The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/678402
nyan, an All-American left tackle, and Biakabutuka, who set a U-M single-season record with 1,818 rushing yards. Both left for the NFL after their junior years. Journeyman Thomas Guynes took over at left tackle, while Clarence Williams and Chris Howard split reps at tailback and combined for 1,562 yards. However, U-M aver- aged just 167.9 yards overall on the ground, and settled for an 8-4 record and a fifth-place finish in the Big Ten with a 5-3 conference mark. David Terrell and Drew Henson, 2000: A first-team All-American in 2000, Terrell had put together back- to-back 1,000-yard seasons — the first receiver in school history to do so — and was expected to go pro. When his quarterback, Henson, also left to pursue a Major League Base- ball career, it significantly handi- capped the passing game. John Navarre completed just 53.8 percent of his passes in 2001, his pass efficiency rating of 116.3 falling 36.4 points shy of Henson a year earlier. Stepping out of Terrell's shadow, Marquise Walker earned All-America honors in his senior year after catch- ing 86 balls for 1,143 yards. Jeff Tambellini, Mike Brown and Al Montoya, 2005: Michigan hockey was also shaken to its core with the loss of Andy Hilbert and Jeff Jillson following the 2000-01 season, and the departures of Mike Cammal- leri and Mike Komisarek after the 2001-02 campaign, but 2005 marked the first time three Wolverines left at the same time for the pros. Tambellini had led U-M in scor- ing with 24 goals his junior year and had hit the back of the net 65 times in three seasons. Brown was a strong third-line player that has en- joyed a nine-year NHL career, while Montoya went 30-7-3 with a 2.52 goals-against average in 2004-05, leading Michigan to a CCHA title and the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. U-M wouldn't produce a 20-goal scorer in 2005-06 and it split starts in net between Noah Ruden and Billy Sauer, the two combining for a 3.02 GAA. The Wolverines finished out- side the top two in the league (third) for the first time since 1989-90 (fourth). Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., 2013: The National Player of the Year, Burke led Michigan to within six points of the 2013 national title, averaging 15.5 points and 6.3 assists during U-M's six-game NCAA run. Hardaway averaged 14.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game his junior year. With nothing left to prove, they entered the NBA Draft. Michigan's 2013 freshman class of Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III, Mitch McGary, Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht answered the call. Stauskas averaged 17.5 points per game for the season, Robinson 13.1 and LeVert 12.9 in leading the Maize and Blue to the Elite Eight. The departures of Stauskas, Robinson and McGary a year later would prove far more crippling; Michigan missed out on the NCAA Tournament in 2014-15. ❏