The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS perience, but praised the work of rookie quarterback Shane Morris in the bowl game. "He did a really good job of being composed," Hoke said. "He did a great job in his preparation. He rep- resented himself well in that game. He probably surprised some peo- ple, with how athletic he is. When he took the one run down the field, it surprised me even, a little bit, that he did such a good job with it. The way he prepared was really good." With Magnuson out, the Wolver- ines will be short- handed at tackle in the spring. Red- shirt sophomore Ben Braden, red- shirt freshman Da- vid Dawson and redshirt freshman Logan Tuley-Till- man are the scholarship performers expected to compete at those spots. Meanwhile, a host of talented in- terior performers will battle it out, including new arrival Mason Cole, an early entry in January. Hoke put an emphasis on two specific areas heading into spring practice. "Offensively, it would be the line of scrimmage," he said. "A lot of these guys got eight games in — some more, some less. Their expe- riences with that, and combination blocks you need to make on the line of scrimmage, are extremely important." Defensively, Hoke liked what he saw out of the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. He particularly pointed to their physicality and ag- gression. "Number one, in the back end, we need to play with an identity," he said. "We've got to play a little bet- ter in space. Our tackling [has to improve]. "We need to be m o r e p h y s i c a l , from the safety po- sition to the corner position — physi- cal in the destruc- tion of routes and t h o s e k i n d s o f things." The same holds true for Michigan's defense overall, Hoke said. "Some of it is the identity they've developed," Hoke said. "We lost our identity a little bit. Playing fast, playing physical. There are times in games when they did, but the consistency of that identity of how you're going to play wasn't there, game in, game out. It might not have been there a whole 60 min- utes. "That's what we've got to learn from. That's what we've got to grow from." 2014 Schedule Date Opponent Aug. 30 Appalachian State Sept. 6 at Notre Dame Sept. 13 Miami (Ohio) Sept. 20 Utah Sept. 27 Minnesota Oct. 4 at Rutgers Oct. 11 Penn State Oct. 25 at Michigan State Nov. 1 Indiana Nov. 8 at Northwestern Nov. 22 Maryland Nov. 29 at Ohio State