The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2017 THE WOLVERINE 37 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL head basketball coach John Beilein in September to discuss the possibility. For now, however, he's still a foot- ball-only guy, and it remains to be seen if he can help a passing game that has struggled mightily this year. — Chris Balas LAVERT HILL IS EMERGING AS A TOP-LEVEL CORNERBACK Michigan sophomore Lavert Hill is quickly becoming one of the Big Ten's best cornerbacks. He was at six passes broken up and two intercep- tions through six games, and — ac- cording to Pro Football Focus — had allowed only eight catches the 21 times he had been targeted. Quarterbacks had managed just an 18.8 passer rating against him, and it would have been lower had he not been called for a questionable pass interference on a pick at Indiana in the 27-20 overtime win. "[His play] has been pretty high all season, it really has," head coach Jim Harbaugh said. "Lavert's been a really good player for us. I was go- ing to say steady, but he's been better than steady. He's been playing at a really high level. "He's had some great defenses on the ball — pass breakups, an intercep- tion in tight coverage. Really good. That's why we brought him here." Hill's leaping pick in the fourth quarter at Indiana stalled a drive, and Harbaugh felt it should have been his second of the game. "I really felt like his other intercep- tion was a legal play," the coach said. "I didn't think he interfered on that one." The pick that wasn't called back was a highlight-reel play, earning praise from All-Pro cornerback Rich- ard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks on Twitter, and Hill was right there on the game-ending interception that safety Tyree Kinnel came down with. "I knew they were going to him the whole time. He's one of the big, key players on their team," Hill said of IU targeting receiver Simmie Cobbs on the game's final play. "He was on my side, and I was following him the whole way. I just trusted my brothers had my back, and they came out with the interception." — Chris Balas SOPHOMORE DEFENSIVE END RASHAN GARY ELEVATES HIS PLAY Michigan defensive line coach Greg Mattison said before U-M's win at Indiana that stats didn't accurately measure the effect sophomore defen- sive end Rashan Gary was having on games. The coaches were asking him to essentially eliminate the op- ponents' run game with his strength much of the time, and U-M's elite standing in the national run defense rankings (sixth, 85.8 yards allowed per game) showed just how effective he'd been. His full arsenal was on display in a 27-20 overtime victory versus the Hoosiers Oct. 14. Gary dominated in stretches, picking up seven tackles, which ranked second on the team and included a sack among 2.5 stops for loss, plus an additional two pres- Through Michigan's first six games, Pro Football Focus had charted Hill with allow- ing just eight catches on 21 targets while breaking up six passes and intercepting two more for a passer rating of 18.8 when foes threw his way. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 88 Grant Perry 6-0 191 Jr. 1 Kekoa Crawford 6-2 187 So. LT 52 Mason Cole 6-5 297 Sr. 76 J. Bushell-Beatty 6-6 315 R-Jr. LG 74 Ben Bredeson 6-5 308 So. 72 Stephen Spanellis 6-5 307 R-Fr. C 57 Patrick Kugler 6-5 296 5th-Sr. 51 Cesar Ruiz 6-4 316 Fr. RG 50 Michael Onwenu 6-3 350 So. 75 Jon Runyan Jr. 6-4 298 R-So. RT 76 J. Bushell-Beatty 6-6 315 R-Jr. 70 Nolan Ulizio 6-5 295 R-So. TE 84 Sean McKeon 6-5 248 So. or 17 Tyrone Wheatley 6-6 265 R-So. or 83 Zach Gentry 6-7 248 R-So. WR 9 D. Peoples-Jones 6-2 199 Fr. 13 Eddie McDoom 6-0 181 So. QB 8 John O'Korn 6-4 211 5th-Sr. 18 Brandon Peters 6-5 220 R-Fr. FB 19 Henry Poggi 6-4 244 5th-Sr. or 80 Khalid Hill 6-2 265 5th-Sr. RB 22 Karan Higdon 5-10 190 Jr. 32 Ty Isaac 6-3 228 5th-Sr. or 12 Chris Evans 5-11 206 So. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DE 15 Chase Winovich 6-3 253 R-Jr. 4 Reuben Jones 6-4 245 R-So. DT 90 Bryan Mone 6-4 325 R-Jr. 5 Aubrey Solomon 6-3 297 Fr. or 50 Michael Dwumfour 6-2 290 R-Fr. DT 73 Maurice Hurst Jr. 6-2 280 5th-Sr. 93 Lawrence Marshall 6-4 285 R-Jr. DE 3 Rashan Gary 6-5 281 So. 2 Carlo Kemp 6-3 246 So. OLB 7 Khaleke Hudson 6-0 205 So. 59 Noah Furbush 6-5 240 R-Jr. ILB 9 Mike McCray 6-4 242 5th-Sr. 10 Devin Bush Jr. 5-11 222 So. ILB 10 Devin Bush Jr. 5-11 222 So. 36 Devin Gil 6-2 220 So. or 46 M. Wroblewski 6-2 237 5th-Sr. FS 23 Tyree Kinnel 5-11 201 Jr. 26 J'Marick Woods 6-3 203 Fr. SS 14 Josh Metellus 6-0 199 So. 29 Jordan Glasgow 6-1 210 R-So. CB 24 Lavert Hill 5-11 177 So. 1 Ambry Thomas 6-0 179 Fr. CB 22 David Long 5-11 187 So. 28 Brandon Watson 5-11 200 R-Jr. MICHIGAN DEPTH CHART (UNOFFICIAL) Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 3 Quinn Nordin 6-1 195 R-Fr. 39 Kyle Seychel 6-2 174 R-Jr. P 3 Brad Robbins 6-2 181 Fr. 17 Will Hart 6-3 196 R-Fr. KO 31 James Foug 5-11 178 R-Jr. 6 Ryan Tice 6-1 172 R-So. H 15 Garrett Moores 6-5 214 5th-Sr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 33 C. Cheeseman 6-4 239 R-Fr. 49 Andrew Robinson 6-0 221 R-Jr. KR 1 Ambry Thomas 6-0 179 Fr. 1 Kekoa Crawford 6-2 187 So. PR 9 D. Peoples-Jones 6-2 199 Fr. 88 Grant Perry 6-0 191 Jr. SPECIAL TEAMS