The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/917835
16 THE WOLVERINE JANUARY 2018 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Michigan will take on South Carolina in the Outback Bowl at noon Jan. 1 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. The Gamecocks, led by coach Will Muschamp, fin- ished the regular season with an 8-4 overall record and went 5-3 in the SEC — good for second place in the East Division behind Georgia. Those four losses came against Kentucky, Texas A&M, No. 3 Georgia and No. 1 Clemson. Texas A&M and Georgia were both on the road. South Carolina's best win came in the first week of the year, when it beat North Carolina State 35-28. NC State finished the year No. 24 in the College Foot- ball Playoff rankings. Michigan shared one common opponent with the Gamecocks — Florida. Michigan won its season opener against UF 33- 17, while South Carolina topped the Gators 28-20 in November. South Carolina beat three bowl-bound teams — NC State, Missouri and Louisiana Tech. Each of those victo- ries came in the first four weeks of the season. On offense, the Gamecocks are led by sophomore quarterback Jake Bentley, who completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 2,555 yards with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions through the air this year. He also rushed 67 times for 86 yards and six touchdowns. Michigan's SEC opponent has a pair of sophomore running backs in A.J. Turner and Ty'Son Williams that will be threats. Each has carried the ball 92 times this year. Turner has 517 yards and three touchdowns com- pared to Williams' 460 yards and one score. S oph omore w ide re- ceiver Bryan Edwards is the team's leading wide- out. He caught 59 passes for 705 yards and four scores during the regular season. The team's most talented player — junior wide receiver Deebo Sam- uel — was injured early in the season and will miss the bowl game. He had 250 yards and three touch- downs in three games. Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper was relieved of his duties in early December and won't coach in the bowl. — Andrew Vailliencourt HOW MICHIGAN STACKS UP VS. SOUTH CAROLINA Category Michigan South Carolina Offense (National rank in parenthesis) Total 354.9 (101) 340.2 (108) Rushing 186.3 (43) 127.3 (107) Passing 168.8 (111) 212.9 (79) Scoring 25.8 (86) 24.1 (98) Defense Total 268.6 (3) 374.6 (51) Rushing 125.9 (21) 146.7 (43) Passing 142.7 (1) 227.9 (72) Scoring 18.3 (14) 20.8 (26) Turnover Margin -2 (82) +9 (17) Tale Of The Tape: Michigan And South Carolina South Carolina sophomore quarterback Jake Bentley threw for 2,555 yards with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and also rushed for six scores this year. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN