The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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50 THE WOLVERINE AUGUST 2018 S everal publications have re- leased their preseason All-Amer- ica teams, and five members of the Michigan football team were hon- ored — two by all five outlets and another by three. All five of U-M's representatives are on the defensive side of the ball. Junior linebacker Devin Bush Jr. appeared on the most first teams and was awarded such honors by Phil Steele's College Football Preview, Street & Smith's and Sporting News, while Lindy's and Athlon listed him on the second team. "Bush burst on to the scene as a speedy, hard-hitting linebacker for the Wolverines last season, and that trend should continue with a year of experience under his belt," Sporting News' Bill Bender said. "He should improve on last year's totals of [102] tackles, [9.5] tackles for loss and [five] sacks in defensive coordinator Don Brown's aggressive defense." Bush was a finalist for the Butkus Award last season, which goes to the nation's best linebacker. He's ex- pected to lead the defense in tackles again this fall. Junior defensive end Rashan Gary was also a unanimous preseason All- America choice by the five maga- zines. Lindy's listed him on the top team, while he was dubbed a sec- ond-team choice by Street & Smith's, Sporting News and Athlon. Phil Steele's listed him on the third team. In 2017, Gary recorded 66 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and six sacks. Junior viper Khaleke Hudson was named to Sporting News' second team, Athlon's third team and Phil Steele's fourth team. Hudson notched 83 tackles, posted a team-high 18.5 tackles for loss and nine passes bro- ken up, plus tied for the team lead with eight sacks and two intercep- tions. Sporting News listed him as a safety, given his hybrid role on Mich- igan's defense, while the other two honors came at linebacker. Fifth-year senior defensive end Chase Winovich was placed on Ath- lon's second team, while junior cor- nerback Lavert Hill made the publi- cation's fourth team. Winovich had 79 stops, 18 tackles for loss and eight sacks. His sack total was tied with Hudson for team-best honors. Meanwhile, Hill had seven passes broken up and two interceptions in 2017, and is expected to form one of the nation's best cornerback duos with fellow junior David Long. Sports Illustrated released its top 100 players list in preparation for the 2018 season, and six Michigan players were selected. They were Gary (No. 9), Bush (No. 25), Winov- ich (No. 56), Hudson (No. 62), Hill (No. 78) and junior quarterback Shea Patterson (No. 80). Michigan had more players than any other Big Ten school in the top 100 and tied with Washington for the third most players on the list nation- ally. Clemson was No. 1 with nine selections and Alabama was second with seven. Clemson was the only school to have more defensive players ranked than Michigan. The Tigers had six compared to U-M's five. Patterson was the No. 10-ranked quarterback overall and the No. 2 signal-caller in the Big Ten behind Penn State fifth-year senior Trace Mc- Sorley. Gary was listed as the No. 2 defensive tackle (behind Houston junior Ed Oliver) and No. 5 overall defensive lineman. Bush is ranked as the No. 5 overall linebacker and No. 1 in the Big Ten, Winovich is listed as the No. 9 linebacker (despite being a defensive end) and Hudson checked in at No. 11. No other school has three lineback- ers listed in the top 62, but Alabama has two. If Winovich counts as a defensive lineman, it puts U-M tied for third with Alabama for defen- sive linemen in the rankings, trail- ing Clemson (five) and Ohio State (three). Hill was ranked the No. 8 overall cornerback and No. 1 in the Big Ten. — Andrew Vailliencourt CHRIS WEBBER WILL COME BACK AS AN HONORARY CAPTAIN Former Michigan Fab Five stand- out Chris Webber, who was banned from the U-M basketball program for a decade for his part in the Ed Martin scandal in the 1990s, has agreed to come back to Michigan as one of Jim Harbaugh's honorary captains. Harbaugh called in to WTKA's "M Zone" radio show featuring former Michigan running back Jamie Mor- ris when Webber was a guest on the show, and Webber accepted the offer. "I'm just proud to have been a Wol- verine throughout my time there, and more importantly, proud of my association with great men and great organizations like Michigan From the Heart, where we can make a big MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Wolverines Have Five Preseason All-Americans And Six Of SI's Top 100 Players Junior linebacker Devin Bush Jr. was named a preseason All-American by all five major national magazines, leading all Wolverines with three first-team honors and a pair of second-team nods. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN 2018 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Sept. 1 at Notre Dame (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Sept. 8 Western Michigan (FS1) 12 p.m. Sept. 15 SMU (BTN) 3:30 p.m. Sept. 22 Nebraska TBA Sept. 29 at Northwestern TBA Oct. 6 Maryland 12 p.m. Oct. 13 Wisconsin TBA Oct. 20 at Michigan State (FOX/FS1) TBA Nov. 3 Penn State TBA Nov. 10 at Rutgers TBA Nov. 17 Indiana TBA Nov. 24 at Ohio State (FOX) 12 p.m.