The Wolverine

could least afford. When sophomore cornerback Blake Countess went down in the first half of the opener against Alabama, in fact, many felt the Wolverines' chances to win the Big Ten also crumpled significantly. As U-M's best cover corner, the 6-1, 175-pound Countess provided a skillset nobody else in the secondary could match — at least not yet. And while the expectation is always for the position at Michigan in the words of the coaches, defensive coordina- tor Greg Mattison had some retooling and shuffling to do. I t was the ACL tear heard 'round Ann Arbor, a severe injury feared long before it even happened and the blow Michigan's defense BY CHRIS BALAS 290 yards and tested the corners in the run game with their triple option. He also vowed he wouldn't do it again. Junior Courtney Avery and sopho- more Raymon Taylor have responded well after taking a few lumps against the Crimson Tide, but it's a work in progress, just as establishing depth would have been had Countess stayed healthy. Now, though, the others are being asked to learn quickly. NOT CUTTING CORNERS The Cornerbacks Are Starting To Step Up In Sophomore Blake Countess' Absence Mattison balked, though, when asked in the weeks following Count- ess' injury how things would change schematically. "You can either do more or less when you have veterans. There are two ways to approach that," he said. "Sometimes you have to do more to help a young guy. Sometimes when you have a guy with more experience, you don't have to do as much because he can get it done by himself. "There's that gray area in there where you've got to be careful you don't do too much, but you've got to give them a chance, too. "You've got to give them enough bullets. If you don't, it's going to come down to who is the best player. You can't always go into every game saying, 'Hey, you're better than this guy.'" series in which he replaced his team- mate. Already relied upon as the nickel back in many situations, Avery added to his growing list of responsibilities. "It's still the same preparation," he said. "Going into the game, I have to study a lot of the slot receivers because that's more what I cover in the nickel, but also outside because I might get in at corner. You never re- ally know. I just study every day and have a lot of preparation. "I wouldn't say Alabama was a Mattison admitted leaving too much ammunition in the chamber in Michigan's 31-25 win over Air Force, a game in which the Falcons rushed for 32 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2012 rude awakening or anything … I got in there and I was new, so they picked on me a little bit. I lost my footing on the big play, the one touchdown. As a defensive back you've got to have a short memory. You've just got to go back out there, forget about that and keep improving." the Alabama game behind him after surrendering a 51-yard, first-quarter touchdown. The Tide didn't wait long to pick on him after Countess went down, taking their shot on the first DEVELOPING CHEMISTRY Avery, in particular, had to put "When you get burned on one, you move on to the next one," he said. "You can't let that play beat you twice. Coach [Curt] Mallory, that's how he coaches on the sideline. He's not going to rip us about a play that happened five plays ago. Turn the page … get it corrected. That makes it easy. You can relax out there and don't worry about pleasing someone too much. He lets you play ball and move on." That's not something that came natural to Avery. He was too hard on himself as a freshman, he admitted, and it was an acquired skill to avoid brooding after getting beat. He's learning, though. Neither he nor his teammates have been beaten on a long touchdown since. The sec- ondary stepped up with two key interceptions in a 13-6 loss to Notre Dame, one by Taylor on Notre Dame's first drive that gave the Wolverines first-and-goal at the 10, the other by redshirt junior safety Thomas Gordon in the end zone. Losing Countess was a blow, Ko- vacs said, but there's a chemistry starting to develop between his re- placements and the safeties. "Communication is always key, making sure everybody is on the same page," Kovacs said. "Then it's fundamentals, technique, having your eyes where they need to be, keeping the ball inside and in front. For the most part, we haven't given up too many big plays. "Losing Blake was a big loss, but Courtney has done a good job fulfill- ing that role, and so has Ray Taylor. It takes time to develop that safety/ corner chemistry. That's what we're feeling right now." prove. He showed off his make-up speed and athleticism in picking off his first career pass at Notre Dame, recovering after getting beat down the left sideline. He showed positive signs against Alabama, Kovacs insisted. Mattison, too, started to see results AN EMERGING PRESENCE Taylor, meanwhile, continues to im- even before the Notre Dame game, a loss in which the defense made strides. Just like a quarterback that has to continue to play after throwing an in- terception, fifth-year senior safety and captain Jordan Kovacs noted. Sophomore cornerback Raymon Taylor recorded U-M's first interception this sea- son, in the loss to Notre Dame, and he posted 13 tackles in U-M's first four games. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL

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