game recaps

I got your pass rush right here [Patrick Barron]

There was a moment of discomfort. Iowa had a 2nd & 4 deep in Michigan territory, with the score 20-7 and plenty of time left for another unrushed possession. Cornerback DJ Turner, for our money Michigan’s best defender, lay on the ground surrounded by trainers. Around the nation, text threads of Wolverine faithful began prognosticating:

Easy TD here.

Where’s our pass rush?????!

I can’t believe I’m sayin this Iowa wants it more.

21-20 book it.

Yep. Gonna lose this weird game.

I hate Kinnick

But a quick throw to meaty Iowa TE Sam LaPorta was slammed down for no gain.

except the kids

A slippery cutback by RB Leshon Williams was stuffed after 1.5 yards. Standing on their 8 yard line, Michigan awaited their fate on a 4th and 2, and for some reason their fans were convinced 14 points hung in the balance.

and the kids.

It did feel weird to be worrying just then. After three sleepy quarters it seemed like Michigan was going to walk out of Kinnick with a good ol’ fashioned slow-motion whomping. The offense accepted the opening kickoff and efficiently moved the ball down the field, the line taking care of the first 3-4 yards, and Blake Corum supplying another 3-7 when the next level arrived. McCarthy just missed his one deep shot—to a very wide open Roman Wilson—but provided the accurate outs and checkdowns that were required to game manage a win against the Game Managers. Corum had 29 carries for 133 yards, with Donovan Edwards chipping in 29 yards on 5 carries.

They weren’t breaking them big, but that’s tough to do when facing the #1 defense with All-Americans like MLB Jack Campbell hunting them down. Michigan scored on its first drive with a beautiful Ronnie Bell end-around on which TE Luke Schoonmaker reversed course on a cross to lead Bell to the endzone. Their third drive was promising, and featured a truly Hart-like pile-carry by Corum, but died on a poorly executed speed option that McCarthy pitched without forcing Campbell to commit to him. Another long drive, this one with a great McCarthy throw to Andrel Anthony in The Hole, also sputtered out with a field goal. In between, Iowa had a few of their patented rollouts, but otherwise their best offensive play of the first half was their receiver falling down to draw a holding penalty on Rod Moore. Iowa tried a fake kneel at the end of the 2nd quarter, but Michigan wrangled it down after six yards and took a 13-0 lead into halftime, with a 236 to 91 advantage in yardage.

[After THE JUMP: Fewer texts, subtle flavors of booing]

no caption needed [ABC screencap]

I've reached the point where I'm running out of things to say that haven't been covered here ad nauseam already. Oh, look, another disaster so holistic in nature that it's difficult to tell which macro-level issue is causing each of the myriad micro-level problems. It's time to yell, or feel too resigned to yell, whatever makes you feel something.

Here are some stats from today's loss to a previously winless Penn State team.

  1. PSU, down to their fourth- and fifth-string running backs, rushed for 272 yards on 5.9 per carry before three late kneeldowns out of the shotgun made the numbers look slightly less catastrophic.
  2. The Nittany Lions scored on their opening drive for the first time all season. They covered 75 yards in ten plays.
  3. They also recorded a stop on their opening defensive drive for the first time all season.
  4. As far into the game as the third quarter, PSU QB Sean Clifford had more total yardage than Michigan's entire team.
  5. Quarterback Cade McNamara threw for 91 yards on 25 attempts, but at least there was some explanation: he hurt his throwing shoulder late in the first quarter, had to come off for two drives, and then played the better part of two quarters despite being clearly limited in his ability to pass downfield. He pulled himself after nearly throwing an interception on M's final, desperation drive.
  6. The Wolverines rushed for 6.4 yards per carry and still held the ball for under 24 minutes.
  7. PSU defensive end Jayson Oweh, who committed two offsides penalties that gained ten yards for Michigan, would've been the seventh-most productive non-quarterback for the Wolverines.
  8. James Franklin botched the end of the first half with an unnecessary spike on first-and-goal, leading to a field goal instead of a touchdown. This easily could've been worse.
  9. Then again, Jim Harbaugh called for a first-half punt on fourth-and-three from PSU's 43-yard line.
  10. The offense finally ran an under-center QB sneak. It didn't work.
  11. From The Athletic's Jason Starrett: this is the first time in 1,350 games of Michigan football that the Wolverines lost to an opponent with an 0-5 or worse record.

The state's professional football team of sorts, the Detroit Lions, cleaned house during the game, firing head coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn. As Jim Harbaugh reacted in dismay to Joe Milton's sneak being ruled short of a first down, effectively ending the game, ABC showed the news on the ticker below him.

In Detroit's case, the fans knew it was time to move on before the franchise did, leading to a wasted 2020 season. May Michigan's leadership not make the same mistake.

[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]

when you're not getting fired on the tarmac [BTN screencap]

Congratulations, you just survived the late-night sickos version of the 2010 Illinois game, or the Jersey Shore version of the 2013 Penn State game, take your pick.

For those who went to bed early or chose to do something worthwhile with their Saturday night, Michigan came back from a 17-7 halftime deficit, blew a late eight-point lead, and pulled out a triple overtime victory—at Rutgers. Until one accounts for those last two words, perhaps there'd be some flicker of hope coming out of this, but the overwhelming feeling for Michigan partisans watching this game was wanting it all to be over: the game and this coaching regime.

Quarterback Cade McNamara's five-touchdown (four passing, one rushing) performance in relief of a scuffling Joe Milton gave life to the proceedings and the Wolverines offense. Michigan's overall play, however, was plagued with issues. It took an impressive effort from the running backs, particularly Hassan Haskins, for the team to squeeze out 4.0 yards per carry. The offensive game plan seemed to get scrapped at halftime again, though at least this time it changed for the better.

The passing defense was a disaster, allowing 378 yards on 8.8 YPA to Noah Vedral, whose previous career bests in games with at least 20 attempts were 252 and 7.4, respectively, both of which he posted last week against Illinois. Vedral entered today's game averaging 5.5 YPA with 5 TDs and 7 picks this season; he threw three touchdowns against a lone interception on the game's final, desperation snap.

This game probably didn't move the needle for you. If you thought this coaching staff had run its course, this was a brutal exercise in watching the reasons for that play out in a long, competitive game against freakin' Rutgers. If you thought Harbaugh deserves more time, a win is a win, and perhaps he found a quarterback. (What it says about the coaches that this happened midway through game five is perhaps a point in the former group's favor.)

With this, uh, bounce back to 2-3, Michigan enters next Saturday with a chance to get to a level .500 against a winless Penn State program in a similar state of disarray. Kickoff time is to be announced. Please, you animals, don't put this one under the lights.

[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]

it's real bad!

time to burn all our content from last week

they thought wrong

It’s hard to win on the road in the Big Ten. 

Big Sleep and the six-foot-seven dwarves

where basketballs go to die

On schedule.

keep doing that, please

There is a difference between suggestions and decisions.

backup quarterback's presence is a good thing this time