The Wolverine

January 2012

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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MICHIGAN FOOTBALL David Molk Headlines U-M Postseason Honors Countess was one of four Wolverines named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team by both ESPN.com and Big- TenNework.com, joining linebackers Desmond Morgan and Jake Ryan, and kicker Matt Wile. Ryan is a red- shirt freshman, while the other three are true freshmen. With five starts, Countess be- came the first true freshman to start four or more games at cornerback for the Wolverines since Donovan Warren (11 starts) in 2007. The 5-10, 176-pound rookie ranked second on the team with six pass breakups, while also notching 36 tackles. Ryan started 10 of 12 games at the strongside linebacker position, rank- ing third on the team with seven tackles for loss (including two sacks). He had two fumble recoveries, forced a fumble and finished with 30 stops. Morgan started six games for the Maize and Blue at the weakside line- backer post, including each of the last five. He was fifth among U-M defenders with 53 tackles, including 2.5 behind the line of scrimmage. Finally, Wile handled Michigan's kickoff duties, averaging 64.0 yards per kick, with 19 touchbacks among 75 chances. He also stood in for sophomore punter Will Hagerup in the first four games, averaging 41.1 yards per punt on 14 boots. Molk (shown with offensive line coach Darrell Funk) is the 14th center in school history to garner first-team All-America recognition. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN M ichigan fifth-year senior David Molk has been awarded the 2011 Rimington Trophy as the na- tion's best center, becoming the sec- ond Wolverine in school history to receive the award (David Baas took home the hardware during his senior season in 2004). Molk is also the 14th center in school history, and the first since Baas, to garner first-team All-Amer- ica honors, receiving recognition from the Walter Camp Football Foun- dation, the Football Writers Associa- tion of America, Sporting News and the Associated Press. "It's been nice, but it's been even better for my dad," Molk said. "As I've gone through this whole thing, it's not all about my success, it's my dad just being happy. He liked Or- lando, and he liked Indianapolis [for award presentations]." Molk captained an offense that ranked 23rd nationally in scoring 28 THE WOLVERINE JANUARY 2012 (34.17 points per game), 34th in total offense (423.08 yards per game) and 12th in rushing offense (235.67 yards a contest). The offensive line only allowed 15 sacks all year and helped open holes for a pair of 1,000-yard rushers (junior quarterback Denard Robinson and redshirt sophomore tailback Fitzgerald Toussaint). Head coach Brady Hoke, the Big Ten Coach of the Year, is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year and the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year awards (both national ac- complishments). The winners will be announced on Jan. 19 and Jan. 26, respectively. In his first season, Hoke led Michi- gan to a 10-2 record, a victory over Ohio State and a berth in the Sugar Bowl. U-M had not won 10 games since 2006 , when it finished 11-2, and had not bested the Buckeyes since 2003. Meanwhile, cornerback Blake MICHIGAN'S IMPROVEMENT ONE OF HISTORIC PROPORTIONS A win in the Sugar Bowl would mean a lot to the Wolverines, for any number of reasons. One of the less considered involves a very rare year- to-year improvement. If the Wolverines capture a victory in New Orleans, they'll finish off an unexpectedly sterling 11-2 first year for Brady Hoke & Co. in Ann Arbor. That would represent a four-game jump in wins over the 7-6 exit season for Rich Rodriguez. Every other time the Wolverines made that sort of one-year rise, it represented something very special, as detailed here: • 1897-98 — Michigan wasn't bad in 1897, going 6-1-1 under head coach Gustave Ferbert. But the Wol- verines weren't fight song inspiring, like they were in the season that fol- lowed. U-M ran the table at 10-0, in- cluding the 12-11 victory at Chicago in the season finale, clinching the

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