Michigan 31, BYU 0
Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog
Over the last eight years, Michigan fans have been trained to expect the worst.
Let it be noted that at 2:04 this afternoon, with a half of football left to play, Brian told me to post muppets when the game ended.
To call this a dominant outing undersells Michigan's performance. The Wolverines outgained BYU 448-105. The Cougars eked past the century mark only on their last drive of the game; that represented their only drive that didn't end in a punt.
While the defense shut down BYU, the offense found their footing, scoring all 31 points in the first half on five consecutive drives. Amara Darboh did a spectacular Odell Beckham Jr. impression, then Jim Harbaugh dialed up a double fake screen to free up Khalid Hill up the seam to set up a three-yard touchdown scramble by Jake Rudock. Michigan went up 14-0 on a methodical 10-play, 90-yard drive capped by a short touchdown pass to Darboh.
The next scoring drive went a little quicker thanks to De'Veon Smith, who burrowed into a pile, popped out the other side, then threw a BYU defensive back to the ground in the open field for a 60-yard touchdown.
"I don't know what he did," said Rudock of Smith's run. "But whatever he did, I was hype and happy for him."
Smith finished with 125 yards on 16 carries before exiting early with an ankle injury. He said after the game he expects to play next week. Rudock had his best game as a Wolverine, going 14-for-25 for 194 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers.
Another Rudock touchdown scramble, this one from 17 yards out, and a 40-yard Kenny Allen field goal capped off the scoring.
Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog
Meanwhile, the defense made BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum's life miserable. Mangum threw for only 55 yards on 28 attempts; his longest completion came on BYU's first drive when a should-be pick took a fortuitous bounce off Channing Stribling's hands. The cornerbacks played lockdown coverage when Mangum had time to throw, which was rare—Michigan recorded three sacks and had Mangum on the run all day. By the end of the game, he was bailing out of perfectly clean pockets.
BYU's top running back, Adam Hine, broke one carry outside for 29 yards and managed only four on his seven other carries. The Cougars finished with 2.1 yards per play. This may stand as Michigan's most impressive defensive performance since the vaunted 2006 unit, even when accounting for the freshman at quarterback.
It's okay to be encouraged. While BYU had more than their fair share of luck through three games, nobody—not even ninth-ranked UCLA—made them look remotely this inept. The same team that put up 405 yards on the Bruins last week only managed a hundred today because Michigan's backups couldn't run out the clock.
"I had a couple occasions to look up and go 'this is good,'" said Harbaugh.
He was far from alone in that regard.
September 26th, 2015 at 8:43 PM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 9:21 PM ^
All of this is by design. Continued improvement, rock solid game plan and adjusting on the fly, this is what trained professionals (read Coaching Staff) do..
Get used to it, this is merely the harbinger of the future. Hope has nothing to do with it intense planning down to the minute detail and constant repetition and preparation gets the desired results.
That being said, today's performance was a thing of beauty but, let's not diminish all the hard work and preparation that went into today's performance.
GO BLUE!!! Beat Maryland!
September 26th, 2015 at 9:29 PM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 10:48 PM ^
September 27th, 2015 at 1:04 AM ^
Help pave the way out the door for a coach on the hot seat. Randy Edsall is not a Big Ten football coach. This was never a secret to me, but he has no remaining defenders. People are eyeing competent types such as Dino Babers.
September 26th, 2015 at 8:40 PM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 8:20 PM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 9:47 PM ^
but I don't want to think about that one...
September 26th, 2015 at 8:26 PM ^
WHO'S GOT IT BETTER THAN US?????
September 26th, 2015 at 11:23 PM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 8:28 PM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 8:35 PM ^
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September 27th, 2015 at 4:13 AM ^
So they weren't trying to execute? While I'm sure that they weren't trying to run up the score, saying that they weren't trying to score doesn't make sense to me. As a coach, you always want good execution. Good execution generally leads to scoring. In the second Rudock definitely held the ball too long, didn't throw the ball to wide open receivers on a couple of occasions and took a lot of unnecessary hits. I am interested in what the UFR shows in the second half.
That being said, it was a resounding victory.
September 27th, 2015 at 8:24 AM ^
September 27th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 8:41 PM ^
You're just an idiot...
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September 26th, 2015 at 9:26 PM ^
September 28th, 2015 at 1:38 AM ^
You are of the opinion that the offense doesn't need to execute in the 2nd half?
September 26th, 2015 at 11:32 PM ^
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September 27th, 2015 at 7:34 AM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 8:32 PM ^
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September 26th, 2015 at 9:16 PM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 9:20 PM ^
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September 27th, 2015 at 6:53 AM ^
September 27th, 2015 at 8:16 AM ^
September 27th, 2015 at 4:00 AM ^
Michigan's D gives up 82 YPG rushing, 122 YPG passing and 204 total YPG. They have given up 8 PPG thus far subtracting out the pick 6 by Rudock vs. Utah.
September 26th, 2015 at 9:16 PM ^
I am so happy to be wrong about this team. A very entertaining game to watch! Now, I'd *really* start believing if we can win against a decent squad on the road.
But, this crow is tasting good with a little spicy BBQ sauce ;)
September 26th, 2015 at 9:40 PM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 11:02 PM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 11:15 PM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 11:17 PM ^
September 26th, 2015 at 11:40 PM ^
September 27th, 2015 at 12:58 AM ^
Harbaugh threw for the home run with 3 seconds left in the half? This pleased me greatly. I can't remember the last time they didn't take a knee in that situation.
September 27th, 2015 at 8:21 AM ^
Not to have other coaches swear what a great guy you are.
September 27th, 2015 at 2:25 AM ^
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September 29th, 2015 at 12:18 PM ^
As others note, I haven't felt like this since Nebraska in 2011. Definitely the last time I thought "OK, we just dismantled a real team. Maybe we are for real ..."
September 27th, 2015 at 8:35 AM ^
I've been hammering on it since Harbaugh was hired: we have vastly superior athletes compared to every team we play, save Ohio State. Now we have superior coaching. We will win games starting right now. There's no reason to expect it to take years.
As Magnus showed on his game preview. BYU has one kid--one--that was recruited by Michigan. Almost every player on our team would've been the jewel of the recruiting class for BYU. For Maryland, Northwestern, Rutgers, Indiana, Minnesota. We have way more talent than Penn State. And, yes, we have way more talent than Michigan State.
Put aside results from previous seasons, put aside arbitrary poll rankings. Look at the talent, the coaching, the on-field results this year. And we're as good as or better than anyone we play this season.
September 27th, 2015 at 8:54 AM ^
and now we know that UM has a better defense than Oregon.....
September 27th, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^
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September 27th, 2015 at 9:35 AM ^
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September 27th, 2015 at 9:38 AM ^
that was beautiful. A dominant performance. Defense was amazing. That poor BYU qb didn't know what to do but run and run some more. That TD run bye Big Smith I would watch a hundred times. Rudock using his legs was nice to see. And that Darboh catch wow. I was remembering M. Walker against NW. If BYU was tired? Poor excuse. What are they now? Go Blue!!!
I think UM has more than one fella that could start for OSU.
September 27th, 2015 at 9:46 AM ^
September 27th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
Game is on BTN in 60 right now -- they just showed De'Veon's long TD run :)
September 27th, 2015 at 10:46 AM ^
Registered just so I could tell you guys congrats. As a buckeye I've been wanting the game to have more implications (i.e. 2006). This is good for college football. Looking forward to 28Nov. God bless.
September 27th, 2015 at 10:54 AM ^
September 27th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^
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September 27th, 2015 at 11:42 AM ^
September 28th, 2015 at 12:54 AM ^
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September 27th, 2015 at 10:58 AM ^
September 27th, 2015 at 11:04 AM ^
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