The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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closed doors. Through three games, Rudock stood 59-for-91 passing (64.8 percent) for 582 yards and three touchdowns with the five interceptions. Meanwhile, a second storyline emerged at quarterback in the Or- egon State game. Redshirt freshman quarterback Wilton Speight came on to kill the clock at the end of a rout, rather than junior Shane Morris. Harbaugh later stressed that Mor- ris is Michigan's No. 2 quarterback, but that he didn't need to appear in a kneel-down situation. Harbaugh conceded that a redshirt year for Morris is not out of the question. DE'VEON SMITH CLAIMS TOP RUNNING BACK SPOT — FOR NOW All those who suggested junior running back De'Veon Smith was just keeping the starting seat warm until someone else emerged might want to rethink that stance. Smith might not have conjured up visions of his new position coach, former U-M back Ty- rone Wheatley, but he consistently runs hard. It didn't pay off much in the opener at Utah, where Smith went for 47 yards in 17 tries, an average of 2.8 yards per carry. His vision also came into question when he missed some holes created by the U-M of- fensive line. "Talking to him before the Oregon State game, for the pre-game show, he was almost embarrassed about his lack of vision," U-M sideline reporter Doug Karsch noted. "He admitted as much. He got very sheepish when we talked about what the film ses- sion was like in regards to him." Smith buried that sensation — and a few Beavers defensive backs — with a 23-carry, 126-yard, three- touchdown performance in Michi- gan's 35-7 rout of Oregon State. It proved U-M's most dominant rush- ing effort in a while. "He still thinks he missed some holes, but he was feeling a lot better about his vision," Karsch said. "Ball security has to be a strength, and he obviously coughed it up once, but Michigan recovered. He can't do that, and there are obviously guys champ- ing at the bit to get the opportunity. "The field of candidates is going to be expanded by one in the coming weeks, with [redshirt junior] Drake Johnson getting more and more comfortable. But De'Veon Smith has the number one job right now and clearly is not giving it up without a fight." Smith followed it up with just 33 yards on 13 carries against UNLV, taking his three-game totals to 206 yards on 53 carries (3.9 average) and three touchdowns. He remained the lead back, but certainly not the only one, a message clearly underscored against UNLV. Transfer redshirt sophomore tail- back Ty Isaac enjoyed a breakout game against the Rebels, a 76-yard touchdown run highlighting an eight-carry, 114-yard performance. Junior Derrick Green carried 13 times for 46 yards in the opening trio of games. Johnson, meanwhile, got his feet wet with a single carry against Oregon State and then drew five car-