The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/629217
had anyone on the perimeter that was a game-changer, someone that could stretch the field, someone that would be a deep threat. Chesson was a guy that by November was one of the best receivers in the Big Ten. Ray: I could possibly choose a few players honestly, but on offense Jehu Chesson's development was most impressive for me. He went from an average, possession-type receiver pre- viously to a legitimate NFL-caliber wide receiver. He played with more confidence and his numbers prove it. The Wolverine: Whose individual de- velopment this year was the most im- pressive defensively? Skene: Jabrill Peppers. Wideouts could not block him, and he tackled on the edge as well as any defensive back in the country. [Junior corner- back] Jourdan Lewis is an honorable mention because he is as good of a "lock-down" corner as Michigan has had in several years. Copenhaver: I'll probably stick with Ryan Glasgow. As a whole, I thought the defensive line got better, but before Glasgow got hurt I thought he had the greatest development throughout the season, and sort of like Jehu, by the end of the year, Ryan Glasgow was one of the best linemen in the Big Ten. Ray: Defensively, Jourdan Lewis emerged from being an out-of-control, bump-and-run corner previously to a lock-down, All-America corner in 2015. Lewis used to be too aggressive at the line of scrimmage in bump cov- erage and lacked man-to-man tech- nique, but that was because he had never truly been coached until 2015. The Wolverine: Which loss stung the most this year? Skene: Without question, the Ohio State game was not competitive and that was disappointing. Many will think the loss to MSU was worse. Michigan played well enough to win that day against a very good Spartan team, we just didn't finish. Expectations were met against MSU except for the fluke at the end. Expec- tations were high against OSU, but we got our noses rubbed in it instead. That stings. Simpkins: The Michigan State game. The Ohio State game, we just got beat. Michigan State, we had won and lost it in an inexplicable way. If we win that game, based on momentum, you don't know what might have happened this year. Copenhaver: Michigan State, by far. Quite frankly, I saw the Ohio State game coming. With the way they performed the week before against Michigan State, and with our struggles against read-option teams, they were poised after their loss to play their best game. But Michigan State stung for the single reason that watching that game, not for one second did I think we were going to lose. We never trailed in that game. I felt confident we were going to win. We had the game in control. Van Bergen: Michigan State. We led for the entire game. There were no sec- onds on the clock where that team led us in regulation, but they still came out with a win. That almost never hap- pens. Ray: For me, it was the Ohio State loss. The loss to OSU was embarrass-