The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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michigan football crashed to the turf with a serious leg injury on the sidelines. He underwent surgery to repair a fractured leg, and now faces an uphill climb to get ready for what would be a fifthyear senior season in a Michigan uniform. "He's been good," Hoke said. "He knows he's got a lot of work ahead of him. There is a great article on Adrian Peterson, and that's one of his idols, in USA Today, about coming back from injury and the mindset. I gave it to Fitz after we met. "He's got a lot of support. I'm really happy with how everything went. It's going to be a grind, but he's up to it." Toussaint's injury wasn't the only one to hit Michigan's rushing game this year. He wound up with 514 yards and five touchdowns on 130 carries in his 10 game appearances, quite a step back from his 1,041 yards and nine touchdowns on 187 tries from a year earlier. His tag-team partner on a grand scale from 2011 still hit the 1,000-yard mark in rushing, but it could have been better. Robinson, a senior, enters the Outback Bowl with 1,166 yards and seven rushing touchdowns on 154 carries (7.6 yards per try). But he missed two full games, and half of the Nebraska contest, after injuring his elbow in Lincoln. Robinson might be approaching 1,500 yards rushing had he not been injured. More importantly, his removal from the lineup took the Wolverines out of a key contest in the Legends Division race. Now, Robinson might operate as a quarterback in the Outback Bowl against South Carolina, or could find himself a multi-purpose offensive option with junior Devin Gardner behind center. Hoke knows there are huge plusses to having Robinson's explosiveness in the run game. At the same time, inserting him as a running back brings up other issues. "You want to get playmakers the ball, and you only have one ball," Hoke said. "There are obvious tendencies that you can have that will help defenses. You've got to be creative enough in some ways. "There are some other playmakers on the offense. [Jeremy] Gallon is a guy who has proven things. The way Roy [Roundtree] had played, he's done a nice job. You've got to juggle that. [Devin] Funchess, what do you want to get him used to in the throw game?" The run game, beyond Robinson, remains a question mark for the bowl. Sophomore Thomas Rawls has rushed 57 times for 242 yards and four touchdowns this season. Senior Vincent Smith has carried 32 times for 88 yards and a pair of scores, while redshirt freshman Justice Hayes has earned 16 carries, producing 83 yards and a single touchdown. Michigan's running game clearly isn't where Hoke wants it to be, at least yet. "When you can salt a game away by running the football, or establish a play-action game by running the football … they're a tremendous football team," Hoke said. "Defensively, their front seven … is a force to be reckoned with. "It's going to be a great challenge. That running game is always a big point of emphasis. We'll have to do a lot better." Hoke even proposed his own new rule, given the solid practice performances of freshman running back Drake Johnson. Hoke would like to see the NCAA allow freshmen who Great Game Performances Ground Attack Overruns South Carolina Coming off a 6-6 campaign that ranked as the worst in Bo Schembechler's career at Michigan, the 1985 Wolverines were determined to bounce back quickly, and were granted the perfect opportunity with three ranked teams — No. 13 Notre Dame, No. 11 South Carolina and No. 17 Maryland — on the non-conference schedule. After dispatching of the Fighting Irish 20-12, U-M headed to Columbia, S.C., to meet the Gamecocks expecting a fight, but there would be no drama in this one; Michigan held a 7-0 lead after one quarter and was up 14-3 at the half before finishing USC off with 17 fourth-quarter points for a dominating 34-3 victory. The Wolverines' offensive line led the way, and running backs Thomas Wilcher, Jamie Morris, Gerald White, Bob Perryman and Ernie Holloway made the most of their open holes, As a sophomore, Jamie Morris rushed for 95 combining with quarterback Jim Har- yards and a touchdown on 22 attempts in a 34-3 baugh to rush for 324 yards and four victory over South Carolina in 1985. scores. photo courtesy michigan athletic media relations 28 the wolverine January 2013 For Wilcher, the current head coach at Cass Tech in Detroit, the day represented a career afternoon for the junior. He rushed for 104 yards and a TD on 16 carries, breaking the 100-yard benchmark for the first and only time in his four seasons. Morris was two games into his sophomore season, and he would soon become the No. 1 option on the team, finishing the year with the first of his three 1,000-yard campaigns. On that day, he tallied 95 yards and a touchdown on 22 attempts. Harbaugh, who threw for 164 yards, had 45 yards rushing and a score on seven attempts while White also reached the end zone. The win was a springboard for the following week, when Michigan would best Maryland 20-0 and then go on to post a 9-1-1 mark during the regular season, capping off the year with a 2723 victory over No. 8 Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl. — Michael Spath