Michigan 51, UCF 14 Comment Count

Ace



Tyree Kinnel got his hand on not one, but two punts. [Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog]

I can't sum it up any better than this guy did:

Tyree Kinnel deflected two UCF punts, Chris Wormley blocked two field goals, and Khaleke Hudson demolished a kick returner who appeared to be going out for a light jog. The Knights took an illegal block penalty on a kickoff touchback, sent out 12 players for a punt return, and muffed a short kickoff for a Jordan Glasgow recovery.

So that covers the special teams.

Wilton Speight took advantage of a UCF defense intent on loading the box against the run with several pinpoint throws downfield, finishing 25-for-37 for 312 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions. The usual suspects led the way among the receivers; Jake Butt had two touchdowns among his seven catches, Amara Darboh cross the goal line twice and broke the hundred-yard mark, and Jehu Chesson needed only four receptions to tally 84 yards. That more than made up for the running game, which couldn't get much going agianst eight- and nine-man boxes; even with sacks and a punt gone wrong removed, Michigan averaged only 3.7 yards per carry. Fullback Khalid Hill plunged in for two touchdowns, at least, so it wasn't all bad on the ground.



Upchurch

The defense, meanwhile, limited quarterbacks Justin Holman—who exited the game in the first half with an apparent injury—and Nick Patti to a combined 6-for-22, 56-yard performance. A few errors—one of which may have been on the officials—led to an 87-yard touchdown run for Adrian Killins, and the Knights were able to rack up 275 yards on the ground, with a healthy chunk of that coming when the QBs broke contain.

While many fans were concerned about the line play, one Jim Harbaugh didn't share that worry.

"I thought the lines really took care of business today," said Harbaugh. "Both the offensive and defensive lines did a very good job."

Quarterback contain, he admitted, was an issue, but one that he believed Don Brown made the proper adjustments for in the second half.

Rashan Gary had his first big game as a Wolverine, tearing off the edge for his first career half-sack (Ben Gedeon arrived simultaneously) and had two more tackles for loss. Seven different Michigan defenders tallied tackles in the backfield, and Jabrill Peppers was everywhere—he led the team with eight tackles (two for loss), had two QB hurries, and returned a line-drive punt 35 yards deep into UCF territory to set up Butt's second score.

If there's any indication that Michigan has returned to form, it's that the crowd didn't seem satisfied with a 37-point win. Against an overmatched opponent that couldn't even reliably get a kick in the air untouched, the coaches had no need to utilize much of the playbook, which led to some ugly plays but won't reveal anything to Colorado, next week's opponent and Michigan's first that appears to have a pulse.

Comments

erald01

September 11th, 2016 at 9:30 AM ^

Bo was the same way, he would run the ball even if it averaged 1yrd a carry. Most of the games were decided by the defense, and you had games that would end up being really low scoring like 9-3 or 7-6. Fans are spoiled now days because the sport has changed a lot and so has the speed of the players. Everyone wants their RB to avg 5 or more yrd per carry.




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wolvemarine

September 10th, 2016 at 5:54 PM ^

Okie State will be awarded the national title.

Harbaugh is going to fight Frost behind South Quad at midnight.

Don Brown is already selling his house, has reisigned, and is packing his suitcase.

Speight only threw four touchdowns.  He's way behind Barrett.

I need a drink.

Bring on the Buffaloes.

GO BLUE.

gnmck7779311

September 10th, 2016 at 6:08 PM ^

I've been listening to wtka and reading the comments here and one things for sure......some of you need to get a grip.  It's game 2 of season 2......is everything working perfectfully....no.....is there any reason to believe this coaching staff won't improve this team....no.  Again....please get a grip......wow!!!!!

Hotel Putingrad

September 10th, 2016 at 6:23 PM ^

can easily move the ball and score points when necessary and when the box is stacked. Special teams, especially Jabrill and Kenny, are really solid. Still, if we don't have everyone back next week, Colorado will cause some collars to tighten in the second half.

jonesie022

September 10th, 2016 at 6:57 PM ^

I now know where the saying that "Michigan fans are only happy if they are unhappy" comes from.

Under Rodriguez or Hoke, this is a 37-35 victory today folks.

Let's keep things in perspective.




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Sten Carlson

September 10th, 2016 at 7:07 PM ^

Most OL's are going to struggle when the opposing DC decides that above all else, all game long, we're going to sell out on the run.  Hannibal can complain (whine) all he wants, it's a known fact unless the opposition is woefully outmatch.  Obviously, as bad as some people imagine UCF to be, they weren't outmatched enough for Michigan to be able to run the ball into a soldout/stacked box.  Is that a problem worthy of all the hand wringing?  I don't know for certain, but I don't think so.  There are two main reasons that DC's are willing to sell out like UCF's DC did: 1) they don't think the opposing QB can punish them with his arm.  This is MSU versus Michigan with Denard and Gardner.  Basically, they weren't scared, so they took it to them; 2) because it's their ONLY chance to have any chance.  We saw the former versus UCF, with a bit of uncertainly/unknown about whether Speight could win the game with his arm.

maize-blue

September 10th, 2016 at 8:56 PM ^

The defense is still prone to qb scrambles. The offensive line was not impressive. I think Speight and the receivers still have to work on timing. All those issues I think can be ironed out in the upcoming games.

jonesie022

September 10th, 2016 at 8:49 PM ^

OL was not impressive but how many of UCF's rushing yards came from the ONE 87 yard run and the QB scrambles on busted plays and lost containment? I'm honestly asking? The D had four bad plays abs that's what you should expect from an aggressive D.




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Reader71

September 10th, 2016 at 11:23 PM ^

Harbaugh is right about the OL. They protected well. That's half of their job. So, even if the run game wasn't as good as we'd have liked, the OL was ok.

But 74 will eventually have to actually hit someone when he pulls. It's getting silly.

michiganfanforlife

September 11th, 2016 at 9:41 AM ^

Saying that we were running into a stacked box doesn't really paint the right picture. They had NINE guys in the box blitzing like crazy almost every play. That's a total sellout, crazy strategy. Any team that does that will get a full dose of long passing just like we did. I don't have any worries about our run game, and we just took what they gave us. Expecting 7 guys to block 9 is stupid, and some of you need to chill with your "we should be able to run on this D despite their sellout mentality." That line of thinking ends in 27 for 27. I am so happy to have a Coach that adapts to what the opposition is doing!! Go Blue




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Durham Blue

September 11th, 2016 at 2:50 PM ^

I was happy with the offense except for a few three and outs in the second half.  Speight looks on point with his touch.

More concerned about the D getting gashed on the ground around the edges and by the QBs.  Some of that should resolve itself when Jourdan Lewis comes back which will allow us to stack more in the box.  But still, I wasn't expecting UCF to score two TDs.  I thought we'd keep them out of the end zone.

Kevin13

September 12th, 2016 at 10:10 AM ^

crappy teams to start the year and get everyone's feet wet.  Nice to blow out UCF, but I honestly did not think the team played all that great.  O-line play was average and I didn't like how we lost contain too many times on defense.

It will be a lot tougher this week as Colorado runs an up tempo offense and has a lot better athletes then UCF. They also have a very good defense, Michigan will need to play a lot cleaner game this week. I have confidence our coaches will correct the problems, but expect a much tougher game this week.

I hope we get some guys healthy, would be really nice to see Taco and Lewis playing this week as we could really use them.