The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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snare against BYU in week four and a critical toe-tapping, third-down grab along the sideline at Penn State in week 11. For the first two months, Darboh played the role of Braylon Edwards with classmate Jehu Chesson his Jason Avant, but Chesson began to overtake Darboh at Minnesota, catch- ing two touchdowns — his first two receiving scores of the year — includ- ing the game-winner. Two weeks later in Bloomington, he tied a U-M single-game record with four touchdown receptions among a 10-catch, 207-yard effort. In four November games, he had 25 re- ceptions for 423 yards and six scores, outpacing Darboh (22 catches for 298 yards and three touchdowns). Chesson added an infusion of big- play ability in the running game, with four rushes of 20 yards or more. Meanwhile he and Darboh were, ar- guably, the top blocking receivers in the Big Ten (and for Chesson, maybe nationally according to his head coach), making this position group one of the most well-rounded and important for the Wolverines in 2015. Best Player: Jehu Chesson Most Improved: Jehu Chesson Who To Watch In 2016: Maurice Ways Running Back: C Midterm Grade: B+ Reason For The Grade: Michigan's running backs' grade is directly tied to the performance of the offensive line, and vice versa, but the numbers over the second half of the season do not favor a strong mark for either position group. Perhaps the best thing going for the running backs over the final six games was the emergence of senior fullback Sione Houma. After car- rying the ball 13 times for 65 yards (5.0 yards per carry) and a touch- down in the first half of the year, with three receptions for 19 yards, Houma became a more integral part of the offense, averaging 4.3 offensive touches for 22.5 yards per game over the last six contests while scoring three touchdowns. While Houma produced at a higher clip in the second half of the year and became U-M's de facto short-yardage ball carrier, every other runner expe- rienced a dip in production. Smith, whether bothered by an ankle injury he suffered against BYU in week four or not, averaged just 42.3 rushing yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry in the final six contests, while Johnson had just 22 rushes in the six-game stretch, and 12 in November for 30 yards. Redshirt sophomore Ty Isaac didn't see the field in the final five games for disciplinary reasons, and junior Derrick Green missed four of the final six due to injury. The situation at running back became so desperate that Peppers began taking meaningful snaps at tailback against Penn State and Ohio State. Overall, Michigan running backs (excluding Peppers) averaged 123.3 yards per game and 4.2 yards per carry — pedestrian numbers that