Michigan Football Offense Notes: Rushing Attack Explodes In 49-3 Victory

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Michigan's ground game couldn't get anything going last week against Notre Dame (58 rushing yards), but exploded in a big way during Saturday's 49-3 victory over Western Michigan.

Senior running back Karan Higdon ran for 156 yards and a touchdown, while averaging an impressive 12 yards per carry.

The majority of his yards actually came in the first quarter, though.

His 67-yard scoring run gave him 121 with 4:11 to go in the first frame, and also spotted the Wolverines a 14-0 lead.

In fact, the team posted 21 points in the first quarter alone (the first time it tallied 21 in a single stanza since a 41-8 victory over Illinois in 2016) and 208 yards of offense in that time, with 140 of them coming from Higdon.

The senior's 140 yards were the most by a U-M player in one quarter since signal-caller Denard Robinson racked up 152 in the first frame of a 28-24 victory over Notre Dame in 2010.

Junior Chris Evans chipped in 86 yards and two scores, while junior Tru Wilson added 54 yards of his own.

Michigan's offensive line deserves plenty of the credit as well.

A unit that allowed three sacks and seven tackles for loss last week against the Irish only allowed two of the former and five of the latter. U-M suffered from just 21 lost yards on the ground, and not all of them could be pinned on the first-team front.

“That was our O-line doing their job," Higdon exclaimed after the game. "Credit them, because they worked their tails off today. I wouldn’t be here talking to you guys if it wasn't for them."

Junior quarterback Shea Patterson also chimed in with the offensive line's praises afterward.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen holes open up that wide," he said. "Combine that with the way Karan ran the ball, and it opened up so much in our passing game. It got the safeties to come down and play in the box and expect run, so we hit them over the top."

Patterson posted solid statistics last week at Notre Dame (20-of-30 passing for 227 yards), and followed that up with a strong effort against the visitors.

He completed 12 of his 17 passes (71 percent) for 125 yards and three touchdowns, and perhaps most importantly did not throw an interception (or fumble).

The junior signal-caller looked very comfortable distributing the ball on the run all afternoon long.

"Shea played really well," Jm Harbaugh said. "He made some big-time plays. A couple of his throws were out of the pocket and on a dead run."

Patterson got the action started with a 17-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Sean McKeon on Michigan's second offensive possession of the game, and then found sophomore wideout Nico Collins on a beautifully thrown 44-yard scoring strike with 6:55 left in the second quarter.

His best play of the day, however, may have come midway through the third quarter when he found sophomore receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones in the back of the end zone, delivering a perfectly thrown five-yard strike to him on a full run.

The play left his head coach impressed.

"The throw to Donovan was really good, because that wasn’t his first read," Harbaugh explained. "That was a long throw from one sideline all the way to the back corner of the end zone. That one required some touch on it, but it had to get up and down quickly before Donovan ran out of bounds. That’s pretty high-level stuff."

The touchdown catches for Collins and Peoples-Jones were the first of their respective careers. In addition, it was also the first time a Michigan wideout had hauled in a scoring grab since Grant Perry did so last year in U-M's 36-14 victory over Cincinnati on Sept. 9.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Dylan McCaffrey saw some action as well, tossing his first career TD pass (to redshirt freshman walk-on wideout Jacob McCurry) on his only throw of the game.

This year, the backup quarterback is 5-of-7 passing (71.4 percent) for 40 yards with a touchdown. Patterson, meanwhile, is 32 of 47 (68.1 percent) for 352 yards and three touchdowns against one pick. The Wolverines had nine passing scores all of last year (three to receivers).

• Overall, the Wolverines averaged 8.8 yards per rush, 7.9 yards per passing attempt and 11.0 yards per completion. The 13 receptions were spread out among nine different receivers.

• Saturday marked Evans' fifth career multi-touchdown game, with a pair of rushing scores. He now has 12 such touchdowns in his career.

• Michigan's 49 points were its most since its 59-3 victory over Maryland on Nov. 5, 2016.

• McCurry's 18-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter was his first-ever reception.

• After the 156-yard effort that included a score, Higdon now has six 100-yard games in his U-M tenure and 19 career touchdowns.

• McKeon hauled in two receptions for 23 yards and has now caught a pass in 12 straight games. Redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry, meanwhile, brought in one ball for 10 yards and has reeled in a catch in eight straight contests.

• When Michigan inserted its second-string offensive line into the game with 11:14 left in the fourth quarter, this is how they lined up — freshman left tackle Jalen Mayfield, redshirt freshman left guard Chuck Filiaga, redshirt sophomore center Stephen Spanellis, redshirt freshman right guard Joel Honigford and redshirt freshman right tackle James Hudson.

• Four different scholarship offensive players saw their first career game action, with three of them being linemen — Mayfield, Hudson, Honigford and freshman fullback Ben VanSumeren.

• Patterson and McCaffrey combined to go 13-of-18 through the air (72 percent), the team's best completion percentage in a game since Wilton Speight and John O'Korn connected on 21 of their 27 passes (78 percent) against Maryland in 2016.

• Michigan's 451 total yards were its most since it posted 471 in a 35-14 victory over Rutgers last year on Oct. 28.

• The last time U-M tossed four touchdown passes in a game came in its 51-14 blowout of Central Florida on Sept. 10, 2016.

• The Wolverines did not a commit a turnover for the first time since Nov. 11 of last year, in their 35-10 triumph at Maryland.

• Sophomore cornerback Ambry Thomas made his first-ever appearance on offense, lining up at receiver several times. He caught one pass for five yards.

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