The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/698673
138 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2016 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY RYAN TICE The Lovie Smith experiment lasted just two years for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The coach who led the Chicago Bears to Super Bowl XLI and the NFC Championship Game in 2010 did not inherit a good team, but a 6‑10 mark after a 2‑14 debut with the Bucs was enough for management to move on. He did not stay unemployed for long and returns to the state of his greatest triumphs as a head coach — although he'll be back in the college game for the first time since 1995, when he served as Ohio State's defensive backs coach. Smith has never even been a coordinator at the college level, let alone a head coach. He did hire 18‑year college coaching veteran Garrick McGee, who was most recently Louis‑ ville's offensive coordinator and held the head post at UAB from 2012‑13, to lead the offense. However, Smith went with a fellow unconven‑ tional choice to coordinate the other side of the ball — four‑time All‑Pro middle linebacker Hardy Nickerson, who played 16 seasons in the NFL and has three years of coaching expe‑ rience as a linebacker mentor in the pros. The hope is that thinking outside the box will lead the Fighting Illini to its first win‑ ning season since finishing 7‑6 in 2011. Smith's tenure has already hit a rough patch that will hamper his team in 2016 — Mike Dudek, who was Illinois' top receiver as a freshman in 2014 (76 catches for 1,038 yards and six touchdowns) and was expected to step back into the No. 1 spot after missing 2015 with a torn ACL, re‑tore his ACL this spring and is expected to miss the season. That's a major blow for senior quarterback Wes Lunt, the Big Ten's No. 2 returning passer (2,761 yards and 14 touchdowns), who finally stayed healthy enough to start ev‑ ery game last year but did not receive much help from his teammates. Despite boasting a pair of 700‑yard rushers, the ground game was anemic overall — it ranked 110th na‑ tionally with just 129.3 yards per game. The team must also replace three of last year's top six receivers and both offensive guards. Sophomore Ke'Shawn Vaughn returns af‑ ter a freshman year where he paced the squad with 723 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Sophomore Desmond Cain and junior Malik Turner compliment each other well out wide — both had at least 39 catches and finished with around 500 receiving yards — but they would have been better behind Vaughn. Defense is Smith's specialty, and he'll have plenty of work to do alongside his first‑ time coordinator with just four returning starters. The unit was susceptible against the run last fall but solid in every other as‑ pect, ranking 15th nationally against the pass (184.4 yards allowed per game) and 37th in scoring (23.3 points surrendered per game). Senior free safety Taylor Barton will lead the unit after pacing the defense with four interceptions; he is also the top returning tackler after posting 56 stops a year ago. In 2014, the 6‑1, 215‑pounder was named honorable mention All‑Big Ten after notch‑ ing 100 tackles. The other three returners are all defen‑ sive linemen, and the trio combined for 32.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks and five forced fumbles in 2015. Fifth‑year senior defensive tackle Rob Bain has a knack for blocking kicks — he deflected three last year — while senior end Dawuane Smoot was responsible for a team‑best eight sacks, which is tied for the Big Ten lead among returners. The three linebackers who combined for 347 stops last season must all be replaced, but the new coordinator's son, also named Hardy Nickerson, will join the team after graduating from California, which he led with 112 tackles last year. The Big Ten had two former NFL head coaches come into the league last year — Michigan's Jim Harbaugh and Nebraska's Mike Riley. Smith would rank between the two of them in terms of success in the pros, but both had prior head coaching experience in college. If Illinois' new head coach could match Riley's six wins last year and return UI to the postseason, that would be reason enough for the champagne to flow in Champaign. Notes Senior kicker David Reisner lost the starting job last year to a senior, but was 6 of 11, with a long of 43, in 2014 … Athlon ranks Illinois' quarterbacks fourth in the league, but every other position group checks in at eighth or worse … The magazine ranked Smith as the No. 11 coaching hire this offseason. ❏ Veteran NFL Coach Lovie Smith Has Major Rebuild Ahead GAME 7 • ILLINOIS • OCT. 22 2016 SCHEDULE Date Opponent 2015 Result Sept. 3 Murray State — Sept. 10 North Carolina L, 48-14 Sept. 17 Western Michigan — Oct. 1 at Nebraska W, 14-13 Oct. 8 Purdue W, 48-14 Oct. 15 at Rutgers — Oct. 22 at Michigan — Oct. 29 Minnesota L, 32-23 Nov. 5 Michigan State — Nov. 12 at Wisconsin L, 24-13 Nov. 19 Iowa L, 29-20 Nov. 26 at Northwestern L, 24-14 QUICK FACTS All-Time Series: U-M leads 69-23-2 First Meeting: U-M 12, UI 5 (Nov. 12, 1898, at Detroit) Last Meeting: U-M 45, UI 0 (Oct. 13, 2012, at Ann Arbor) Head Coach: Lovie Smith, first year at UI and as a col- lege head coach; 89-87 as a NFL head coach (11 years) Off./Def. Systems: Multiple Pro-Style/4-3 2015 In Review: 5-7 overall, 2-6 Big Ten (T-5th West) Final 2015 Ranking: Unranked Returning Starters: 12 (7 offense, 4 defense, 1 specialist) Last Bowl Appearance: 2014 (Heart of Dallas, vs. Louisiana Tech, L 35-18) Big Ten Conference Championships (last): 15 (2001) RETURNING LEADERS Passing: Wes Lunt (2,761 yards, 14 TD, 6 INT) Rushing: Ke'Shawn Vaughn (723 yards, 6 TD) Receiving: Malik Turner (510 yards, 3 TD) Tackles: Taylor Barton (56) Sacks: Dawuane Smoot (8) Interceptions: Taylor Barton (4) PLAYERS TO WATCH Offense: Wes Lunt, 5th-Sr., QB — Started five times at Oklahoma State in 2012 before transferring to Illinois … Has battled injuries throughout his career, but started every game last year for the first time and boasts a 28-9 touchdown- to-interception ratio in 20 games at his home-state school over the past two seasons. Defense: Dawuane Smoot, Sr., DE — The 6-3, 265-pounder has totaled 73 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks and three forced fum - bles in the last two years … Paced the squad with 15 tackles for loss, eight sacks (nobody else had more than two), three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in 2015, outperforming second-round pick and fellow end Jihad Ward. Senior safety Taylor Barton led the Illini with four interceptions last year and is the team's top returning tackler with 56. PHOTO COURTESY ILLINOIS