The Michigan Wolverines' football team opened their season with a 40-21 win over Middle Tennessee State on Saturday night.
We take a second look back at the contest this morning with 2019's first edition of Monday Morning Quarterbacking:
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Key Moment of the Game:
With 58 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Michigan held a somewhat comfortable, yet not dominant 27-14 lead.
The Wolverines faced a 1st-and-goal from the MTSU six-yard line, and had redshirt sophomore quarterback Dylan McCaffrey in the game at the time.
He took the shotgun snap, faked a handoff to redshirt freshman running back Ben VanSumeren, and immediately darted to his right.
Redshirt junior tight end Nick Eubanks was the only Wolverine blocker on that side of the field, but McCaffrey didn't even need him as he waltzed into the end zone untouched.
The play made the score 33-14 (the two-point conversion failed), and ended any slim hopes that MTSU had had of a potential comeback.
Three Things That Worked:
1. The First Half Passing Attack
Michigan put on a show through the air in the first half, with senior quarterback Shea Patterson throwing for 197 yards and three scores — one each to redshirt sophomore wideout Tarik Black, junior receiver Nico Collins and senior tight end Sean McKeon.
Granted, U-M decided to primarily work on the ground game in the second half (just seven pass attempts after the break), but its first half air display showed what first-year coordinator Josh Gattis' offense is capable of.
2. Zach Charbonnet's Debut
The freshman running back did not disappoint in his debut, racking up 90 yards on just eight carries after earning the starting job.
In fact, he became only the fourth Michigan freshman running back to earn the starting job in his debut since 1944, and the first since Sam McGuffie in 2008.
3. Second Half Rush Defense
After the Blue Raiders racked up 57 yards on the ground in the first half, Michigan's run defense held them to just 10 after the break.
Those 10 yards came on 13 attempts after halftime, equating out to a 2.4 yard per carry average for the game.
