Offense Notes: Hassan Haskins, U-M Ground Game Put On Dominating Effort
The Michigan Wolverines' football team put together an impressive rushing performance against Notre Dame on Saturday night, accumulating 303 yards on the ground while also averaging 5.3 yards per carry in its 45-14 win.
Redshirt freshman running back Hassan Haskins led the way with 149 yards on 20 carries, while freshman running back Zach Charbonnet chipped in another 74 yards and two scores. Senior Tru Wilson and redshirt freshman Christian Turner both contributed as well, with each posting an average of at least 7.5 yards per carry in limited action.
Wilson was the only U-M running back brought down behind the line of scrimmage — and just one time.
On a windy and rainy night in Ann Arbor, it was clear the Wolverines wanted to establish the rushing attack early and often, attempting a season-high 57 runs. If the two sacks on senior quarterback Shea Patterson are removed, the Wolverines averaged 6.5 yards per carry as a team.
Charbonnet scored the first touchdown of the night when he found the end zone on a seven-yard run at 13:51 mark of the second quarter, putting U-M up 10-0 at the time.
The freshman cashed in again on U-M's ensuing possession (this time from a yard out), giving the Maize and Blue a 17-0 lead with 9:52 remaining before halftime.
The Wolverines had already compiled 162 yards on the ground at that point, and finished the first half with 167.
Wilson joined in on the action when he found pay dirt from 27 yards out with 9:13 left in the game, giving Michigan a comfortable 38-7 advantage. The score was the first of the season for Wilson and only the second of his career.
"Offensively, we made some creases and had some really crisp blocks, and the backs were squeezing through them and breaking tackles," head coach Jim Harbaugh said afterward. "We hit a trap play early, and that was big. We hit another couple inside runs, hit a couple outside runs. [Offensive coordinator] Josh [Gattis] did a nice job with the running game — inside then outside and then RPOs [run-pass options] started clicking.
"It was really well done."
The 303 rushing yards Notre Dame allowed were the most the Irish had surrendered in a game since yielding 320 to Navy on Nov. 5, 2016.
On the flip side, it was the most the Wolverines had compiled in a contest since logging 320 in a 38-13 blowout of Wisconsin last October.
Michigan Football's Overall Offensive Production Continues To Excel
Ever since U-M posted just 10 points in its Oct. 5 win over Iowa, its offense has steadily picked up the production.
The Maize and Blue have averaged 36 points over their last three games — which include a pair of top-10 opponents — and have racked up at least 417 yards in all three outings (including 437 on Saturday).
Notre Dame had not allowed any of its last 20 opponents to exceed 30 points, which was the longest active streak in the nation. U-M posted 45 on the Irish, marking the most points they had yielded in a game since Nov. 26, 2016 in a 45-28 loss to USC.
The 437 yards Michigan compiled were also the most ND had given up since surrendering 538 to Clemson in last season's College Football Playoff.
“The second half of the Penn State game was when I think we found our stride," senior quarterback Shea Patterson said in the postgame. "We realized after that game and going into this week, we’ve got to come out that way from start to finish. We can’t come out flat and expect to make a heroic comeback in the end.
“We’ve got to help out our defense. Our defense played lights out tonight, and I thought we executed all night offensively. The results spoke for themselves.”
Miscellaneous Michigan Football Notes
• The 45 points were the second most Michigan had ever scored on Notre Dame, trailing only the 47 it posted in a 47-21 victory in 2006.
• Redshirt sophomore quarterback Dylan McCaffrey's 26-yard touchdown pass to freshman wideout Mike Sainristil in the fourth quarter was his first of the season and the third of his career.
Sainristil's score was also his first career, while his 73 yards receiving were a new single-game best.
• The 31-point win was U-M's largest margin of victory against an AP top-10 squad since Oct. 1, 1977, when it took down No. 5 Texas A&M, 41-3.
• Saturday's game marked the first time all year the Wolverines did not turn the ball over. After committing nine through its first three games, U-M has only had five giveaways over its last five tilts.
• Patterson only completed six of his 12 passes for 100 yards, but also tossed two touchdowns with no picks.
• His pair of scoring throws (a 16-yarder to junior receiver Nico Collins and an eight-yarder to junior wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones) marked the fourth time this year he had tossed at least two touchdowns in a game, and the 11th time he had done so as a Wolverine.
• Michigan averaged 364 yards through its first three games of the season (wins over Middle Tennessee State and Army, and a loss at Wisconsin), but has tallied 418 per outing in the five since.
• Haskins made his first career start at running back and had a career-high 20 carries, breaking his previous high of 13. His 149 yards were also a career best, and were the most by a Wolverine since Karan Higdon racked up 156 last season in a 49-3 win over Western Michigan on Sept. 8.
• The home team has gone 15-3 in the series since 1997 and won the last six in the matchup. The last visiting team to grab a triumph was when Michigan went into South Bend and beat the Irish in 2010, 28-24.
• The victory was Harbaugh's first over Notre Dame as Michigan's coach. His record as a player against the Irish was 2-0, then he went 2-2 as the head man at Stanford and now 1-1 at U-M.
• Charbonnet's two touchdowns gave him nine on the year, which are the most on the team. It was also his third multi-TD game of the season.
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