TheWolverine.com - Outside the interview room

October 20, 2009

Chris Balas
TheWolverine.com Senior Editor

Notre Dame haters - particularly "Rudy" loathers - turn away now. Those who found former Irish walk-on Rudy Ruettiger's story inspiring (and it's okay not to admit it publicly), know that you're not alone. U-M walk-on Jordan Kovacs is right there with you, living the dream and having taken it a step further.

Not only has he played meaningful minutes (including a victory over Notre Dame earlier in the season after starter Mike Williams was injured), he's become a starter. And not only has he earned his way to the top of the depth chart, he's frankly become one of the team's better tacklers.

One line from the film, from the groundskeeper (call him "Roc") to Ruettiger - "You're five-foot-nothing, one hundred and nothing" - might well apply to Michigan's redshirt freshman safety, too, apparent in standing next to him. But unlike Rudy, there was no phone call home to tell his dad, a former Michigan walk-on himself, that he had made the depth chart.

"Actually, that's funny ? I didn't tell anybody I was on the two-deep because I didn't know if it was actually going to end up working out, if Mike ended up getting hurt that I was going to end up on the field," Kovacs admitted with a laugh. "I kind of didn't believe it myself, so I kind of kept that on the down low.

"But it's funny that you bring up Rudy, because I did watch that before both tryouts (for inspiration)."

So it came as a shock to both Kovacs and his family when Williams did, in fact, go down, and defensive coordinator Greg Robinson - who'd just learned his name a few days earlier, Kovacs half-quipped - called for him. He earned the respect of his teammates with his play that afternoon, with some even learning his name for the first time.

"I always got him confused with [walk-on Matt] Cavanaugh," senior linebacker Stevie Brown admitted. "I think his number was 22 [in spring], and Cavanaugh's was around there, too. They didn't have names on the back of their jerseys, so I'd be like, 'Cavanaugh ? no, that's Kovacs ? no, Cavanaugh'. But I've learned his name since then."

Others already knew it well. Sophomore tight end Kevin Koger, who faced off with Kovacs a few times in high school, said he remembered him "a lot," adding, "I remembered that dude is playing all over the field. He used to play so many positions. He was obviously a good athlete, as you can see now.

"He's always been a hitter as a safety coming downhill. But he was also a receiver, so you could see his hands, how good an athlete he was, route running and catching."

But nobody - perhaps not even Kovacs - envisioned 17 tackles at Michigan State, or that he'd become such a key ingredient to the Michigan defense.

Desperation works wonders, Kovacs noted.

"Every walk-on's kind of got that mentality that nothing can stop them, that they are going to go out there and play hard, do whatever it takes to make the team better," he said. "If they happen to be out on the field, so be it.

And if he hadn't decided to walk on at Michigan? He'd probably be a preferred walk-on at Toledo, the only other school that showed serious interest.

"It's a lot of work more than I had ever imagined," he said. "But it's been a lot of fun."

And the good times seem to be just beginning.

Notebook

? Koger has had a number of balls thrown his way this year and never doubted the coaches when they told him he'd get his share, despite years in which tight ends weren't an integral part of head coach Rich Rodriguez's offense.

"I didn't have any concerns. I trusted the coaching staff and what they were telling me," said Koger. "My catches that have come, I have no complaints at all. I'm lucky to be getting as many passes as I am, because we have so many weapons on offense."

? Will center David Molk, out since the second half of the Eastern Michigan game with a broken foot, return this week? That's one of the big question marks for Saturday's game. If Molk had had his way, redshirt junior guard Stephen Schilling said Monday, he'd have played last Saturday.

Since Molk's been cleared by doctors and it's all about pain tolerance at this point, it seems a safe bet he'll be back.

"I think he wanted to lay last week, but the coaches wanted to get him a little more rest. He's wanted to play since he broke the foot in the second half of Eastern," said Schilling. "He'll be out there, I'm sure. It will come down to [convincing] the coaches and trainers, but if it's up to him, he'll play."

? The Rose Bowl seems to be a long shot, especially with two, early conference losses, but Brown doesn't see it that way.

"Watching the way the season's been going and looking at everybody else's overall record and everything like that, I just have a feeling that if Iowa can win out and we can win out, I think there's a good chance we can make it to that January 1 Rose Bowl," said Brown. "That's how I'm approaching it."

It starts beating Penn State this weekend and going from there. The series has been lopsided, but the game has always generated interest.

"They're not officially a rival, but they're always a good team, every single year, year in and year out," said Brown. "They're a team that you want to beat and they're always a top team in the Big Ten. That's the way we look at it ? a team we want to beat and need to beat."

? There's generally not much trash talk between Michigan and Penn State, and this year's back-and-forth has proven tame, too. The closest anyone came to approaching the line was PSU tailback Evan Royster.

"It's a tough place to play," Royster told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of Michigan Staidum. "It's kind of something you really don't try and think about, the fact that we haven't won there in a while or whatever.

"[But] I think we feel like we're the better team and we can go out there and still beat them," he said.

Which elicited a "better be prepared to prove it" response from Michigan senior end Brandon Graham, who noted he and his teammates have been pointing to this game since last year's ended.

Michigan's defense played well for a good portion of the first half last year in Happy Valley but - no surprise - big plays eventually did them in. Graham should be a big test for PSU's revamped offensive line.

? Outstanding outside linebacker Sean Lee told the Gazette he tweaked his injured left knee in the fourth quarter of the game with Minnesota , but insisted it's nothing serious. He was reportedly on the field for 15 plays in his first action in a month.

"It's something that you're just going to have to deal with coming back from spraining your knee," he said. "You're going to feel stuff. Afterwards, I talked to doc, I feel great and everything's good, so I should be ready to practice."

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