Michigan 63, Hawaii 3
Chris Evans broke the hundred-yard mark in his debut. [Bryan Fuller/MGoBlog]
It's hard to exceed expectations when facing a 41-point underdog.
Michigan exceeded expectations.
The defense was as salty as advertised, holding Hawaii without a first down until under five minutes remained in the first half; it took until the beginning of that drive for the Rainbow Warriors to get positive yardage. Even with the absence of Jourdan Lewis and Maurice Hurst, who sat out the game due to minor injuries, losing Taco Charlton to an apparent ankle injury early, and rotating in seemingly every warm body on the bench, the defense held Hawaii to 232 total yards and a 55-yard field goal that barely cleared the crossbar. That same Hawaii offense put up 482 yards on Cal last week. Cal's defense is bad, yes. Michigan's did nothing to dispel the notion they'll be elite today.
The offense began the game in ominous fashion when Wilton Speight tossed a pick on his first play as the starting quarterback. To say he bounced back is an understatement; he finished 10-for-13 for 145 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers (Grant Perry, Jake Butt, and Amara Darboh).
"[Jim Harbaugh] just grabbed me, hugged me, and was kinda laughing," Speight said about the aftermath of his ill-fated opening throw. "[He] was like, 'don't worry, we'll get it next drive, don't even sweat about that,' and I was able to do that."
"He responded in tremendous fashion," said Harbaugh, who added the touchdown throw to Perry on the next drive "could not have been thrown any better."
Four quarterbacks played. Eleven players recorded rush attempts. Eleven caught at least one pass.
Of all of them, a true freshman stood out above the rest. Running back Chris Evans rushed for 112 yards and two scores, including a 43-yard burst right up the gut, on only eight carries. He's very much a running back, and he looks at the very least to have locked up the #3 spot on the depth chart behind DeVeon Smith and Ty Isaac.
"I knew Chris Evans is special. What you saw today is what we've been seeing all month," said Harbaugh. "He's a special player and I expect big things going forward."
Delano Hill had one of M's two pick-sixes. [Fuller]
Delano Hill and Channing Stribling weren't content to let the offense do all the scoring. Both recorded pick-sixes, Hill's on a 27-yard return, Stribling's covering 51 yards mere moments after his would-be interception was negated by a late hit on the quarterback. Ball don't lie.
Stribling's score gave Michigan a 49-0 lead with 10:51 left in the third quarter. The rest of the game was essentially an exhibition for the recruiting class of 2016. Receiver Eddie McDoom elicited a few wonderful "McDOOOOOOM" chants from the crowd, taking two end-arounds for 34 yards and gaining another first down with a nifty eight-yard catch over the middle. Michigan's run offense perked up when Ben Bredeson entered the game at left guard. Michael Onwenu played on both the offensive and defensive line; he made his biggest mark at guard, looking every bit as strong as you'd expect from a human neutron star. The list of freshmen to see the field is too long for this recap.
Harbaugh said that the injury that held Lewis out today is "healed," and it was his decision to hold Lewis out today; same goes for Hurst and guard Ben Braden, who was replaced in the starting lineup by Patrick Kugler. All three would've played if the opponent had warranted it. DeVeon Smith's rib injury is apparently minor. We'll have to wait and see on Charlton and Bryan Mone; Harbaugh said Mone will undergo an MRI tonight, though he didn't specify where.
If Michigan managed to escape without significant injury—we'll have to wait and see—then it's hard to imagine the opener going much better. The offense averaged 8.7 yards per play with great balance (10.3 yards per pass, 7.8 per rush), hardly slowing down after the starters took a seat. The defense almost literally didn't cede anything until backups were a major part of the rotation, and they scored two more touchdowns than Hawaii.
No sweat, as they say.
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:17 PM ^
Evans looks like the real deal. Gary's first step is slower than in high school, but overall a lot to look forward to. Go blue.
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:42 PM ^
My favorite comment was suggesting Hawaii should go for it on 4th down because "they traveled 6000 miles to get here." He actually seemed to be serious
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:29 PM ^
Hawaii's travel agent has a head-set and gives input on offensive plays.
September 3rd, 2016 at 6:57 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 6:57 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 9:04 PM ^
My favorite was when, after more than a hour of broadcast time, he noticed that Jourdan Lewis wasn't on the field and said, "He might be their best corner."
