Michigan 63, Hawaii 3
Chris Evans broke the hundred-yard mark in his debut. [Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog]
It's hard to exceed expectations when facing a 41-point underdog.
Michigan exceeded expectations.
The defense was as salty as advertised, holding Hawaii without a first down until under five minutes remained in the first half; it took until the beginning of that drive for the Rainbow Warriors to get positive yardage. Even with the absence of Jourdan Lewis and Maurice Hurst, who sat out the game due to minor injuries, losing Taco Charlton to an apparent ankle injury early, and rotating in seemingly every warm body on the bench, the defense held Hawaii to 232 total yards and a 55-yard field goal that barely cleared the crossbar. That same Hawaii offense put up 482 yards on Cal last week. Cal's defense is bad, yes. Michigan's did nothing to dispel the notion they'll be elite today.
The offense began the game in ominous fashion when Wilton Speight tossed a pick on his first play as the starting quarterback. To say he bounced back is an understatement; he finished 10-for-13 for 145 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers (Grant Perry, Jake Butt, and Amara Darboh).
"[Jim Harbaugh] just grabbed me, hugged me, and was kinda laughing," Speight said about the aftermath of his ill-fated opening throw. "[He] was like, 'don't worry, we'll get it next drive, don't even sweat about that,' and I was able to do that."
"He responded in tremendous fashion," said Harbaugh, who added the touchdown throw to Perry on the next drive "could not have been thrown any better."
Four quarterbacks played. Eleven players recorded rush attempts. Eleven caught at least one pass.
Of all of them, a true freshman stood out above the rest. Running back Chris Evans rushed for 112 yards and two scores, including a 43-yard burst right up the gut, on only eight carries. He's very much a running back, and he looks at the very least to have locked up the #3 spot on the depth chart behind DeVeon Smith and Ty Isaac.
"I knew Chris Evans is special. What you saw today is what we've been seeing all month," said Harbaugh. "He's a special player and I expect big things going forward."
Delano Hill had one of M's two pick-sixes. [Fuller]
Delano Hill and Channing Stribling weren't content to let the offense do all the scoring. Both recorded pick-sixes, Hill's on a 27-yard return, Stribling's covering 51 yards mere moments after his would-be interception was negated by a late hit on the quarterback. Ball don't lie.
Stribling's score gave Michigan a 49-0 lead with 10:51 left in the third quarter. The rest of the game was essentially an exhibition for the recruiting class of 2016. Receiver Eddie McDoom elicited a few wonderful "McDOOOOOOM" chants from the crowd, taking two end-arounds for 34 yards and gaining another first down with a nifty eight-yard catch over the middle. Michigan's run offense perked up when Ben Bredeson entered the game at left guard. Michael Onwenu played on both the offensive and defensive line; he made his biggest mark at guard, looking every bit as strong as you'd expect from a human neutron star. The list of freshmen to see the field is too long for this recap.
Harbaugh said that the injury that held Lewis out today is "healed," and it was his decision to hold Lewis out today; same goes for Hurst and guard Ben Braden, who was replaced in the starting lineup by Patrick Kugler. All three would've played if the opponent had warranted it. DeVeon Smith's rib injury is apparently minor. We'll have to wait and see on Charlton and Bryan Mone; Harbaugh said Mone will undergo an MRI tonight, though he didn't specify where.
If Michigan managed to escape without significant injury—we'll have to wait and see—then it's hard to imagine the opener going much better. The offense averaged 8.7 yards per play with great balance (10.3 yards per pass, 7.8 per rush), hardly slowing down after the starters took a seat. The defense almost literally didn't cede anything until backups were a major part of the rotation, and they scored two more touchdowns than Hawaii.
No sweat, as they say.
September 4th, 2016 at 8:54 AM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 5:18 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:31 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:33 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 7:04 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 7:21 PM ^
Elusiveness
September 3rd, 2016 at 7:49 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 9:10 PM ^
relax, my sisters... was typing from the app, and from my android phone, that likes to create new words....
September 4th, 2016 at 2:59 AM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 9:08 PM ^
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September 4th, 2016 at 1:15 AM ^
"Elusion" is an awesome new word!
