The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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10 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW MICHIGAN FOOTBALL 1 Team in the country that had all three position groups on defense ranked among the top 10 nationally by Lindy's Sports — Michigan, whose secondary was listed No. 2, defensive line No. 4 and linebackers No. 5 by the magazine. 9 Touchdown passes for junior quarterback Shea Patterson through Mississippi's first two games last season (blowout wins over South Alabama and Tennessee Martin, respectively), equaling the total that U-M's signal-callers tossed all year long. 12 Is where Michigan landed on The Big Lead's list of the top college football programs over the last 25 years. The website took into account national titles, top-10 and top-25 finishes, and overall record since 1993. "Michigan football still has high expectations and the fans are awaiting Jim Harbaugh reaching the heights to match the hype," The Big Lead noted. "Those expectations come from having a program that finished the season ranked in all but three years from 1968 to 2007." Alabama claimed the top spot on the list. 13 Is where Harbaugh checked in at on The Athletic writer Stewart Mandel's list of the top 25 coaches in college football. "I'd get hate mail no matter where I ranked him — He's never won a conference title — but before last year's 8-5 setback, he did lead the Wolverines to their first back-to-back 10-win seasons since 2002-03," Mandel wrote. "He also produced the best record in Stanford history [12-1] in 2010." Alabama head coach Nick Saban was rated No. 1 on the list. 31-0 Was the final score the last time Michigan faced Notre Dame on Sept. 6, 2014. The Wolverines were led by head coach Brady Hoke at the time, and the shutout loss snapped their NCAA-leading 365 consecutive-game streak without being blanked. Prior to that, a 20-0 setback to Iowa in 1984 had been the last time Michigan had failed to score a point in a game. 47-21 Was the final score of Michigan's demolition of No. 2-ranked Notre Dame on Sept. 16, 2006, in South Bend, marking the last time U-M has won a road game against a team that was ranked in the Associated Press poll. Since that victory over the Irish, U-M has gone 0-15 against such opponents on the road — but the Wolverines should have several chances to break that skid in 2018. 46-19 Is the combined 2017 record of Michigan's road opponents this year. Ohio State posted a 12-2 mark last season, while Notre Dame, Michigan State and Northwestern each tallied 10-3 finishes, and Rutgers wound up at 4-8. 1,679 Combined rushing yards for senior Karan Higdon and junior Chris Evans last season, which is the third-highest returning duo in the Big Ten. Wisconsin sophomore Jonathan Taylor and redshirt junior Bradrick Shaw are the top tan- dem with 2,342 yards, while Ohio State sophomore J.K. Dobbins and redshirt junior Mike Weber were next with 2,029 yards. 2004 Was Michigan's last Big Ten title. Since then, four different teams — Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Wiscon- sin — have grabbed at least three confer- ence crowns. The 13-year drought for U-M is tied for the longest in school history, match- ing the skid from 1951-63. 2007 Was the last time U-M had a five-star quarterback on its roster, when it pos- sessed two of them in Ryan Mallett and Chad Henne. Patterson — who was the top high school quarterback in the country in 2016 — gives the Wolverines their first five-star signal- caller in more than a decade. — Austin Fox By The NUMBERS 30 Combined tackles for loss for fifth-year senior CHASE WINOVICH (18) and junior Rashan Gary (12) last season, which is by far the top returning statistical defensive end duo in the conference. The next-best unit coming back intact is Northwestern redshirt junior Joe Gaziano and sophomore Samdup Miller, who racked up a combined 21 tackles for loss last year. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL