Michigan 33, Florida 17
Ty Isaac repeatedly broke into the open field. [Chris Cook]
The score doesn't do it justice.
Outside of two no good, very bad plays, Michigan put it on Florida. The Gators offense had no answer for Don Brown's defensive strategy, which was to bring heat from all angles around a three-man line, eschewing a DT in favor of speed an unpredictability. Two first-half pick-sixes by Wilton Speight, a bizarre illegal formation penalty that negated Michigan's first touchdown, and a blocked punt not only kept Florida around, however, but allowed them to take a 17-13 lead into halftime.
Eventually, the score reflected Michigan's dominance. The offense turned up the tempo on their opening drive of the second half, springing Ty Isaac free for 18 yards on a fourth-and-one to set up a Karan Higdon touchdown plunge. While the offense could only muster two Quinn Nordin field goals—and two Nordin missses—after that score, the defense hardly required help. They held the Gators to a total of 192 yards and capped the scoring when Noah Furbush dove on a fumble forced by Chase Winovich in the end zone.
Yes, the defense technically returned only one starter, and that starter, Mike McCray, missed a couple series early for reasons unclear. They hardly missed a beat, stiffening up in the red zone to hold Florida to a field goal on their first drive of the game, then outscoring UF's offense 7-0 the rest of the way. Maurice Hurst, Rashan Gary, and Chase Winovich made a three-man line feel a whole lot like a four-man line to the Florida offensive front; linebackers Devin Bush and Khaleke Hudson often flew into the backfield unimpeded; the young secondary didn't let anything get over the top. Michigan finished with six sacks, 11 TFLs, four forced fumbles (one on special teams on a great rip by Ambry Thomas), and five pass breakups. They were aggressive. Florida had problems.
Chase Winovich's strip-sack effectively ended the game. [Cook]
The offense would've fared nearly as well if not for those two Speight interceptions; the first bounced right to Duke Dawson off the hands of Kekoa Crawford, and the other sailed over an open Grant Perry into the hands of CJ Henderson on the ensuing possession. The next two drives were turned over to John O'Korn, who could only get Michigan into position for a 55-yard Quinn Nordin field goal.
Save for that stretch, Michigan moved the ball with regularity against a strong UF defense. Running back Ty Isaac put forth the best performance, rushing for 114 yards on only 11 carries, repeatedly breaking into the secondary as the coaches dialed up running plays on passing downs. With sacks removed, Michigan ran for 6.1 yards per carry, which kept the offense moving despite an uneven day in the passing game.
We saw flashes of what the aerial attack can look like. Tarik Black exploited a Florida bust for his first career receiving touchdown in the first half and added an impressive catch from O'Korn down the sideline; Grant Perry had a couple tough catches over the middle; Sean McKeon picked up a couple first downs on catch-and-runs; Nick Eubanks had a big play up the seam late to help seal the game. There are a lot of weapons, and while many of them are still getting acclimated to college ball, it's easy to see the potential.
Michigan overcame some self-inflicted adversity to get past their first of four major tests slated for this regular season. The next one, at Penn State, doesn't occur until mid-October. If the Wolverines hold this form while cleaning up some of the more heart-stopping mistakes, they have a great chance of heading into that game 6-0. Consecutive home games against Cincinnati and Air Force should allow them to carry this momentum into conference play.
September 2nd, 2017 at 11:46 PM ^
I hope you're right about Speight. He is the best we have for this year. Just can't give up points to the other team like that and we'll be fine
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September 3rd, 2017 at 12:34 AM ^
he just needs to slow down the game and make fewer mistakes.
September 2nd, 2017 at 11:18 PM ^
Was against a decent team. We will roll over the next 4-5 games but allow everyone to get the schemes down. By the time psu, wiscy and osu come calling, we will be ready. Gonna be a great season.
GO BLUE!!
September 2nd, 2017 at 11:20 PM ^
what the fuck?
September 2nd, 2017 at 11:43 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:26 AM ^
I mean, if you aggregate Speight's stats against the decent teams he's played (even excluding a poor performance against OSU in 2015) which would be CO, WI, PSU, IA, OSU, FSU, and FL he has a 56% completion rate, 7 TDs and 7 INTs, 186 yards/game, and 5.9 yards/attempt. Can't criticize the decision to play him much since no one has shown anything better. But it also looks increasingly clear that his ceiling is ~2002 Navarre and that we almost certainly will not win a CFP with him iat QB. B1G title maybe since that mostly just means beating OSU/PSU but doing that, and win a B1G title game, and 2 playoff games is going to take some stellar QB play eventually. But maybe that's ok, going say 11-2 with an OSU win would be a big step forward for the program until McCaffrey in 2019.
September 3rd, 2017 at 1:24 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 1:29 AM ^
was great to see Lawrence Marshall get on the field. He got a fumble recovery on a play that many players would have quit on when the QB broke contain. He kept hustling and pursuing and ended up getting the fumble recovery.
