The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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yards per carry in U-M's first game. A concussion knocked him out of game two, at which point the Maize and Blue turned to the next most impressive preseason performer — sophomore Jerome Jackson. However, he also struggled, going for only 2.1 yards per touch. Enter Mike Hart. The rookie with a 4.6-yard average in two games, had 121 yards and a 4.8-yard average in week three, then proceeded to set a Michigan freshman rushing record with 1,455 yards and nine touch- downs, almost doubling Powers' 748 yards from a decade earlier. "If you go back through the last 20 years, there are so many times when the guy that started the first game wasn't starting by midseason, but the guy that started the third game was starting the rest of the year because he showed what he could do," Biakabu- tuka said. "I really don't think we'll know who we can count on until week two, three, maybe even until we get into the Big Ten season." Without an incumbent returning, the Wolverines have little to go on from last season. Green averaged just 3.3 yards per carry behind a porous of- fensive line that allowed more tackles for loss (114) than any other school in the country and any other U-M team in program history. Smith, meanwhile, had only 26 carries in his freshman campaign while Hayes has 20 totes to his name and Johnson two. "The coaches know how to evalu- ate the talent on their team, and with spring ball, and the first few weeks of camp, they know who can and who can't do what they need them to," said Hart, now an assistant coach at West- ern Michigan. "But the games are a different story. "You may like the way a guy prac- tices, like his physical ability, but you'll Top Rushing RB In Game One Versus The Season Leader Over the last 30 years, Michigan has had 10 ball carriers finish the first game the leading rusher only to see another player emerge as the leading rusher for the season. That could happen again this season. Here is a look at when it occurred previously. Year First Game Top Rusher Yards Season Leader Yards 2014 Derrick Green 58 Fitz Toussaint 648 2013 Vincent Smith 33 Fitz Toussaint 514 2009 Carlos Brown 74 Brandon Minor 502 2004 David Underwood 61 Mike Hart 1,445 1998 Clarence Williams 114 Anthony Thomas 893 1997 Clarence Williams 42 Chris Howard 938 1994* T. Biakabutuka 128 Tyrone Wheatley 1,144 1992 Jesse Johnson 62 Tyrone Wheatley 1,357 1989 Leroy Hoard 56 Tony Boles 839 1984 Gerald White 89 Jamie Morris 574 * Wheatley missed the first game due to injury