Michigan 28, UNLV 7
Eric Upchurch/MGoBlog
That's pretty much how that should go.
The biggest drama of the afternoon was whether Michigan would give Sione Houma the ball again after his first career touchdown was overturned on review. They did, and Houma plunged one yard to give Michigan a 28-0 lead.
The second-biggest drama was whether the defense would hold onto the shutout. After allowing only 111 yards on 42 plays through three quarters, they relented in the fourth, ceding a touchdown pass to Devonte Boyd after a slip-up in coverage set up UNLV deep in M territory.
Channing Stribling remained in phase and nabbed an early pick. De'Veon Smith started off the scoring with a walk-in receiving touchdown in the flat. Jabrill Peppers had a tantalizing, twisting 24-yard punt return. Jehu Chesson took a sweep and ran untouched for a 36-yard touchdown as Amara Darboh nearly blocked his man into the end zone. Ty Isaac burst 76 yards down the same sideline for another.
That about covers the important stuff.
Upchurch
Also important, of course, is Jake Rudock's performance at quarterback. He underwhelmed again this week, throwing his fifth interception of the season—as many as he had in all of 2014—and finishing with 123 yards on 22 attempts. When asked to assess his quarterback's performance, however, Jim Harbaugh seemed unconcerned.
"His job is to win football games. It wasn't an ideal day to throw, there was a swirling wind the whole day. I thought he did a good job. He managed the game well," Harbaugh said. "There's things to get better at, to improve from, and coach, so it'll be another week of doing that."
"Satisfied is a word I'm never going to use. I don't associate it with football," Harbaugh added later. "I've never been satisfied. But yeah, I'm happy."
After a routine 21-point win that could've easily been by a much bigger margin, it's probably best to follow the head man's example here. Michigan has issues to work on, that much is apparent; they're also taking care of business, and that too must be acknowledged.
September 19th, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 3:42 PM ^
"I've never been satisfied." I love this man.
September 19th, 2015 at 8:40 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 8:51 PM ^
September 21st, 2015 at 10:20 PM ^
There's a difference between coming back home from the Super Bowl 49ers and coming home from the Aztecs that might easily be reflected in a coach's attitude. Beyond that, it's pointless to dwell on this aspect of the past.
September 19th, 2015 at 3:43 PM ^
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September 19th, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^
Ruddddddddddock had only one TO, so it comes to
3-2-1
Let's hope next week he has zero TO.
Also, his arm strength is a concern - no long ball, no way to beat OSU and MSU.
September 21st, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^
Does that mean Ruddock will have 7 take-aways vs. OSU???
September 19th, 2015 at 9:12 PM ^
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September 20th, 2015 at 11:26 AM ^
I re-watched the game at home and I don't think Harbaugh had a strong desire to run up the score on UNLV. Otherwise I think we go for the 4th and short from midfield just before the half. We had shut down their offense, and we were playing pretty well in the first half.
I'm more concerned about only scoring 7 points in the 2nd half ... but a win is a win.
Go Blue!
September 21st, 2015 at 1:48 AM ^
Yes. Harbaugh likes Tony Sanchez.
September 19th, 2015 at 3:44 PM ^
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September 19th, 2015 at 3:45 PM ^
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September 19th, 2015 at 9:30 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 10:21 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 3:55 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 3:49 PM ^
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September 19th, 2015 at 4:02 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 9:14 PM ^
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September 19th, 2015 at 6:33 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 6:52 PM ^
As it seems like you enjoy semantics.
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September 19th, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 3:48 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 3:54 PM ^
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September 19th, 2015 at 4:13 PM ^
I'm sadly coming to the same conclusion. While I wouldn't say "bad", he sure looks like a mediocre QB. The wind excuse is weak, but Harbaugh is doing the right thing by giving his starter some cover.
Hopefully next year, O'Korn or Gentry will provide a downfield threat. Maybe even Malzone will be an improvement after getting a year under his belt.
September 19th, 2015 at 4:22 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 9:44 PM ^
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September 19th, 2015 at 10:24 PM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 4:54 PM ^
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September 19th, 2015 at 5:47 PM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 9:31 AM ^
Denard moved the chains just fine. So did Devin before Borges broke him.
The issue is that Rudock was supposed to be a steady hand after two turnover prone QBs. The type of guy who goes 14-19 170 yards 1 TD and no turnovers like clockwork. Instead he's been just as turnover prone, not as accurate as advertised and doesn't have either DR or DG's running ability. So the situation is just as bad (or worse) than it was the last few years.
September 20th, 2015 at 9:44 AM ^
in the two-minute offense. However, Harbaugh wants to grind it out, and I think Rudock is struggling with the rhythm.
He'd be better off arm punting on those long throws, like we'd see Denard and occasionally Gardner throw down the field. Against an inferior team, Rudock needed to give his receivers a chance to make a play. He really missed way to many passes against UNLV. No excuses.
This was an unsatisfying win. I did enjoy seeing Ohio State struggle against Northern Illinois, Auburn getting blown out, Stanford beating USC and... Alabama lost!
BYU will be a tough game.
September 19th, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 5:40 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 8:50 PM ^
Except Stafford plays more than half of his games indoors....and he is shit outdoors. #Overrated
September 20th, 2015 at 12:06 AM ^
I wasn't there so I don't how bad the winds were but Gardner doesn't have nearly the arm strength to cut through any kind of decent wind. It's the same reason why every single good NFL team in the Northeast and Great Lakes region has a QB with a great arm. Baltimore with Flacco, New England with Brady , Pittsburgh with Roethlisberger, Cincinnati with Dalton, Detroit with Stafford, Green Bay with Rodgers, and even Chicago with Cutler all have great arm talent. You saw a HUGE difference when Morris came in the game. I mean the elements are only going to get worse as the year goes on so color me worried about Gardner get a bunch better.
September 20th, 2015 at 12:07 AM ^
Also your shitty comment made me make an account to comment on it, thanks for that.
September 19th, 2015 at 3:55 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^
It was a mediocre performance against a bad team.
September 19th, 2015 at 5:08 PM ^
This is the second comment about how the writers of this blog are defending bad performance by the QB when the article, written by the authors says flat out that Rudddddock's performance was a concern.
What's the issue?
September 19th, 2015 at 6:39 PM ^
September 19th, 2015 at 10:40 PM ^
"The Blog" clearly said that there were concerns.
"The Coach" clearly defended him with excuses.
Seriously- Read things twice before making comments that make you sound like you're schizophrenic.
September 20th, 2015 at 2:38 AM ^
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September 20th, 2015 at 12:53 AM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 3:37 AM ^
in East Lansing was probably the worst swirling wind day!
September 19th, 2015 at 6:54 PM ^
Sickening flashback to Carr defending John Navarre after Oregon game - their field was peaked in the middle
September 19th, 2015 at 7:44 PM ^
It's worth remembering that John Navarre bounced back from that game to lead us to the outright Big Ten title. Carr's faith in him was rewarded.
Rudock's our guy at QB for better or worse, and we need him to be confident in himself. Harbaugh understands this.
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