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72 days until Michigan football: Tommy Doman is elite in this area

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•06/20/24•

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(Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

There are 72 days until the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines football team takes the field in the Aug. 31 opener against Fresno State. Each day until then, we’ll discuss current Michigan events, the upcoming season and/or take a look at a significant number that correlates with how many days remain until kickoff, whether it be a player’s jersey number, a year, a date, a score, etc.

Michigan didn’t have to punt all that much last season, just 53 times in 15 games, with that 3.5 punt-per-game average ranking as tied for the 103rd most in the country. Senior Tommy Doman didn’t even qualify to be listed on CFBStats.com’s punting leaderboard, since he didn’t have a minimum of 3.6 punts per contest (not because he wasn’t productive).

The Wolverines allowed just 73 return yards on 11 punts last season, tied for the 41st fewest in the nation.

One of the ways the Wolverines were able to avoid punt returns was Doman’s high-arcing punts. He was elite with his hangtime, averaging 4.33 seconds per attempt, which checked in second in the country among those with 10-plus punts, behind only Alabama’s James Burnip (4.38 seconds). Third in the nation were two punters at 4.25 seconds, and only 26 averaged 4-plus seconds, showing just how unique Doman’s ability to hit punts sky high is. And all that is with an uncharacteristically poor performance against Alabama in which he averaged 39.5 yards per punt with a 4.01-second average hangtime.

Doman was huge for Michigan last season on the whole, though, and the highlight came in a 31-24 win at Maryland Nov. 18. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy was playing through an injury — clearing ailing — the offense sputtered after a strong start and the defense had to make key stop after key stop.

Late in the game, the Wolverines punted back to the Terrapins up just 29-24. Maryland, which had moved the ball at different points in the game and amassed 247 passing yards, had a chance to take the lead. It was teeth-clenching time for the many Maize and Blue fans who made the trip to College Park to see their team pull off their 1,000th victory.

Doman’s punt hit at the 2-yard line, spun forward and stopped in its tracks inches before the goal line. Michigan downed it and forced the Terrapins to snap the ball into their own end zone. That proved to be dangerous territory, with quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa attempting to throw the ball away, resulting in an intentional grounding in the end zone, which is a safety. Michigan took a 31-24 lead and closed the game out. A 1,000th-victory party and photoshoot ensued on the field.

Michigan football countdown to kickoff

73 days | 74 days | 75 days | 76 days | 77 days | 78 days | 79 days | 80 days | 81 days | 82 days | 84 days | 85 days | 87 days | 88 days | 89 days | 90 days | 91 days | 92 days | 93 days | 95 days | | 96 days | 97 days | 98 days | 99 days | 100 days

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