Michigan 20, Northwestern 17
[Fuller]
It’s not just that they came back to win, it's how quickly things turned in the beginning. Michigan had the braggadocio to take the ball after winning the coin toss; they were then hit squarely in the face, took a nasty shot to the body, then took another one to the face. These were not the kind of hits that come together over a long stretch to wear someone down. These were the kind that rock you to your core, that are designed to get you to pack it in and move on.
They didn’t, though. It took those three shots to jar much productivity out of Michigan, which gained –1, 1, and 21 yards on its first three drives. But on the fourth drive, Michigan was able to find success with both the conventional (a handoff to Ben Mason on 3rd-and-1, Karan Higdon’s violent running up the middle) and the bizarre (a play featuring jet action with Ambry Thomas followed by a faked handoff to Higdon and a flipped ball to Donovan Peoples-Jones on an end around, which resulted in DPJ outrunning The Gaz up the sideline and 25 yards).
That drive didn’t do much to cleanse the palate, as both teams played hot potato with offensive futility on the next four drives. Northwestern’s offensive line had difficulties throughout the game, particularly with heart-consuming Chase Winovich and his defensive line compatriots. The line pushed Northwestern to 3rd-and-13 on their fourth drive only to be granted a fresh set of downs on a Lavert Hill hold. That fresh set didn’t matter, as it ended with Winovich running down a play from the backside and Winovich bulling back a lineman and diving at the legs of Clayton Thorson as Kwtiy Paye unloaded on him.
Michigan, which ended the day with 11 penalties for 100 yards, saw 4th-and-3 from Northwestern’s 41 on their fifth drive turn into 4th-and-8 when Zach Gentry moved early. On their next drive, a 15-yard Shea Patterson run was wiped out on a Jon Runyan hold, flipping 1st-and-10 to 2nd-and-20. Nico Collins caught a quick pass from Patterson and ended up with 17 of the 20 necessary yards, but he stayed in bounds, allowing the clock to dwindle. Collins caught a pass on the next play as well, but his toe was out of bounds and Michigan’s chance to cap the half with optimism went out with it.
Until Pat Fitzgerald stepped up to the plate, that is. Fitzgerald wasted two of his timeouts trying to…ice Will Hart? Maybe? No, that’s not a thing. He wasted the timeouts anyhow, ran one play after receiving the ball, then let the clock run out, giving Michigan the biggest, best gift you could ever get Don Brown: halftime.
[Fuller]
Northwestern had the ball six times in the second half. On those six drives, they scored zero points. In the third quarter, they ran the ball seven times for two yards and passed two times for 22 yards. In the fourth quarter, they rushed five times for –11 yards and passed four times for 43 yards. Brown and his safeties adjusted to Fitzgerald’s All Slants offense while the defensive line continued its dominance irrespective of personnel; Rashan Gary was injured in the third quarter, and his absence opened the door for increased rotation from some of the younger linemen. Kwity Paye looked capable, generating pressure often and finishing with two TFLs and two sacks. Michael Dwumfour flashed his Hurstian first step a few times and found himself flushing Thorson into converging teammates on third down on Northwestern’s next-to-last drive. Josh Uche also finished with two TFLs and two sacks, including the one that sealed the game.
Michigan did not have the lead until the four-minute mark in the fourth quarter, with two third-quarter Nordin field goals keeping them within striking distance. Then, on Michigan’s tenth drive, Shea Patterson started to look like himself. Patterson’s throws looked hurried and slightly off their typical dead-on placement until he hit Zach Gentry for 13 yards on an out to the sideline and again for 22 yards later with a ball that arrived just before the Northwestern defensive back’s hands. Karan Higdon took care of the rest, bouncing for a yard to the Northwestern five-yard and then running into the end zone almost untouched on the next play; he finished with 115 yards on 30 carries.
[Barron]
Higdon was a key component of Michigan’s final drive, taking a second-and-10 carry five yards, then seeing a cutback lane on the next play that he hit hard only to come up a yard short. Michigan let the clock run down to 46 seconds, took a timeout, and sent the offense back onto the field. An attempt to draw Northwestern offside proved futile, however, and Michigan took the delay of game penalty in order to punt.
Northwestern’s panic offense found some success, completing passes of nine, 10, and 15 yards to move from their own 15-yard line to almost midfield. Then, on 2nd-and-10, Winovich found himself the recipient of a double team, while Uche bent the corner on the opposite side and wrapped up Thorson with form that had to make defensive line coaches around the country smile. The clock ran out, and Michigan escaped with the slim lead they took all game to build.
There will be another football with a winning score placed in the glass display case at Schembechler Hall, but that doesn’t leave Michigan without much work to do. The offense looked out of sync most of the evening, with receivers sometimes seeming to not anticipate the ball coming their way. Receivers also flubbed opportunities to eek out extra yards or run out of bounds and stop the clock. The defense, for as much work as they were able to do at halftime, will be looking once again at how to stop quick slants.