September 3rd, 2017 at 7:23 AM ^
While it was frustrating seeing us run the ball so often, usually between the tackles, not to huge success, leaving us in some long 3rd down situations, clearly it had a positive effect in the game as I thought Michigan wore Florida down leading to some of those late gainers. I would've liked to see Evans get more opportunities in space, but he ran the ball tough. I don't think it's where it needs to be, but it was very effective and the OL did good most of the time and even great at times. I liked what I saw overall.
Defensively, my only concern is depth at CB. I thought both Long and Hill had moments against a Florida team with half an arm amongst their three quarterbacks. Watson had that nice pass break up too. Hoping for a clean bill of health for those guys.
Special teams were good. Nordin is going to steal the show, but the kick off guy whose name I should learn was excellent. Most of the kicks were deep. On the fumble, there was some great hang time that enabled Michigan to get down there and make a play. Besides the blocked punt, I thought the special teams was very good, despite the turnover.
Obviously, the big talking point is going to be Speight. He needs to be better. He made some bad throws. Some baaaaaaad throws. I do think that he'll adjust. Save for the second interception, his worst throws, to me, were due to the fact that he didn't let his receivers make a play on the ball. There were quite a few throws that carried the receiver out of bounds. He has a talented set of young receivers that he's going to have to trust to make plays. He doesn't have to make perfect throws; he has to make good throws. Lastly, I think, at times, he was locked in on certain receivers. I actually don't mind making a quick decision and I don't think that he was necessarily tipping where he was going with the ball, but he definitely looked decisive. As a result, it seemed there were a few open receivers that he missed.
Happy with the performance and the win. That's what's important. I do wish the scoreline more reflected the beat down that it was.
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:02 AM ^
I could be way off, but it looked like that paid off big time with opening up the outside runs as well as it wore down the defensive line that had depth issues by the end of the game.
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:13 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 9:01 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 3:22 PM ^
to DPJ on fielding punts. That's a special gift for a treacherous task. He will take a couple to the house this year.
September 4th, 2017 at 12:30 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 8:38 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 9:37 AM ^
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September 3rd, 2017 at 9:52 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 9:01 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 9:25 AM ^
Wilton Speight is Michigan's biggest problem. I like our team very much. Defense looks great again. Loved the 3-4 look on D. Looked like the offensive line improved as the game played on. Backs ran tough with good vision. Obvious the game was a blowout. Complete dominance over a offense that should have been dominated. If Florida's front four is top notch then I would like to say Michigan will be favored in every game leading up to the Game.
September 3rd, 2017 at 9:48 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 10:20 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 11:05 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
September 4th, 2017 at 9:13 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 9:41 AM ^
- Ty Isaac should start. In 11 carries he gained over twice as many yards as Evans, who had 22. I know Ty has had to work his way out of Coach Jim's doghouse, but he's a big, rangy, fast, and apparently durable back who fits M's offensive scheme. He should start and get the bulk of the carries. And the O-line actually blocked for him! Who knew?
- Really happy to see Lawrence Marshall get some meaningful minutes.This guy has been laboring in obscurity during his entire M career. But he's hung in there, earned scout team honors, and finally saw the field in something other than garbage time. And he recovered a fumble. Good work, Lawrence, I hope you're part of the regular D-line rotation.
- Hill and Long. Although Long got banged up (not seriously, we hope) he and Lavert Hill (and Brandon Watson) did some great work (Hill with 4 solo tackles and two BUs). Watson's been around and will be a valuable contributor, but Hill and Long will only improve as the season goes along. M's CB situation seems to be in better shape than most anyone predicted before Saturday.
September 3rd, 2017 at 1:43 PM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 4:36 PM ^
No one seems to have noticed that Foug's kickoffs were soaring hang-time galour beauties that landed right at the goal line. And Yes, I had o scrounge to find the poor kids name! End result is a number of perhaps unavoidable runbacks that ended well for Michigan. 8 kickoffs total:
4 touchbacks and 1 touchback eq (ran out to 26) (and if memory serves me, the 26 yarder coulda/shoulda been tackled deaper)
2 run backs to the 15.
1 run back that was fumbled and turned over at the 15
Nothing like having the best defense in the country get the chance to start creating havock at their15! Or, better yet, our OK offense starting at their 15. Touchbacks are safe and secure, but we picked up 20 yards and 3 points as a direct result of these kickoffs and suffered no downside.
September 4th, 2017 at 9:55 AM ^
September 3rd, 2017 at 4:37 PM ^
State will finish 6th in the Big 10 East.
September 3rd, 2017 at 7:00 PM ^
Beating up on Florida regularly.
GO BLUE!!
September 3rd, 2017 at 9:58 PM ^
September 4th, 2017 at 9:56 AM ^
September 4th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^
The "SEC Speed" meme needs to die... and I think this Michigan defense might be just the thing to kill it.
September 4th, 2017 at 3:03 PM ^
September 4th, 2017 at 2:20 PM ^
September 4th, 2017 at 6:37 PM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 2:22 PM ^
September 5th, 2017 at 2:22 PM ^
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