The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/998618
142 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW THEY SAID IT "He might be my new favorite player on the team. He's the kind of youngster you would have been proud to have fathered." — Head coach Jim Harbaugh, referring to freshman fullback BEN MASON in fall camp "There needs to be a way to X-ray a player at the stadium, and there should be a minimum stan - dard of care for the players. We put a lot of emphasis on health and safety, but it didn't even seem sanitary. I wish I would've taken a picture of the actual table given to the visitors to put their players on when injured, because it was ripped and looked like it was from the '20s — just not good. I think it's a pattern in the Big Ten." — Har - baugh on Purdue's medical rooms where redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight was examined after his back injury in the Sept. 23 contest "You can't expect to win when you turn it over that many [five] times. Three of them were 100 percent my fault." — Fifth-year senior quarterback John O'Korn following Michigan's 14-10 loss to MSU Oct. 7 "First and foremost, they physically took it to us, so give them their due. They beat us every which way they could up front and we never had an answer." — Florida head coach Jim McEl - w a i n , w h o i s n ow mentoring U-M's re- ceivers, after U-M's 33-17 victory over the Gators in the s e a s o n o p e n e r Sept. 2 "I love it here. I've said it 100 times, and I'll say it again — Coach Harbaugh has a tremen - dous philosophy of how he coaches this game. I never have to worry about anything but coaching defense — what a beautiful job. I work for the best head man in the country, and I get to practice my craft and hopefully keep the kids happy. When they're not happy, then you have to go. I don't know about the 'lifer' piece, but I'm enjoying every day." — Defensive coordinator Don Brown in late November "I'm just so happy I played and got to go out one more time with my teammates. It meant so much to me and I think you could tell by the emotion after the game. It hit me afterward that I won't be able to put that helmet on again — I was staring at it, and it's crazy to think five years went by so fast." — Fifth-year senior defensive tackle Maurice Hurst after the 26-19 loss to South Caro - lina in the Outback Bowl Jan. 1 in a time where more and more star players sit out the postseason 1. A Lackluster Offense — Michigan's lack of offensive produc- tion was the talk of 2017, and deservedly so. The unit was seldom able to get the job done, which resulted in some mind-blowing sta- tistics — 105th nationally in yards per game, tied for 91st in points per game (25.2), etc. It was also the obvious culprit for U-M's losses, averaging just 14.4 points throughout the five defeats. Granted, there were some key injuries on that side of the ball — freshman wideout Tarik Black and redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight, for example — but nobody expected the unit to struggle as much as it did. 2. Two More Losses To Rivals — Michigan lost to both Michi- gan State and Ohio State again in 2017, dropping head coach Jim Harbaugh's record to a combined 1-5 against the team's bitter rivals. The Wolverines hosted both the Spartans and Buck- eyes in Ann Arbor in 2017, but it didn't seem to matter. U-M did, however, put up a valiant effort against OSU Nov. 25 before eventually falling 31-20, but the same can't be said for its contest with Michigan State, where it committed five turnovers in an ugly 14-10 loss. 3. Youth — Michigan was an incredibly young team in 2017, and that's what many people blamed the season's struggles on. The Maize and Blue started six sophomores, a red- shirt freshman and two true freshmen on defense, and saw eight sophomores, five true freshmen and a redshirt freshman earn starts throughout the year on offense. The youthful presence was obvious throughout much of the season, and attributed to the team being one of the most penalized in the nation (96th nationally, 6.6 per game), along with one of the most turnover prone (tied for 85th, 21). TOP STORYLINES OF 2017 Sophomore offensive lineman Michael Onwenu was one of eight underclassmen to earn starts on offense last fall. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN