We thought Michigan might have to turn the page of the playbook to come out on top against a solid defensive team Saturday night. Instead, offensive coordinator Josh Gattis and Co. didn't stray far from page one in dominating Washington, 31-10, on the ground.
There were variations in the run game, head coach Jim Harbaugh insisted, and some adjustments. Overall, though, U-M just dominated in the trenches with a handful of plays, none of which the Huskies could stop.
“We went into this thing trying to run the football, and the goal was to stop the run. We did not get that done, and Michigan did," Washington head coach Jimmy Lake said in stating the obvious.
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Michigan ran for 72 yards on 13 carries in the first quarter alone but managed only three points on a long field goal by Jake Moody. Lake was okay with his team's defense until freshman running back Blake Corum broke a 67-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, putting the Wolverines up 10-0.
As limited as Washington had been offensively, it seemed like that might be enough points to win. Indeed, the Huskies were shut out at the half and only managed 10 points the entire game.
Lake was in a bit of denial about what was going on up front early.
"Early on, I think we did a nice job of stopping it, and then they hit that big one.” Lake said. “They’re a talented team, and it only takes one run. It was a 60-plus yard run in the second quarter. And then I think we’ve got toplay as a team.
"For us not scoring any points whatsoever, and for our opponents [no] reason to throw the football and they can just keep pounding it at us, that’s a good way to win football games. It's team football, we’ve got to put points up."
More than anything, he said. they've got to make your opponent 'not be able to just hand the football off and win the football game,'" which is exactly what the Wolverines did Saturday. They passed for only 44 yards — that will likely be the anomaly this year — and won the old fashioned way, wearing down the opponent on the ground and protecting the ball.
On the other side, the Michigan defensive line passed its test up front against a big but underachieving Huskies line, limiting the Washington running game to 50 yards on 32 carries. Lake admitted they didn't have a great idea of what they were going to see from the Wolverines' defense.
It was frustrating for all of them, including Michigan transfer and Washington receiver Giles Jackson. He screamed and cussed at the U-M fans near the tunnel after the game who were giving him the business, clearly frustrated.
"We had to study a lot of the Baltimore Ravens,” Lake said. “We had to study a lot of their defense to see a lot of what we were going to see. Western Michigan only lined up in one personnel grouping for most of the game, so we only saw structure-wise what they were going to do in that group — that personnel grouping.
"So, there was still a lot of mystery as to what they were going to do to our personnel sets we were going to do. But we had a general idea, and they were going to play sound defense and tackle well. They did a great job of bottling us up and stopping the run and putting pressure on our quarterback.”
The Wolverines got to quarterback Dylan Morris for four sacks, led by Aidan Hutchinson's dominance up front, and pressured him numerous other times.
There will be bigger tests ahead, but on this night, U-M owned the trenches ... and the scoreboard as a result.
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