Offense Notes: Joe Milton Leads U-M To Dominant Victory In First-Ever Start
Michigan football redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton shined in his first-ever start Saturday at Minnesota, leading his Maize and Blue squad to a dominant 49-24 triumph.
The Orlando native had only thrown 11 career passes entering the evening, but put together an efficient outing that saw him complete 15 of his 22 throws (68.1 percent) for 225 yards with one touchdown and — perhaps most importantly — no interceptions.
Milton looked calm and collected throughout the entire game, and showed off accuracy and touch that had oftentimes been missing the few times he'd appeared in U-M's games in the past.
Nine different players caught at least one pass from the redshirt sophomore, with senior fullback Ben Mason hauling in the signal-caller's lone score — an eight-yard grab late in the first quarter that put Michigan up 21-10.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh complimented him after the game for his accuracy throwing the ball, command of the offense and "authority" and "ball security" while running the ball.
"Joe just really, really played an outstanding game," he concluded.
Milton engineered four different scoring drives that covered at least 68 yards, including a 96-yarder that concluded early in the fourth quarter with a five-yard touchdown run by redshirt sophomore running back Hassan Haskins to make the score 49-24, all but sealing the deal.
Milton was effective with his legs as well, carrying eight times for 52 yards while finding the end zone on a two-yard scamper at the 5:20 mark of the third quarter.
When asked to judge himself on a scale of 1-10, Milton gave himself a seven.
Michigan Spreads The Wealth At Running Back
Four different Michigan running backs received carries against the Golden Gophers, with Haskins, fifth-year senior Chris Evans, sophomore Zach Charbonnet and freshman Blake Corum all recording at least four attempts.
Haskins posted the best statistics of the bunch, leading the club in rushing yards (82) and touchdowns (two), while averaging an impressive 13.7 yards per touch. That was thanks in large part to a 66-yard sprint he logged in the third quarter. He also led all running backs in carries (six), trailing only Milton's eight.
Big plays were commonplace among the running backs on Saturday, with Charbonnet also finding pay dirt from 70 yards out on the first play of Michigan's second drive of the game.
Evans also found the end zone on a five-yard run in the fourth quarter, leaving Corum as the only U-M running back who didn't score.
The group helped the Wolverines rack up 256 total rushing yards against a Gopher defense that never allowed more than 178 in a game last year.
“We have playmakers and everyone is going to get touches — not just one back," Haskins explained in the postgame. "Everyone got their shine on and did their thing. I feel like we have one of the best running back groups out there, Big Ten or anywhere.
"I put my trust into each running back we’ve got. I know they’ll do their thing when they go out there. I trust them and they trust me."
Miscellaneous Michigan Football Notes
• Sophomore wideout Giles Jackson wore the No. 0 jersey on Saturday, becoming the first player in school history to do so. He sported No. 15 last season.
• U-M's offense featured a balanced attack with 256 rushing yards and 225 passing yards, giving it 481 total. The Wolverines surpassed the 481-yard mark just once last year — in an Oct. 12 win at Illinois when it racked up 489 yards.
• Five Wolverines earned their first-ever starting nods on offense — redshirt junior left guard Chuck Filiaga, fifth-year senior center Andrew Vastardis, sophomore tight end Erick All, Milton and Corum.
• The triumph marked U-M's biggest margin of victory against a ranked opponent on the road since it crushed No. 2 Notre Dame in South Bend in 2006, 47-21.
• U-M's 35 first-half points were the most it had tallied in a game before halftime since also compiling 35 in a 49-3 destruction of Western Michigan on Sept. 8, 2018. The last time Michigan posted 21 points in the first quarter (as it did on Saturday) was on Sept. 22, 2018, in a 56-10 blowout of Nebraska.
• Fifth-year senior tight end Nick Eubanks (the expected starter at the position) did not play. Harbaugh did not address his status after the game.
• Saturday was the first multi-touchdown game of Haskins' career. He found the end zone for the fifth and sixth times during his collegiate tenure. His 66-yard run in the third quarter was also the longest of his career.
• All only caught one pass for 10 yards last season as a freshman, but hauled in two receptions for 33 yards on Saturday night.
• Redshirt freshman quarterback Cade McNamara finished the evening 0-of-3 passing while coming in on U-M's second-to-last series of the night, marking the first three pass attempts of his career.
• Evans' five-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was his first score since he hauled in a touchdown reception in the 2018 loss to Ohio State.
• Six different Wolverines made their offensive debuts during the game — a pair of redshirt freshmen in offensive tackle Trente Jones and McNamara, and four true freshmen in offensive lineman Zak Zinter, wideouts Roman Wilson and A.J. Henning, and running back Corum.
• Michigan's 49 points were the second most in a road game against a ranked opponent in school history, behind only the 51 it scored in a 54-51 loss at Northwestern in 2000. It's also the fifth-most points in a season-opener ever, and the most the Wolverines had registered in any game since a 52-0 blanking of Rutgers last year on Sept. 28.
• Despite having four new starters on their offensive line, the Maize and Blue only yielded one sack and three tackles for loss.
• Charbonnet's 70-yard touchdown run in the opening frame was a career-long, breaking his previous high of 41 yards he had in last season's win over Middle Tennessee State. It was also the team's longest overall run since Karan Higdon ripped off a 77-yarder in a 33-10 win over Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2017.
• Mason's nine-yard touchdown catch was the first scoring grab of his career and just his second overall reception.
• Junior wideout Ronnie Bell led the team in both receptions and yards with four and 74, respectively.
• Michigan's average starting field position during the first two quarters was the 50-yard line, with six of the first seven drives starting on Minnesota's side of the field.
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