The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1493247
MARCH 2023 THE WOLVERINE 75 BY ANTHONY BROOME T he old adage is to stay ready for an opportunity so that you do not have to get ready. Some players have plenty of opportunities to make an impact over the course of a career, while others may have a more limited number. That was the case for walk-on tight end Michael Jocz, a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar with a plethora of academic accolades, during a showdown with Colorado in Week 3 of the 2016 season. The third-ranked Wolverines were down 14-0 without much of a pulse early on in the nonconference clash in Ann Arbor. That is, until Jocz came up with a massive punt block that led to a touchdown in the first quarter, cutting the deficit in half and giving Michigan its first signs of life in a game it would eventually go on to win 45-28. "It didn't seem like we could find any rhythm or get anything going either of- fensive or defensively," Jocz recalled. "Our special teams play was something that year that we had really prided our- selves on. And so we knew from a spe- cial teams perspective we had to try and get something going. "[Assistant coaches] Chris Partridge and Jay Harbaugh had done a lot of great work in prepping us from a spe- cial teams perspective for that game. We knew what to expect and if we had the opportunities that presented them- selves that we would have a chance of making some big plays. "[Going into that play], they had like three players back in their punt forma- tion and were in a predicament, more or less, where they had more people com- ing at them than they could block. From there it was a matter of who would be the one to finish it off. "Weeks prior, we were fingertips away from getting a couple of blocked punts. On this play, it was my number that got called. It was super exciting, and the ensuing scramble to try and recover that was something else. It was a funny mo- ment to watch as it kind of just kept squirting around everywhere. [Wide receiver] Grant Perry finally picked it up. On top of the block bouncing off my facemask, I was a split-second, half- step away from recovering it and taking it in. "I was just glad that one of us was able to pick it up and that it was kind of the igniting factor [behind the win], I think, moving forward. It was not an easy game to win, but you could see a mentality shift on both sides." WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Michael Jocz Reflects On Punt Block That Helped Prevent A 2016 Upset Michael Jocz, a walk-on from Novi, Mich., appeared in 21 games as a reserve tight end and special teamer. His biggest moment came when he (No. 81) blocked a punt that Grant Perry returned for a touchdown versus Colorado in 2016. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL