The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/178977
I By Andy Reid t was the second game of the 2012 season — a 31-25 win over Air Force — and cornerback Blake Countess was supposed to be playing. After a breakout season as a true freshman in 2011, during which he climbed up the depth chart to start six games, Countess was poised to be an integral cog in the Michigan defense in 2012. But on a routine punt in the first quarter of the Wolverines' 41-14 loss to Alabama in the season-opening game in Dallas, a Crimson Tide defender rolled up on Countess' leg and he fell to the turf. Michigan secondary coach Curt Mallory didn't see anything glaringly wrong when Countess fell. He has even gone back to look at the tape, and everything about the play looks normal. But it wasn't. Countess had torn an ACL, which prematurely ended his season, almost before it began. "When it did happen, our trainers did an unbelievable job of keeping him out," Mallory said. "If it was up to Blake, he would have continued playing in the Alabama game. "He wanted to get back out there, because he didn't know how bad it really was. Our trainers pulled him right away and did the right thing." Waiting for the swelling to go down so he could undergo surgery on the knee, Countess couldn't even attend the Wolverines' game against Air Force. Instead, he watched the contest from his room in the West Quad Back On The Field After A Year Rehabbing An ACL Injury, Cornerback Blake Countess Has Returned To Action With A Flourish dorms, along with offensive guard Chris Bryant and linebackers Antonio Poole and Kaleb Ringer, who were also struggling with injuries and couldn't be at The Big House. "That hurt," Countess said. "You want to be there for your team, but you have to realize what's best for you, and being out there wouldn't have been good. We had a group, and we'd stick together and watch the games in the dorm."