The week before the Ohio State game has always been a strange one for Michigan football in the Jim Harbaugh era. Some years, like 2015 and 2019, it saw the Wolverines riding high after beating a solid opponent on the road. Other years, like 2016 and 2018, it's seen rather tight performances against inferior foes in which Michigan stuck to their base plan and gave the fanbase rather bad vibes. In between those two poles was 2017, where Michigan hung with (but lost to) an excellent Wisconsin team and in the process watched their starting QB lie broken like a crumpled piece of paper on the cold Madison grass. 

2021's installment seemed to bounce around at different portions of the game, bad vibes for stretches in the first and third quarters, only then to be replaced by feelings of euphoria that felt more like 2019, made possible by the shambles that is the Maryland Terrapins defense. In the end, it wasn't remotely close in any category but yardage, and Michigan was able to yank their starters by early in the fourth quarter, as the Wolverines rode to a 59-18 victory. The offense was able to move the ball seamlessly for much of the game, the defense was strong for the entirety of the first half before appearing to let up a bit in the third quarter, and the special teams were dominant. Put another way, this happened: 

With touchdowns on offense, defense, and in the return game, U-M scored in all three phases for the first time since October 10, 2015, against Northwestern. #GoBlue

— Chad Shepard (@UMShep) November 20, 2021

An easy, turtle-based opponent has been swept aside. Now the real challenge, 10-1 Ohio State, awaits next Saturday. For a trip to the Big Ten Championship Game. 

-----

Michigan got the ball to begin the contest and frustratingly punted it away after just three plays following a Cornelius Johnson drop. Maryland then drove the ball into Wolverine territory, beginning to send the first BPONE vibes of the day, before Aidan Hutchinson helped stop the Terrapin progress with the might of his 265 pound frame. Faced with a 4th & 4 from the 30 yard line, Mike Locksley succumbed to cowardice and sent out Joseph Petrino for a 48-yarder. His kicker predictably misfired. 

The Wolverines made their second possession count. Johnson redeemed himself, hauling in three passes on that possession, getting Michigan into opposing territory. A 3rd & 10 on the 17 yard line saw Josh Gattis dial up a brilliant playcall to Donovan Edwards, who caught a pass and ran it down close to the goal line. Another savvy play call (PA pass inside the 3) netted Luke Schoonmaker a TD off a pass from Cade McNamara and Michigan had struck first, 7-0. 

The next three possessions between the two teams were empty. Maryland's offense struggled to handle Michigan's pressure, forcing Taulia Tagovailoa to miss on his passes, while the Wolverine possession sandwiched in between was upended when Cade McNamara continued to play whack-a-mole with his offensive line, where the football was the hammer and the heads of his linemen were the moles. By the end of the first half, the RS Sophomore QB had hit two different linemen in the back of the head with the football. Adjusting his arm angle to avoid doing that with regularity will be a key improvement that McNamara will need to make in the offseason. 

Likely out of frustration with McNamara, Harbaugh put McCarthy on the field to start the next drive. But before long, Cade was back in the game. Hassan Haskins converted a 4th & 1, and then a circus catch by Andrel Anthony got Michigan down to the goal line. Two Haskins rushes later and Michigan led 14-0. 

The defense was pretty good (despite all the uncalled holding) [Paul Sherman]

Maryland stitched together their best drive of the first half on the next possession. The Terp OL surprisingly pushed Michigan's defensive line around and then Josh Ross was unable to make a short yardage run stuff on RB Peny Boone. The home team drove into the Michigan red zone on that drive but it fell apart after an avalanche of penalties and two troubling misses by Taulia Tagovailoa on wide open receivers in the end zone. A Petrino field goal broke the shutout. 

The Wolverines responded by driving well into Maryland territory, but a 4th & 4 play from the 40 yard line fell incomplete. For a brief moment in time, it seemed as if Maryland might have the juice to get back in it. A 3 & out and a blocked punt later and we all remembered why Michigan was the much better team. Gifted great field position, the Michigan offense quickly cashed it in on a drive led by McCarthy. A QB keeper went for 14 yards, then McCarthy zipped in a bullet to Cornelius Johnson, and then a pretty pass to Mike Sainristil was hauled in for a circus grab and six points. Moody put the extra point through and Michigan led 21-3. 

Maryland punted again without notching a first down thanks to a sack from Vincent Gray on a CB blitz, and Michigan took a timeout to get one more drive before halftime. Cade McNamara showed immense patience on a 3rd & 11 completion to Daylen Baldwin, and then Donovan Edwards showed out again, getting Michigan down into the Red Zone thanks to several beautiful plays. McNamara dropped in a perfect ball to Roman Wilson in the end zone, but it was called back on a rather questionable chop block penalty. Alas, Michigan was forced to kick a FG given the time constraints, and headed to the intermission up 24-3.   

The opening drive of the second half for Maryland hit a brick wall named Aidan Hutchinson on a 4th & 2 try, and Michigan scored another TD before long. A pretty pass from Cade McNamara to Roman Wilson got Michigan down inside the five and then Haskins punched it in from one yard out, 31-3. At this point, the game was more or less finished. That doesn't mean the intrigue ended. 

Maryland's next two drives were rather disconcerting from the Michigan defense, as the Terps managed to push Michigan's defense around again and scored two touchdowns in a hurry, racking up 149 yards on 15 plays despite accumulating just 96 yards in the entire first half. The optimistic take is that Michigan had let up and begun focusing on The Game next week by that juncture. The pessimistic take is [REDACTED]. We don't need to go there. 

Yet despite two quick Maryland scores, the game never got close because Michigan also kept scoring. In fact, they followed those two Terp TDs with a pair of TDs of their own that required just 5 plays (counting kickoffs) to convert. The first saw Michigan run the Music City Miracle play on the ensuing kickoff, with Michael Barrett catching a pooch kick just behind his own 25 and then turning to throw the ball backwards across the field to AJ Henning, who caught it at the 21 and took it 79 yards to the house. It's the second time in three seasons that the former HS QB Barrett has showed off his arm on a special teams trick play (cool kids remember the other one). I can't say why Michigan chose to run that play up 31-10 on Maryland, but you can't deny it was hilarious: 

Me watching that kickoff return TD pic.twitter.com/9kCH9agIR2

— Alex Drain (@Alex_Drain) November 20, 2021

The other Michigan TD was a return to The Donovan Edwards Show. In the words of our own BryMac, he avenged the memory of Chris Evans by catching a wheel route pass from McNamara and was gone. The electric freshman back, playing in Blake Corum's place, was every bit as good as his 5* recruiting rank suggested he would be today. That Edwards TD made it 45-18 with 1:33 left in the third quarter and if it weren't completely over at that point, an ugly decision by Taulia Tagovailoa (one your author forecasted in FFFF) landed in the arms of DJ Turner II and was returned 42 yards for six points. It was after that play that Michigan had scored in all three phases of the game. 

After that point the game went into snoozer mode. Michigan stopped Maryland on 4th down for the second time on the next series, and then Edwards and McCarthy combined to score another TD on just 2 plays. In scoring 59 points, it was the most Michigan had scored in a B1G game since 2016, when they also hung an identical 59 on Maryland in late October of that year. Anyone who receives snaps with the starters exited the field, and the rest of the game was salted away by such names as Dan Villari and Will Rolapp. 

In totality, Michigan outgained Maryland 514 to 359, but the story was (for maybe the first time all season) about Michigan's Red Zone efficiency. They scored a TD on every Red Zone possession that was not limited by time constraints, and the Wolverines cashed in on short fields, turning drives into TD's with ease. There was a stretch from the late first half until the third quarter that saw the Wolverines score points on six of seven possessions. 

Mike Sainristil's catch was memorable [Paul Sherman]

Cade McNamara went 21/28 for 259 yards on 9.2 YPA, with 2 TD and no turnovers. You'll take that every day of the week, especially considering that at least two incompletions were WR drops. JJ McCarthy was tremendous too, going 5/5 for 58 yards on 11.6 YPA with a TD and also no turnovers. The recipients of that passing efficiency were headlined by Edwards, whose performance deserves recognition on its own. The freshman RB had 10 catches on 11 targets for 170 yards and a TD. Blake Corum traveled to Maryland and warmed up but did not play. Even if Corum is back next week, you have to think Edwards is a part of the offense for good now. 

Cornelius Johnson and Daylen Baldwin also hauled in four catches, while Roman Wilson, Andrel Anthony, and Mike Sainristil had one or two grabs each. Luke Schoonmaker caught two balls, including a TD, and Erick All had a catch as his role was limited (likely to let his lingering ankle issue heal). Altogether, Michigan has an impressive group of pass-catchers at the disposal of their QBs. The run game was not terrific as Maryland keyed in to stop it, but Haskins rushed 20 times for 78 yards and had two scores of his own, in addition to McCarthy adding one with his legs on a QB keeper. 

Defensively, Josh Ross led Michigan with 7 tackles and Vincent Gray and reserve DE TJ Guy added the Maize & Blue's only sacks. Coverage was generally solid, and DJ Turner II's pick six was the highlight of the day for the secondary. It was not a sterling defensive performance, but they did hold Tagovailoa to 19/33 on 5.4 YPA. Perhaps a bigger area of concern is Maryland's running backs rushing for 4.2 YPC on 36 carries, but context of the game flow is useful. 

Michigan advances to 10-1, the fourth time in Jim Harbaugh's tenure that they have won at least 10 games (in six seasons where at least 10 games were played). But Michigan is still yet to get to 11 wins in Harbaugh's time in Ann Arbor, something they can change next week. Thanks to Ohio State's victory over Michigan State earlier today, next week's Michigan/OSU game will be for the B1G East title, the third time in six seasons that The Game is set to decide the division (joining 2016 and 2018). Crucially, it is the first time of those three seasons that The Game is Ann Arbor.  

Ohio State will not be an easy foe, to say the least. The Buckeyes are fresh off dismantling the Spartans with a breathtaking display of offense in the Horseshoe and we need not get into the history of this rivalry in recent years. That game, as always is at noon eastern and will be on FOX. There is no content after the jump.