jim harbaugh beatdown

"I should get financial compensation for watching this game" was a text message I received from an MSU grad friend near the tail end of the contest. No, the score did not end 78-0 but those who watched this game, and frankly, anyone who looked at the final score, knows that Michigan was significantly better at football than Michigan State on Saturday night. Wolverine fans know it. Spartan fans know it. Everyone in this state knows it. Another Jim Harbaugh-infused beatdown of an opponent at the Big House that resembled a boa constrictor slowly strangling its prey. Payback. Justice. Paul is home. 

Michigan State opened the game with the football after Michigan deferred their coin toss victory. The Spartans opened with a couple solid plays, a Jalen Berger run, an end around to Jayden Reed, and then a screen to Reed, but things quickly went haywire as MSU lost its discipline. LT Jarrett Horst was flagged for an unsportsmanlike-conduct after the play, then MSU committed a false start, giving themselves 2nd & 25. After a Payton Thorne keeper was foiled decisively, the Spartans were set up with 3rd & 30. They waved the white flag and punted. 

Michigan's first drive looked pretty much like we expected. They got solid gains on the ground and hit quick passes to Luke Schoonmaker, moving into Spartan territory but then a 1st & 10 screen to Cornelius Johnson was ripped out by a great play from MSU safety Xavier Henderson. The Spartans fell on the loose ball and had the big turnover. They were unable to capitalize though, as a 3rd & 3 run for Elijah Collins was oddly spotted short of the line to gain, and then the 4th & 1 Collins plunge up the middle was stopped short by the Wolverines. The fourth down try was initially spotted as a first down but the spot was clearly wrong, and replay officials rectified that. 

[Patrick Barron]

MSU thus gave the Wolverines excellent field position, starting at the opposing 46. JJ McCarthy found Donovan Edwards in space matched up on EDGE Jacoby Windmon, setting the Wolverines up with 1st & G at the four yard line. MSU did what they do well though, slamming the door inside the five. Blake Corum lost three yards on first down, McCarthy lost one more on a 2nd down run, and then the 3rd & G play was caught by Ronnie Bell well short of the goal line. Jake Moody's chip shot field goal put Michigan up 3-0. 

Michigan State's only scoring drive of the game would be the next one. Payton Thorne scrambled to pick up a first down, and then a few plays later, on 3rd & 8, he threw a fade up for Keon Coleman, who came down with it for a 29 yard gain. Two plays later, he jacked it up again, and again Coleman, the leapy half-basketball/half-football star, came down with it over good coverage from Gemon Green. This time he landed in the end zone and gave the visitors a 7-3 advantage. 

Surprisingly trailing, Michigan went back to their bread-and-butter, Blake Corum runs and some JJ McCarthy passing peppered in between. A Wolverine flea flicker attempt was not open, but McCarthy made a good decision to find Ronnie Bell open underneath instead. McCarthy dodged a blitzer on another play, rolling to the right and finding Luke Schoonmaker, who rushed inside the ten. Michigan ran Corum twice inside to get inside the three and then on 3rd & G, they ran a nifty play where McCarthy lateraled the pall forward (so it is technically a pass) to Blake Corum, who was coming across in motion and then surged into the end zone. 10-7 Wolverines. 

[Bryan Fuller]

Michigan State's next drive was pretty solid as well, showcasing Keon Coleman as a rising star in this conference yet again. Thorne hit Coleman for 27 on 3rd & 9 against DJ Turner and then would find Coleman for 22 against Makari Paige on the very next play. Down inside the Michigan 15, MSU decided to go to the run and and it was a bad idea. As they had all game, Michigan gummed up MSU's running game between the tackles. Elijah Collins and Jalen Berger would run it four times but could not gain a cumulative ten yards. When Berger was stuffed by Michael Barrett and Junior Colson on 4th & 1 from the five yard line, it was a turnover on downs and a major opportunity for the Spartans to stay competitive had been squandered. 

The home team got the ball with 7:31 remaining in the first half and proceeded to go on a long drive that milked nearly all of the remaining clock. The first five plays were all rushing plays, though the last was a McCarthy scramble for 21 yards into Spartan territory. A few plays later, McCarthy scrambled again, this time on 4th & 3, picking up 16 more yards and getting Michigan down to the MSU 22. Donovan Edwards would then rush two times for 16 yards, setting the Wolverines up for 1st & G on the six with a chance to get a two-score lead into halftime. It was not to be again, as MSU again slammed the door, holding two rushing plays to a cumulative -1 yard, and then Windmon helped break up a 3rd & G pass to Schoonmaker. Moody threaded through his second chip shot FG of the game, making it 13-7. 

MSU would get one more possession before halftime, but it would achieve nothing, even after being given a second chance. They seemed to go three-and-out when Mike Sainristil broke up a pass to Tre Mosley, but two Wolverines jumped offsides on the punt, giving MSU a fresh set of downs. Didn't matter. Thorne's screen to Elijah Collins was tackled in bounds and then Thorne was sacked by Mazi Smith and Mike Morris, ending the half. Despite Michigan State getting the half's only turnover, getting the extra possession from the coin toss, and hitting four passing plays of 20+ yards in the first half, they were unable to lead at the half. Your author felt at the time that it was a rather bad omen for MSU's chances in the second half and he would be proven right. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: More recap]

Yes, there was a time when Michigan trailed. Yes, that came in the second half. Yes, you may have broken open the liquor cabinet in an attempt to calm the nerves. But no, this football game was never competitive. Michigan mauled, mashed, paved, and obliterated Penn State on the ground in a way that was so overwhelming that not even a defensive TD, many points left on the field in the red zone, and two 50+ yard plays for the Nittany Lion offense could mask this ass-kicking. Thankfully the final score reflected the reality of the situation: Michigan was miles better than Penn State and won 41-17. 

Michigan's first drive was a terrific showing of offense, a series that would set the tone for the entire first half. They marched methodically down the field with a heavy dose of Blake Corum. The Wolverines seemed unstoppable until they got to the red zone, facing a 3rd & 4 from the 11 yard line. Sherrone Moore and Matt Weiss dialed up the perfect play call, a screen pass to Donovan Edwards where the numbers were in their favor. If it's caught, it's likely a TD, but JJ McCarthy put too much on it and it fell incomplete. A 29 yarder from Jake Moody opened the scoring. 

For the next 15 or so minutes, the game continued like this. Michigan's defense was dominant, forcing Penn State to punt on back-to-back drives while the offense marched down the field without resistance- until they got to the red zone. Their second offensive series was blown up inside the five via a critical TFL from Penn State's Ji'Ayir Brown on a Corum run. A brainy decision from PSU DC Manny Diaz to blitz on 3rd & Goal helped force another FG. The next Michigan drive was only different in that the Wolverines cashed in. After getting to 1st & 10 from the 11, four straight Blake Corum runs, the last one with a healthy push from his blockers behind him, got the Wolverines into the end zone. 

[Patrick Barron]

At this point, the score was 13-0 and Michigan had more points than Penn State had offensive plays. It seemed to be a total domination but then things got a bit goofy. On PSU's third drive, facing 3rd & 1 from the 34 after a pass, the Nittany Lions went tempo and got Eyabi Okie to crash down on the RB. A terrific block from LT Olu Fashanu guided Michael Barrett out of the way, and Sean Clifford kept the ball with only green grass in front of him. He'd eventually be tracked down but not until he picked up 62 yards. Michigan's defense would force Penn State to run four plays inside the five, but on 4th & Goal from the 1, Kaytron Allen made his way into the end zone for a TD, 13-7. 

On the ensuing drive, Michigan drove into PSU territory but things would go haywire on 3rd & 2 from PSU's 41. McCarthy rolled to his right, looked for Blake Corum, and then delivered a ball that was off the mark. It was going to be behind Corum and it bonked off the helmet of Penn State DE Chop Robinson and up into the air. The ball bounced off the helmet of PJ Mustipher and into the arms of LB Curtis Jacobs, who snatched it and rumbled 47 yards down the field and into the end zone. Stunningly, Penn State now led 14-13. The Wolverines had time for one last drive of the half, again marching all the way down the field. After Corum was stuffed on a short yardage play inside the 10, Michigan lined up Moody for another chip shot. The steady kicker fit it through and Michigan led 16-14 at the half. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: The more fun part of the recap]