The Wolverine

October 2017

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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OCTOBER 2017 THE WOLVERINE 31 of them even played a game, that he had a great class. "As I've said [before], they have li- cense and opportunity to get in there and play," Harbaugh said before the opener with Florida in Arlington, Texas, a 33-17 Michigan win. The young pass catchers, especially, had caught his eye. "The receivers are doing really well," Harbaugh said. "DPJ [Peoples- Jones] and Oliver Martin and Tarik Black are making a lot of plays. They really are. They are making superb, athletic types of plays. "You rarely see freshmen doing it the way they are doing it." There was a good bet that two of them would play considering the Wolverines lost a pair, Amara Darboh and Jehu Chesson, to the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs, re- spectively. Harbaugh even went so far as to predict which of his frosh would play in the opener. "I'd guess Oliver and DPJ and Tarik are going to be out there, probably [receiver] Nico [Collins], too, at some point," Harbaugh said. "Ben Mason and then those defensive linemen are going to be in the mix, for sure." EARLY IMPACT A few weeks later, all but Martin and Collins were on the field. Martin, whose practice catch over the back of a defensive back made the MGoBlue. com highlight reel and was shared thousands of times online, was work- ing through an injury and didn't dress for the first two games. Collins, the biggest of the group at 6-4, 206 pounds, continued to impress in prac- tice and seemed on the cusp of earning playing time. Black proved to make the biggest impact. He caught two passes for 83 yards in the opener, his first career grab a 46-yard touchdown reception to put the Wolverines up 10-3 on the Gators. "I was a little nervous," Black ad- mitted after the game. He dropped his first pass, one that was almost picked off, before making the big play. "I used to play in front of a hundred people [at Cheshire (Conn.) Acad- emy], and now I'm playing in front of a hundred thousand, so it was pretty nerve-wracking," he noted. "But as long as you just focus and look at the ball all the way in, you should be fine." He also caught a 37-yard fade from fifth-year senior John O'Korn that set up a 55-yard field goal from redshirt freshman Quinn Nordin, helping U-M get momentum back after two pick- sixes put the Wolverines behind 17-10. A week later, he hauled in four passes for 11 yards against the Bearcats. Peoples-Jones, a five-star prospect, contributed in a different way in the opener, handling punt returns. He didn't catch a pass, but he returned five punts for 40 yards (including an 18-yarder) in proving fearless in his first game. He had yet to catch a pass through two games, though redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight over- threw him twice in the 36-14 win over Cincinnati. He did, however, run 44 yards on an end-around and has got- ten more comfortable as a receiver. "I know where the defense is going to be a lot better now," he said after the opener. "I also know my role better now, and how you've got to be a run blocker too as a receiver — those run- ning backs are counting on us to block for them. "The biggest adjustment from high school to college though is learning the playbook and getting used to all the jargon." One of the bigger plays from a fresh- man in the first two weeks came on special teams, but it wasn't a Peoples- Jones return. After the Wolverines grabbed a 20-17 lead over Florida on the first drive of the second half, Thomas stripped the ball on the ensu- ing kickoff and recovered it, leading to a Nordin field goal. Thomas also played cornerback in the first two games, and Harbaugh had also predicted big things for him before the season began. "He's been sensational," Harbaugh said. "I love him. Not too many guys on the team I get along with better than Ambry Thomas. He's mature be- yond his years. I love that about him. There is no softness whatsoever … he's out there every single day. Donovan Peoples-Jones has not made a catch in the first two games of his college career, but he did return five punts for 40 yards in the season opener and added a 44-yard run in game two. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

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