And then there were the penalties. Minus the phantom holding call on Karan Higdon (!), Michigan gave away field position, ended drives, and breathed life into Northwestern by way of mental miscues. The silver lining in the sloppiness is that Michigan will not only get an opportunity to work on those things from the friendly confines of Michigan Stadium next Saturday afternoon, but they will get an opportunity to work on them with their larger goals still intact.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:11 PM ^
I wonder if the holding was called on another player and the ref just botched the announcement. It literally could not have been on Higdon.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:19 PM ^
nope. the ref told harbaugh that the rb, number 22 tackled the linebacker.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:20 AM ^
Do refs watch replays of the game? If so, how embarrassed is that ref going to be when he sees that Higdon was tackled and not the other way around? I don’t know how to solve the reffing problem but it seems to be getting worse and not better. (At least this time, Michigan was the beneficiary of some horrible calls as well.)
September 30th, 2018 at 8:09 AM ^
I think the reffing problem could be at least partially addressed by more transparency. Make the ref grades public. Allow teams to select/deselect crews ( like a jury selection process). Maybe even get rid of the notion that coaches get fined for criticism of the refs.
September 30th, 2018 at 10:01 AM ^
They should be made available to the media and face repercussions for poor games/impactful calls that are wrong at the very least
September 30th, 2018 at 4:55 PM ^
You cannot shame someone who has no shame.
Big Ten refs don’t care because they are not held accountable by the league.
October 2nd, 2018 at 3:17 PM ^
Prepare yourself; because B1G refs do NOT call holding on Ohio State. Watching that OSU/PSU game, it occurred to me that no other team could have likely made that comeback because there are rules against holding for every other league team. PSU players who were blatantly held got up play after play, justifiably throwing up their hands and presumably saying "WTF, man?"
September 29th, 2018 at 10:19 PM ^
At first, I thought the same thing, but then it was ten yards from the spot of the foul. It was then 2nd and 18. That spot makes sense if they called it in Higdon. Also, the replay showed not a chance of a hold on that half of the field.
September 29th, 2018 at 11:55 PM ^
Bad refs. Tough win. We lose without Shea.
September 30th, 2018 at 12:09 AM ^
Yes, they should have called more PI's on Michigan. Hill and Long have digressed from last year.
September 30th, 2018 at 1:09 AM ^
Hill and Long have digressed from last year.
They really need to stay on-topic.
September 30th, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^
Proper usage of "digress":
You might be a moron...
But I digress!
September 30th, 2018 at 12:30 AM ^
I don't know about that. Im super high on Mc'caffery. I think he could replace patterson and we would be ?
October 1st, 2018 at 12:50 AM ^
If you like Mc'caffery, just wait until you see McCaffrey play.
September 30th, 2018 at 6:11 AM ^
Shea had rough day passing until late in the game. At one point I was thinking we should bring in Dylan. A quarterback with an accurate throw in the first half and Michigan would not have been so far behind. Shea came through in the end but in part he fixed the problem he created.
September 30th, 2018 at 7:36 AM ^
To be fair, McKeon dropped a great pass, which shows that Patterson was okay in the first half. Far more questionable was the play calling in retrospect. The game plan seemed designed to stretch the field and protect the Ts, but Michigan was able to run it up the middle when they tried.
September 30th, 2018 at 9:03 AM ^
M ran the ball up the middle on 7 of the last 8 first down's in the game, for a total of (probably) 6 yards. The one non-run play was a throw to Wangler in the flat that went for 9 yards. That they kept moving the ball through the downs is a testament to Shea's playmaking on 3rd and long. And its no way to consistently move the ball...
September 30th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
Watching Harbaugh run the ball up the middle on like 5 straight 1st down plays for 1 yard was beyond frustrating. Shea’s feet and our D saved our ass in this game.
This is the type of victory that most Championship teams need during the course of the season. This team can play with anyone on the schedule but let’s hope we get things cleaned up.
I would suggest next time we win the coin toss maybe we put our defense on the field first.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:17 AM ^
If McKeon didn't drop an easy catch and Nico Collins understood where he was on the field, Shea's day would look quite a bit better.
He did not see some open guys early. He also missed open receivers in the end zone on two red zone occasions.
September 30th, 2018 at 9:18 AM ^
gawd, of course you were thinking that.
September 30th, 2018 at 1:36 AM ^
You can watch the replay and literally no one on the line or in the vicinity could even plausibly be called for holding. #bigtenrefs
September 30th, 2018 at 2:10 PM ^
Here's what happened:
(1) the official saw the play develop with Shea taking off around the edge
(2) he notices Higdon going to the ground and landing on top of the defensive tackle
(3) official's lizard brain kicks in and fills in the moment prior to Higdon and said DT going to the ground with "oh, 22 must have tackled him, because a DT is going to the ground with the ballcarrier coming around the edge"
(4) flag
Classic case of violating the golden rule of officiating: "Call what you see happen, not what you think happened."
September 29th, 2018 at 10:16 PM ^
What has happened to McKeon? He seems to have regressed.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:23 PM ^
I wonder if his confidence is shot. Gentry is clearly number 1 and today it looked like Eubanks moved past McKeon after that drop.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:57 PM ^
I'll be surprised if Eubanks plays next week. His leg injury looked pretty bad to me.
September 29th, 2018 at 11:09 PM ^
Pretty sure he came back in after that- Might have even had a reception.
it looked painful and possibly hyper-extended, but nothing totally bent the wrong way / it wasn’t cringe-worthy
September 29th, 2018 at 11:11 PM ^
He was back in the game after he tweaked his knee. He had a 24-yard catch on the second field goal drive in the third quarter.
September 30th, 2018 at 9:04 AM ^
He sat for his clumsy mistake, rightfully. He'll be back in next week...
September 30th, 2018 at 3:47 PM ^
Not trying to dis McKeon, but Eubanks SHOULD be getting more snaps & more targets based on play this year!
September 30th, 2018 at 8:45 AM ^
No. But he has digressed.
October 1st, 2018 at 12:23 PM ^
Lol should've kept reading.
October 1st, 2018 at 12:23 PM ^
I think you mean "digressed."
September 29th, 2018 at 10:17 PM ^
That game had loss written all over it. There was a lot of negative karma built up with NU being an unlikely 1-2 team with their season on the brink and with a bye week to get healthy and gameplan for Michigan. Michigan came out tentative and sloppy as is their usual habit on the road. Add the usual incompetent Big 10 officials and things can go south quickly. Luckily we didn't add special teams gaffes on the heap as has been the case in recent road disasters. This was an important and gutsy win to get. The question is whether the offensive coaches can get their heads out of their asses in time for tougher competition.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:33 PM ^
There were a lot of weird intangibles out there. While Michigan has had good success against NW it has always been a strange eerie game.
1. Natural grass field.
2. Twilight / dusk game.
3. White uniforms.
4.Falling behind early.
All of there were the usual bad omens. Yet, the team pulled it out and at the end looked good. I hope that this will be a good sign and that the team builds from this experience.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:58 PM ^
Yeah, I'm sure it was the white uniforms.
September 29th, 2018 at 11:26 PM ^
Yeah. Didn't scream at the TV loud enough. Wore the wrong shirt. Drank the wrong kind of beer...
September 30th, 2018 at 12:00 AM ^
How could you. We trusted you!
September 30th, 2018 at 4:54 PM ^
I frickin changed my t-shirt when it was 17-0, from a Maize Out to a Blue M Football t.
You are ALL welcome!
September 30th, 2018 at 4:55 PM ^
I'm SO glad this fancy new website can still roll with the old double post!
Like old times!
September 30th, 2018 at 12:32 AM ^
We seem to wear white uniforms every time we're on the road.
September 30th, 2018 at 8:46 AM ^
Harbaugh likes them.
September 30th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
We suck playing on natural grass as we see less and less of it. It's a different footing than players are used to.
White Out and all, but it's one of the advantages that Penn State has that does not get talked about much.
It is one of the things that always bedeviled us in the Rose Bowl where we were typically a turf team (except the '90s) and the Pac 10 opponent was typically a grass team.
September 30th, 2018 at 10:45 AM ^
"Michigan came out tentative and sloppy as is their usual habit on the road."
That should work out well against MSU and OSU.
Well, we might be okay against MSU.
I think the MSU game will be a battle of two stubborn head coaches trying to play man ball and force the run against a brick wall. The more stubborn head coach will lose.
September 30th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^
Dantonio will run a misdirection screen pass at a critical time and we had better be ready.
September 30th, 2018 at 12:32 PM ^
Well, we might be okay against MSU.
We will NOT be OK against MSU.
The MSU game will look exactly like the NW game we just saw, even if MSU loses all of its games up until then, and whatever is left of its currently uninjured players.
It won't matter.
September 29th, 2018 at 10:18 PM ^
Positive: coming back on the road, 4th Q performance of Shea, Higdon, Chase!, the second half defense, a win.
Negative: WR's had trouble getting open (flashes of last year), Patterson was off for the first three Q's, penalties and penalties, slant coverage, repeated stuffing of the inside run by NW, questionable play calling... and the infinite # of commercials
I'm in BPONE I guess
September 29th, 2018 at 10:44 PM ^
Unmentioned positive: Don fucking Brown. I have never seen a DC, college or pro, who can make such superb adjustments. The defense got it's ass handed to it in the first quarter and after that Northwestern got nothing. I mean NOTHING.
September 29th, 2018 at 11:41 PM ^
It's all very well to gush about "adjustments", but why were they necessary in the first place? Preparation was horrible. Northwestern came in ready for us, and we weren't even close to being ready for them.
September 30th, 2018 at 1:16 AM ^
Not saying the team didn't come out flat, but a lot of Northwesterns success early on was due to absolutely perfect throws and catches and everyone is just overlooked. A lot of those slants everyone is bitching about looked pretty well covered.
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