Monday Morning Quarterbacking: Lots Of Positive Takeaways From The Beatdown
The Michigan Wolverines' football team crushed MSU over the weekend, 44-10, and we've taken a second look back at all the positive and negative takeaways from it (though there were hardly any of the latter).
Key Moment of the Game:
With Michigan leading 17-7 and 12:51 to go in the third quarter, senior quarterback Shea Patterson took a first-and-10 shotgun snap from the MSU 18-yard line.
He immediately looked to his right and hit junior receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones five yards behind the line of scrimmage, who had redshirt sophomore linebacker Noah Harvey bearing down on him as soon as he caught the ball.
Harvey dove to try and make the tackle but whiffed, and the junior wideout turned on the jets and ran along the sideline as the end zone neared.
Junior linebacker Antjuan Simmons reached out and pushed Peoples-Jones at the three-yard line, but the wideout had already gone airborne, and contorted his body perfectly to reach the ball out over the goal line as the rest of him went flying out of bounds.
It worked beautifully as the ref signaled a touchdown, extending Michigan's lead to 24-7 and ending any brief hopes MSU had of a comeback.
Peoples-Jones then ran toward the back of the end zone as Hail to the Victors blared, and struck the Paul Bunyan pose to the crowd for a second year in a row.
Three Things That Worked:
1. Shea Patterson and the Michigan Passing Attack
This is exactly the kind of offensive explosion fans were hoping to see when offensive coordinator Josh Gattis was hired, with the 'speed in space' mantra finally living up to its name on Saturday. Patterson played the best game he had ever had in a Michigan uniform, throwing for 384 yards (fifth most in a game in a school history) and four touchdowns, with 198 of those yards occurring after the catch by his receptionists.
2. The Overall Defensive Effort
Another week, another dominant effort by this Michigan defense, which limited MSU to just 220 yards, and has now held nine of its 10 opponents to 293 yards or fewer this season. The front seven was especially stingy, holding the Spartans to 54 rushing yards and 1.8 yards per carry.
3. The Emotion, Passion and Intensity Michigan Played With
MSU used to be the club that played with more grit and intensity in this rivalry during much of the Mark Dantonio era, but that script has since been flipped and it was evident on Saturday. The Wolverine players (and coaches, including head man Jim Harbaugh) showed more passion on the field and on sidelines than we had seen all season, and made it clear MSU's cheap shots and post-whistle shenanigans were not going to be tolerated.
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