Instant Recap: Michigan Crushes Minnesota In Minneapolis, 49-24
The Michigan Wolverines' football team put on a dominant performance tonight, blowing out Minnesota in Minneapolis by a final score of 49-24.
Miss any of the game tonight? We've got you covered with a complete recap of how things unfolded below.
First Half
Michigan got off to a bit of a rough start tonight, with Minnesota striking first. The Golden Gophers blocked fifth-year senior punter Will Hart's punt on U-M's opening series, recovering at the Wolverines' 17-yard line.
Redshirt junior quarterback Tanner Morgan then found fifth-year senior tight end Ko Kieft on a 14-yard touchdown pass at the 12:44 mark, putting his club up 7-0.
Michigan answered right back, however, when sophomore running back Zach Charbonnet ripped off a 70-yard touchdown run on U-M's first play of the series, knotting the score at 7-7.
The run was the longest of his career, and he was never touched on the play. Junior kicker Jake Moody had a chance to give Michigan the lead at 7:14 of the first quarter, but missed a 38-yard field goal.
One of the biggest plays of the entire first half occurred on Minnesota's ensuing possession when redshirt sophomore viper Mike Barrett sacked Morgan, with the ball flying into the air and landing perfectly in redshirt junior defensive tackle Donovan Jeter's arms, who ran it back 15 yards for a touchdown. The play extended Michigan's lead to 14-7.
The Golden Gophers trimmed it to 14-10, however, with a 29-yard field goal with 37 seconds left in the first quarter, capping off an 11-play, 79-yard drive.
Barrett gave his Wolverines yet another spark when he ran the ensuing kickoff back 66 yards to the Minnesota nine-yard line, with Milton finding senior fullback Ben Mason on a nine-yard touchdown pass to extend Michigan's lead to 21-10 with just 15 seconds left in the opening stanza.
The action then slowed down a bit in the second quarter. Redshirt junior running back Mohamed Ibrahim cut the Michigan edge to 21-17 when he found the end zone from 16 yards out at the 9:38 mark, before Michigan redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins made a series of big plays.
A touchdown run from four yards out with 4:48 left in the half extended U-M's advantage to 28-17, capping off a 10-play, 77-yard drive.
Haskins continued his outstanding play when he sniffed out a Minnesota fake punt at its own 25-yard line, making an impressive fourth down tackle. This set up another touchdown for the redshirt sophomore, who cashed in from eight yards out with just one minute left in the half to make it 35-17 Michigan.
The Maize and Blue had a chance to extend their lead even further on the final play of the first half, but Moody wasn't able to connect on a 48-yard field goal as time expired.
Michigan had a 100-yard advantage over the Gophers at halftime — 238 to 138.
Second Half
Minnesota kept things interesting early in the third quarter with a five-yard touchdown run by Ibrahim to make it 35-24, which capped off an 11-play, 71-yard drive.
Michigan answered yet again though — just as it did all night — with a nine-play, 68-yard series of its own. Milton found pay dirt with a two-yard touchdown run with 5:20 left in the third quarter to extend the Maize and Blue lead to 42-24.
The Wolverines' defense stood tall on Minnesota's next possession, stopping the Gophers on a fourth-and-goal attempt with 49 seconds remaining in the frame. Morgan's pass attempt to Ibrahim in the back of the end zone was overthrown and soared harmlessly to the ground.
Michigan all but wrapped up the game with a 96-yard scoring drive of its own, which concluded with a five-yard touchdown run by fifth-year senior running back Chris Evans to make it 49-24 with 13:51 remaining.
Moody's struggles continued when he missed his third field goal of the night at the 7:33 mark, this time from 33 yards out.
Redshirt junior linebacker Josh Ross picked off the Gophers with just 2:49 remaining, allowing the Wolverines to start at the Minnesota 30-yard line. Redshirt freshman quarterback Cade McNamara was then inserted into the game, but the club's drive stalled when his fourth down throw to the end zone was incomplete.
Minnesota punted on its final series of the night, while the Maize and Blue took a knee deep in its own territory to seal the impressive victory.
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