The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2018 THE WOLVERINE 41 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL safety earned honorable mention from both the coaches and the media. Seven different Wolverines, mean- while, earned All-Big Ten honors on offense. Senior left tackle Mason Cole and sophomore left guard Ben Brede- son were both named to the second team by the coaches, media and AP, while junior running back Karan Hig- don was named to the third team by both the coaches and media. Cole and Bredeson anchored the Wolverines' offensive line, starting all 12 games. Higdon set career highs in both rushing yards and touchdowns, finish- ing the season as Michigan's leading rusher. He notched 147 carries for 929 yards and 11 touchdowns, which was also the most on the team. He finished seventh in the Big Ten in rushing. The honorable mentions: • Chris Evans: The sophomore run- ning back earned honorable mention honors from the coaches and was the team's second-leading rusher with 126 carries for 661 yards and six touch- downs. He also caught 14 passes for 146 yards and a score. • Zach Gentry: The redshirt sopho- more tight end was fourth on the team in receptions (15), third in yards (276) and second in receiving touchdowns (two). • Sean McKeon: The sophomore tight end finished the regular season first on the team in catches (29) and second in receiving yards (285). He also had three touchdown receptions, the most of any receiver. • Pat Kugler: The fifth-year senior center started every game this season. Finally, U-M had three players pick up honorable mention recognition on special teams: true freshmen Brad Rob- bins (punter; coaches) and Donovan Peoples-Jones (return specialist; me- dia) were recognized in the punt game, while redshirt freshman placekicker Quinn Nordin earned honorable men- tion from both the coaches and media. Nordin has racked up 79 points (15 of 20 on field goals; 34 of 37 on extra points), which ranks as the second highest single-season scoring effort for a kicker in his first year earning a var- sity letter (behind Remy Hamilton with 101 points in 2004). He was a semifinal- ist for the Lou Groza Award, annually given to the nation's best kicker. Robbins averaged 40.9 yards per punt, pinning 18 of his 58 attempts in- side the opponents' 20-yard line while forcing 22 fair catches. Peoples-Jones averaged 8.5 yards per punt return attempt. His 79-yard touchdown return against Air Force is the longest by a U-M punt returner since Steve Breaston had an 83-yard runback in 2006, and was the longest in the conference this season. Fifth-year senior fullback Henry Poggi was named the team's Big Ten Sportsmanship honoree. — Chris Balas SIXTEEN TRUE FRESHMEN PLAYED THIS FALL Michigan saw 16 different true fresh- men get on the field during the 2017 regular season — six fewer than 2016. Several of the 16 played important roles for Michigan each week, with six of them earning starting roles by the end of the season. That's five more freshman starters than last season. 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. or 51 Cesar Ruiz 6-4 316 Fr. 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. 83 Zach Gentry 6-7 248 R-So. or 17 Tyrone Wheatley 6-6 265 R-So. WR 9 D. Peoples-Jones 6-2 199 Fr. 13 Eddie McDoom 6-0 181 So. QB 18 Brandon Peters 6-5 220 R-Fr. 8 John O'Korn 6-4 211 5th-Sr. 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. 12 Chris Evans 5-11 206 So. 32 Ty Isaac 6-3 228 5th-Sr. 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 5 Aubrey Solomon 6-3 297 Fr. or 90 Bryan Mone 6-4 325 R-Jr. 50 Michael Dwumfour 6-2 290 So. DT 73 Maurice Hurst 6-2 280 5th-Sr. 50 Michael Dwumfour 6-2 290 So. 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. 36 Devin Gil 6-2 220 R-Fr. ILB 10 Devin Bush Jr. 5-11 222 So. 36 Devin Gil 6-2 220 R-Fr. 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-Sr. 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. 20 Brad Hawkins 6-2 204 Fr. PR 9 D. Peoples-Jones 6-2 199 Fr. 88 Grant Perry 6-0 191 Jr. SPECIAL TEAMS Wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones was one of six true freshmen to earn a starting spot. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN