Michigan 38 Maryland 7
There is a difference between suggestions and decisions. In a mismatch between surging Michigan and a Maryland squad patched together with freshmen and transfers, the preseason beef between last year’s Alabama co-offensive coordinators Josh Gattis and Mike Locksley was mana for the narrative gods.
Steve Levy and Brian Griese grasped for every storyline they could to stave off the yawning. Before the opening kickoff, which Giles Jackson returned for a 97-yard touchdown, they called Maryland RB Anthony McFarland the most explosive player on the field. When Josh Uche ended the first Terp drive with a sack, and Michigan staked itself to a quick 14-0 lead with orbit motions, fullback blocks, and a direct snap to Zach Charbonnet, it was all about how shaky Shea Patterson was looking again. When a solid Maryland drive ended in a redzone interception because Josh Jackson had an unblocked Mike Danna in his chest, the ABC crew switched to yardage. When Michigan stuffed Maryland’s next long drive and Locksley decided to kick a field goal (missed), it was all about what could have been if these trips had resulted in points. When the second half opened with three passes that Michigan defensive backs had a better chance of catching than any Terrapin, they quoted Harbaugh’s boilerplate “we can’t let up” halftime interview.
How do you do? Jackson took the opening kickoff to the house, and for a second there it looked like he was getting a second [Sherman]
When Mike Locksley chose to punt on 4th and short on his 33 after having success all afternoon at running up the middle (and nothing else), they put up a time of possession graphic. And when Michigan responded with a drive that was mostly wide receiver screens to Ronnie Bell, capped off with a play-action touchdown pass to Nick Eubanks off the arc/split zone action Michigan stuck with as the basis of their run game, unless you were charting performance things to predict future events, the nap was on. Gattis’s suggestions for using Michigan’s passing game to open up space for the run game were well-taken.
One chuck, 54 yards, and put it away [Paul Sherman]
Since we are the charting type, Shea’s 6.9 YPA day against a bad Maryland defense looked concerning, especially since Bell’s screens and the one (1) bomb to Nico Collins before McCaff Time are likely to be offset by a slew of high chucks and too-late reads. A few that stand out were a pair of too-high throws to Nick Eubanks and Nico Collins, the latter of which a fade on which an “open” Nico could only try to spear it with one hand, and a low throw that Tarik Black had to dig out short of the sticks.
That set up one of several fourth and short decisions by Harbaugh, this one a fake punt that upback Michael Barrett burrowed into a first down and more. After that the easy bubble (and one orbit screen that was actually thrown!) yards loosened up the small but quick Maryland OLBs, and the Michigan fans who made up at least a third of that half-filled stadium got a few long, audible “Tru!” cheers in before Hassan Haskins got to walk in untouched for the final score.
DPJ was chopped down early but the threat opened up the run game [Sherman]
Locksley’s offense on the other hand failed to score a single point for their homecoming fans—their lone touchdown coming on Javon Leake’s late 97-yard kickoff return. Fellow onetime Terrapin assistant Don Brown’s defense gave up just 233 yards, most of them after the game was long-decided. Michigan’s line alternated between its 3-3-5 look and base 4-2-5 to take advantage of a young, small, and beat up Maryland offensive line, not to mention their injured/clearly shaken quarterback Josh Jackson, who finished 9/20 for under 100 yards. About the only thing that worked was previously unscouted fifth-string quarterback Lance LeGendre, who rushed for 39 difficult-to-defend-looking yards on plays designed to stretch the defense horizontally.
The dudes were the dudes: Uche (two), Aiden Hutchinson, Carlo Kemp, and Khaleke Hudson all got on the sack sheet, and Josh Metellus picked up a pair of TFLs on attempts to beat him to the edge. While Maryland was able to move the ball by pushing piles in the first quarter, that seemed a credit to their backs, unless you’re suddenly concerned about Kwity Paye leaking yardage.
Maryland is bad, and the Michigan machine that leveled Notre Dame and deserved a win for its comeback at Penn State looked as sleepy as the rest of us. It was still more than enough for a comfortable win over a team with a bit of talent that apparently saved a lot of their best stuff for this punch. The Wolverines—and those of us who write about them—now get a much-needed bye week before a final stretch of Michigan State, a dangerous trip to Indiana, and those other guys the announcers couldn’t stop talking about.
Boxscore: LINK
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
Michigan would be easily in the top 10 if they go 10-2 with two top 10 wins. We’d probably end up around 6th after some of the higher ranked teams lose their conference championship games.
