Air Force barely got off the ground, but if it wasn’t for a rookie kicker and his special teammates, Michigan might have gotten bombed.
Redshirt freshman placekicker Quinn Nordin tied a U-M record with five field goals, owning the skies with 165 yards worth of three-pointers in the Wolverines’ 29-13 win. Toss on a 79-yard punt return touchdown by another rookie, freshman wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, and Michigan’s special teams hung 22 points on the board.
The Falcons hovered close all game and could have pulled to within a point midway through the fourth quarter. But a Michigan defense that surrendered only 232 total yards and one pass completion turned them away.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh played some defense of his own, fending off questions about Michigan’s struggling red-zone offense and pointing to the bottom line.
“I feel good,” he said. “I feel great — very happy for the win, and we’ll move on with humble hearts.”
Air Force (1-1) helped supply some humility for the No. 7, 3-0 Wolverines, not allowing an offensive touchdown until junior tailback Karan Higdon (12 carries, 64 yards) broke off a 36-yard TD bolt with just over a minute to play. Redshirt junior quarterback Wilton Speight (14-of-23 passing, 169 yards) and his teammates moved the football, but continually gave way to Nordin and his 5-for-5 effort.
His counterpart, Air Force QB Arion Worthman, took a beating, and went just 1-of-7 throwing, albeit tossing a 64-yard touchdown pass. Worthman still rushed for 60 yards and tailback Tim McVey 62 in an attack that attempted 49 carries and shortened the game.
Harbaugh gave credit to an Air Force defense that won the red-zone chess game more often than not, like Michigan’s did. The head coach also wasn’t looking to be to introspective about Michigan’s offensive struggles, at least for public consumption.
“He’s quarterbacking the No. 7 team in the country to a 3-0 record,” Harbaugh said of Speight. “He’s quarterbacking the winningest program in all of football, the history of it, so it’s good to be Wilton Speight right now. Just keep forging ahead and making improvements, but I like where our team is headed.”
Fifth-year senior tailback Ty Isaac (16 carries, 89 yards) got Michigan rolling on the first possession of the game, breaking off a 32-yard run. He barely stepped out of bounds, nixing what would have been a 62-yard TD bolt. Instead, the Wolverines settled for Nordin’s 35-yard field goal to cap a 58-yard drive.
Sophomore tailback Chris Evans then fumbled, the Falcons diving on it at the Michigan 44. U-M fought off a possible go-ahead touchdown with a 13-yard sack by sophomore linebacker Devin Bush Jr., but Air Force tied the game on Luke Strebel’s 37-yard field goal. Only two seconds remained in a first quarter that roared by like the T-38 Talons in the pregame flyover.
The Wolverines drove 78 yards to open the second quarter, tearing off big chunks on a 37-yard toss to Peoples-Jones and a 30-yarder to redshirt sophomore tight end Zach Gentry. Michigan again came up shy from close range, and Nordin made it 6-3 on a 26-yard field goal at 11:48.
Strebel tied it up on a 50-yard field goal with 8:37 left in the half. Worthman set up the score, breaking off a 34-yard run on a keeper off the right edge.
A shanked punt gave the Wolverines a perfect opportunity — from the Air Force 40 — to break into the end zone and interrupt the kicking contest. Instead, the Falcons sacked Speight twice, forcing a fumble on the second that sophomore tight end Nick Eubanks covered.
Nordin continued the Rockettes afternoon, blasting a 49-yard field goal with four seconds left in the half, making it 9-6 at intermission.
“Whatever they call me out to do, I’m going to do to the best of my ability,” Nordin said. “Whether that’s a field goal or PAT, I’m going to try my hardest to put it through.”
Air Force likely loved its position at that point, despite racking up only 91 first-half yards, zero through the air. The Wolverines — an error-prone offense still holding them back — did not.
Peoples-Jones — relieved in his punt-return duties just a week earlier — busted up the field goal battle like Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier. Gathering a punt at his own 21, the freshman cut to his left, slashed back across the field to his right and used his 4.4 speed to leave a contrail down the eastern sideline.
“It just opened up like the Red Sea,” Peoples-Jones said. “They did a great job of not clipping. I changed the field a couple of times, and they did a great job of blocking and not holding — it made my job very easy.”
His 79-yard flight gave Michigan separation, at 16-6. It lasted less than two minutes.
Air Force awakened, making its first pass completion count. Worthman found wideout Ronald Cleveland behind a Michigan defense creeping forward, the play going 64 yards for a touchdown to make it 16-13 at the 11:54 mark.
Another shanked Air Force punt set Michigan up at the Falcons’ 43, and the Wolverines drove to the 8. Once again, the red zone became the no-fly zone for the Wolverines, and Nordin’s fourth field goal — a 29-yarder — pushed the lead to 19-13 with 2:59 remaining in the third.
Nordin made it 5 for 5 45 seconds into the final quarter, drilling a 26-yard field goal to boost the lead to 22-13. The red zone remained a flashing stop sign, but Nordin tied the Michigan record with his fifth boot through the uprights.
The Wolverines caught a huge break to keep it a two-score game, after Air Force drove from its own 15 to the Wolverines’ 5. Michigan’s defense rose up for a stop, and Strebel hooked a 29-yard field goal attempt wide left.
Higdon tacked on the breakaway bolt with 1:02 left, and the Wolverines moved unblemished into the Big Ten season. Plenty of question marks remain, but at least not via a crash landing.
Five Best Players Of The Game
1. Redshirt junior defensive end Chase Winovich — Winovich typified Michigan’s defensive effort on the day, recording 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss among nine stops overall. He added a quarterback hurry and held his own against the run.
2. Redshirt freshman placekicker Quinn Nordin — Nordin scored more than half of Michigan’s points, with his program-record-tying five field goals, including a 49-yarder. Head coach him Harbaugh stressed it was a unit effort, including the snapper and holder, and one that gave Michigan a huge boost when it needed one.
3. Sophomore linebacker Devin Bush Jr. — Bush chased down Air Force quarterback Arion Worthman more than a few times on his way to 11 tackles, which tied for the team lead. Bush also recorded a sack in the game and supplied some of the speed to combat the option attack.
4. Freshman wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones — Michigan never saw the end zone in the first half, and Peoples-Jones’ 79-yard punt return touchdown proved a mammoth boost. He also snagged a pair of passes for 52 yards.
5. Fifth-year senior linebacker Mike McCray — McCray logged 11 tackles as well, lowering the boom a couple of times. He came through with a pair of TFLs, putting on the sort of pressure that kept Air Force from getting off the ground.
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