The No. 15 Michigan Wolverines (5-1, 3-0) picked up a big win during Homecoming weekend beating the Maryland Terrapins (3-2, 1-1) 42-21 on Saturday afternoon for their first loss against a Big Ten team this season.
Shea Patterson completed 19 of his 27 throws for 282 yards, a season high to go with three touchdowns and an interception. Karan Higdon continued to serve as Michigan's workhorse back leading the team with 25 carries for 103 yards. However, it was fullback Ben Mason who had the team's lone touchdown on the ground. Zach Gentry led the team with seven catches for 112 yards. Meanwhile Ronnie Bell, Donovan Peoples-Jones and Jared Wangler each had a receiving touchdown. The game started off relatively slow as no points were scored in the first 13 minutes of play. The maize and blue would break the ice with a field goal curtesy of Quinn Nordin. However, Ty Johnson would run the ensuing kickoff back 98-yards to put Maryland up 7-3 going into the second quarter. The Wolverines seemed to be shaken for a bit, but an 11-play, 95-yard drive capped by Ben Mason's touchdown run would ease those worries. Shea Patterson would add a touchdown pass to Ronnie Bell to make it 17-7 before halftime. Another Quinn Nordin field goal and another Patterson touchdown pass would add on to the lead, but the Terps scored their first offensive touchdown of the game with 11:28 left to make it a two-touchdown game. However, Shea Patterson would throw another touchdown pass to extend the lead. On Maryland's next possession, Brandon Watson returned an interception 46 yards for a touchdown, sealing the deal for the maize and blue and making a Maryland touchdown with 1:50 to go meaningless. This was an impressive win for Michigan. Maryland may not be elite, but they've been pretty impressive to start the season. However, the Wolverines now begin a part of their schedule that will define their season. It starts next week when the maize and blue host the No. 16 Wisconsin Badgers in a game that neither team can afford to lose.
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The No. 14 Michigan Wolverines (3-1, 1-0) started conference play on the right foot with a 56-10 win over Nebraska last week. Up next is a road game against the Northwestern Wildcats.
Opponent Overview The Wildcats (1-2, 1-0) started their season with a win at Purdue. However, they've since dropped home games against Duke and Akron in their last two games. They even lost top running back Jeremy Larkin who, after leading the team in carries, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns to start the season, has been forced to retire from football due to cervical stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal chord. Even so, this isn't a team to snuff at. Last year they knocked off Michigan State, ranked No. 16, 39-31 in triple overtime. They also finished 10-3 and ranked No. 17 in the AP Poll. The Wildcats' offense is led by Clayton Thorson who's gone 71/116 for 753 yards and three touchdowns this season. With Jeremy Larkin gone, Northwestern has a lot to figure out when it comes to their running backs. John Moten IV leads active rushers with 12 carries for 21 yards and a touchdown. Kyric McGowan and TJ Green should also see more time. How time will be shared among the running backs remains to be seen. Flynn Nagel leads a deep wide receiver core with 20 catches for 226 yards. Cameron Green is second on the team in both categories and leads the Wildcats with two touchdowns. Bennett Skowronek should also get plenty of looks from Clayton Thorson. Players to Watch Josh Metellus- As a team the maize and blue have improved quite a bit none more so than Metellus. The junior safety from Pembroke Pines, Florida has two interceptions this season to go with 19 total tackles and two passes deflected. He'll need to keep the momentum going against a Northwestern offense that'll be more inclined to throw the ball after losing its top running back. Ben Mason-The sophomore fullback went off for three touchdowns against Nebraska and has four over his last two games. he hasn;t gotten nearly as many touches as Karan Higdon or Chris Evans, but it will be interesting to see how the Wolverines continue to utilize him against Northwestern. Donovan Peoples-Jones- Michigan's leading receiver had a more pedestrian day against Nebraska, making just one catch for 10 yards. He'll need to be utilized more often against a Wildcats team the maize and blue need to be ready for. The running backs alone won;t carry the offense in this contest. Michigan takes on Northwestern Saturday, Sep. 28 at 4:30 eastern on FOX. The No. 19 Michigan Wolverines (1-1) showed lots of improvement in a 49-3 blowout of Western Michigan on Saturday. The team looked a lot better offensively, especially Shea Patterson, who threw for three touchdowns and 121 yards. They'll conclude their non-conference slate with a home game against the SMU Mustangs.
Opponent Overview The Mustangs are still looking fir that elusive first win of the season after losing their first two games against North Texas and No. 16 TCU. Junior Ben Hicks leads the SMU offense. The third-year starter has completed 48.4 percent of his passes for 363 yards, two touchdowns and an interception to start his season. The running game is led by Braden West. The senior has carried the ball 19 times for 104 yard and two touchdowns. He also has five receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown, second best on the team. Xavier Jones and Ke'Mon Freeman have also taken some snaps and will probably continue to do so. They each had over 125 carries in 2017. Freeman led the team with 11 touchdowns while Jones led the team with 1,075 yards. James Proche leads SMU receivers with eight receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown. Reggie Roberson Jr. and Myron Gailliard will also be involved throughout the contest. Players to Watch Josh Metellus-After being kicked out of the season opener against Notre Dame, Metellus led all Wolverines defensemen with seven total tackles to go along with four solo tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. It's a good sign for a guy who always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time last season. His progress against SMU will be worth keeping an eye on. Donovan Peoples-Jones-The sophomore wide receiver posted one of the better stat lines of his Michigan career against Western Michigan catching four passes for 31 yards and a touchdown. Peoples-Jones currently leads receivers with 10 receptions and his 69 receiving yards are second best on the team behind Nico Collins' 100 yards. Hopefully this is a sign that he's finally reaching his potential. Chris Evans-The junior out of Indianapolis had just two carries for a yard against Notre Dame. However, he took a huge step forward against Western Michigan, taking 10 carries 86 yards for two touchdowns. The more productive he is, both as a running back and a pass catcher, will be huge for an offense still in need of playmakers. The maize and blue take on the Mustangs this Saturday, Sep. 15 at 3:30 eastern on the Big Ten Network. For years they battled each other annually as two of the best programs in college football. They've combined for 1,828 wins, 22 national titles and 112 first-round draft picks. The Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry was one of the most exciting in college football. However, it was put on hiatus so that Notre Dame could schedule more games against ACC opponents. The teams last played in 2014, when the Fighting Irish won a resounding 37-0 over Michigan. Much to the delight of college football fans, the rivalry between the two blue bloods will continue when the two teams play at Notre Dame Stadium to open up the 2018 season. It will be part of a home-and-home series between the two teams. Both Michigan and Notre Dame are still among the better teams in the country. However, they're no as close to competing for a national title as they once were. Winning this matchup will have big implications on whether or not they'll be able to do that this year. Opponent Overview The Fighting Irish, ranked No. 12 in the preseason AP Poll, return starting quarterback Brandon Wimbush, who threw for 1,876 yards and 16 touchdowns while running for 803 yards and 14 touchdowns. However, Notre Dame lost a lot outside of him. Their leading running back-Josh Adams-and receiver-Equanimeous St. Brown-from last year have since graduated along with Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlichey, two offensive lineman taken in the first round of last year's draft. Expect Dexter Williams and Tony Jones Jr. to take most of the reps in the backfield. On the perimeter, Chase Claypool, Miles Boykin and Alize Mack will be some of Wimbush's preferred targets. Notre Dame comes off a 10-3 season in 2017. Their only losses were at home against SEC Champion Georgia, and on the road against No. 7 Miami and No. 21 Stanford. Players to Watch Rashan Gary-The projected first round pick is dealing with a minor injury but should be able to play against Notre Dame. He'll have to create pressure against an offensive line that isn;t what it was last year, but still has a lot of talent. Gary will also need to create pressure and force Wimbush to make more mistakes. Shea Patterson-Patterson has long been heralded as the offensive playmaker Jim Harbaugh's been lacking since he took over as head coach in 2014. His skills make him a threat to run and prove him to be a skilled passer. However, he'll need to keep the interceptions to a minimum. The Receivers-Whether it's Grant Perry, Sean McKeon, Zach Gentry or Donovan Peoples-Jones, someone from this unit needs to step up. The core only had nine total touchdowns and 2,226 yards, 106th in all of college football. With Tarik Black also out for this game and perhaps more to follow, this group of players will be hard pressed to make some noise. The two teams square off Saturday, Sep. 1 at 7:30 p.m. on NBC. James Murphy 8/28/18 A Rivalry Renewed: Previewing Michigan Vs. Notre Dame It's now or never in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Three years ago, Jim Harbaugh promised Michigan fans that he would take them back to the glory days. That the Wolverines would once again reign among the blue blood programs in the nation. That they would be at the top of the Big Ten and even compete in the College Football Playoff. The program has improved quite a bit since then, but no championships have come. Michigan struggles just to place second in their own division. Harbaugh's persona is no longer enough to woo fans or the college football world and the team still struggles against their two biggest rivals; Michigan State and Ohio State. Those concerns came to a deafening crescendo in 2017. Despite a great defense, Michigan finished 8-5 with instability at quarterback and an offense that failed to score more than nine passing touchdowns. Air Force and Navy, whose offenses are largely dependent on the running game, each had 10. Now it's 2018 and many of the team's top performers are set to graduate after this year. A few of them are even projected first-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft. So what cast of characters will have the role of bringing a championship to Ann Arbor? Let's take a look. The Wolverines saw three different quarterbacks start a game last year, neither of whom seemed to show any successful consistency. This year, they'll feature Shea Patterson a former five-star recruit who spent his first two years at Ole Miss. Following a scandal, he transferred to Michigan and was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. Patterson's only played 10 college games, but in those games he's thrown for 3,139 yards and 23 interception, a very impressive stat line for a Michigan team desperate for an offensive playmaker. He'll have some help from Karan Higdon and Chris Evans, the team's 1-2 running back punch. The perimeter players aren't very impressive and it looks like their best receiver, Tarik Black, will miss extended time with another foot injury. Outside of him, the team returns Donovan Peoples-Jones and Grant Perry as well as tight ends Sean McKeon and Zach Gentry. They also welcome four-star Mustapha Muhammad who could make an early impact this year. Wide receivers Nico Collins and Oliver Martin have also looked good in offseason practices. The defense has always been a forced to be reckoned with under Jim Harbaugh and this year is no different. Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary, perhaps the team's best player, lead a strong defensive line while Devin Bush, a preseason first-team all-american, leads the linebacker core. What's most impressive about the unit is its passing defense, which allowed just 142.2 passing yards per game, by far the best mark in college football. This year, it's led by the fearsome four of Khaleke Hudson, Tyree Kinnel, Lavert Hill and David Long, all of whom are returning starters. The maize and blue faces a tough schedule this season. They start off with a road game at No. 12 Notre Dame. On Oct. 13, they begin a string of three straight games against ranked Big Ten teams with a home game against No. 4 Wisconsin. The team then visits East Lansing to take on No. 11 Michigan State and heads home to host No. 10 Penn State the following week. The Wolverines wrap up the regular season with their annual showdown against No. 5 Ohio State in Columbus. Regardless of the circumstances, the Wolverines-especially Jim Harbaugh-will be hard pressed to prove that they can not just compete with but knock off some of the better teams in the Big Ten and in the country. They may never have as good a shot as they do now so the clock is ticking. James Murphy Sense Of Urgency Surrounds Michigan In 2018 8/24/18 |
AuthorBeat writer for Michigan Wolverines football and basketball, Ithaca College '20 Archives
November 2018
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