The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1111798
MAY 2019 THE WOLVERINE 33 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL ett High, stood out in all three phases last year while he hauled in 32 catches for 792 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed for another 290 yards and five scores. More importantly, he's picked up where he left off. Even the defen- sive players and coaches have been impressed with his early development. "Little Mikey Sainristil — he's the guy," cornerbacks coach Mike Zordich said with a grin. "He's had a helluva spring. He's fun to watch. "He's fun to cover; he's hard to cover. But he's pretty electric." And so good that he could play ei- ther side of the ball. Zordich jokingly said he hadn't given up on trying to recruit him for the defense. "First of all, he's very athletic, he's very quick and he's fast," Zordich said. "And when he touches the ball, he's just got this magic. I watched his high- light film from high school seven or eight times — he's just fun to watch. "Defensively, he's a jitterbug, he's out there — boom, boom, boom. When he gets the ball in his hands, he just goes. He finds ways to break tackles, he finds ways to gain yards and score touchdowns. He'll be exciting for us." — Chris Balas KICKERS STILL BATTLING IT OUT Michigan sophomore Jake Moody made his first six field goals last year as a freshman replacing then-redshirt sophomore Quinn Nordin, all in the Nov. 17 win over Indiana. He set a U-M record in his first game place kicking for single-game kick scoring (19 points) and most made field goals. Moody finished 10 of 11 with a long of 48 yards, and the way he's started the spring appears he doesn't want to give the job back. Nordin also has been good, however, and seems to have returned to form after losing his job following a 19-of-24 showing as a redshirt freshman in 2017 (long of 55) and 11-of-16 start in 2018 (long of 50). "It's neck-and-neck right now," Har- baugh said April 3. "Charting all the kicks, it's extremely close. Quinn's like 15 of 17 or 16 of 17, and Jake Moody is 15 of 16 or 15 of 17. "They're right there, neck-and-neck, so it's a good competition going on at kicker." Both continued to kick well through the rest of spring, and they were both perfect in the spring scrimmage. It's to the point that nobody knows who will start the season opener against Middle Tennessee State Aug. 31. "We'll let that crank for as long as it has to go," special teams coach Chris Partridge said April 11. "That's not a competition you ever cut off. You let that thing keep rolling." Moody also handled kickoffs last year and was outstanding. He notched 43 touchbacks on his 89 attempts and was steady from his first game. "I think both of them have only missed two or three kicks this spring," Partridge said. "Quinn has a few deeper ones, but there's no separa- tion between the two. The competition is so beneficial for both of them — if you don't have that, you're compet- ing against only yourself. All competi- tion is beneficial, and they'll each get worlds better just by showing up every day and competing with someone who is equal to them. "I love how they've handled it — they're friends and live together, and that's what you want as a team. I wasn't surprised with how Jake per- formed last year because he's calm, cool and collected. For a guy to be able to kick off right away like he did, it shows he has the ability to do every- thing else. We felt like we had some- thing special in him from the get-go, and he proved us right." — Chris Balas MICHIGAN'S DEFENSIVE LINE HOPING TO PROVE DOUBTERS WRONG One of the biggest question marks for Michigan's defense heading into spring practice was its line. The Wolverines lost both Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich off the edge from last year's unit after the two com- bined for 113 tackles and 24 tackles for loss in 2018. Many believe that replac- ing that prolific duo will not be easy, and 11-game starter Bryan Mone was also lost along the interior. Under new defensive line coach Shaun Nua, the unit is driven to prove wrong those who think it can't con- tinue performing at a high level. "That just motivates us," sophomore defensive end Aidan Hutchinson said of doubters. "We don't care what you have to say, we're going to put our work in and it will show on the field." Part of the reason for the increased confidence in the defensive line is the emergence of Hutchinson, early en- rollee freshman defensive tackle Mazi Smith and redshirt sophomore defen- sive tackle Donovan Jeter during the spring. Each player has impressed their teammates. "There's a lot of potential for all of us," Jeter said. "But Mazi, he's still young. He's supposed to be in high school right now, but I feel for him be- cause I tell him all the time, 'I was you, Jake Moody (pictured) went 10 of 11 on field goals during his rookie season, but he will still have to beat out redshirt junior Quinn Nordin for the starting gig, and head coach Jim Harbaugh said the two were "neck and neck" in early April. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN 2019 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Aug. 31 Middle Tennessee State Sept. 7 Army Sept. 21 at Wisconsin* Sept. 28 Rutgers* Oct. 5 Iowa*^ Oct. 12 at Illinois* Oct. 19 at Penn State* Oct. 26 Notre Dame Nov. 2 at Maryland* Nov. 16 Michigan State* Nov. 23 at Indiana* Nov. 30 Ohio State* Dec. 7 Big Ten Championship Game$ * Big Ten game; ^ Homecoming; $ at Indianapolis