September 4th, 2016 at 8:49 AM ^
He followed that gem by saying there might be a discipline problem that accounts for Lewis not being on the field. Really? Jourdan Lewis with a discipline problem?
Jeez, man, do some homework before you call the game...
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:13 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 6:58 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 7:57 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:18 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:18 PM ^
I'll take the fact that Charlton isn't going in for an MRI as a positive. The Mone news is a little concerning, but it all depends on the MRI results.
Any news on Furbush?
September 3rd, 2016 at 8:20 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:19 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 4:21 PM ^
Your shtick isn't funny
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:33 PM ^
Kinda sad when you resort to concern trolling on a day we win by 60
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:46 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 4:51 PM ^
Or maybe because he has a prior knee injury they want a MRI just to be safe.
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:59 PM ^
You're acting like every time a player is sent for an MRI it comes back with catastrophic news. How often do you hear of a player being given an MRI and the results coming back negative? It happens fairly often.
Maybe they sent for an MRI because Mone has had ankle issues in the past, and he aggrevated his ankle today (which is what the initial reports are), so the staff is being precautionary. They don't expect any structural damage, but since it has been recurring, they just want to double check.
Similarly you may have had some experience, but you are not Bryan Mone. He is an NCAA athlete with Michigan's athletic staff. Even if he is injured, it may not be season ending. It could just be for a few weeks, Or maybe it is all season. But with so many unkowns, for you to come here and claim he's done for the season, is asinine.
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:04 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 5:18 PM ^
I mean sure, as of now it seems the most serious of the potential injuries. But considering there's news out there for every other injury saying that they are minor, and Mone is going for an MRI, that's pretty obvious. It still doesn't guarantee it's serious though, especially season ending serious.
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:17 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 9:34 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 6:36 PM ^
Of course they're not going to send a patient for an MRI if manual orthopedic testing doesn't suggest there might be already be a problem. That doesn't mean MRIs don't dome back negative.
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September 3rd, 2016 at 7:22 PM ^
should make the diagnosis. what's weird about it is jarbaugh said they would do it tonight. if it were really that bad then the edema would force them to wait a few days before doing the imaging. so...maybe not horrible? who the hell knows
September 3rd, 2016 at 9:28 PM ^
They will get an MRI at the drop of a hat. In the world of copays and deductables, etc, a history and exam that doesn't suggest a meniscal tear or ligament injury won't get an MRI. Hell, your insurance company may deny it until you do six weeks of therapy.
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:40 PM ^
I have had 2 MRIs and each time it was to eliminate the worst case scenario. Each time I was fine and had no injury.
September 4th, 2016 at 2:42 AM ^
September 4th, 2016 at 6:08 AM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 4:21 PM ^
The Mone MRI news is very troubling in that perspective; that's a big blow to depth very early in the season.
Other than that, Football is back. And it's fun. And we are really good. Woo!
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:22 PM ^
Deveon Smith might have gotten Mike Hart'ed
Evans..wow
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:28 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:27 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:27 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:29 PM ^
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September 4th, 2016 at 9:29 AM ^
Plus, Smith can block. I'm not sure how many pass blocking situations Evans was put in, but that's going to be important against a bigger and more physical team than Hawaii.
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:43 PM ^
Evans is the real deal, but Smith was hurt in first or second quarter. They are very different backs and both will get the rock
That aside, we still need to see if Evans can pass block.
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:37 PM ^
Evans is the real deal, but Smith was hurt in first or second quarter. They are very different backs and both will get the rock
September 3rd, 2016 at 5:58 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 6:09 PM ^
They are very different backs and both will get the rock
(This also makes games of rock-paper-scissors between them rather tedious.)
September 3rd, 2016 at 6:09 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 8:47 PM ^
David Underwood'd. As in getting Wally Pipp'd. But Smith still starts next week if the rib issue isn't serious.
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:25 PM ^
McDOOOOOOOOOOOM! Can't wait to watch Evans more this year and for the next years to come! Gotta love how fast these freshman are!
September 3rd, 2016 at 7:13 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:25 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 7:23 PM ^
northwestern and BYU were pretty damn complete victories.
September 4th, 2016 at 6:01 AM ^
We never punted yesterday. We never approached that level of domination in either the Northwestern or the BYU games.
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:26 PM ^
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September 3rd, 2016 at 4:26 PM ^
September 3rd, 2016 at 4:30 PM ^
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