Michigan Football: Wolverines Smear The Turtle, 42-21
Maryland strode into Michigan Stadium averaging 39.6 points per game. They left as shell-shocked as a turtle under an 18-wheeler.
The Wolverines (5-1 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) flipped the Terrapins upside down and left them there, limiting Maryland to 220 total yards in a 42-21 Homecoming hammering. The visitors entered the fourth quarter with all of 87 total yards, scraping up more after the game got out of hand.
The Terps (3-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) entered The Big House with wins over Texas and Minnesota. But the Wolverines dominated, rolling up 465 total yards and exacting a heavy tariff on every play interim head coach Matt Canada’s crew tried to export.
Junior quarterback Shea Patterson enjoyed his best day in a Michigan uniform to date, connecting on 19 of 27 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. Defensive coordinator Don Brown’s crew assured those numbers represented overkill.
“We did great,” junior linebacker Devin Bush noted. “I just found out we had them under 100 yards until the fourth quarter. I was pretty happy about that.”
So was head coach Jim Harbaugh, after seeing his offense given plenty of time to pull away.
“It was really an epic defensive performance,” Harbaugh said. “We got a little thin toward the end of the game, but it was great job, great performance.
“This Maryland team has a very potent running game. You can see what they did to Texas. We had seen it on tape. Lots of misdirection, eye distraction and ability to open up seams. Lots of long runs, and we didn’t give those up today. I thought we played them as well as anyone who has faced them.”
The Terps rushed for 147 yards, but again, entered the final period with 46 yards on 23 carries. Quarterbacks Kasim Hill and Tyrrell Pigrome combined for a 7-for-13 effort throwing for 73 yards and a pick-six by Hill.
The Wolverines didn’t fly out of the gate, leading just 10-7 until seconds remained in the first half. But Harbaugh liked what he saw, and so did his quarterback.
“Our defense is putting us in good position, playing lights out, special teams is playing good, the line did a heck of a job of protecting, and the running game was going," he said. “It really opened everything up for me and our offense.”
The Wolverines missed out on an early chance to score when Maryland stonewalled them on a fourth-and-one run by sophomore fullback Ben Mason on the Terps’ 25. But with Michigan’s defense consistently bringing the heat on Hill, Harbaugh’s crew didn’t lack opportunities.
U-M broke through on redshirt sophomore placekicker Quinn Nordin’s 34-yard field goal with 1:21 remaining in the first quarter. Patterson enjoyed enough time to eat crab cakes before delivering a 31-yard strike to wide-open redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry.
Eleven second later, Michigan’s 3-0 lead vanished in a vapor trail.
Maryland’s Ty Johnson took the ensuing kickoff and raced down a wide opening on the western sideline. He shook off sophomore defensive back Ambry Thomas at the end, completing a 98-yard touchdown bolt.
Bypassing the Michigan defense altogether, Maryland secured a 7-3 lead with 1:10 remaining in the quarter.
“Bad fits is what it looked like on the field,” Harbaugh noted of the rare special teams gaffe this season.
The Terps immediately threatened again, defensive back Darnell Savage Jr. picking off a pass from a scrambling Patterson that tumbled off the hands of a leaping Gentry (seven catches, 112 yards). The interception set Maryland up at midfield, but U-M’s defenders stepped up to force a three-and-out.
Backed to their own 5 on the ensuing punt, the Wolverines answered with emphasis. Patterson unleashed a 51-yard bomb to sophomore wideout Nico Collins, who hauled it in despite getting mauled in the process. Patterson then handed off to senior tailback Karan Higdon (25 carries, 103 yards), who pitched to senior slot receiver Grant Perry, who fired a 12-yard toss to junior tight end Sean McKeon.
Sophomore fullback Ben Mason finished off the 11-play, 95-yard scoring drive on a one-yard TD blast. Hit in the hole, the sophomore jackhammered his way into the end zone to put Michigan back on top, 10-7.
“It gave us a confidence booster to know we can drive the ball all the way down the field, when we’re pinned back like that,” Patterson said. “Our receivers were getting open,and we had our run game going. That gives our defense a break. That was really big today, that we did that.”
