Offense Notes: Amara Darboh Comes In Clutch

Michigan opened the game Saturday with three straight passing plays, although pressure forced junior quarterback Wilton Speight to keep it on his first drop-back of the game. He then completed his first two pass attempts, one of which was a 23-yard connection with senior tight end Jake Butt.

Though the opening drive and initial intent to throw the ball seemed promising for the Wolverines, Michigan was stagnant throughout the game after punching the ball into the end zone on the first play of the second quarter.

Despite the Wisconsin defense making it tough to move the ball all day for the Wolverines, fifth-year senior Amara Darboh extended his streak of games with a catch to 25.

Late in the fourth quarter with the game on the line, Michigan finally found pay dirt on a 46-yard pass from redshirt sophomore quarterback Wilton Speight to Darboh. The catch was a career long for Darboh and marks his fifth receiving touchdown of the season, matching his season total from 2015. Only 11 players in the country have more touchdowns through the air.

“I got back to the top of my drop, and I saw he won on his release,” Speight said. “It was still solid coverage, so I knew I needed to put it in one spot and one spot only. He made a great play.”

Added Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh: “We were under center, play-action pass. Really the play’s designed to go to Jake Butt, but I saw Wilton wheel and throw it to Amara. [Speight] saw Amara had a step on him or two.”

The Michigan offense totaled a season-high 515 yards a week ago against Penn State, but a strong Wisconsin defense limited the Wolverine offense to 349 total yards Saturday.

Wisconsin ran a 3-4 defensive scheme against Michigan, which allowed a strong linebacking group to flourish.

Despite missing standout linebacker Vince Beigel, who was ruled out in the week leading up to the game, the top three tacklers for Wisconsin were all linebackers. They each had at least 11 tackles on the day.

Wisconsin outside linebacker T.J. Watt was named Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week after his 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks against Michigan State. He followed that performance up with 11 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack against the Wolverines.

“It says a lot about our team,” Darboh said of the win. “Wisconsin is a very tough football team — very good defense, very good offense. Us beating this team says a lot about our character, says a lot about the players on our team.”

Wisconsin’s defense led the country in points allowed last year with 13.7 points given up per game. This year, the Badgers came into the game allowing just 11.8 (after the game, they still rank fifth nationally, at 12.2).

Opposing teams had found the end zone just three times all season against the UW defense in the first four games (they had also allowed an interception and punt return for scores), though with two touchdowns Michigan nearly matched that total in a single game.

· The win was Michigan’s 50th over Wisconsin.

· This was the first top-10 matchup between the two teams.

· The last top-10 matchup in The Big House was the Ohio State game in 2015. Michigan lost that game 42-13.

· Coming into the game Wisconsin was riding an eight-game road-win streak. In their previous 13 games away from home the Badgers had only lost to Ohio State in 2014 and Alabama in 2015. Those teams went on to win the national championship in each of those seasons and both were at neutral sites.

· Head coaches Jim Harbaugh and Paul Chryst came into the game with matching overall and Big Ten records in their first two years with their respective alma maters (14-3, 7-2 Big Ten).

· It had been six years since Michigan and Wisconsin had faced one another. The longest drought in series history was nine years from 1950-1959.

· Junior linebacker Jabrill Peppers saw snaps at quarterback for the first time this season, though he handed the ball off each time.

· Harbaugh actually holds the highest passing yardage high mark for the Wolverines in the series against Wisconsin. The current coach threw for 310 yards against the Badgers in 1986.