The Wolverine

February 2018

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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FEBRUARY 2018 THE WOLVERINE 33   MICHIGAN FOOTBALL "I knew the Michigan community was strong, and I knew people cared, but I just didn't know to that extent," Winovich said before the 26-19 loss to South Carolina. "It's not about me, necessarily, but I'm just so happy. Just in my heart, man, filled with love to see people on Christmas Day donating thousands of dollars when they could be spending time with their families. "It's just an awesome feeling. I was shocked." He was most impressed with Brown's pledge. "He cares more about helping kids out and a selfless act to something he holds truly and is so beloved to his heart than what some naysay- ers may say about him rocking an orange mustache," Winovich said. "He's one of the best men I know, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart." New Jersey celebrity stylist Mar- tino Cartier reportedly flew to Tampa on his own dime to dye everyone's hair, and though the Wolverines didn't win, they still made an impact off the field. — Chris Balas U-M TOOK DIFFERENT REDSHIRT APPROACH WITH FRESHMEN IN 2017 Since he took over prior to the 2015 season, head coach Jim Harbaugh has used different methods in the way he has handled freshman game action each year. For example, during his debut campaign in 2015, Harbaugh red- shirted more than half of his rookie class, which is common practice at most schools around the country. It should be noted that the 2015 haul featured a mixture of both his and former head coach Brady Hoke's recruits, so it came as no surprise when the majority of the class was redshirted. In 2016, Harbaugh took the com- plete opposite approach. Of the 26 freshmen that were on the team when the season began (wide receiver Ahmir Mitchell was dismissed before the year started), only five were redshirted. This past season, Harbaugh bucked his 2016 trend and redshirted nearly half the class (16 of the 29 saw game action). Here's a year-by-year look at the number of rookies redshirted and which ones have seen game action in each of Harbaugh's first three years at Michigan: — Austin Fox MICHIGAN WAS ONLY BIG TEN TEAM WITH THREE 500-YARD RUNNING BACKS IN 2017 Twenty different players rushed for 500 or more yards in the Big Ten this season, but Michigan was the only team to have three running backs do so. Junior Karan Higdon's 994 yards were actually the sixth most in the league, sophomore Chris Evans' 685 yards ranked 13th and fifth-year se- nior Ty Isaac checked in next with 548 yards. It should be noted that Ohio State registered three different 500-yard runners as well — freshman running back J.K. Dobbins (1,403), fifth-year senior quarterback J.T. Barrett (798) and redshirt sophomore running back Mike Weber (626) — but Barrett obviously qualifies as a signal-caller, not a running back. To put in perspective how rare Michigan's backfield accomplish- ment was, only four other Big Ten teams even had two 500-yard run- ning backs — Maryland (junior Ty Johnson and sophomore Lorenzo Harrison), Ohio State (Dobbins and Weber), Northwestern (senior Jus- tin Jackson and redshirt freshman Jeremy Larkin) and Purdue (junior Markell Jones and redshirt junior D.J. Knox). If Isaac would have ran for just 52 more yards this year, Michigan would have become one of only two power conference schools (Georgia being the other) to feature three dif- ferent 600-yard running backs. — Austin Fox FORMER OHIO STATE OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR ED WARINNER REPORTEDLY JOINING U-M STAFF On Jan. 20, FootballScoop.com re- ported that Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh offered a job to Minne- sota offensive line coach/run game coordinator Ed Warinner. FOX col- lege football analyst Bruce Feldman confirmed later that day that Warin- ner had indeed accepted a chance to join the U-M staff, though it was not known what exact position was offered. Prior to his one year at Minnesota, Warinner coached at Ohio State from 2012-16 and held the title of co-offen- sive coordinator/offensive line coach his first three years on the job. He spent 2015 and 2016 as the team's full-time offensive coordina- tor, and also coached tight ends in place of offensive line in 2016. Before his time in Columbus, Warinner made stops at Notre Dame, Kansas, Illinois, Air Force, Army, Michigan State and Akron. Harbaugh's allotted 10 on-field as- sistant jobs have already been filled, so it's speculated that Warinner could potentially serve as an offen- sive analyst in Ann Arbor if none of the spots open up. Scott Turner recently left his role as an offensive analyst at Michigan to coach quarterbacks under his father, Norv, with the Carolina Panthers, according to multiple media reports. — Austin Fox Year Redshirted Played 2015 9 5 2016 5 21 2017 13 16 Rookie wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones was one of 16 true freshmen who saw game action this year. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

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