Maryland’s offense moved like a sumo wrestler on an Everest climb, managing 42 yards in the opening 30 minutes. Michigan earned one more first-half crack and cashed in.
The Wolverines picked their way down the field on Higdon runs and short Patterson tosses. Then the junior QB rolled left, firing a strike to freshman Ronnie Bell slashing across the field, and Bell rang up a 22-yard TD with a mere 16 ticks left on the clock.
“How about my guy Ronnie Bell making the tough catch across the middle?" Harbaugh said. “Takes guys sometimes years, half decades or decades to really have that kind of fearlessness and ability to catch a ball over the middle, not only catch it but finish it, get it in the end zone. He’s a really good kid. I like him a lot.”
The 17-7 halftime edge wasn’t enormous. Maryland’s offensive efforts just made it seem that way.
U-M added a 31-yard Nordin field goal with 7:13 left in the third quarter, pushing the margin to 20-7. Patterson hit Gentry with a pair of 19-yard tosses during the 43-yard march.
“Zach’s my boy,” Patterson said. “He’s one of the first people I met. He was one of the people who really took me in. He’s a heck of a target, so you can really put it anywhere. He’s 6-8, and fast too. Kind of like Gronk [New England Patriots Rob Gronkowski] out there. He’s going to play this game for a long time, and I’m excited to be able to throw the ball to him.”
The Wolverines tacked on a short-field, 43-yard TD to remove all doubt. Patterson came under heavy pass-rush fire, but scrambled away with a faked flick to an imaginary safety valve.
He then found sophomore wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones near the western sideline. Peoples-Jones gathered the short toss, weaving his way 34 yards to a touchdown amid a minefield of blockers.
Harbaugh called Patterson’s move a “whirly bird,” noting: “It was just a great, instinctive play by Shea, getting the ball to Donovan. He continues to be that guy that makes a lot of plays. He’s just playing so hard. He has so much energy. The ball finds energy. It seeks it. There’s something to that. It was a cool play, just a great play.”
The Terps did answer with a 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive, resulting in a one-yard Javon Leake touchdown with 11:28 remaining.
The Wolverines answered with an 81-yard touchdown drive of their own, highlighted by junior running back Tru Wilson’s 20-yard scamper and Patterson’s seven-yard TD toss to fifth-year senior fullback Jared Wangler, followed by a two-point Mason conversion run.
Fifth-year senior cornerback Brandon Watson then applied the defensive capper, intercepting Hill and racing back 46 yards for the pick-six score. That blew the shell off at 42-14 with 4:25 left.
Pigrome scored a meaningless five-yard score with 1:50 left, but the Wolverines might have already been looking toward next week and a night showdown with Wisconsin.
“We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board and prepare this week the way we’ve prepared every week,” Higdon said. “Prepare like we’ve prepared the five weeks before and just handle our business when Saturday comes.”
Five Best Players Of The Game
1. Junior quarterback Shea Patterson: Patterson delivered his most productive effort yet, with 282 yards passing and three touchdowns. He did it with a flair, and had one of his tosses not gone off the hands of redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry, he wouldn’t have posted a turnover.
2. Junior linebacker Devin Bush Jr.: Bush slashed all over the field as usual and was essential in stopping some of Maryland’s quick hitters off the edge. His speed made the difference in taking away several big runs, and he was credited with six tackles, which ranked second on the squad.
3. Redshirt junior tight end Zach Gentry: Gentry remained a big target for Patterson, literally and figuratively. He enjoyed a seven-catch, 112-yard day, frequently setting up Michigan touchdowns. Both were new career highs.
4. Junior viper Khaleke Hudson: Hudson recorded a sack among a pair of tackles for loss. He made five stops total and proved part of a swarming defense that gave Maryland fits until it didn’t matter anymore.
5. Senior tailback Karan Higdon: Higdon continued cranking out the yardage, getting to 103 yards on 25 carries. He’s the workhorse for the Wolverines and looks like he’s ready for more.
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