Michigan Football: Second-Half Avalanche Dooms U-M, 41-15
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The end to Michigan’s season proved anything but peachy.
A depleted crew of Wolverines endured a second-half capitulation against a more capable, more prepared and perhaps more motivated Florida squad, 41-15, in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Michigan (10-3) trailed only 13-10 at the half, and gave no real hint of the second-half horror to come. Huge turnovers, defensive attrition and zero offense in the final 30 minutes doomed the Wolverines to an avalanche of ineffectiveness in a third straight bowl loss.
“It was a combination of things,” head coach Jim Harbaugh offered. “It started out not picking up in the third-and-short and the fourth-and-very-short. That hurt. That hurt one drive. We were moving the ball at times and close to getting into a rhythm, but we didn't get the run game going effectively enough — or the passing game, the protection, and the rhythm in that area to make it. We got outplayed, really, on that side of the ball. Florida did a nice job defensively.
“Defensively, it was really the same story. We didn't play as well. We had some missed calls, adjustments. We left a couple receivers wide open, some things that we don't normally do.”
Big plays and huge turnarounds destroyed Michigan’s chances. Junior quarterback Shea Patterson’s numbers appeared okay on the surface (22-of-36 passing for 236 yards and a touchdown), but a pair of second-half interceptions turned into 14 Florida points.
A running game devoid of an opted-out senior captain tailback rushed for 77 yards. A defense decimated by defections prior to the game and injuries during it wound up getting peppered for a second straight game.
The Gators (10-3) rushed for 257 yards and three TDs, while its quick defense pitched a second-half shutout. The Wolverines’ only points of the second half came on a safety off a blocked punt.
Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks went 13-for-23 throwing for 173 yards and a touchdown, and he rushed for an additional 74 yards. Three second-half TD plays of 20 or more yards by the Gators piled on in the lopsided loss, all the more when U-M couldn’t score.
“We knew they were going to be fast and athletic, bring the pressure,” Patterson said. “They’ve got a lot of good players on the defense.”
The Wolverines missed a big opportunity on their first possession, portending the struggles to come. A booth review wiped out an originally ruled 46-yard touchdown on a jet sweep by freshman tailback Christian Turner, noting his foot clipped the sideline by a fraction of an inch. That cost U-M, when Florida stuffed sophomore fullback Ben Mason on fourth-and-inches at the Gators’ 38.
The miss left the door open for Florida, which took a 3-0 lead on Evan McPherson’s 21-yard field goal at 5:37 of the first quarter. A 41-yard pass from Franks to Van Jefferson put the Gators on the Michigan 3, but U-M’s defense dug in and denied the touchdown.
Patterson then went to work with his sophomore receivers, taking the Wolverines 75 yards in nine plays for the go-ahead touchdown. He hit Nico Collins on an 11-yard igniter on third-and-10, then unloaded a 41-yard bomb to Collins down the left sideline.
The junior quarterback finished the drive off with a perfect back-shoulder toss for a nine-yard touchdown to sophomore wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones. The aerial assault gave the Wolverines a 7-3 lead with 2:03 remaining in the first quarter.
The Gators struck right back, but again couldn’t put it in the end zone. Franks floated a 31-yard jump ball down the middle to Josh Hammond, igniting a march from the Florida 25 to Michigan’s 14. But the Wolverines forced McPherson into a 26-yard field goal, pulling Florida within one, 7-6, 2:38 into the second quarter.
Sophomore safety J’Marick Woods helped get that one back, blocking a punt that gave Michigan the ball at the Florida 30. It took another underclassman to help avoid disaster and turn the turnover into points.
A heavy Florida rush resulted in a Patterson fumble on third-and-14, but an alert Turner scooped up the ball and scampered forward seven yards. That allowed freshman kicker Jake Moody to bomb through a 48-yard field goal, edging the Wolverines out to a 10-6 advantage with 5:56 remaining in the half.
Franks struck back with his legs, breaking off a 30-yard run to begin a 75-yard drive and a 20-yard touchdown dash to end it. His quarterback draw sprint for the TD took him right through territory senior captain Devin Bush Jr. roamed all season, but the linebacker (along with three other Wolverine starters) sat out of the bowl game.
With the Gators suddenly up, 13-10, U-M had 2:41 left to score before the half. They came close, but Moody’s 52-yard field goal attempt hooked just left in the final seconds — his first miss of the season.
Florida created the first big break of the second half, defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson picking off Patterson’s bomb down the middle and returning it 53 yards to the Michigan 44. Kadarius Toney’s 30-yard run set Florida up on the U-M 5, and from there, Franks gunned a TD toss to Lamical Perine.
The huge turnover turnaround put Florida in charge, 20-10, with 8:06 remaining in the third quarter. The Wolverines’ backs were against the wall, with a thinned-out defense made thinner via injuries to redshirt sophomore linebacker Devin Gil and sophomore defensive lineman Kwity Paye.
Meanwhile, the Wolverines needed to score — and soon.
Instead, the Gators kept chomping.
A Michigan three-and-out led to a 63-yard Florida touchdown drive. It almost never got underway, but Franks unleashed a 30-yard throw to Hammond between defenders on third-and-12. Then running back Jordan Scarlett broke off a 30-yard run, followed soon by his five-yard touchdown reception to break the game open at 27-10.
Patterson connected on a half-dozen throws to take the Wolverines back down the field. It appeared initially he completed an eight-yard TD toss to redshirt freshman wideout Tarik Black, but a booth review revealed the ball came out when
he hit the deck falling backward.
U-M settled for Moody’s 26-yard field goal, making it 27-13 with 12:16 left in the game.
Florida didn't allow any comeback hopes to build. Instead, it applied the backbreaker.
On third-and-20, Perine popped through the middle of the Gators’ line for a 53-yard touchdown run that removed all doubt. It further burned down the massively depleted Michigan defense, and made it 34-13 with 9:21 left.
Junior linebacker Khaleke Hudson blocked a Florida punt out of the end zone for a safety with 4:58 left. But the Gators saw Michigan’s two and raised it seven.
Patterson’s very next pass attempt turned into a tipped-toss pick-six by Gardner-Johnson, who returned it 30 yards against helpless pursuit.
In the end, the Wolverines didn’t feature enough gas left in the tank to hang with the 10-3 Gators. And what gas remained fell victim to a second-half match.
“It was a very good season,” Harbaugh concluded. “It would have been a great season had we won this game. We didn't get that done.
“My feeling about the team is we're right there to the top, but we have to put it over the top — especially in the big games at the end of the year.”
Five Best Players Of The Game
1. Florida defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson: Gardner-Johnson crushed Michigan’s comeback hopes, picking off two passes and returning them 83 yards, including a 30-yard pick-six. His other interception set up a touchdown, and he added five tackles.
2. Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks: Franks faced heat early, but brought it late. His back-breaking runs included a 20-yard TD scamper and several drive extenders. Plus, he hit enough big-play throws to sink the Wolverines.
3. Florida running back Lamical Perine: Fifty-three of Perine’s 76 yards rushing came on one play, but it was a crusher. His 53-yard touchdown run on third-and-20 removed Michigan’s last legitimate shot at a comeback.
4. Florida cornerback CJ Henderson: Henderson recorded one of four Florida sacks, leading a swarming Gators’ defense with eight tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss.
5. Sophomore wideout Nico Collins: There weren’t many bright spots for the Wolverines, especially on offense, but Collins became one. He caught five passes for 80 yards, continuing to assert himself as one of Michigan’s best wideouts.
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