The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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top 25 players final season. He'll see the field more often than not. 25. Mario Ojemudia DL Ojemudia is up to 250 pounds, after playing as a true freshman at 225. The rush end figures to bolster Michigan's growing ability to bring heat on the quarterback. 1. Devin Gardner, R-Jr., QB Michigan fans and opponents got a long look at Devin Gardner in the final five games of 2012, when he took over for an injured Denard Robinson. They witnessed the 6-4 quarterback step up to connect on 75 of 126 passes for 1,219 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. That experience should make an enormous difference this year for Gardner, who clearly knows he's in charge of Michigan's fortunes on offense. He knew it down the stretch last year as well, thanks to Redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner took charge of the U-M offense in the final five games last season, throwing for 1,219 yards and 11 scores. photo by lon horwedel the encouraging words of the most prolific offensive performer in Michigan football history. Robinson essentially told Gardner it was his team now, and he should lead like it. "It really clicked for me when Denard told me," Gardner said. "He was the guy, and he told me it was my team in the Minnesota game. He told me to take over and treat it as such. Ever since then, that's how I've looked at it." T h e f o u r t h - y e a r Wo l v e r i n e certainly learned in his short stint as starting quarterback the fine line between winning and losing. U-M looked to be in a shootout with Ohio State at the half, but settled into a defensive struggle and lost 26-21. Not scoring over those final 30 minutes stung deeply, and the last seconds of the Outback Bowl compounded the offseason misery. Gardner and the offense left the field on top, but a defensive breakdown in the closing seconds allowed South Carolina to walk away a winner. Both instances proved brutal reminders of the razor 's edge in coming out on top. "It's hard, because we were so close," Gardner said. "In the South Carolina game, we were so close. The Ohio State game, we were so close. We were so close to being in the Big