The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN FOOTBALL "My first game was under Coach Mattison and my last game is with him calling for the defense, too, and that's pretty exciting from my stand- point." "We're going to be ready. He's going to prepare us like no other," redshirt junior defensive end Chris Wormley said. "He's a guy that knows how to coach a defense. We won't skip a beat, and I think we'll be ready for Florida." Despite the excitement and famil- iarity of having their former coordi- nator back in charge, there's also no hard feelings towards Durkin, whose appointment to head coach, Bolden said, was only a matter of time. "Everybody on the defense is ex- cited for him," he said. "We all knew at some point he was going to be a head coach. Excited for him but at the same time, for the guys next year, we want to beat him." Head coach Jim Harbaugh named Mattison to the post because of the veteran coach's familiarity calling a game and because of his familiarity with Durkin's scheme, feeling he can best build on what the players were taught all year. "Defensively, there is not much of a change," Bolden said. "Durkin and Mattison were together prior to Michigan, and there is not a whole lot of turnover from one system to the other, or one guy to the next." Michigan's defense ranks fourth nationally in total yards allowed heading into the Citrus Bowl contest versus Florida, giving up just 281.3 yards per game, and is 10th in scor- ing, allowing 17.2 points per game. However, the Wolverines are at- tempting to recover from a 42-13 loss to Ohio State in which they allowed a season-high 369 yards on the ground. "We didn't tackle very well," said Bolden, who is looking forward and not back. "I have full confidence in Coach Mattison. "Four years ago when I commit- ted, I had full confidence in him, and I think he'll have us ready to defend whatever they have for us, whether it's the read-option or the pro-style with an inside run game." "Coach Mattison will do some- thing to stop that [read-option]," Wormley echoed. "As a player, you just have to finish tackles, run to the ball and gang tackle." CHRIS PARTRIDGE TO COACH LINEBACKERS IN BOWL Director of player personnel Chris Partridge was temporarily promoted to linebackers coach for the bowl game, with D.J. Durkin leaving for Maryland. With his new responsibil- ity, Partridge was given the chance to recruit on Michigan's behalf, like any other position coach. However, head coach Jim Har- baugh has not committed to making Partridge his permanent linebackers coach. That job is expected to go to U-M's new defensive coordinator. JAKE RUDOCK EXPECTED BACK FOR BOWL GAME Despite suffering an injury to his non-throwing shoulder Nov. 28 against Ohio State, fifth-year senior