November 3rd, 2019 at 12:40 AM ^
I don't see understand why anyone downvoted, you're totally right
OSU will be #2 in the country when we play them. A lot of top teams play each other in the next few weeks. A Michigan team winning five games in a row to finish the season, including two in the top ten and one being OSU would have the media drooling. I maintain that if we win out and OSU only drops a game to us, we'll make the rose bowl if OSU still goes to the playoff.
November 2nd, 2019 at 4:47 PM ^
Nice gamer Seth.
November 2nd, 2019 at 4:49 PM ^
Passing game worries me
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:18 PM ^
Yeah, you love the blowout win on the road. But the continuously updated calculations about tOSU got a bit worse after today. Not much, but a bit nonetheless, because of Patterson's inaccuracy.
November 2nd, 2019 at 4:49 PM ^
When Michigan stuffed Maryland’s next long drive on 4th and short, it was all about what could have been if these trips had resulted in points.
They didn't go for it - they attempted (and missed) a FG.
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:00 PM ^
Ouch. I feel like this blog used to call out newspaper guys for writing about games they didn't actually watch...
November 2nd, 2019 at 6:03 PM ^
Ouch I thought I caught that one on edit. Fixed it with the joke that I meant to use.
November 2nd, 2019 at 6:52 PM ^
Also, the final score of the game was a Quinn Nordin field goal.
November 2nd, 2019 at 4:58 PM ^
What? A balanced perspective? No screaming and ranting? What's this world coming to?
Nice job, Seth. Thanks.
November 2nd, 2019 at 4:58 PM ^
We had two decent passing plays all day, against a fairly crappy defense. Everything else was for shit. Even when our QBs managed to complete something, half the time they made it a much tougher catch than it should have been.
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:16 PM ^
Michigan fans are not fun to be around.
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:22 PM ^
Team wins a game by 31 points, covering the spread. Defense pitches a shutout. Only allowed 182 yards until a late drive against 2nd/3rd string. 3 TD lead at half. Game never in doubt. Starters out before end of third quarter.
Fans still bitching and moaning. Never fails. Majority of the fan base can’t be happy unless they’re miserable.
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:49 PM ^
This.
November 3rd, 2019 at 7:25 AM ^
Agree with most of what you said except I really don't think it is a majority of the fans. I suspect it is actually a small minority, or if not small, a minority nonetheless.
November 3rd, 2019 at 8:08 AM ^
Just a very vocal minority.
November 3rd, 2019 at 2:36 PM ^
Exactly.
When is that ignore user button coming?
Until then, the alternative is to take a break until the posts from the trolls and Eeyores ebb a bit.
Seriously, at times I've asked myself "does MGoBlog" improve my enjoyment of Michigan Football. The complete answer, I believe, is yes except for certain annoying periods
I'm sure the trolls and Eeyores visit all the other Michigan social media sites.
November 3rd, 2019 at 2:50 PM ^
How should we refer to the negative vocal minority?
EeyoreZilly
Zilly is a pilot in the Vulture Squadron. He is a cringing coward, forever running away and having to be fetched by Muttley. Each new plan fills him with dread, and he usually utters his catchphrase, "Ohhh dear! Ohh my!" before retracting his head into his collar like a tortoise into its shell.Other suggestions?
November 2nd, 2019 at 6:51 PM ^
Well, at this point I think most Michigan fans are just worried that the results we are seeing will not be enough to beat OSU. I think if Michigan beats OSU this year, then everyone will be happy with this entire year. Yeah the Penn State game hurts, but they looked good losing. I wasn’t impressed with anything I saw from the offense today. However, if they beat OSU, I don’t care what they looked like against Maryland.
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:03 PM ^
We didn’t play with the intensity of our games against PSU and ND or will play with against Sparty and tOSU. That is to be expected.
Blow out win with no injuries. Still counts as 1 win, which is the goal.
November 3rd, 2019 at 2:26 PM ^
My thinking on this is that a 31 point win is impressive, in and of itself. One can gripe about the QB play, but Shea has a winner’s instinct, and his record shows it. Is he the perfect drop-back quarterback with the pinpoint arm? Maybe not.
I do think we lose perspective sometimes.
Win the next couple of games, and I’ll be pretty happy. And no, that’s not ideal, or perfection, or the team’s goal, but it’s still excellent football. I have my doubts about anyone beating OSU this year. Whether they’re still running on the full tank Urban left behind and will be mortal at some point, who knows. A man can dream.
November 3rd, 2019 at 12:01 AM ^
It's strange they are so mad about a 31 point win, since they assumed we would get our asses kicked
November 3rd, 2019 at 2:29 PM ^
Lots of predictions of the sky falling. It’s really delightful to see them proven wrong.
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:54 PM ^
some of them are, indeed, unrelenting pain-in-the-ass turds that i wouldn’t piss on if they were on fire. most of us are not that,
November 3rd, 2019 at 7:53 AM ^
It was great to see the team build a quick lead and then methodically squeeze MD into a a corpse. Never in doubt at 21-0.
I was actually excited about Gattis throwing the Bell swing passes to each side during the 3rd quarter drive. Live practice of a play that requires timing and skill; hopefully prep for tough games.
November 3rd, 2019 at 12:25 PM ^
Michigan fans are not fun to be around.
It's really just the same 5 pr 6 people on here. It's not "Michigan fans".
I'd like to see a function where if you accumulate enough neg's across a certain amount of time, your account is dropped completely.
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:59 PM ^
You are for shit.
November 2nd, 2019 at 4:59 PM ^
We are a top notch QB away from winning conference championships. The rest of the talent is there.
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:02 PM ^
In other words, we are a very long way from winning conference championships.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:15 PM ^
You're such a joy in this thread, I guess we know what the C in your user name stands for
Also, nice to see you again Maizen.
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:55 PM ^
and you’re a long way from being someone that anyone wants to sit near in the stadium.
November 2nd, 2019 at 8:37 PM ^
This is just a shit ass take. Shea completed 60% of the pass plays called and executed the rest of the game plan with no flaws. The Gattis game plan sucked as he went away from the PSU / ND run game success back to inside zone and spread shit which was total garbage. Why ? Coach Harbaugh needs to take charge of the offense because today was a total turd.
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:12 PM ^
“And Michigan with their third straight 3 and Out.... and it’s FAKE!”...
Fuck you, Levy
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:22 PM ^
...and a gem from not long after that “Maryland had Michigan right where they wanted them”. What?
Who is influencing him to say all this bullshit?
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:35 PM ^
We make it about us but I think its about them. Commenters used to love to praise Hoke teams during valiant tries. We can be one or the other Ill choose this Michigan.
November 2nd, 2019 at 7:49 PM ^
It’s definitely about them wanting to be liked by all fan bases. It’s also an effort to maintain ratings as deep into a pending blowout game as possible.
Both can be accomplished by rhetorically heaping praise on the underdog more often than not.
November 3rd, 2019 at 7:33 AM ^
Thought the announcers had a narrative they were trying to follow. At one point, the even said something like "and another three and out" even though M had gained a first down in the drive.
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:35 PM ^
Man, at this point, I have to ask...
Why are some of you even Michigan football fans?
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:38 PM ^
I assume a lot of the complaints are of the "I can make fun of my family but you can't" variety, where they're overly critical now but if, say, an MSU fan talked shit they'd fight back. Or maybe not; this site created BPONE and it's hard to shake.
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:56 PM ^
"I can make fun of my family but you can't"
My ex-wife ripped on her parents for years, especially her abusive father. Then one day I got drunk and ripped on them myself for the first time(seriously)and she asked me for a divorce. I shit you not.
Women.
November 2nd, 2019 at 10:05 PM ^
She was cheating on you.
November 3rd, 2019 at 7:36 AM ^
I don't think this site created BPONE, but Brians' emo created an environment where others also prone to moodiness felt comfortable.
November 3rd, 2019 at 8:58 AM ^
This site absolutely created the term. There’s really no debating that. The feeling? Obviously. Brian just gave it life.
November 3rd, 2019 at 10:10 AM ^
I meant this site did not create human emotions. It obviously did create a term to describe a set of emotions.
November 3rd, 2019 at 10:54 AM ^
Brian created it because he’s a very good, very clever writer then it became a meme that annoys the ever living shit out of me. May it slip into obscurity.
November 2nd, 2019 at 5:36 PM ^
This is so...measured. I'm not sure how to respond.
Anyway, a good win. It's hard to win on the road, especially after two big games. The complainers will always be out in full (as witnessed here in these comments), but a sleepy 31 point win is better than a lot of teams will get.
November 2nd, 2019 at 9:08 PM ^
Come on. When you do the “best worst” assessment this game plan will be a giant TURD. A brown ugly thing in the shitter.
November 3rd, 2019 at 7:42 AM ^
I don't get this, i thought the D was pretty impressive from the mid of the 2nd quarter until garbage time. I saw sone good stuff from the O especially in the 3rd quarter. Even outside of those times, while giving up some yards the D wasn't getting torched for scores and the offense scored twice in the first half.
November 2nd, 2019 at 6:24 PM ^
#1 thing is the players are in a position to further themselves either into the NFL or a different profession because the program has definitely improved this year.
November 2nd, 2019 at 6:33 PM ^
TIL Giles Jackson is still 17. His birthday isn't until next month.
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