It was another sleepy home game at Michigan Stadium today, but the Michigan Wolverines brushed aside a rusty first half to easily defeat Rutgers 31-7 in Jim Harbaugh's return to the sideline. In a game that went by in the blink of an eye (it ended before 3:00 EST!!), Michigan rushed for 201 yards and held the ball for over 36 minutes as Blake Corum picked up a pair of rushing TDs to power the Wolverines to victory. JJ McCarthy wasn't perfect, but did go 15/21 and threw a TD pass. The defense bottled up the Rutgers' rushing game and held the Scarlet Knights scoreless after their first drive. It wasn't perfect, but the team is 1-0 to start conference play. 

Rutgers got the game started with a bang. On their third play from scrimmage, a Gavin Wimsatt slant to slot receiver Christian Dremel was completed due to Mike Sainristil falling over on the route. The player responsible for cleaning up the Sainristil slip was safety Rod Moore, playing his first game of the season. Moore blew the tackle in comical fashion and Dremel had only green grass in front of him, 71 yards for a TD. 7-0 Rutgers. 

Michigan took the ball and the offense did no better than the defense. After a solid first run from Blake Corum, JJ McCarthy missed an open Colston Loveland by putting the ball behind him and on third down, Rutgers' blitz disrupted McCarthy, who eventually tried to scramble but was sacked. Through six plays from scrimmage between the two teams, Rutgers held the decisive advantage. 

[Bryan Fuller]

The Scarlet Knights got the ball back and seemed to have a long run from Kyle Monangai off the left edge, but LT Hollin Pierce was hit with a flag for holding Josaiah Stewart. Put behind the sticks, Rutgers did a good job to get to 3rd & manageable, but a false start backed them up again and a 3rd & 9 run call represented a capitulation. Michigan got the ball and their second drive went much better. The coaching staff schemed up a pair of massive RPS wins, a 33-yard screen to Donovan Edwards who was completely uncovered and a modified flea flicker that picked up 35 for Colston Loveland. Down to the 2 yard line, Blake Corum punched it in and the game was tied. 7-7. 

Rutgers got the ball back and embarked on a sizable drive, getting it going with Gavin Wimsatt reading the defense and picking up a 3rd down before ripping off a 15 yard run on the next play. The drive penetrated Michigan's territory but ran out of gas at the 28 yard line. Kyle Monangai was stuffed on 3rd & 2.5 and Rutgers lined up to go for it but a false start robbed them the opportunity. Backed up further, K Taj Petal attempted a 51-yard FG but pushed it just wide left (and maybe a bit short). 

Michigan took the ball and proved it was their turn to miss a field goal. Donovan Edwards pushed Michigan into Rutgers territory and a JJ McCarthy read option picked up a 3rd & 2. McCarthy found Loveland three plays later but it was short of the sticks. Faced with 4th & 2 at the 19 yard line, Michigan opted to line James Turner up for a FG attempt. They didn't get the play off in time and moved back five yards. Trying again from 42 yards out, Turner's kick was off the mark. Still deadlocked. 

[Patrick Barron]

After some successful early Rutgers drives, the Wolverine defense was starting to settle into the game. They forced a three-and-out with two thundering run stuffs and delivered the football right back to their offense, who proceeded to go on a long and plodding drive. McCarthy picked up the first 3rd down they faced by connecting with Roman Wilson and then scrambled for 22 yards. A pass to Colston Loveland was marked just short of the sticks and upheld upon review, meaning that Michigan had to convert a 4th & 1 from the Rutgers 23. They did so with no problem, Blake Corum plunging ahead for the first down. Three plays later, McCarthy found true freshman Semaj Morgan in the end zone, who made a spectacular contested catch for a TD, giving Michigan their first lead of the contest. 14-7, 1:41 left in the first half. 

By this point, Michigan was down to just one timeout remaining after discombobulated offense forced them to be used in lieu of delay of game penalties. This left the Maize & Blue unable to push for an extra possession before halftime even though Rutgers botched the kickoff and pinned themselves at their own 6-yard line. Rutgers milked the clock and ensured the clocks were at triple zeroes when Gavin Wimsatt's knee touched down to end the half. 14-7 to halftime. 

Michigan's first drive of the second half went 62 yards over 14 plays(!), gobbling up nearly eight minutes(!!). McCarthy misfired on a pass attempt on the drive's first play and then Michigan ran it on seven consecutive plays, including on a 4th & 1 from their own 36, which Michigan converted on yet another JJ McCarthy read option. That string of run plays ended and McCarthy attempted a pass again, hooking up with Roman Wilson for 25 yards. The drive stalled inside the Rutgers 25, though, when McCarthy couldn't find anyone to throw to before EDGE Wesley Bailey sacked him, getting around the right tackle Myles Hinton. James Turner was better on this FG attempt, drilling it from 46 yards out. 17-7. 

[Patrick Barron]

On Rugers' first possession of the second half, Gavin Wimsatt uncorked some of his best throws of the day, mixed with the Rutgers receivers showing off a shocking degree of competence on contested catches. JaQuae Jackson caught one for 17 yards and Isaiah Washington caught one for 20, both after a dubious DPI call on Josh Wallace. That success through the air moved Rutgers into Michigan territory and they lined up to go for it on 4th & 2 from the Wolverine 27. OC Kirk Ciarrocca dialed up a screen pass, which Mike Sainristil read perfectly and jumped. Sainristil ripped it out from the arms of Jackson, managed to stay on his feet despite a near-friendly fire tackle by Junior Colson, and ran it ~70 yards to the house for a pick six. Sainristil has had a few highlight real plays at Michigan, but this was one of his best. 24-7.

Rutgers' offense sputtered when they got the ball right back and Michigan took the field for their second drive of the half... with 2:41 to go in the third quarter. McCarthy looked better than he had all day on this drive, completions to AJ Barner and Roman Wilson as well as a scramble on 3rd down to get it going before a well thrown ball to Colston Loveland running down the seam. McCarthy then pulled the ball on another option run that got himself down to the 9. Another completion to Barner was followed by a Corum TD run and Michigan pushed their margin to 24. Now 31-7 Michigan. 

The two teams would each get one more possession in this game seemingly designed to play as little football as possible. The two drives were nearly identical, Rutgers' being 10 plays, 56 yards and Michigan's being 10 plays, 59 yards. Lots of running to chew the clock and neither ended in points: Rutgers' because Gavin Wimsatt's 4th down fade for Christian Dremel landed out of bounds and Michigan's because the game clock expired while the drive was still going. Perhaps the most interesting part about either drive was the strong running of Kalel Mullings, who carried it 6 times for 40 yards on the drive. The clock expired with Michigan at the Rutgers 22 and both teams shook hands, a game that ended with just 105 total plays between the two teams. This is CFB in 2023, baby. 

[Patrick Barron]

Michigan outgained Rutgers 415-257, but on a per play basis, it was only 6.8-5.8. Michigan's offense looked fine overall, but some questions still remain. McCarthy made a number nice throws, but looked uncomfortable early (it improved as the game went along). Corum and Mullings had strong days as rushers, but Donovan Edwards continues to look subpar in that capacity, missing cuts and going down too easily. He rushed six times for just 13 yards. That offensive line had a solid showing in totality, but a few wobbles in pass protection (albeit against a pair of respectable pass rushers). Karsen Barnhart started at LT opposite Myles Hinton at RT, but LaDarius Henderson rotated in yet again this week. 

Defensively it was an okay day, but perhaps not as dominant as you'd have liked to see. The long TD was a debacle on multiple levels, with Rod Moore's missed tackle being shockingly out of character. Beyond that, coverage on the Rutgers WRs was unexpectedly soft, ceding tons of space underneath to a team that has little more than a passing interest of ever throwing more than 5-10 yards down the field. To Rutgers' credit, Wimsatt played one of the best games I've seen from him and their WRs were strong too, but you'd have liked to see a better showing than 5.8 YPP against holistically. 

It's another week where the overwhelming takeaway seems to be that the Michigan team is rusty and needs more reps. Burning two timeouts in the first half because they were going to fail to get the play off, in addition to an enforced delay of game on a field goal attempt, was suboptimal. Everything feels just a little bit off right now as a whole. The Michigan team remains immensely talented, which is evident on the field, but they are not yet playing their best. Thankfully, with the full coaching staff back, they have many weeks to get right before the games get tough. 

Next week will likely not be too tough, as 4-0 Michigan heads to Lincoln, NE, for their first road game. The Nebraska Cornhuskers are 1-2 (playing Louisiana Tech right now), a scrappy squad but severely limited on offense and in a rebuilding season under first year coach Matt Rhule. That game is scheduled for 3:30 pm EST and will be broadcast on Fox. 

[Click the JUMP for the box score]