game recaps
amara darboh
deveon smith
jake rudock
2015 byu

Michigan 31, BYU 0 Comment Count

Ace


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.

Comments

M-Dog

September 26th, 2015 at 4:33 PM ^

Jake Rudock:  14-for-25 for 194 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers.

With our defense, if Rudock can be this kind of game manager, we can compete for the B1G.

 

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257422

NeveranotherAk…

September 26th, 2015 at 4:58 PM ^

This is Michigan football. Dominating D. Beast mode running by Smith (one of best runs I have ever seen, watched it 5 times). Good play by Rudock. Darboh welcome brother!! No words can explain my joy!!!

Joined: 09/19/2013

MGoPoints: 45

TraumaRN

September 26th, 2015 at 4:59 PM ^

There was a BYU family in front of me at the game today. They were SO SALTY by halftime. Dad straight up rage quit at the start of the 4th quarter. Their one kid was literally in the fetal position during every "You suck" chant and the mom to her credit stayed until the bitter end. When M failed to convert that 4 & 2 to Canteen she turned around and said to me "YAY you guys finally stopped yourself!!!" 

Fantastic game from start to finish. 

Joined: 01/30/2012

MGoPoints: 1095

M-Dog

September 26th, 2015 at 5:03 PM ^

Well, what do you know . . . our 4 and 5 stars are starting to look like 4 and 5 stars.

Isn't it funny how a well-coached team looks like it has scary talent at all positions?

Joined: 07/06/2008

MGoPoints: 257422

Smoothitron

September 26th, 2015 at 5:06 PM ^

He told you point blank to deploy the muppets?  I would have thought the process was more clandestine than that.

You know.  Secret instructions left at a dead drop.  A sealed envelope guarded by 4 burly dudes from PricewaterhouseCoopers.  That sort of thing.

Joined: 05/15/2012

MGoPoints: 3575

BlueCube

September 26th, 2015 at 5:18 PM ^

have taken that for a pick six or at a minimum it should have been  batted down. This was a total beat down. The longest plays were a 29 yard run and a 14 yard pass. When you take those plays out, the 62 yards were over 47 plays or a 1.32 yard per play average. Even with those two plays in it was 2.14 yards per play.

Total destruction.

Joined: 12/12/2013

MGoPoints: 45965

csmhowitzer

September 26th, 2015 at 5:22 PM ^

Fact: We dominated.

People can make excuses for BYU having had emotional start to the season. They were drained and it was an early start. Their players wouldn't make such excuses, fans would. The best part is that the two greatest pieces of this game can't be argued: 1) No Turnovers 2) A Shutout.

BAM! MUPPETS! HARBAUGH!

Our first drive I didn't like it. Then Darboh had that catch and I feel like Rudock just started settling in and looking like, well, I have no idea. We haven't had a QB play like that in a long time. Our D was explosive and hustled to the ball every play. Our D-Line is something to fear. Our DB's are are smart and showing that they're learning very quickly. Pepper's can throw 6'5'' WRs 5 yards to the sideline. We have an aussie punter that likes to put other teams in the danger zone. Our OLine seems like a vet group. Our RBs are great, each one put up good plays. We didn't run up the score. The play calling seemed very balanced and everything seemed to be in a rythym.

WHO'S GOT IT BETTER THAN US!?

Joined: 09/24/2012

MGoPoints: 3659

bacon

September 26th, 2015 at 8:18 PM ^

They barely reached 100 yards of offense. Hell, how many power 5 teams held their opponents to less than us today? I'm guessing none. I'm willing to bet this is one of the top defensive performances of the year for a power 5 team vs another power 5 team.

Joined: 01/04/2009

MGoPoints: 18646

csmhowitzer

September 28th, 2015 at 7:53 AM ^

I comletely agree. Just that it was against a ranked P5 team. A team that was averaging 430yards/game. Utah beat Oregon by 42, Oregon put up 20. On first look that win looks better because well the numbers, but most people when they think about it would prefer their team to have a win like ours. You witnessed a team completley dominating another team. BYU had no say in their fate. That's domination.

Joined: 09/24/2012

MGoPoints: 3659

Fezzik

September 26th, 2015 at 5:22 PM ^

Is the student section still starting all the different versions of the wave when we have large safe leads? This was always one of my favorite parts of attending Michigan games when I was little.

Joined: 09/11/2015

MGoPoints: 5556

charblue.

September 26th, 2015 at 5:34 PM ^

it is to know that our team is back on the rise and so competently coached. Harbaugh's play-calling helped get Rudock off today. He seemed like he was afraid to make a mistake in the second half throwing the ball. Thought he held it way too long. But the play-calling was outstanding throughout. Loved the last-second bomb attempt at the end of the half. 

The defense was a little wobbly against the rush on the first series but the secondary was blanketing, just blanketing. What's so great to see is Channing and Jeremy Clark look so confident in their coverage as the game wore on. 

Now, the next step for our defense is to take the ball away and special teams to make a few big plays. With this Dline and secondary, Michigan can make a statement when MSU comes to call. Just keep building off this performance. That's gotta be the mindset. 

Joined: 05/25/2010

MGoPoints: 11384

snarling wolverine

September 26th, 2015 at 5:39 PM ^

What a game. The crowd was great, much more into it than for a typical noon game. The MMB seemed to be given more space to play than in the first two weeks (the RAWK amount seemed reduced, particularly in the first half). The weather was picture-perfect. And the Michigan football team beat the stuffing out of a ranked opponent in every phase of the game. This felt like the Michigan team I grew up watching. It was beautiful.

Joined: 12/14/2011

MGoPoints: 98328

You Only Live Twice

September 26th, 2015 at 5:44 PM ^

was some of what that 1970s experience was all about.

When a decent team comes to town and is thoroughly dominated..  and the team improves each week.

Joined: 09/14/2013

MGoPoints: 9615

TdK71

September 26th, 2015 at 10:15 PM ^

I Believe 41-3 was the final.. Total domination that day and today.

You know Bo smoked a nice Victory Cigar after that one and this win today...

Bo: "You Gonna Have a Fullback, Jim?" 

Harbaugh: "Yes Bo"

Bo: "You Gonna Have a Tight End, Jim?" 

Harbaugh: "Yes Bo"

Bo: "Hot Damn! You'll do fine!"

 

 

Joined: 11/30/2010

MGoPoints: 2281

softshoes

September 26th, 2015 at 5:45 PM ^

It felt like we were playing Purdue in the 70's. It was nice seeing the opposing qb running around like his hair was on fire instead of ours. First time in years I put the rubber bricks away.

Well done men.

Joined: 09/09/2010

MGoPoints: 11989