Michigan Wolverines Football 38, Wisconsin 17: Notes, Quotes & Observations

MADISON, WIS. — Michigan’s 38-17 win at Wisconsin was closer than it needed to be, and it wasn’t really that tight at all thanks to a dominant second half. The Wolverines won the battle of the weasel family in mauling the Badgers over the final 30 minutes, even took part in the third quarter ‘Jump Around’ tradition with Michigan fans and had fun in thoroughly dominating Paul Chryst’s squad.

Turns out the Wisconsin insiders were right about this Badgers team. The offense is abysmal, the offensive line nothing like the stout, fundamentally sound groups of the past. But credit the Michigan defense for absolutely stuffing the run (43 yards), buzz-sawing through and around the linemen as though they were chubby, cheese-stuffed red road pylons in dominating the line of scrimmage.

They insisted before the game the last two years’ beatings weren’t on their mind, but it was atonement, nonetheless — and if you'd heard the way they celebrated in the locker room, it was clear this one meant a little more.

It had been 20 years since U-M last won in Madison, and that was a fortunate one. There was no doubt about this one. Many in the Michigan media picked U-M to lose with a group that seemed determined but might not have the confidence to get it done.

They seemed to take it personally when several said, ‘we didn’t think it had it in ya.’

But the Badgers were no daisy at all, and U-M played Doc Holliday instead of Wyatt Earp to face Johnny Ringo in Turkey Creek Canyon this time around.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh insisted he saw it coming.

“[We were] just really solid, all three phases today. I was really pleased with that,” he said. “That’s a tough, physical team, and I thought our team played really physical and matched it every bit.

“… They had that kind of vibe about them when they first stepped into the locker room and got here early this morning, and the vibe was they weren’t going to be denied. They weren’t going to flinch. Punches were thrown, and that’s the way it played out.”

Past Michigan teams might have flinched, especially given how the first half played out. The Wolverines dominated but were only up 13-10 due to a poor decision to squib kick rather than kick deep with 25 seconds remaining in the half. Kicker Jake Moody (who was outstanding and key in the win, keeping U-M ahead with 47- and 48-yard field goals) appeared to try to catch the Badgers off guard rather than kick through the end zone, which almost assuredly would have resulted in Wisconsin going into halftime with a 13-3 deficit.

Harbaugh wouldn’t comment on the play in the postgame — it was likely a coaching decision — but it gave the Badgers life and made it a game. U-M had already squandered several chances to open a huge lead, and quarterback Graham Mertz picked on sophomore safety Daxton Hill of all people to move the Badgers 63 yards in three plays for a touchdown that cut it to 13-10.

What should have been a comfortable lead was instead a nailbiter.

“Absolutely [we missed chances],” quarterback Cade McNamara said. “The defense was stuffing them. We felt we had some opportunities, and I’m glad we capitalized in the second half.

“Wisconsin’s a good defense. On the offensive side, we knew we were going into a dogfight. We were prepared for that. The difference in us this year is, when we’re in a fight, we’re confident we’re going to win that fight.”

The owned the lines of scrimmage in the second half, putting up 196 yards to Wisconsin’s 71 and knocking Mertz and tight end Joel Ferguson out of the game with big hits. Backup Chase Wolf had no shot, sacked as many times (three) as Mertz.

The Michigan running game wasn’t great and there were some bumps, but the Wolverines managed 112 yards on the ground — about 90 more than the Badgers had been allowing coming into the game — and did enough to keep the stout Wisconsin front honest.

McNamara and his receivers struggled at times in the first half minus a creative flea flicker to Cornelius Johnson for a touchdown, but they found a groove in the second. The defense dominated but for two drives, and when the third quarter started, the Wolverines all took part in the Badger crowd’s ‘Jump Around’ tradition as if to say, ‘this is our house, and it’s our turn to celebrate.’

Two plays and a David Ojabo strip sack later, they had the ball back. Moody kicked a field goal, Hill intercepted a pass — part of one hell of an atonement in the second stanza, during which he was all over the field — and Johnson high-pointed a beautifully thrown McNamara touchdown pass the way we’d been hoping he would for a while now to put the Wolverines up 31-10 following an equally impressive grab on a two-point conversion.

To that point, frosh Roman Wilson had been ‘the guy’ with his best game in a Michigan uniform, coming up with huge plays in a coming-out party. He’d finish with six catches for 81 yards, including a critical, contested 38-yarder on third down.

“I was really happy for Roman. Throughout all of the ups and downs his freshman year, he was able to get out there,” Johnson said.

“When your number is called and the ball is in the air, we want to put something on tape that shows what we can do. Seeing Roman do that, that’s really special to see. I’m really happy for Roman Wilson.”

What’s encouraging is that this was far from Michigan at its best, but it’s still the U-M team we’ve been waiting to see on the road in Harbaugh’s tenure.

Again, this wasn’t vintage Wisconsin — not close — but this isn’t Harbaugh’s most talented team, either. Many weren’t sure how this one would play out, us among them, but we did express confidence this team wouldn’t lay down if and when things started to go poorly.

On that there was no question. They rose to the occasion and seized control every time it seemed to be slipping away.

“There were multiple momentum swings during the game,” Harbaugh said. “You try to get that momentum back as fast as you possibly can, and I thought our guys did a great job of that today.”

It’s easier to do when a team is legitimately ‘all in’ and not manufacturing it. This group looks and acts more connected, and it’s obvious.

“It’s all based on our brotherhood. We believe in each other,” Ojabo, a force on the edge much of the game, said. “No matter who is across from us, we preach faceless opponents, and nameless opponents. As long as we’ve got each others’ backs, man, we are not really worried about whoever is in the other side.”

“We came to the locker room [at halftime] and said, ‘let’s not panic.’ We’ve got each others’ backs. Through ups and downs, we really were not worried. The defense got the offense’s back, and the offense got the defense’s back."

Collectively, they broke the Badgers’ spirit in the way Harbaugh’s Stanford team used to in hostile venues, something we’ve been waiting for. They maximize the talent on defense under new coordinator Mike Macdonald, go all out on every play … frankly, seem to care more about the name on the front of the jersey instead of the back better than some recent Michigan teams.

Nobody’s predicting this team has “arrived” and is in contention for a Big Ten title just yet. There are still big tests to come, starting next week at Nebraska at night. But when you’re about the ‘W’ instead of your carries as a back, your catches as a receiver or your numbers as a quarterback, etc. you’ve got a chance.

In that sense, this group seems headed in the right direction.

• It was a tale of two halves for the receivers and the passing game. McNamara was behind on some of his throws, but his receivers should have made the catches, anyway, including Daylen Baldwin on play No. 1 .

“We threw the ball the first play of the game,” Harbaugh said proudly. “We’ve been striving to be balanced throwing the ball and running the ball.”

But the first half had us asking, ‘When’s the last time a U-M receiver went up and caught a contested pass for a nice gain?’ and saying, ‘they miss Ronnie Bell [out for the year with a knee injury].’

Bell didn’t always have great hands, but he was athletic enough to make plays one-on-one. Sophomore Cornelius Johnson appears now to be the go-to guy, but he’s often been off balance when he goes up for a contested ball, hasn’t always high pointed it and has been hit or miss on making the play.

Johnson came up with some big plays in the second half, though. Baldwin, too, atoned for two drops (though neither was on the money) in getting behind a defender on a beautifully thrown ball from freshman J.J. McCarthy for a 56-yard score.

McNamara needs to be better at hitting his receivers in stride — he looked like he was aiming and hoping too often in the first half Saturday — but you get two hands on the ball, you catch it. And he was much better in the second half.

• Punter Brad Robbins was one of the first half MVPs. Robbins flipped field position back with a 49-yard boot (fair caught) after U-M failed on fourth down from midfield — more on that in a minute — and pinned Wisconsin inside the 20 three times, including twice deep.

As for the fourth downs …

It’s one thing to be bold, but better offensive teams are going to take advantage, and U-M simply isn’t good enough in short yardage situations right now to be going to that well so often.

Harbaugh, though, made no apologies for being aggressive, and the Wolverines did finish 4-for-5.

“I really felt like from the time we got here to the stadium early this morning, just walking around, talking to all the players, there was a vibe that they weren’t going to be denied,” Harbaugh said. “I was going to give them every chance to attack. I wanted to bring that to life.”

At the same time, there are times for ‘smart’ football, too. Here’s hoping they get a bit better on third down to avoid those situations (the Wolverines were 6-of-19 Saturday).

• In the past, Michigan would have had its first-string defense on the field late even in this game. Instead, the backups gave up a late but meaningless touchdown to inflate the point total — a shame given how well the first stringers had played.

But hats off to Macdonald, whose ‘trust your teammates and pick your spots’ approach has been incredibly impressive through five games. There are still bigger tests to come, including a running quarterback next week for the first time (which seems crazy in this day and age), but these guys are fundamentally sound.

“Mike, the entire defensive staff, they were really dialed in in this game,” Harbaugh said. “They have been in the previous games, as well, but especially so this game.

“The communication was a lot better when you’re playing on the road defensively. It helps a lot. Our stadium has been really loud through four games. When our defense is out there, they’re loud, but they’re just continually getting better in specific areas and really put it all together today.

• This is one of the worst pass blocking Wisconsin lines we’ve seen in the last 2.5 decades, and our Badgers insiders told us it would be. But Michigan needed to stop the run to get them in passing situations, and they did that. No Badgers back had more than 20 yards rushing, and the top two on the depth chart averaged 2.2 yards per carry.

“I thought we had a lot of really good push in the middle, which was good to see,” Harbaugth said. “Chris Hinton, Mazi Smith, Donovan Jeter. Then the edge pressure was getting home.

“I thought we did a really good job disguising those blitzes. We had some blitz simulators in there, simulating the blitz but we’re not blitzing. I thought Mike called a great game in that regard. We got home on some of those because of the push inside, just did a great job getting the quarterback off his spot in the pocket.”

• And finally, hats off to linebacker Joey Velazquez, who has waited his turn while playing two sports and hustled to the ball to recover a muffed punt in the second quarter. U-M couldn’t finish the drive that started inside the five — again, that needs to improve — but the Wolverines got three, and that was big in getting them out to a two-score lead.

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