Michigan 49, Western Michigan 3
[Fuller]
Michigan’s defense was suffocating. Michigan’s offense was a breath of fresh air. Combine that with a special teams unit that blocked a punt and almost blocked a field goal that would make Southerners condescendingly mutter “bless your heart,” and the worst thing that happened at Michigan Stadium today was the press box nearly failing to have a halftime spread. Fear not, though, as the food was delivered in time for your author to return to his seat just as the third quarter began. It was just that kind of day.
The offense looked good for one play, a quick throw to Gentry in the flat out of a tight bunch that picked up a first down on the first play from scrimmage, before drawing grumbles. Pre-snap confusion forced Michigan to call a timeout on the next play, which was followed by a Juwann Bushell-Beatty false start. Michigan picked up four yards on their next three plays and was forced to punt, doing nothing to quell the fire and fury of a fanbase scorned.
An apparent run-fit issue resulted in a 25-yard rush from LeVante Bellamy on Western’s first offensive snap. Bellamy then picked up one yard on a reception before Jon Wassink sailed a pass, then nearly had his next attempt intercepted. Michigan’s offense got the ball back and took the game over from there.
Shea Patterson got things going with the improvisational skill he was lauded for as a recruit and during his time in Oxford, firing a cross-body dart into a miniscule window along the sideline for Oliver Martin. Karan Higdon then moved the offense from Michigan’s 33-yard line to Western’s 16 in three plays, including a weaving 43-yard carry that saw him make all the right cuts. Patterson hit McKeon in the flat off a waggle on the next play, and as McKeon turned up the sideline he found a way to undulate his body over the pylon.
Michigan’s next offensive drive lasted one play, as Karan Higdon popped through a hole to his left on what looked like a pin-and-pull, then outran everyone—his own blockers included—before tight-roping the home sideline past a pursuing safety and into the north end zone. Higdon ended the day with 13 carries for 156 yards.
[Fuller]
Michigan’s run game was excellent in all facets; the offensive line blocked well, the tight ends (Gentry and McKeon in particular) were moving defenders, and three backs averaged 8.6 yards or more per carry. Chris Evans had 10 carries for 86 yards and two touchdowns, including one where he made a missed pull right by recovering from a shot that knocked him off balance and diving into the newly blue-painted end zone.
The passing game was similarly excellent, with nine different players recording a catch and four scoring touchdowns. Shea Patterson finished 12-of-17 for 125 yards and three touchdowns and showed impressive accuracy in and out of the pocket. His prettiest throw of the day came on a redzone play during which the offensive line allowed plenty of time to dial up a perfectly placed ball that gave Donovan Peoples-Jones room to take two full steps before going out of bounds. Dylan McCaffrey, who entered in the fourth quarter, used his feet to keep a drive alive, then found offseason hype target Jacob McCurry for an 18-yard touchdown.
[Upchurch]
While the offense’s tide was rising, the defense did what fans have come to expect them to do: solve their problems with aggression. After allowing the aforementioned 25-yard rush early in the game, Michigan allowed 2.3 yards per carry the rest of the first quarter, 1.1 yards per carry in the second quarter, 2.3 yards per carry in the third quarter, and 3.9 yards per carry in the fourth quarter (a quarter in which almost every starter was eventually shelved). Lavert Hill, David Long, and Brandon Watson were in the hip pocket of their assignments throughout the afternoon, with Watson achingly close to recording an over-the-shoulder interception for the second week in a row; it was knocked away in the collision with the receiver and Josh Metellus, which says about all you need to know about Michigan’s coverage. Between that and the defensive line, which was stout up the middle and again collapsed the pocket and allowed the opposing quarterback precious little time to throw, Michigan’s defense looked like a vintage Don Brown group.
Special teams was an adventure. The good: Will Hart booted all his punts over 50 yards, Khaleke Hudson blocked a punt that Joe Hewlett recovered and returned 10 yards, and Michigan would have blocked a field goal that was attempted down 49-0 with under three minutes to go if not for an Ambry Thomas offsides call. The bad: Quinn Nordin missed a 40-yard field goal attempt, and Donovan Peoples-Jones, who had been making great fielding decisions, fumbled a return that he recovered for a loss of five.
Even so, Michigan had no option but to put on this type of performance. A loss would have turned a season of questions into a season of infinite pain; the subsequent run on supplies at Ann Arbor Torch and Pitchfork would have been unlike anything we’ve seen in… [/checks record book, is deeply uncomfortable with recent history] uh, it would have been really bad, okay? A dominating win gave Michigan’s offense more game-speed reps to build on, and next week’s home contest with 0-2 SMU, which lost by 23 points to North Texas, should provide more of the same.
September 9th, 2018 at 5:01 AM ^
What a dumb comment. I'm glad we won but did not get "a whole lot of enjoyment" out of stomping a team we always stomp, particularly a team going thru a recent coaching change etc. So in my opinion you can take your stupid implication that I'm any less of a sports fan and.........nevermind.
September 8th, 2018 at 11:03 PM ^
Did what they needed to do and were expected to do. Blew out an inferior opponent and dominated in all aspects of the game. If the game had been close I would worry. I saw some improvement and hope it continues
September 9th, 2018 at 6:34 AM ^
You want to feel “meh”? How about losing to Norte Dame 31-0. Or losing to Appalachia State. I’ll take all these I can get.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:18 PM ^
Runyan still looked like shit. Stiff and lunge-y.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:18 PM ^
Bruh didn’t watch like 95% of game and I feel great.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:26 PM ^
I was worried it'd be all run run run and wanted to see some passing. Glad we got 4 passing TDs. Need to see more reps passing to believe we really have an offense - it's a hypothesis still and not yet a theory.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:29 PM ^
Good job Adam.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:29 PM ^
Expected,
still well played blue.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:32 PM ^
DPJ May be a good athlete but it’s time to let someone else return kicks
September 8th, 2018 at 10:21 PM ^
Ah, DPJ, the popular whipping boy for the uninformed. The kid is fine back there and he will continue to improve. I'm not a "the coach always knows best" person but, here, he has been chosen for this role for a reason. Give this line a rest.
September 9th, 2018 at 5:07 AM ^
What "line" exactly did you read into his opinion that we try someone else in the return position? Some of us are tired of the same old line from sensitive commenters that rush in to throw up all over any one who expresses the slightest bit of criticism regardless of how constructive if not accurate it may be. Real tired.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:34 PM ^
C’mon guys; a blowout in a rivalry game like this is huge for the team.
We’ve only got a couple of months to get ready for Rutgers!
September 8th, 2018 at 5:40 PM ^
One step closer to the mythical State Championship. Luckily, we get to duck Eastern this season.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:36 PM ^
I mean. . . yeah. Feel bad for overmatched WMU but this was basically a bye week or a disaster so yay it was the former. Even Borges could run up the score on a cupcake before the program really fell apart so I don’t think we learned anything. Whee?
September 8th, 2018 at 5:55 PM ^
Running up the score on a cupcake was not something we were able to do last year. Every team we beat was still in it halfway through the 4th quarter last season so I consider this improvement. Yes, there's still issues with the tackles. Yes, we didn't throw that much. But considering this game wasn't going to tell us much anyway, I'll take that improvement.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:06 PM ^
This could have become a Utah State/App State/Eastern Michigan moment. It is nice that it looked like an organized beat down... comfortably boring. I was comforted by my boredom and general lack of worry about the outcome of the game.
September 8th, 2018 at 5:42 PM ^
Nice to see the offense run the ball nd score points. But until that happens in conference play I’m not getting too excited
September 8th, 2018 at 6:03 PM ^
I'm encouraged by how we did it: Sound running game with the center making generally good calls at the line, pin point passes, and accurate deep balls. The last two we have been missing for YEARS, at least on a consistent basis. Last year, our QB's could not hit a person deep no matter how wide open they were or how good the protection was. Two weeks in a row, multiple accurate deep balls... Nice. Also, with the running game, the runs between the tackles looked well organized, well blocked, with good muscles. I wish we would have done more of this vs. Notre Dame, as I am afraid going Shot Gun Slinging played into the strength of ND's defense.
On the down side: The ability for WMU to get pressure on the QB so easily and so quickly == concerning. I cannot begin to fathom how they will game plan around having Nick Bosa lining up across from whomever we sacrifice at the alter in the Shoe.
September 8th, 2018 at 9:16 PM ^
The pressures were mostly either safety blitzes that outnumbered the OL or designed naked bootlegs where a guy was intentionally left for the QB to outrun. The only one where OL screwed up that I remember was on Bredeson. Shea had a lot of time on the deep balls which is pretty encouraging. I actually felt pretty good about the OL on a rewatch. Yeah, Western's not great, but we weren't handling Cincinnati last year nearly as well.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:11 PM ^
Is it acceptable to love a team, but have a massive distaste for the majority of a whiny-ass entitled fanbase? Unfortunately, I think that's where I'm at.
Nothing is ever good enough for some entitled "fans" unless we cheat and become Alabama.
Seriously, can we ever be happy with 10-3? A clean, legit, pure 10-3? After the last decade, I'm fucking fine with it! I'm not putting on pads anymore. I can appreciate the effort put forth by the student-athletes.
Sorry for the rant, but I had to get it out there.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:40 PM ^
Yeah, that was a fantastically fun game to watch. I haven’t had much fun watching in years. The game was significantly better than the grumble-fest moral victory Brian predicted and I expected. It was a tromping. Time to enjoy what’s great about Michigan football for a Saturday.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:44 PM ^
How would we have gotten a “moral victory” against WMU?
September 9th, 2018 at 1:04 AM ^
Winning but not winning big enough to be satisfying was the sense Brian caught in his write up although without those words.
Everyone says moral victories. Who knows what the heck they mean by it.
September 8th, 2018 at 7:34 PM ^
I think a lot of people would be content with 10-3 so long as among the 10 there were wins over OSU and MSU and ND at least half of the time we played them. I think failures in those games more than anything else have people freaking out.
September 9th, 2018 at 5:14 AM ^
Reading all the comments above and below that span from mild criticism to tempered optimism and not a single one rises to the level of "whining" or "freaking out." Not even close. The delicate goofballs here that righteously claim any short of sunshine and smiles in comments are sad as hell.
September 9th, 2018 at 12:12 PM ^
The first line of this "rant" should be in place of the lame and irrelevant "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't activate that brand" line below the banner.
Yeah, probably wouldn't be a good move business-wise given it would offend too large of the readership.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:11 PM ^
I was at the game. I did a pretty good job of putting the hell that has been this week away and just enjoy being at the big house.
A blowout and vanilla offense was expected. But it's still a win. It started out ugly on that first drive going 4 plays and punting. The crowd started booing. Then there was the ref who called us Michigan State, which made us boo ten times louder.
Patterson looked good for as little as we threw. The defense was great. And I was extremely happy there was no turnovers (since we've been turnover prone for a good ten years now.)
I know the majority of folks will say, "but it was just Western." Fine. Just....let me be happy for a week. Go Blue!
September 8th, 2018 at 6:32 PM ^
Was also there and loved it too. But felt like the big house was rather low energy. Maybe because of the low stakes.
The team the team team the team banner they unfurled was way cool
September 8th, 2018 at 6:42 PM ^
Yes! I loved the banner as well.
I also loved how quiet the stadium got when Bo's voice played over the speakers saying his, "the team, the team, the team" speech.
The crowd wasn't going to get up big for this game but they seemed happy anyway, other than that first drive.
And the cloudy and cooler weather was nice too. It would have been awful if we had that 93 degree weather we had earlier this week.
September 8th, 2018 at 9:35 PM ^
It was a great atmosphere today. WMU is clearly missing PJ Fleck, and for the first time in a long time I felt compassion for another team. Is Bellamy all they have? I had almost forgotten what it was like to say, let's go and get lunch/make a phone call/use the bathroom etc. "after the next touchdown"
Good shot in the arm for the team and coaches, and fun to see walk-ons get a piece of the action.
One week at a time. Oh, and apparently Purdue lost to EMU. Brohm must have been apoplectic.
September 8th, 2018 at 10:37 PM ^
They also have Drake Harris - a former 5*. I think he had 1 catch... Which speaks volumes as to why he transferred. I do wish them (both WMU and Harris) well the rest of the season.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:33 PM ^
Tru Wilson can push the other running backs to run harder
September 8th, 2018 at 9:00 PM ^
Tru and the second team line were moving the back in chunks on the ground. Yes, against WMU subs, I know, but it looked good.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:12 PM ^
Bonus for Ben Mason taking out two defenders on Higdon's first long run.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:14 PM ^
Don’t really know/care what it means in the big picture. It’s just nice to see Michigan lay waste to an opponent again.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:25 PM ^
Celebrate all wins
September 8th, 2018 at 6:30 PM ^
Michigan didn't allow 30+ points in their home opener like Michigan State, Penn State and Ohio State did. The defense pitched a complete game. The offense looked better than it did at any time under Wilton. Dylan McCaffrey threw a touchdown to a wideout. This team looked good.
September 8th, 2018 at 6:49 PM ^
Obviously blowing the doors off Western doesn't make me feel okay about the fact that we were 9-9 in the preceding 18 games. But I'll tell you that it's a hell of a lot better than not blowing the doors off Western.
September 8th, 2018 at 7:19 PM ^
Jesus. Lots of shit talking . This is how you win these games if you have solid talented team. And it happened. So be happy and let’s see this thing out in the Wisconsin game. SMU blows so nothing will be learned there. And i think we beat Nebraska by two scores
September 8th, 2018 at 7:24 PM ^
It was a fun blowout where there was no question whether or not the Wave should be done, lots of guys got to play and it looks like no one got seriously hurt. Works for me.
September 8th, 2018 at 8:01 PM ^
i miss jedd too
September 8th, 2018 at 8:14 PM ^
Hmmm... New banner.
Plus, what happened to the gloom and doom that this site is known for over the last 10 months? That game overview read like an old fashioned hometown newspaper article.
September 8th, 2018 at 9:33 PM ^
This team needs some confidence. As the game went on, you could see the difference. I think we screwed ourselves by playing ND game 1 and we’re in better shape now. Not that we’ll coast against better teams, but we’re moving in a good direction now. Just keep winning.
September 8th, 2018 at 10:06 PM ^
DPJ has been making good decisions? Since when?
September 8th, 2018 at 10:42 PM ^
You are the definition of troll... Nothing but negative, all the time. Do us all a favor and go to the board of whatever team it is that you like. Because it isn't Michigan.
September 9th, 2018 at 12:02 AM ^
I liked when he decided to run in the endzone and catch the ball.
September 8th, 2018 at 11:16 PM ^
Wow. Great writing.might b the gummy. Anyway, good work buddy. Go Blue!
September 8th, 2018 at 11:28 PM ^
I'm just hoping the Notre Dame game was our Virginia tech (Warriner's first game with Ohio State). That year ended alright for them, keep hope alive
September 9th, 2018 at 1:12 AM ^
Wake me up for Wisconsin.
September 9th, 2018 at 9:04 AM ^
The look of satisfaction on Chase Winovich's face as the quarterback gets murdered in that last pic. made me lol
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