I plan on using it a lot...
Thanks 93!!!
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:34 PM ^
I guess there was not use using up some of his snaps against Hawaii but did Peppers play on offense at all? I don't recall seeing him. I also wished Harbaugh left Speight in a little longer, I really think he could have used some more throws, I seriously doubt injury was a concern and it's not like O'Korn needs reps. Overall, amazing game and atmostphere, we're back and way too dangerous for most teams. Harbaugh.
September 3rd, 2016 at 8:12 PM ^
September 4th, 2016 at 1:28 AM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 5:45 PM ^
When was the last 60-point victory for Michigan? Do we have to go back to the Bo era?
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:59 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 6:17 PM ^
I found the answer from mgoblue.com's game summary - you were right about the score/opponent, but it was in 1975.
September 4th, 2016 at 8:37 AM ^
I was at that game ... it was awesome! Rob Lytle and Gordie Bell had a field day.
Weather that day was miserable ... cold, rainy ... in other words, a great day for football.
September 3rd, 2016 at 7:29 PM ^
on deleware st. some guy who coaches over in the pacific time zone now.
September 3rd, 2016 at 7:34 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 11:43 PM ^
September 4th, 2016 at 1:19 AM ^
I'm on Pacific Daylight - that guy you're referring is not on my time, at least not til around Halloween...
September 4th, 2016 at 4:59 AM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:51 PM ^
played 4 QBs today? I was hoping O'Korn would have played longer.
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:52 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 5:56 PM ^
They are better now at this point then they were at the first game of the season last year.
I'm worried about injuries and the offense needs to work on deep balls, not that they needed it today.
September 3rd, 2016 at 6:07 PM ^
Is it too early to watch it again?
September 3rd, 2016 at 7:23 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 6:21 PM ^
Isaac Nauta just dropped a pass off his hands where he as wide open. He's obviously not gonna amount to anything with UGA.
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September 3rd, 2016 at 11:17 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 6:26 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 7:12 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 7:12 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 7:44 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 8:13 PM ^
- Where was Kareem Walker ?
- WOW Chris Evans (Kareem who?)
- Where were the observations on the other QB's in the article ?
- 232 yards seems too many. Brown defense acheived an average of 252 last year at BC. (am I being greedy ?)
- Was it just me or did we give up too much on quick little slot reciever slants ? They seemed to go back to that a lot.
- Does Kiran Higdon look like he's gotten a 'lot' bigger this year ?
September 3rd, 2016 at 8:31 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 9:05 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 9:50 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 11:43 PM ^
John O'Korn would've gone 13/12 for 300 yards and 4 TDs. Obviously.
September 4th, 2016 at 9:26 AM ^
And thrown to Butt at least twice!
September 3rd, 2016 at 9:28 PM ^
was odd how little okorn played.... or maybe im wrong.
seemed like morris played alot more?
September 3rd, 2016 at 9:46 PM ^
September 4th, 2016 at 5:07 AM ^
Agreed, seemed like Morris played more than O'korn
September 3rd, 2016 at 10:32 PM ^
In the press conference, Harbaugh said Speight won the QB competition "not by a small margin" FWIW.
September 4th, 2016 at 1:38 AM ^
I swear I saw at least 5 post-game tweets that said QB battle was close, close as can be...
Are we seeing the same thing, or is one of us mis-seeing?
September 4th, 2016 at 12:44 PM ^
I think you misheard.
In the post-game presser, Harbaugh said Speight won "not by a WIDE margin" because all the quarterbacks have been consistently good. According to Harbaugh, "Wilton was... just a little bit... just a little better."
He talks about this about 6:00 minutes into his press conference.
September 4th, 2016 at 7:17 AM ^
I would be willing to bet any amount of money that this is not the strategy. As the saying goes, if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. O'Korn will play garbage time, barring a major meltdown from Speight.
It might have started shaky, but he settled in nicely and ended the day with a very good stat line. Two of the TD passes were perfectly thrown balls. He had a much better first game than Jake Rudock last year, and I expect Speight to mature and improve throughout the season as he gets more tape of himself in action for Harbaugh to dissect and teach.
September 4th, 2016 at 9:19 AM ^
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