It just keeps coming and coming -- that is, former Michigan high school football standouts now succeeding and excelling in college football. This past Labor Day opening weekend for college football has been nothing short of amazing when it comes to Michiganders taking the spotlight and being front and center when it comes to their individual performances on the gridiron. Here's another sampling of players from the Great Lakes State making their mark on the collegiate level.
Tennessee 42, Georgia Tech 41 (2 OT) -- It was junior RB John Kelly's (5-9, 205, Oak Park) coming out party for the Vols in their national prime time win over the Yellow Jackets Monday night. Kelly led the Tennessee attack with a team-high 128 yards rushing on 19 carries with four touchdowns, including two in overtime. Head coach for the Vols is Michigan native Butch Jones (Saugatuck).
Va Tech 31, West Virginia 24 -- In one of the best games of the weekend, redshirt freshman QB Josh Jackson (6-2, 215, Saline) garnered the national spotlight in his first career start, going 15-of-26 passing for 235 yards and one TD, while rushing for 101 yards with one touchdown. Jackson, the son of longtime U-M running back coach Fred Jackson (current Ypsilanti head coach, who was interviewed after the game along with his son), is the first freshman QB at Va Tech to start the season opener since Michael Vick in 1999. For West Virginia, sophomore RB Martell Pettaway (5-10, 210, Detroit King) played well for the Mountaineers finishing with 19 yards rushing on two carries. On a sidenote, helping train and prepare the West Virginia players is Chelsea native and current Mountaineer assistant director for strength and conditioning, Darl Bauer (Hillsdale College) -- a player I covered for a few years back in the day when I was a sports editor for a paper out in Washtenaw County. Too cool...
CMU 30, Rhode Island 27 (OT) -- Senior QB Shane Morris (6-3, 210, Warren DeLaSalle), a transfer from U-M, came up big for the Chippewas finishing 25-of-49 passing for 226 yards and one TD with one interception. Senior WR Corey Willis (5-10, 175, Holland) led the squad with eight receptions for 43 yards, while sophomore WR Brandon Childress (6-2, 195, Baldwin) added four catches for 20 yards and one TD for CMU. Defensively, the Chips tied a team record with six interceptions for the game. Senior DBs Amari Coleman (5-11, 190, New Lothrop) and Josh Cox (5-11, 200, Warren DeLaSalle) each snared two interceptions for CMU. Junior LB Alex Briones (6-2, 240, Ishpeming) led the Chippewas with 11 tackles, including one interception and one sack. CMU head coach John Bonamego is a native Michigander (Paw Paw, same city as NFL 2-time Pro Bowl DE Jason Babin). A stat I really like is 18 of CMU's 22 starters are from the state of Michigan. I'd like for all of our five D-I football playing schools to have that type of home grown starting ratio.
EMU 24, Charlotte 7 -- Redshirt junior RB Ian Erikson (5-10, 210, Clarkston) was named MAC West Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 37 yards on seven carries and scoring two TDs for the Eagles in their season-opening victory. Defensively, redshirt junior DE Jeremiah Harris (6-5, 255, Temperance Bedford) led EMU with nine tackles and 1.5 TFL.
USC 49, WMU 31 -- Despite the setback, the visiting Broncos showed themselves well against the No. 4-ranked team in the nation. The Trojans didn't pull away until late in the fourth quarter. Senior DB Darius Phillips (5-10, 190, Dearborn Heights Robichaud) was electric against USC, scoring on a 100-yard kickoff return (his third 100-yard kickoff return for a TD in his career) and had one interception and three tackles for WMU. For his efforts, Phillips was named the MAC Special Teams Player of the Week. Junior DB Sam Beal (6-1, 185, Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills) also had an interception, while senior LB Asantay Brown (6-0, 215, Muskegon Mona Shores) finished with seven tackles and one sack for WMU. Offensively, redshirt sophomore QB Jon Wassink (6-2, 205, Grand Rapids South Christian) played well in his first career start, ending up 11-of-22 for 67 yards passing, rushing for a 7-yard TD and catching (yes, catching) a wide receiver pass for a 27-yard TD reception. Redshirt sophomore WR Anton Curtis (6-1, 195, Detroit East English Village) led the Broncos with three catches for 30 yards. Like CMU, Western has a dominant Michigan flavor to not only its entire roster, but in its line-up as 13 of the Broncos' 22 starters hail from the Great Lakes State.
MSU 35, Bowling Green State 10 -- One of the most heart-warming and inspirational moments of college football's opening Labor Day weekend, was MSU junior CB Tyson Smith's (5-11, 170, Orchard Lake St. Mary's) 38-yard interception return for a touchdown against Bowling Green State last Saturday. Smith suffered a stroke last year and has made a remarkable recovery. His "pick six" and his story was shown/told on virtually every national sports highlight show last weekend. Junior TE Matt Sokol (6-6, 250, Rochester Adams) caught a 13-yard TD pass for the Spartans and finished with three catches for 31 yards. Sophomore WR Trishton Jackson (6-1, 180, West Bloomfield) recorded three receptions for 41 yards, while senior RB Gerald Holmes ended up with 40 yards rushing on nine attempts for MSU. Defensively, junior S Khari Willis (6-0, 215, Jackson Lumen Christi) finished with three tackles for the Spartans. For BGSU, redshirt senior WR Teo Redding (6-1, 175, Warren Michigan Collegiate) started and caught two passes for 38 yards, while also starting on offense for the Falcons were redshirt senior TE Hunter Folkertsma (6-6, 250, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central), who had one reception for 19 yards and redshirt junior OT Austin Labus (6-6, 295, Portage Northern).
U-M 33, Florida 17 -- Now I see why U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh (Ann Arbor native) famously slept over at Quinn Nordin's house during a recruiting trip to his sophomore kicker's Rockford, Michigan home. Nordin (6-1, 195, Rockford), the nation's No. 1 kicking prospect coming out of high school, certainly looked the part Saturday against Florida, booming four FGs (25, 30, 50 and 55-yarders) and three PATs helping lead the Wolverines to victory. Also standing out for U-M offensively were junior WR Grant Perry (6-0, 190, Birmingham Brother Rice), who finished with four receptions for 46 yards, while redshirt senior FB-HB Khalid Hill (6-2, 265, Detroit East English Village) started and had five yards rushing on two attempts and sophomore Michael Onwenu (6-3, 350, Detroit Cass Tech) started at OG for the Wolverines. Defensively, sophomore DB Lavert Hill (5-11, 175, Detroit King) started and ended up with four tackles, one TFL and two pass break-ups, while senior DT Lawrence Marshall (6-4, 290, Southfield) recovered a fumble for U-M. Though in the rotation at WR, freshman Donovan Peoples-Jones (6-2, 200, Detroit Cass Tech) was also a standout on special teams, returning five punts for 40 yards for the Wolverines. Starting for Florida defensively was sophomore LB David Reese (6-1, 240, Farmington).
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