The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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left for the NFL following his junior campaign. 2. Jim Mandich, 662, 1969: No one will ever forget Schembechler's first season in Ann Arbor, and Man- dich proved one of his stalwarts. He caught 50 passes that year, a counter to those whose dimmed memories insist that Schembechler didn't even throw 50 passes in any given year. A captain that year, Mandich recorded his U-M tight end-record 10 catches for 156 yards and a touchdown against Purdue. The consensus first- team All-American passed away in 2011. 3. Doug Marsh, 612, 1979: An- other S chembechler mainstay, Marsh put together a strong sea- son in 1979. His catches that year included a 71-yard reception in a 54-0 win over Wisconsin. A year ear- lier, he'd caught a pair of touchdown passes from Rick Leach in Michigan's 1978 victory over Notre Dame, a showdown between Leach and the Irish's Joe Montana, in the resump- tion of that series. Marsh earned All- Big Ten and third-team All-America honors for his 1979 campaign. 4. Eric Kattus, 582, 1985: Michigan's present head coach knows this year and this tight end very well. Kattus became a favorite Jim Harbaugh target, gather- ing in 38 passes on the season. That Michigan team didn't win the Big Ten title, but wound up No. 2 in the nation following a Fiesta Bowl victory over Nebraska that left the Wolverines 10-1-1 on the season. Kattus made eight touchdown receptions in 1985, still a single-season record by a Wolverine tight end. 5. Bennie Joppru, 579, 2002: Joppru set the Michigan standard with his 53 catches for Lloyd Carr's 2002 crew, a team that went 10-3 and beat Florida in the Outback Bowl. Joppru ranked second on the team in both catches and receiving yards, earning first-team All-America status from Pro Football Weekly. He saved his best for last, posting a career-best 80 yards worth of receptions in the bowl victory over the Gators. — John Borton Devin Funchess set a Michigan tight end record with 748 receiving yards in 2013 en route to being named the Big Ten Kwalick- Clark Tight End of the Year. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL