOX)