The Wolverine

C Head coach Brady Hoke acknowl- edged afterward the big difference Hemingway made. onfetti swirled around a se- nior Junior, and why not? Fifth-year senior Junior Hemingway helped save the Sugar Bowl for Michigan, using his bulk and leaping ability to out-muscle Virginia Tech for two crucial touch- downs in a 23-20 win. BY JOHN BORTON "When you have a big target and a guy who has great timing, that's why Junior makes a lot of those catches," Hoke offered. "He has a big body and bodies some people out of the way." Amid all the celebration came a little shudder for Michigan fans. Heming- way had just played his last snap for the Wolverines, leaving the receiving corps with capable-but-smallish pass catchers in 6-0 Roy Roundtree and 5-8 Jeremy Gallon. Sure, there were bigger freshmen coming in, but they were freshmen. In other words, most outsiders antici- pated a considerable void developing in Michigan's passing attack. Meanwhile, those huddled inside Schembechler Hall were more fo- cused on solutions. They found one in spring practice, and another who couldn't be denied come fall camp. When 6-4, 203-pound Devin Gard- ner and 6-5, 229-pound tight end Devin Funchess were injected into the mix, suddenly the Wolverines' pass- grabbing potential grew considerably. Through four non-conference games, the dual Devins made an undeniable impact. Gardner and Gallon each hauled in out, he's been attracting plenty of at- tention. receivers coach Jeff Hecklinski ex- plained. "Between Coach [Al] Borges and Coach [Brady] Hoke and him, they started joking around about it one day. All the kids were like, 'Well, have you ever seen him do it?' He'd go and play around out there, and he was really talented. "When the kids were by them- selves, just messing around in one-on- "The decision was his, a little bit," dence in his bunch, and he saw the Wolverines becoming more formida- ble throughout the offseason, despite personnel losses. "We lost a few kids that had con- THAN ADVERTISED Receivers Crew Reveals BETTER Depth And Talent ones, he'd look like a natural. I don't want to say it was like a joke, but we said: 'You want to go play wideout?' Devin said, 'I'll go do that. I've got no problems. Whatever you need me to do.'" 11 passes through four games, with Gardner posting a team-leading 195 yards and three touchdowns. Gallon accounted for 179 yards, while Funch- ess and Roundtree each snagged eight throws, for 151 and 72 yards, respec- tively. Funchess' two TD catches made him the only other pass catcher with more than one, while Drew Dileo made five receptions for 115 yards in the early going. That's why Gardner's injury in the Notre Dame game (see sidebar) caused more than a few to hold their breath. Ever since he moved to wide- Through four games, Jeremy Gallon was tied for the team lead in receptions with 11, and he had posted 179 receiving yards, which ranked second on U-M. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN That's when things got serious, and with the help of several unselfish teammates such as Roundtree, Gallon and Dileo, Gardner began progressing at the spot. "We've seen flashes," Hecklinski said. "You can see it really starting to take off. The three touchdown catches are all great, and all things people fo- cus on, but it's the little things we see in all of them that the outside doesn't see — his blocking and all that. I know they were making fun of him earlier, but believe me — he'll downplay it, but he goes after them like the best of them." threat as well, Hecklinski acknowl- edged. "You add Devin Funchess into the mix, and now you've got somebody in the middle of the field who can stretch it. What does that do? Well, they can't void the middle of the field any more. That opens us up more one-on-one on the outside. The big targets are there — believe me." Hecklinski always projects confi- "The big targets are great," he said. a touchdown against Nebraska, a touchdown against Illinois, that really kind of sealed that game." Kelvin Grady's departure also marked a loss. But the host of return- ers and big additions at wide receiver and tight end made a difference. "I just wanted to get on the field," Gardner admitted. "It didn't matter how. I kicked in high school before. If they need me to kick a field goal or extra point, I'd be happy to do it." He flashed a smile, knowing he isn't likely to displace kicker Brendan Gib- bons any time soon. His athleticism, hands and size did make him a very viable option in the passing game. The confidence continued to grow right into the fall, U-M offensive coor- dinator Al Borges confirmed. "As Devin Gardner developed Funchess has added to the big more in the position, he would hope- fully supplement some of the things that Junior had done," Borges said. "Plus with Tree and Jeremy, they had been productive players all the way through. "We were never up in arms about tributed. Junior, obviously made the high-profile, wow, oh-my-gosh, how- did-he-do-that catches," Hecklinski said. "But you also lost 'Tayo.' Mar- tavious Odoms had a lot of catches down the stretch for us, and won us games. You look at a couple of the catches he had against Ohio, he had our receiver corps. The way they've developed, it's made it even more so. It's become a position that could be, eventually, a position of strength." Gardner demonstrated from the season opener he could be a weapon, scoring one of Michigan's two touch- OCTOBER 2012 THE WOLVERINE 25

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