The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 141 29‑13 win), two defenses that finished 94th and 66th nationally, respectively. Still, the Maize and Blue found them‑ selves 3‑0 heading into the Sept. 23 Big Ten opener at Purdue, which resulted in a 28‑10 win. The season changed in a lot of ways that afternoon in West Lafayette, though, when Speight was lost for the year due to broken vertebrae in his back and fifth‑year senior John O'Korn took over as the starter. The veteran shined against the Boiler‑ makers (270 yards, one touchdown) in a 28‑10 win, but his success was short‑lived. The Wolverines proceeded to lose two of their next three games to Michigan State and No. 2 Penn State, respectively, while grab‑ bing a 27‑20 overtime victory at Indiana in between. O'Korn — who threw no touchdowns and four picks during his four starts from Oct. 7‑28 — was benched in favor of redshirt freshman Brandon Peters during the second quarter of an Oct. 28 visit from Rutgers, and the youngster provided new life to the of‑ fense from that point on (U‑M averaged 24.3 points per game in his four starts). Three straight victories against the Scar‑ let Knights, Minnesota and Maryland gave Michigan optimism heading into a mammoth showdown at No. 5 Wisconsin Nov. 18. The Wolverines fought valiantly, but an injury to Peters late in the third quarter derailed any hopes of an upset, and U‑M fell 24‑10. O'Korn was inserted back into the starting lineup for the regular‑season finale against No. 9 Ohio State, and once again, the Maize and Blue battled hard but came up short in a 31‑20 defeat. An Outback Bowl matchup with South Carolina Jan. 1 basically summed up all the season's problems into one game — U‑M turned the ball over five times and had a dif‑ ficult time generating offense, finishing with just 277 yards. The Gamecocks won 26‑19, capping off a disappointing third year under Harbaugh in Ann Arbor. The Maize and Blue weren't necessarily expected to make the College Football Play‑ off heading into 2017. However, hopes of a third consecutive 10‑win season appeared to be very attainable before injuries, ineffective play at quarterback and on the offensive line, and inexperience more than offset a strong effort by the defense, leading to a larger than anticipated step back.❏ 3 Different starting quarterbacks Michigan was forced to use in 2017 (redshirt junior Wilton Spei- ght, fifth-year senior John O'Korn and redshirt freshman Brandon Peters) for the first time since 1984, when Jim Harbaugh, Chris Zurbrugg and Russ Rein all started games. 9 Touchdown passes thrown by three different U-M quarterbacks (four by Peters, three by Spei- ght and two by O'Korn), the fewest for the pro- gram since Rick Leach, Mark Elzinga and Gordon Bell combined to toss five in 1975. 114 Tackles for loss notched by the Michigan defense in 2017, which was tied with Ohio State and Northern Illinois for the most in the country. That number was a slight decrease from 2016, though, when the Maize and Blue racked up 120. 279 Straight home games Michigan has played in front of a crowd of at least 100,000 — a national record that dates back to Nov. 8, 1975. 500th Big Ten victory for Michigan when it defeated Indi- ana 27-20 Oct. 14, becoming the first conference program to ever hit the milestone. 994 Rushing yards for junior running back Karan Hig- don, coming up just six yards shy of 1,000. The Wolverines have not seen a running back eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in a season since Fitzgerald Toussaint racked up 1,041 in 2011. BY THE NUMBERS 51st Consecutive start for senior left tackle MASON COLE when he took the field for the Wolver- ines' against South Carolina in the Outback Bowl Jan. 1. The 51 straight starts matched de- fensive end Craig Roh (2009-12) for the longest consecutive starts streak in program history. 111,589 Fans Michigan averaged per home contest in 2017, marking the 41st time in the last 43 years it has led the nation in attendance. The only two times during that span it did not lead were in 1997, when it checked in second, and in 2014, when it placed third. Only four schools in the land averaged more than 100,000. 5.726 Million viewers for Michigan's nine nationally televised games, the most of any team in college football. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN