The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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BY JOHN BORTON history. Jeremy Gallon split out to the right of the offensive line, along with two other U-M receivers, while 114,804 in the stadium and millions looking in on television held their breath. The Wolverines trailed, 31-28, in O a wild battle under the lights — the first ever in Michigan Stadium. Fol- lowing a fierce fourth-quarter come- back, the home team had given up a long Notre Dame touchdown pass, seemingly rendering all the final-pe- riod magic meaningless. Only 23 seconds remained, and it appeared the best the Wolverines could hope for involved a Hail Mary toss and a field goal to send the game to overtime. ne of the smallest men on the field lined up for one of the biggest moments in Michigan-Notre Dame set the Wolverines up to pull off one of the wildest finishes ever at The Big House. "I didn't know that they were go- ing to leave me completely open," Gallon admitted. "When they did, I just sat there waiting for Denard to make a play, and we hooked up." A moment later, Robinson hooked up with wideout Roy Roundtree, who made a leaping touchdown grab to secure Michigan's scintillating 35- 31 victory, shaking The Big House to its foundation on a historic night. Gallon soaked it in, while not run- ning onto the field immediately to greet Roundtree, his close friend. "When he caught the pass, I wanted to run to him, but I didn't want to cause any penalties," Gallon recalled. "I waited for him to come to us, and we celebrated for a long time." It's been a season of celebration for the redshirt sophomore out of "I just had to earn a lot of people's trust," Gallon insisted. "I had to work hard — twice as hard as I did before. I had to get in shape. I still have to get in shape." Gallon presents a soft-spoken hu- mility for someone finishing up the season as Michigan's second-leading receiver. He secured 30 catches for 450 yards and three touchdowns, av- eraging 15.0 yards per grab. Gallon also averaged 10.1 yards per punt return on 19 tries. In keeping with what head coach Brady Hoke preaches, Gallon ap- pears almost reticent to talk about his gains. "It wasn't about me," he cautioned. "It was always about the team. The team comes first, before anything. There were a lot of things I had to do, to adapt to this university, a lot of hard work I had to put in to be the person I am now. But it's never about me." Wideout Jeremy Gallon Adds Punch To Pass Catching There wasn't any reason for the Irish to overlook the 5-8 redshirt sophomore, even with the presence of more imposing wideouts such as 6-1 Junior Hemingway. Gallon had already made a spectacular leaping touchdown grab 10 minutes earlier, chopping a 10-point U-M deficit down to three. But Notre Dame did ignore Gal- lon — to its everlasting regret. The compact racer cut behind his streak- ing teammates into a "slow wheel" route down the western sideline. U-M quarterback Denard Robinson dropped into the pocket, rolled to his right and spotted Gallon looking lonelier than a vegetarian at a Spam convention. Robinson fired the football to the fleet-footed Floridian, who took it in stride and began racing downfield, crossing the width of the field to avoid flailing, would-be Irish tack- lers. Sixty-four yards later, with the din ringing in his ears, Gallon had After catching only four passes for 49 yards and one touchdown last season, Gallon was U-M's second-leading receiver in the 2011 regular season, with 30 receptions for 450 yards and three scores. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN Apopka, Fla. After catching four passes for 49 yards and one touch- down last season, Gallon appeared destined to remain in the background on U-M's receivers roster. Instead, a new coaching staff rolled into town, and began noticing in spring practice some of Gallon's spe- cial skills. "The offense was new for them all, so there were some growing pains that went into getting to this point," U-M receivers coach Jeff Hecklinski noted. "But you could also see the natural ability to make plays, espe- cially on some jump balls, and he had great hands. "He has very natural hands. He tracks the ball really well. There were instances in spring ball where we were like, 'Wow, this kid has got some talent.'" Gallon always possessed talent. A three-year letterman at Apopka, he played quarterback, running back and safety, but came out of high school considered by Rivals.com as the No. 11 prep wideout prospect in the land. The diminutive competitor knew he needed to invest even more to make it at the next level. He just didn't know how much. TEN-GALLON HEART In fall camp, his teammates and coaches began understanding at least some of Michigan's retrenching of- fense would be about Gallon. "It started in camp," Hemingway recalled. "You saw Gallon making a lot of big plays. I was like, 'Dang, Gallon is ballin' in this camp. Where did this come from?' I knew then, he was going to be a pretty big part in this offense, in the return game and everything." "We knew he was an explosive player," Robinson added. "Coming into the year, we knew he was going to be explosive. Now we're getting the ball into his hands, and he's mak- ing plays happen. Everybody gets to see it now." Hecklinski saw plenty in Gallon as well, on the field and away from it. He witnessed someone who now un- derstands what it takes to achieve at a high level, someone who embraced the changes the new coaches were bringing to Schembechler Hall. He also began developing a rela- tionship with someone who can be as entertaining away from the field as he is on it. "He's very competitive, and that's what enables him to play bigger than DECEMBER 2011 THE WOLVERINE 41