Through spring and fall camp, there were whispers about Michigan freshman wide receiver Tarik Black.
Fellow frosh receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, though, came right out and said what most were rumbling about behind the scenes.
“He’s the more underrated wide receiver in the country,” he said of his friend and roommate.
Black admitted to nerves before his first game, an 83-yard performance in a 33-17 win over Florida. He showed them in dropping the first pass thrown his way, some saying it was the first he’d let get away all year. The 6-3, 206-pounder has since made up for it with a 46-yard touchdown and six overall grabs for 94 yards.
He’s gone from playing in front of 100 people at Cheshire (Conn.) Academy to 100,000 in the Big House.
"I've always had that chip on my shoulder coming from Connecticut," Black said. "But I just wanted to go out there and play my game, no matter who I was going up against. And I think I did a pretty good job of that
"I think I expected it to be a lot harder when I came here. Once I realized I was able to make plays I made in high school, I just knew I was able to do it at this level."
Enrolling early helped, he said. It was all about football when he arrived on campus, and he worked on his routes constantly.
"That's what you do, continuous routes," Black said. “They more you do it, you’re going to continue to get better at it.
"Coming in, [playing early] was definitely something that I wanted to do. I knew I had to work my tail off. Learn that playbook. I knew things would happen for me."
But not without hard work. Redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight took him under his wing and went over video with him … hours and hours worth. The two worked on chemistry and timing in the summer, to the point that some predicted Black had everything it took to become only the second receiver in Michigan history to lead the team in receiving as a true freshman.
He appears to be on his way, but he’s still working on certain aspects of his game. Blocking, for one, improved dramatically from week one to week two, but there’s still work to do. Cornerbacks Lavert Hill, Ambry Thomas and David Long have been physical with him in practice and challenge him, and he’s still polishing the other aspects.
“I want to work on my releases a little bit better and my route running,” Black said. “Pretty much everything, to be honest. I’m not where I want to be at.”
He’s getting there, though, and in a year or two could be among the Big Ten’s best.
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