The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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with. With great players you're go- ing to have other teammates follow. Throughout that whole [Notre Dame] game, Devin was making plays, keeping our sidelines up, motivating guys saying, 'The game's never over — we're going to play until the last whistle.' "That's the mentality of our team as a whole this year, that we're going to stick together through everything no matter what happens. He did a good job exemplifying that last week. "Honestly, he's just a freak of nature. It's an honor to play with that guy. He's real good." Butt went so far as to say a new nick- name— a knockoff of the "Megatron" moniker placed on the Detroit Lions' Calvin Johnson — isn't unwarranted. Some have taken to calling Funchess Mini-Megatron, although at 6-5 there's nothing miniature about him. "I heard that," Butt said of the sobri- quet. "That's a good nickname to give him, I'd say." Obviously, defenses will be look- ing to give him an increasingly hard time in the weeks to come. That means Michigan's other receivers will be called upon to step up and deliver when Funchess draws away attention. Even in that way, he's adding to the offense, according to Hoke. Whether Funchess plays decoy, or a high-stakes game of catch with Gardner, he's mak- ing an impact. "He's definitely someone you need to pay attention to," Hoke said. "I think as the year goes on, as he keeps working and as he keeps learning and keeps developing, I think that maybe more people will bracket him a little bit, put a corner over the top of him, run him and a safety over the top, but then that helps [Jehu] Chesson and [Amara] Darboh, and it helps [Dennis] Norfleet and those other guys."