Michigan Wolverines football redshirt sophomore quarterback Joe Milton had thrown for 300 and 344 yards over the past two weeks, but he was unable to follow up that success Saturday night against Wisconsin.
Milton completed only 9 of 19 passes for 98 yards with no touchdowns and two picks in Michigan's 49-11 loss, with the two turnovers setting the tone for the evening. His first interception occurred on U-M's first offensive play of the contest, when his pass hit fifth-year senior tight end Nick Eubanks in the face mask before ricochetting into the arms of Badgers safety Scott Nelson.
The case could be made the mishap wasn't Milton's fault. The second interception, however, was thrown directly into the arms of Wisconsin linebacker Leo Chenal on U-M's second drive of the night and returned 31 yards to Michigan's 14-yard line.
"Did Joe understand where the keys were and where he was looking?" head coach Jim Harbaugh wondered out loud after the game. "On the first one, he was rolling out of the pocket and threw a good ball.
"It was a contested catch but should have been made. The ball got tipped up and they were very opportunistic and made the interception. On the second one, he didn’t have a lane, didn’t have the throw, and made the throw anyway and it got intercepted."
Milton's night came to an end at the 4:45 mark of the third quarter when Michigan was already trailing 35-3. Redshirt freshman Cade McNamara was inserted into the game and immediately gave the team a spark, marching the offense 75 yards in just four plays.
"Cade came in and Joe was supportive of him," sophomore receiver Mike Sainristil said in the postgame. "When Joe’s in, Cade is supportive of him. Whoever is out there, we have their back as an offense."
McNamara looked calm, cool and collected on his first drive, capping the series off with a beautiful 23-yard touchdown pass to Sainristil. The redshirt freshman stayed in the game from that point on, finishing the night 4-of-7 passing for 74 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.
"As I've said, we’ve got to evaluate all things … everything we’re doing," Harbaugh noted when asked if the quarterback competition between Milton and McNamara will be reexamined heading into next week.
Michigan's Rushing Attack Fails To Get On Track For A Second Straight Week
Michigan rushed for 13 yards and averaged 0.7 yards per carry last week at Indiana, and followed it up by compiling just 47 yards on the ground versus the Badgers while averaging 2.5 yards per rush.
Sophomore Zach Charbonnet was the leading rusher on the evening, with 21 yards on three carries. Milton checked in next with 15 yards, but no other running back had more than six yards.
Granted, the club's two starting offensive tackles — redshirt sophomore left tackle Ryan Hayes and redshirt sophomore right tackle Jalen Mayfield — were each out for a second straight week with injury, but the ground game's inability to find any kind of rhythm was discouraging nonetheless.
Four running backs — Charbonnet, redshirt sophomore Hassan Haskins, freshman Blake Corum and fifth-year senior Chris Evans – had all received at least one carry in each of Michigan's three games entering Saturday, but that pattern came to an end.
Evans was the lone member of the bunch who didn't carry the ball, though it's worth noting he caught two passes for 16 yards. Corum's seven carries paced the unit — which netted five yards — while Charbonnet checked in second with three and Haskins third with only one.
The Maize and Blue have now rushed for a combined 60 yards over their last two contests, marking their lowest total in consecutive games since 2013. Michigan tallied minus-48 yards on the ground at Michigan State Nov. 2 that year, and followed it up by rushing for minus-21 yards the following week against Nebraska.
Miscellaneous Michigan Football Offense Notes
• Saturday was the second appearance of McNamara's career, with his only other one being the season-opening win at Minnesota. His touchdown pass to Sainristil was the first he has ever tossed in college.
• The Wolverines' 11 points were the fewest they had scored in a single game since a 10-3 triumph over Iowa Oct. 3 last season.
• Michigan went three-and-out on five of its 11 possessions.
• After committing zero turnovers in its first two games, U-M has now given the ball away four times in its last two tilts after Milton threw two interceptions Saturday. The club has still not lost a fumble yet this year, however.
• Michigan's 219 yards were its fewest in a game since it accumulated only 201 in a 14-13 loss at Iowa in 2016.
• Sophomore wideout Cornelius Johnson failed to reel in a reception after racking up a career-high 82 yards last week at Indiana.
• The Maize and Blue's 10 first downs were the fewest they had logged in an outing since also recording 10 in a 27-23 loss to Michigan State in 2015.
• Freshman receiver Roman Wilson played but was never targeted.
• U-M's offense possessed the ball for 19:45, while Wisconsin's held onto it for 40:15. Eight of Michigan's 11 drives lasted 1:47 or less.
• Haskins' 157 rushing yards and three scores on the ground both led the team entering the weekend, but he carried the ball only one time for six yards against Wisconsin.
• Junior receiver Ronnie Bell's four catches and 56 receiving yards both paced the squad Saturday night.
• Sophomore wideout Giles Jackson's 36-yard reception in the second quarter was his longest catch of the year. It was also the sixth pass play of 30 yards or longer for Michigan this season.
• The Wolverines converted only three of their 11 third-down attempts versus Wisconsin.
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