The Wolverine

November 2017*

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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36 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2017 M ichigan redshirt junior quarter- back Wilton Speight was ini- tially thought to have a "soft tissue injury," head coach Jim Harbaugh said after his signal-caller left the 28- 10 win over Purdue in the first quar- ter Sept. 23. Later, however, ESPN reported he had three broken verte- brae, adding he would be re-evalu- ated in about two months (as of Oct. 7) and that it wasn't clear whether he would need surgery. Play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler reported during the Michi- gan State broadcast Speight "is out, probably for the season," though Harbaugh wouldn't confirm the re- port Oct. 9. "He'll be out multiple weeks," the coach said. "I don't know if he'll be out for the year. There are some cracks in there [in the vertebrae]. But I'm not a doctor. That's all I want to say." Speight had completed 54.3 per- cent of his passes for 581 yards with three touchdowns and two intercep- tions before his injury. Fifth-year senior John O'Korn shined against Purdue after replacing him, throw- ing for 270 yards, but he struggled to a 16-of-35 showing with three in- terceptions in the rain in the 14-10 loss to Michigan State Oct. 7, and finished 10-of-20 passing for 58 yards in the 27-20 overtime win at Indiana Oct. 14. — Chris Balas DRAKE HARRIS MOVES BACK TO RECEIVER Michigan redshirt junior Drake Harris moved to cornerback at the beginning of the year to bolster a de- fense that apparently lacked depth. Head coach Jim Harbaugh told the former wideout he felt the move was best for him, noting he had the size (6-4, 188 pounds) NFL coaches were looking for at the position. After weeks of playing sparingly, however, Harris moved back to wide receiver before the Oct. 7 game with Michigan State, purportedly to help a corps that needs it in the absence of freshman Tarik Black. Black is ex- pected to miss several more weeks with a foot fracture suffered in the 29-13 win over Air Force Sept. 16. "He's coming off of a hamstring- type of a setback, but we moved him back to offense at receiver," Har- baugh confirmed of Harris during a Big Ten teleconference. Harris has missed a lot of time the last three years due to injury and has caught only eight passes for 50 yards in his career after breaking records at Grand Rapids (Mich.) Christian in becoming the state's most prolific receiver of all time. He's also flirted with the idea of playing both football and basketball at Michigan. Those close to both pro- grams shared that he even met with   MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Wilton Speight Still Expected To Miss Several More Weeks Before he got hurt, Speight had completed 44 of 81 attempts (54.3 percent) for 581 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN 2017 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time (ET)/TV Sept. 2 vs. Florida* W, 33-17 Sept. 9 Cincinnati W, 36-14 Sept. 16 Air Force W, 29-13 Sep. 23 at Purdue W, 28-10 Oct. 7 Michigan State L, 14-10 Oct. 14 at Indiana W, 27-20 (OT) Oct. 21 at Penn State 7:30 pm /ABC Oct. 28 Rutgers Noon/TBA Nov. 4 Minnesota TBA/TBA Nov. 11 at Maryland TBA/TBA Nov. 18 at Wisconsin TBA/TBA Nov. 25 Ohio State Noon/FOX Dec. 2 Big Ten Championship^ 8 pm/FOX * at Arlington, Texas; ^ at Indianapolis

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