The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/729750
28 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2016 saw early in camp that he had some- thing potentially special. "He's a great kid, a hard worker and has leadership qualities," Brown said. "He's a big, good looking, impressive guy. There's nothing negative there." BABY BOOMERS In addition to Evans and Gary, 13 other scholarship true freshmen got into the lineup in the opener. Even a pair of walk-on rookies, defensive line- man Josh Myers and wideout Nate Schoenle, saw action late in the game. Receivers Eddie McDoom and Kekoa Crawford saw the field in the first half, while offensive guard Ben Bredeson substituted in behind red- shirt junior Pat Kugler. Linebacker Devin Bush Jr. was on the field on spe- cial teams from the get-go, while tight end Devin Asiasi saw plenty of snaps in the first half. Safety Khaleke Hudson, corners Da- vid Long and Lavert Hill, defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour, linebacker Josh Uche, tight end Sean McKeon and running back Kingston Davis also played. One who made as big a splash as anyone — 375-pound lineman Michael Onwenu — played both ways. "He impresses me yet again," Glasgow said with a grin. "I was watching on the big screen from the bench. He played both ways in his first game in The Big House. That's pretty impressive. "The weight, how he moves, every- thing, make him hard to block. His technique is pretty good for a fresh- man, and his tenacity. I don't know if you saw his defensive snaps, but one of them, he reacted off the ball. He got hit in the hip a little bit, fell down, but knocked a guy back three yards. He's got it all working for him." Some guys have trouble playing at that weight, finding it hard to move laterally. Defensive line coach Greg Mattison said he didn't care what Onwenu weighed as long as he could Michigan's Top Five Freshman Contributors Through Three Games 1. DE Rashan Gary — The defen- sive end has been everything adver- tised and more, working at both end positions. He was initially playing at strongside end but moved over to the weakside in game three and was extremely disruptive. He looked like a linebacker chasing the quarterback on one play — at 6-5, 290 pounds. 2. RB Chris Evans — Evans looked like he might move into the starting lineup after running for 112 yards in the opener with Hawai'i, but he came back down to earth in his next two games. He carried nine times for 35 yards against UCF and four times for 10 yards against Colorado, but he's still got a bright future. 3. OL Ben Bredeson — The left guard had played in all three games, and the offense didn't seem to miss a beat when he was in there. Bredeson has extremely quick feet for his size (6-5, 310) and has the potential to be one of the next wave of Michigan greats up front. 4. WR Eddie McDoom — The speedy McDoom has done most of his damage on jet sweeps, running for 55 yards on five carries around the edge through three games. He'd also caught three passes for 20 yards, including a slant pass against Hawai'i on which he was grabbed but still made a fingertip catch. 5. TE Devin Asiasi — The tight end hadn't caught any passes through three games, but he had played a number of snaps and been integral in the run game as a blocker. He'll only get better. — Chris Balas Running back Chris Evans was ranked by Rivals.com as just a three-star prospect but wasted no time making an impact, eclipsing 100 rushing yards in the season opener. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN