Best And Worst From Michigan Football's Loss To Wisconsin

Michigan Wolverines football lost to the Wisconsin Badgers, 49-11, on Saturday night.

Here's the best and worst from the game:

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Michigan's first four offensive plays included two interceptions, a -3 yard run and a two-yard rush, with a false start penalty sandwiched in the middle, for good measure.

Offensive coordinators often talk about scripting the first 15 plays, but that's not how Josh Gattis drew up Michigan's start to this game. Wisconsin capitalized off of the mistakes, scoring 14 quick points and never looking back.

Coming into Saturday's game, Michigan redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins was averaging a whopping 7.9 yards per carry and had toted the rock at least six times in the first three games. Against Wisconsin, though, Haskins only got one opportunity to carry, a six-yard gain.

It's not surprising the Wolverines went with a steady rotation of four players at the position — that's been the case all season long — but most believed Haskins would still receive the most touches, not the least.

Rich Rodriguezes Wolverines were booed off the field by their home fans at halftime down 19-0 against Wisconsin in 2008. The Maize and Blue actually ended up staging the largest comeback victory in Michigan Stadium history, winning 27-25.

We can only imagine what the boos would've been like if it weren't just family members in attendance this time around against the Badgers, with the Wolverines trailing 28-0 at half, the largest deficit at the break since the opening of the stadium in 1927.

Michigan's best drive was a fleeting moment. After redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton had struggled all game long, head coach Jim Harbaugh turned to backup and redshirt freshman Cade McNamara, a former four-star recruit, to lead the offense the rest of the way, and he performed admirably in his first bit of extended playing time.

In his first possession behind center, McNamara drove the team down the field, needing only four plays and 1:45 of game clock to march the unit 75 yards for a score while he completed 3-of-3 pass attempts for 74 yards. McNamara capped the drive off with a 23-yard strike to sophomore wide receiver Mike Sainristil, who made an incredible back-shoulder grab in the end zone.

Nearly 44 percent of Michigan's total offense was racked up in less than two minutes of action, thanks to McNamara.

The last three weeks, we've seen Michigan's defensive line fail to get off blocks and get enough push and defensive backs drop multiple interceptions. Simply put: Michigan hasn't made many plays.

Add all that up and, at halftime, the Wolverines' defense had zero sacks and forced zero turnovers in five straight halves, becoming the first Big Ten team over the last 15 seasons to not record a sack or a takeaway in five consecutive halves, according to ESPN Stats and Info.

Of course, that changed when fifth-year senior defensive tackle Carlo Kemp took down Wisconsin redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz midway through the third quarter ... but the damage had been done (three straight losses), with the game being all but over at the halftime break.

All the talk was about whether or not Mertz was going to play Saturday night, after he tested positive for COVID-19 three weeks ago, but we’re not even sure he needed to attempt a pass, with the Badgers roughing the Wolverines on the ground and having a clear advantage against the Maize and Blue front seven.

Wisconsin accumulated 341 rushing yards in the game. Within that success rushing, Wisconsin had a clear advantage on the edge, with the absences of injured Michigan defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and Kwity Paye clearly hindering the Wolverines. Head coach Paul Chryst and Co. hammered away at getting the corner, and did so successfully, with three wide receivers combining for 105 yards rushing, all on end arounds or reverses. Give Chryst credit for finding the Wolverines’ weakness and exploiting it, over and over, something that is reminiscent of past Harbaugh teams.

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