The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Some defenders copped to coming out "flat" against the Gophers. U-M dropped a pair of potential intercep- tions, including what looked like an impending pick-six by increasingly lu- minous redshirt freshman safety Jabrill Peppers. The close call in Minnesota left the Wolverines insisting they can't experi- ence another, especially when chances crop up to open the floodgates. Peppers sounded particularly ani- mated after that one. He knows, like they all know, what's at stake. "We've just got to finish," he said. "We've got to make plays. We have too many almost plays. I almost had a pick-six. Dymonte [Thomas] almost had a pick. I almost took the punt to the house. "We're just tired of almosts. We just have to do it. That's what it comes down to. Those plays we make in prac- tice, we got to do in games. Nobody cares what you do in practice. It's what happens when those lights come on. "We've just got to make plays. That's what it comes down to. Make plays." One constant with this crew, Dur- kin noted, involves its receptiveness to coaching. Those doing the tweaking in practice and video sessions aren't into hand-patting and soft speech. They're not averse to issuing praise, either. Peppers thought he was going to be chastised by head coach Jim Har- baugh on the sidelines for excessive celebration, following a jaw-dropping move and touchdown against Rutgers. Instead, the three-way Wolverine received the stamp of approval from the top. "I thought that play was trapped behind the line of scrimmage," Har- baugh said. "The move he made and the way he weaved himself through