The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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DECEMBER 2017 THE WOLVERINE 39 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL said of his tight ends. "We use the tight ends a lot in the passing game. They had a really good game, both of them. "We're always working on releases and route timing, stuff like that. It re- ally helps." Peters said that the team knew Maryland liked to put eight in the box, which opens up tight ends in the pass- ing game. He said they saw it all week on film and in practice, and schemed specifically for it. "The fact that we've been able to spark our run game over the last several games, them bringing people down to the box … it's nice to know, as a tight end, everybody is playing down a little bit lower, sucking them down so we can pop a big one," Gen- try said. "It's been nice." Dating back to the start of the 2015 campaign, tight ends have led Michi- gan in receiving yards in 10 games, and tied or led in receptions in 15. In Harbaugh's first year, current Denver Broncos tight end Jake Butt was the team's leading receiver against Maryland and Rutgers, and also led the team in catches against Utah and Oregon State. Former U-M tight end A.J. Williams led the team in both catches and yards against Northwest- ern, while Butt was second. In 2016, Butt was the leading re- ceiver against Iowa and Colorado, while Ian Bunting — who is currently a redshirt junior — led against Florida State. Butt also tied or led the Wolver- ines in catches against Central Florida and Maryland. This season, a tight end has led Michigan in receiving yards four times and led in catches one other time. McKeon did so against Purdue, Rut- gers and Minnesota, and had the most catches on the team against Penn State. Gentry's performance against Mary- land was the first time he's led the team in receiving. Through 10 games on the season, McKeon and Gentry are second (256) and third (209), respectively, in receiv- ing yardage on the team, trailing only junior wide receiver Grant Perry (285). McKeon, however, is the Michigan leader in receptions with 25. A U-M tight end hasn't led the team in catches since 1985, when Eric Kattus paced the team with 38 receptions (one-time tight end Devin Funchess was listed on the roster as a wide receiver when he hauled in 62 passes in 2014). "I think it's been great," Harbaugh said of the tight ends' involvement in the passing game. "Sean McKeon [is a] heck of a football player. Zach Gentry has blossomed into a heck of a football player. "… I think we're doing a very good job at the tight end position, blocking, catching, assignments good, no penal- ties, not turning the ball over. It's the kind of football we like." — Andrew Vailliencourt Miscellaneous Notes • In two meetings against Maryland with his former defensive coordinator, DJ Durkin, at the helm, Jim Harbaugh and Michigan have absolutely dominated the Terrapins. The Wolverines have outscored them 94-13 over the last two years — a 59-3 victory last year and a 35-10 triumph this season. The yardage totals have been lopsided as well. Durkin is known for being a defensive-minded coach, but his teams haven't had much luck slowing down the Maize and Blue offense. U-M has put up 965 yards on them the last two years, including a staggering 660 last season. Maryland, on the other hand, has only mustered a combined 707 over the last two meetings. Harbaugh's teams have also jumped out to incredibly fast starts over his former coordinator. The Wolverines led 28-0 at halftime of this year's edition, and 35-0 at the inter- mission of last season's tilt. Also of note, Michigan has won the turnover battle, by a combined 4-0 count, against the Terps in the last two clashes. • Despite having four new starters in the secondary — sophomore cornerbacks Lavert Hill and David Long, junior safety Tyree Kinnel and sophomore safety Josh Metellus — Michigan has been shutting opponents down through the air at an incredibly successful rate. Through Nov. 11, the unit was allowing just 144.5 yards per game through the air — the second-lowest mark in the nation, trailing national leader Air Force by just 1.4 yards per game. The only other Big Ten team that was within even 35 yards of that number was Wisconsin, which was allowing 166.1 (to rank seventh nationally). The Wolverine secondary is also allowing teams to complete just 46.9 percent of their passes, which also happens to be the second-best mark in the country (Virginia Tech is first at 44.8). Again, the Badgers are the only other Big Ten team whose secondary even comes close to that mark — they allow opposing quarterbacks to complete 50.3 percent of their passes, while every other conference member is surrendering at least a 55.1 percentage. The Wolverines' secondary success has been a group effort, though, and doesn't necessarily have a star player in it. Kinnel, Hill and Long all have exactly two interceptions on the year, and Hill is the only one of the starting quartet with more than five passes broken up (seven; Kinnel has five exactly). Perhaps most impressive of all, though, is that the unit has held all but two op- ponents to 181 passing yards or fewer this season (Indiana threw for 278, while Penn State accumulated 282). — Austin Fox After 10 games, sophomore tight end Sean McKeon leads the team with 25 receptions and is tied for the lead with two touchdown catches. His 256 receiving yards rank second. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN