Kornacki: Wolverines Ready to Respond
11/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 13, 2016
By Steve Kornacki
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Wilton Speight had always found a way to win. He came in to lead a comeback win at Minnesota on a wild Halloween night last season and had registered a 'W' in his first nine starts this season as the Michigan quarterback.
Speight's magic touch wasn't to be found Saturday night (Nov. 12), though. His great timing and touch on deep balls, which had resulted in 362 yards passing the previous week against Maryland, all but totally vanished in a 14-13 loss to unranked Iowa.
The Wolverines, ranked No. 2 last week, couldn't get it going on the ground with 35 carries for 98 yards, and Speight couldn't make the Hawkeyes pay in the passing game. He was 11-of-26 for 103 yards with one interception.
So, how did Speight handle defeat and how will he handle it moving forward?
The indications he gave while surrounded by reporters afterward, standing barefoot in athletic undergarments, was that he would meet the challenge to improve head on, just like he accepted Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh's challenges to make vast improvements in his game to go from an after-thought quarterback to the starter in their second season together.
"I don't think it was really aiming the ball," said Speight. "I don't think it was anything (in particular). It was just an off night, I guess. The passing game wasn't really clicking, and that starts with me."
He accepted accountability, and he continued doing so during the interview while eventually pointing to the next game.
Beating Indiana at home this Saturday (Nov. 19) and winning at Ohio State Nov. 26 are the challenges ahead. And should the Wolverines win out and take the Big Ten championship game, they most certainly will be one of four teams in the College Bowl Playoff.
That's a huge undertaking, but it is there for the taking.
Michigan passing game coordinator Jedd Fisch pointed that out to Speight and other players after the loss.
"That was ultimately the goal -- to finish the season undefeated," said Speight. "But I talked to Coach Fisch, we've all been talking, and everything is still out there for us. We just have to handle our business for the rest of the way in the remainder of the regular season and just let it play out.
"It's all still out there."
However, the season-low scoring total assured that there's no longer any room for error for the Wolverines (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten).
The offensive struggles began early and continued through the fourth quarter for a team that had been averaging 48 points per game.
Speight's interception on an out-cut pass to Jehu Chesson on third-and-nine with 3:43 remaining came on a bang-bang play with Iowa cornerback Manny Rugamba pulling it away at the Iowa 25-yard line.
"We had a good play drawn up," Speight said. "I threw it out to Jehu, and I'm not really sure what happened."
It was a wild night at Kinnick Stadium, with 70,585 packed in and screaming for an upset.
"It's just a rowdy crowd," said Speight. "There was a little miscommunication and stuff in the huddle. Obviously, it's up to me making the play calls. They were going nuts. We knew they were going to be a hostile crowd, and we're going to take their best shot. But they got the better of it tonight.
"It was a crazy atmosphere, a night game in Iowa. It's a tough place to come in and play, but I left a couple out there on the field."
He missed Amara Darboh, wide open and streaking into the end zone, for a 51-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
His pass at the end of the first possession of the game was initially ruled a 13-yard touchdown to Chesson, but a video review changed it to an incomplete pass because officials determined Chesson didn't drag one foot into the end zone and caught the ball out-of-bounds.
His pass on the very next possession to Darboh was called an 18-yard touchdown, only to once again be nullified following a replay review.
Kenny Allen kicked 26- and 51-yard field goals to salvage points from two of those three lost touchdown possibilities and gave Michigan leads.
Allen is an example of overcoming unsuccessful performances to shine. He went one-for-four in field goal attempts against Colorado and Wisconsin, nearly costing Michigan a close victory against the Badgers, and Coach Jim Harbaugh opened competition for the job. Allen won that in practice, correcting his mechanics and timing, and has made eight consecutive attempts since.
"Kenny's been huge for us all year," said Speight. "People were calling for his head, and he ignored it. He just kept on kicking and doing his job, and that was a (51-yarder), that was incredible. Hopefully, we'll need him throughout the rest of the year, and he'll still be good for us."
However, not enough Wolverines stepped up and found a way to make the difference like Allen did. Speight wasn't alone in not playing up to his normal standards.
Co-captains Chris Wormley and Jake Butt both gave short, impassioned speeches to their defensive and offensive teammates, respectively, during the fourth quarter.
It was time to pull one out of the fire and get the win.
"It's the fourth quarter, and we make a great field goal and get Strib's pick," said Wormley, referring to Channing Stribling's interception with 1:54 remaining to play. "We have to go back out there. Emotions are running high. We're two captains, two seniors, two leaders on the team, and we have to get the team going."
Though, when Iowa kicker Keith Duncan kicked a 33-yarder as time expired, it was a one-point loss for the Wolverines.
"There's nothing we can do about it now -- the this and that, and what we should've done," said safety Dymonte Thomas, who had a game-high 10 tackles. "All we can do is control the future, and so that's the only thing we're focused on. It allows us to see how strong we really are. This allows us to see how we're going to bounce back and respond.
"Every team is going to face adversity throughout the season. So, the best teams are the ones who can overcome adversity. So, now we're going to see how we respond. But I've got faith in my guys and believe we are going to respond well."
Speight agreed that Michigan will bounce back Saturday against the Hoosiers.
"It'll be behind us just like a win," said Speight. "We enjoy the wins for a couple hours on Saturday nights, and we're going to be (ticked) off about this and mourn this a little bit. And then, just like after a win, it's on to Indiana next week. It stings, but it's life, it's football, and we'll figure it out and figure out how to get a win in the win column next week.
"We'll put it behind us. The beauty of it is that there's a lot of goals to be attained. It starts with how we react to this loss, how we move on and figuring out what we need to do."
