Michigan Wolverines Football: Top Five Players Of The Game
A funny thing happened to Michigan on the way to a fourth straight rout — actually, not so funny. The Wolverines hung on to win, 20-13, but they dominated neither the game nor the game’s top players category.
1. Rutgers running back Isaih Pacheco: Pacheco just kept coming, like his teammates — especially in the second half. He wound up with 107 yards on the ground, averaging 5.4 per try. That effort proved enough to make more than a few home fans nervous over the final 20 minutes.
2. Freshman linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green: Hill-Green forced the fumble that helped put the game away late in the contest. He also racked up eight tackles, leading the Wolverines, and notched a tackle for loss.
3. Freshman linebacker Junior Colson: Colson stepped in when starting linebacker Josh Ross, a redshirt junior, left the game with an injury. Colson responded with five tackles, and found himself at the right place at the right time. He scooped up the fumble by Rutgers quarterback Noah Vedral, stopping the Scarlet Knights’ final attempt to score.
4. Junior placekicker Jake Moody: Moody’s boots on field goals, from 32 and 20 yards, nearly provided the margin of victory. He did miss a 47-yarder that would have given the Wolverines breathing room in the fourth quarter, but wound up with more than one-third of the points Michigan put on the board.
5. Rutgers placekicker Valentino Ambrosio: Ambrosio provided a pair of field goals himself, missing a 29-yarder in the fourth quarter. In a game painfully lacking in scoring, he gave the Scarlet Knights more than half their points.
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