Second and third string were in almost the entire second half. Nothing but up the gut run plays were called. The dogs were called off, but there's no reason not to let the second string guys play. I felt bad for Rutgers as well, but more that they couldn't do anything to make it better.

I encourage you to actually watch the game before complaining about how "unsportsmanlike" we were.

 

If you didn't watch the game, how in the hell can you pass judgment? Unsportsmanlike conduct in this particual situation would have been us snapping the ball and taking a knee three times and then punting. A very good thing came from this game. Ash knows that nearly everyone in a UM uniform played and the backups played as much as the starters. He realizes there was nothing Harbaugh could do to keep the score down. He now knows exactly how far he has to go to become competitive in this league. If he's a good coach, it will show in the upcoming weeks. He will not face tougher opponents, teams there are simply no answers to. I doubt sincerely Urb tried to run the score up either. However, in all my time in coaching I never suggested to the backups not to play as they were taught. Yes, we quit throwing, ran no plays that could even be considered trickery. Hell we did what UM did, straigh ahead dives. 

And the Bottom Line(although it didn't apply here): Lou Holtz shaking Bobby Bowden's hand after FSU smoked ND: "Damnit Bobby, you didn't have to run the score up on us." Bowden's reply, "It's not my job to stop us. It's your's."  It's not like Rutgers is new to D1. 

Away

I understand the sentiment but it was not the case that we ran up the score.

Harbaugh and Ash spoke after the game and Ash acknowledged that we were not trying to run up the score.  

The talent gap between Michigan and Rutgers was very evident six minutes into the game.

When the 3rd string full back can score from the 15 on a fullback dive you know there is no defense happening on the other side of the ball.

Ugh might be the worst comment I've ever read on here. As if losing 49-0 is any less embarrassing than 78-0.

I thought that's what we did. And way to set boundaries on your life.