Michigan Wolverines Football: Ben Mason’s Prowess, Slant Routes And More
Michigan players met the media Tuesday night, and Chase Winovich was the highlight. Here’s what we learned …
Many were wondering what fifth-year senior end Winovich was doing with his hands after he was making plays. Some assumed it was frat stuff … it wasn’t. It was sorority stuff, in fact, for a young lady in the hospital who has been struggling — Kate Palermo, a Michigan student Winovich met this summer. Her family asked if he could send a note, but since he was in Chicago for Big Ten Media Days, he stopped in.
“I visited with her for about 20 to 30 minutes,” Winovich recalled … and it was emotional. “[The symbol] is a crown … her mom explained it to me.”
It had something to do with her sorority.
Ms. Palermo was struggling last month but is on the upswing, Winovich said, which is great news.
Also on the upswing … his draft stock. He’s been hearing from scouts that the trajectory is going up, and he’s happy about it. He wants to win here first, though, and that’s what it’s about. He loves drawing the extra attention, he said, because it opens things up for his teammates. He talked about Kwity Paye and Josh Uche and how much they’ve come on … and how much he and Rashan Gary feed off each other.
He’s not sure how many more tackles he’d have had Saturday had they been calling holding, etc., but he was happy they escaped with the win. He was also asked if he watched the Ohio State – Penn State game … he didn’t want to comment, but when asked if Michigan could play with those teams, he got offended.
“We can play with anyone,” he said, noting the Big Ten title was the only goal.
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Winovich was a popular topic among his teammates, too. Safety Brad Hawkins and cornerback David Long spoke about what an inspiration he was with his motor, and they couldn't say enough good things about him.
“He brings a great energy to the team,” Hawkins said. “And he’s a great guy.”
Long tweeted earlier this week asking fans to pipe down with the criticism if they had never played man coverage before. He said he’d seen enough of it that he finally had to respond, and noted it’s tough to be out there alone on an island in Don Brown’s defense.
“We don't pay that any mind,” Hawkins said. “We know what goes on in here.”
Hawkins continues to get more and more comfortable, having learned a lot in his first significant action at safety. He said they’ve been working diligently on the slant passes and covering them, and they are implementing different looks to deal with them in the future.
“It’s a quick route, so having a quick route and playing a little off is kind of difficult, but we fixed it. We’ve got a lot of schemes and stuff coming in. It’s going to be alright.”
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Finally, guard Stephen Spanellis insists he's happy with his role and not frustrated he hasn't played more. It's his role to do whatever he can to help the team win, he said.
He also marveled at Michigan fullback Ben Mason. When asked if Mason was like one of them on the line, Spanellis paused.
"I don’t think Ben Mason is like anyone," he said. "That man is one of a kind, truly unique. You can just see it in his eyes that he just wants to like shove his face into somebody else’s face at full speed. He doesn’t really have any reservations about it … which is kind of rare.
"He kind of has the potential to be a Brandon Jacobs-esque type player for us if we end up using him more as a running back.”
Spanellis wants to see him in that role more. He also called him the best blocking fullback in the country, though he admitted he didn’t spend his spare time scouting many others.
“Have you seen his high school film?” he asked. “Watch it. He runs a 4.6 40. His whole film is of him ripping off 60-yard touchdown runs.”
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