The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2018 THE WOLVERINE 31 PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL special teams MVP REDSHIRT FRESHMAN KICKER QUINN NORDIN The redshirt freshman looked like he might shat- ter records in the first half of the season, at one point making 10 straight field goals after an outstanding start in a win over Florida (4 of 6, becoming the first U-M kicker to ever make two field goals of 50 yards or more in a single game). He was Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week after the opener and against Air Force, when he made five field goals. Nordin later struggled, how- ever, going into a funk, start- ing with a missed extra point at Penn State. He missed three kicks in the next three games and almost lost his job before rebounding with a 39-yard field goal at Wisconsin. He still finished honor- able mention All-Big Ten after making 15 of his 20 attempts. His regular-season tally of 15 made kicks is tied for 14th in program annals, his success rate of 75.0 would just miss the top 15 (15th is 76.5 percent) and his four makes from 40 or more yards are tied for seventh in single-season history. Only seven U-M kickers have made multiple 50-yarders in their careers, Nordin joined the club in his debut. Unsung Hero FRESHMAN PUNTER BRAD ROBBINS Redshirt freshman Will Hart earned the starting punting duties out of fall camp, but was unseated by Robbins after averaging just 37.9 yards per punt through the team's first three games. Robbins made his career debut against Purdue Sept. 23, and punted seven times for an average of 40.6 yards. He put on perhaps his best per- formance of the season the following contest against Michigan State, though, when he averaged 42.6 yards, including a 57-yard boot, in a game that featured monsoon-like conditions. Granted, Robbins only tallied 40.9 yards per punt on the year, but he was usually dependable and never had one blocked. Regular-Season Grade There was good and bad with this group. The Wol- verines were out- standing in kick coverage, for example, leading the conference with a 43-yard net average behind fifth-year senior James Foug's booming kickoffs. They even led the nation with an clip of just 15.5 yards allowed per kickoff return. They were 11th in the league, how- ever, in net punting (35.9-yard average) and last in PATs (34-37, 91.9 percent). Michigan's kick return game strug- gled and finished 11th in the conference at 18.7 per runback, while the punt return was fifth behind freshman Dono- van Peoples-Jones, who had two big returns (a 79-yard touchdown against Air Force and a 42-yarder that set up a touchdown against Ohio State). He earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors as a return man. This group needed to be a bit better this year to aid a struggling offense. Year Player Distance 2001 Hayden Epstein 57 1988 Mike Gillette 56 1999 Hayden Epstein 56 1891 J.E. Duffy 55 2017 Quinn Nordin 55 1986 Mike Gillette 53 status Of schOlarship players GRADUATED: None ELIGIBILITY REMAINING (YEARS): K Quinn Nordin (3) P Brad Robbins (3) C NUMBERS TO KNOW Redshirt freshman kicker Quinn Nordin nailed a 55-yard field goal against Florida in U-M's season-opener Sept. 2 and nearly made history in the pro- cess. The kick was the third longest in school history, just three yards short of setting the program record. The chart to the right shows the longest kicks in Michigan history. Head coach Jim Harbaugh "[Redshirt freshman kicker] Quinn [Nordin] has a great leg. He re- sponds to the moment and to the pressure — that's a wonderful quality about him." Quinn Nordin Freshman Brad Robbins took over as U-M's punter in the Purdue game and averaged 40.9 yards per kick for the season. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS