Michigan 49, Minnesota 24
They really thought Minnesota was going to do it like that?
They really thought Joe Milton wouldn't be a huge upgrade on Shea Patterson?
They really thought the Gophers could match up with Michigan's team speed?
They really thought a two-page playbook could flummox Don "Dr. Blitz" Brown?
They really thought a team with one good receiver could beat one with four good running backs?
They really thought Ed Warinner wouldn't have the offensive line mashing faces?
Who's they? Who cares. The experts. The Gameday pickers. The doubting family members. The haters and losers. The important thing is they were wrong, Michigan kicked Minnesota's ass, and now we cut a wrestling promo because we're giddy after a long and delightful day of college football.
Sure, the promo probably begins after Michigan is down 7-0 following a blocked punt the Gophers quickly turned into a score, unless you're looking to build dramatic tension. It took one offensive snap for Michigan to even the score.
MICHIGAN 70-YARD HOUSE CALL?
— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 25, 2020
pic.twitter.com/QI6SBM0jrW
They said the offensive line might be an issue. Michigan rushed for 264 yards, averaging 8.8 per carry, and allowed one sack.
The Wolverines took the lead when Michael Barrett, the new starter at VIPER, fired off the edge untouched for a strip-sack on Tanner Morgan and the ball popped into the hands of defensive tackle Donovan Jeter, who rumbled for a touchdown from 15 yards out. The Gophers covered 79 yards on the ensuing drive but could only muster a field goal.
In another game-altering play, Barrett fielded a short kickoff and blew through the initial wave of defenders, going 66 yards to set up the offense with first and goal. Two plays later, Milton hit Ben Mason in the flat and the fullback went airborne to get the pylon, bringing the score to 21-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Running back Mohamed Ibrahim, on his way to a 140-yard evening, capped another protracted drive with a touchdown run. Again, Michigan responded. Milton used both his arm and his legs to move the Wolverines into scoring position, where Hassan Haskins made easy work of a wildcat keeper.
It's fair to say PJ Fleck, perhaps doubting his defense's ability to stop Michigan, perhaps concerned by his team's lack of starting special teamers for reasons, overreacted to a perceived shift in momentum when the Wolverines forced a three-and-out. The Gophers ran a fake punt run to one of the up-men; Haskins read the play and met it with great force, giving the Wolverines only 29 yards to cover with three minutes until halftime. Four plays later, Haskins again rushed for a touchdown.
What had been a nailbiter was now 35-17 at the half. Michigan never looked back. Milton and Chris Evans piled on short second-half touchdown runs; the Gophers found the end zone only once more. The defense forced Fleck's RPO-heavy offense to lean on the give to the running back, and while that produced a good day for Ibrahim, the rest suffered. At the end of the night, the visiting Wolverines held a commanding edge in both yards (481-326) and yards per play (8.6 to 4.5).
Crow about Michigan being underrated. Holler about Minnesota being a paper tiger. Don't let them tell you there's some self-owning going on by making the second statement. Both can be true. Plus, they were wrong before, and we don't listen to them anymore.
Michigan is an emphatic 1-0 after a season-opening road win against a ranked team. Next week, they face a Michigan State team that's an emphatic 0-1 after losing at home by double digits to Rutgers. The wrestling promos will continue unabated.
October 25th, 2020 at 1:06 AM ^
Pretty sure we went on to score on the drive when All had the drop. But we could have scored 58.
October 25th, 2020 at 1:17 AM ^
Yeah that was actually the drive where All had a good catch and run right after the drop to set up the score.
October 25th, 2020 at 1:36 AM ^
That's how I remember it too. The announcers complimented the play-calling for going right back to him.
October 25th, 2020 at 5:28 AM ^
We scored on the drive All had the drop. Can’t add a TD on a drive where we scored a TD.
October 25th, 2020 at 8:27 AM ^
The one you are looking for is the Ronnie Bell stumble. And there was also a flat our drop for a first down on the first Mcnamera drive.
October 25th, 2020 at 9:54 AM ^
For mop-up time in a blowout, I'll say that McNamara looked passable. He threw the ball nicely and didn't look overwhelmed. Lots of caveats to that thought, though!!
October 25th, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^
Future looks bright!!
October 25th, 2020 at 10:18 AM ^
I agree but my opinion is worth what you paid for it.
October 25th, 2020 at 12:51 AM ^
I see Ace's heel turn and I am here for it!!!!!
WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
October 25th, 2020 at 12:56 AM ^
I will say in fairness to the run defense the blatant holds not being called didn't help. Just 4-5 egregious ones right near the ball. This is clearly a trend over the last 5-6 years against UM and I'm not sure what else they could do about besides send tapes to the conference. It is quite frankly infuriating at this point. The non call on Hawkins on the td is literally one of the worst non calls I have ever seen.
October 25th, 2020 at 1:04 AM ^
I agree. Hawkins was held. Infact their line was holding hutchinson on every play. Unreal. WTF are the refs doing. Garbage.
October 25th, 2020 at 1:04 AM ^
Biggest takeaway - Harbaugh and the staff can handle turnover.
This was the first big turnover Harbaugh has had of his own recruits. The starters were made up of his second full recruiting class and there was a lot of worry they wouldn't live up to the first class. Tonight they did and in some areas were better. This affirmed my faith in the coaching staff and their ability to recruit and develop talent. Still a long season ahead but this was a great start.
October 25th, 2020 at 1:19 AM ^
I hope Joe turns into a buckeye killer by the end of the season. I think this offense could become quite dynamic and score a lot of points. I'm not sure if WI or PSU can handle our offense and even though our defense may struggle against the better teams our offense will score too many points to lose.
October 25th, 2020 at 5:31 AM ^
Sounds like we finally joined the others in modern college football based on that analysis. You’ll never stop the great offenses (we held Bama to their season LOW in points last year... 35) so you have to score more than them. The goal of your defense is no longer to stop them. You just have to slow them down enough to outscore them yourself
October 25th, 2020 at 9:32 AM ^
It sure looked like a more "modern" offense. Much quicker throws, QB willing to carry the ball, getting the ball to fast guys who are getting outside of containment, lots of diverse weapons.
It's been many years since I've been heartened by an opener.
October 25th, 2020 at 12:21 PM ^
You need to plan for your defense to be able to "break serve" only about 4 times a game. Your offense has to do the rest of the work.
Welcome to modern football.
It's not soccer where you win 2 scores to 1 score. It's basketball. The other team is going to score a lot of points. You have to get a few key stops, and then score more.
October 25th, 2020 at 2:02 AM ^
Certainly different than the last trip to Minnesota. Good to see Michigan come out and actually look prepared. Maybe the time off brought the team closer together? Sounds like some players stepped up and encouraged the team to keep working out. Seems like that has been missing lately. Milton is still going to have growing pains but he worked hard instead of playing golf and I think the locker room is behind him. I don’t care if it is ugly next week beat Staee. It won’t be easy and Michigan need to stay focused to get it done.
October 25th, 2020 at 2:21 AM ^
I don't know man, I mean I know it's State's Super Bowl but anything other than a blowout would not bode well for the rest of the year. Sparty is definitely worse than the team they shellacked 44-10 last year.
October 25th, 2020 at 9:41 AM ^
As long as M plays well, things will take care of themselves. A crisp, smart performance is all I'd like to see and that, in itself, will produce the blowout. No drops, turnovers, missed tackles, (more) missed FG's, stupid penalties and we win. We are simply a better team.
I'm thinking that this shortened season is going to make it harder to look past anyone and to take any opponent as a guaranteed W.
October 25th, 2020 at 9:10 AM ^
It might be pretty easy.
October 25th, 2020 at 2:09 AM ^
The old Harbaugh would "protect his defense" by going into a shell on offense. The new Harbaugh (and Gattis) just keeps scoring on offense.
Welcome to modern football. We were artificially holding ourselves back.
October 25th, 2020 at 2:23 AM ^
The thing is Gattis gameplan was so well put together that they got the best of both worlds. Lots of points and mostly got them while still keeping it relatively safe for Milton in his first start. Can only get better as they release the Kraken more and start taking even more shots downfield, etc
October 25th, 2020 at 7:48 AM ^
I know. I hate for this to be my comment after such a satisfying win, but it’s about time we have an offense like the one osu has been rolling us with for over a decade.
October 26th, 2020 at 2:50 AM ^
The old Harbaugh would have sat on the halftime lead while the Gophers slowly whittle away at the lead and end up losing on a last minute Gopher score. The new Gattis philosophy is to pretend like you are behind at all times and keep scoring until the end of the game, no matter how big your lead is. Quite refreshing to see this after the Carr and early Harbaugh years.
October 26th, 2020 at 10:45 AM ^
I feel like that's an overly simple statement. The early Harbaugh years featured one of the highest scoring and pass happy Michigan's offenses in recent history. Also, Harbaugh's teams pre-Michigan featured dynamic run-based offenses that didn't just chew up clock, they were very efficient and controlled the game. While Gattis has brought some new ideas, I get the sense that Harbaugh is still very much involved. I think Harbaugh should also get part of the credit here.
October 25th, 2020 at 2:41 AM ^
Barrett May have been the best player on the field tonight . All around the ball every play
October 25th, 2020 at 7:26 AM ^
Agree. I've been waiting for Barrett's coming out party for two years and he didn't disappoint. He looks like the next star for Michigan at viper.
October 25th, 2020 at 4:02 AM ^
Whooooo Hoooo. Just finished watching this one on tape delay (long awaited date night with the kid at the grandparents) and oh how I like the things I saw: Barrett cracking heads, Milton staying cool (drawing some Herby fan boy praise), Corum showing incredible acceleration, and our offensive (and defe... don’t jinx it) line playing pretty darn well. It’s so nice to watch a fourth quarter with zero balls trying to hide in my perineum.
October 25th, 2020 at 6:18 AM ^
“Harbaugh says Dax Hill is being evaluated for an injury”
Ugh
October 25th, 2020 at 5:58 PM ^
Heard he either got poked in the eye or had some concussion like symptoms. Seems like he should be good for next week
October 25th, 2020 at 7:37 AM ^
I love the speed all over the field! It is beyond me as to how anyone could say speed is overrated.
October 25th, 2020 at 7:41 AM ^
O. M. G. I'm sooooo happy this morning.
MGoBlue. Thank you, Blue.
October 25th, 2020 at 8:17 AM ^
Impressed with the OL. I’m thinking something about the years of OL issues but I’m not saying it yet.
Go Blue!
October 25th, 2020 at 8:20 AM ^
Where was Cornelius Johnson?!
October 25th, 2020 at 10:38 AM ^
Thankfully, we didn't need to sub Cornelius in for any of our OL last night. Hopefully that helps you feel better.
October 25th, 2020 at 3:14 PM ^
Where was WR Cornelius Johnson? DJ turner? Perry?
October 25th, 2020 at 8:27 AM ^
YOU DEMANDED EXCELLENCE. WE GAVE YOU EXCELLENCE.
October 25th, 2020 at 8:35 AM ^
I am pleased. Very Pleased.
Questions about the defense hinge on, "where did Dax and Barret go?" The defense played far better with these two and they seemed to disappear in the second half. The first half made slight mention of Barret fighting an illness, but no injury report on Dax. This left me scrambling for the roster sheet as I asked myself, "who the hell is #7 and #22?"
Also, I feel the DL faired well against an OL that is probably on a similar level as Wisconsin. McGrone seemed to continue his freshman ways of getting sucked under blocks, so I did not love that (but hey, first game).
I have nothing to say about the offense. I was pleasantly surprised with Gattis' sets and his movement that kept Minny on their toes all night.
October 25th, 2020 at 8:38 AM ^
I think we look like NE - Cam. Like maybe our qb coach has a brother in the league who coaches Cam or something..
Cheers
October 25th, 2020 at 8:48 AM ^
I love wallowing in all the articles and threads about the game after an outcome like last night’s. I could better spend my time doing other things, after all I watched the game, but damn, it sure feels good to wallow.
October 25th, 2020 at 10:09 AM ^
I think wallow is the wrong word. Perhaps basking. I too enjoy basking in the after-glow of the football gods.
October 25th, 2020 at 8:50 AM ^
All is good this Sunday morning. The offense played very well. OLine is going to be one of the team strengths and good teams are built from the inside out. Love the pressure from the ends and backers on D. Would have like to see the tackles be a little more assertive Defense reminds me of the cleanup hitter who is going to take his cuts for the long ball, but will take more than their share of strikeouts.
Go Blue....lets annihilate Sparty
October 25th, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^
All was pretty good except for the drop. ;)
October 25th, 2020 at 8:56 AM ^
After all these years of "almost" quarterbacks I have to admit I came into this season wary and pessimistic.
Could Milton be "The Man" to lead us out of the dark ages?
Well, its not for sure yet, but dang, i am putting on my sunglasses--because the future is bright!
Good job Hardball Men! Nice Victory. Looking forward the spanking you're gonna put on Spartoon!
October 25th, 2020 at 9:01 AM ^
It is pretty amazing, in the face of this commanding win, all the unsure and negative comments by the Michigan fans. The fact is that Michigan dominated this game. They passed the eye-test with flying colors. That Michigan won by three and a half TDs and left an easy, for-the-taking 15 to 20 points on the field may concern the glass-half-empty folks but for the first game of the season one would do well to to view this cup as full and running over.
What we saw tonight was, first and foremost, a team that did not blink in the face of adversity. Offensively, one punt-on the first series of the night no less, defines the limitless possibilities this unit holds. Reserve all you wish about the weak MN defense, in the first game ever for that OL as a unit they so dominated the LOS that Milton and the backs had the time and space to pick holes and make plays-all night long...ONE PUNT! And what a joy to watch a QB play with calm, confident and competent composure-alliteration! How beautiful was that ball coming out of his hand-wow!
The defense, again-despite all the bitching and moaning, for all intents and purposes gave up 17 points to an offense with some excellent play-makers...a QB and WR listed among the very best in the country and an excellent RB. That Michigan front 7 is damn good. The dinging of the DTs is silly. Ibrahim is an excellent back and last night he gashed Michigan on the outside-not the inside...the problem was him getting to the edge. The secondary had to play more than half the game without one of the best defensive players in the nation. Paige wasn't ready for the bright lights and others playing major minutes for the first time were often a 1/2 step behind but there is great reason for optimism here.
The Michigan coaches did not get out-coached!!! Glory hallelujah!!! What I was most impressed with is that FINALLY!!! they opened up the roster and played kids, in meaningful minutes, who had played little before. The development that this catalyses and the depth it builds is critical for so many reasons. By all appearances they have given up the micro-managing and demand for perfection and put the the game in the players hands and given them the freedom to make plays. There is a fine line to be walked here but in the face of being freed to make plays, guess what, the kids stepped up and made plays-time and time again. How refreshing to see the smiles and camaraderie-the sheer joy of playing the game!!!
October 25th, 2020 at 9:22 AM ^
History applies here; the Michigan fan base has it's share of glass half empty fans and ever since the 1997-98 season. If we ain't perfect, we ain't that good. The only cure for some of these folks is to beat the buckeyes and go undefeated (again). They set the bar very high.
October 25th, 2020 at 11:16 AM ^
Unhappily, there have been half-empty Michigan fans for a lot longer than that. To be fair, I'm sure that's true of every fan base. I never quite get why someone would choose to be miserable when they can go ride their bike or watch something else or whatever.
October 25th, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
College football unfortunately seems uniquely designed to make fans unhappy, with only four participants in the playoff. If basketball were like that, our 1989 national title would have been impossible, not to mention our other recent title-game appearances. The bowls used to be viewed as a nice reward for the season but they've been thoroughly devalued.
I've changed my thinking about the playoff. The field should be expanded. Make it eight, 10 or 12 teams.
October 25th, 2020 at 9:10 AM ^
This was perhaps the most impressive opener you could have hoped for: plenty of opportunity for cleanups, but a convincing win, on the road, against a ranked opponent. The kicking game and the Hill injury loom large. I’m not as worried about the defense as some. This is modern college football - your opponent will score. The question is whether or not you can respond. For the first time in Jim Harbaugh’s tenure, last night, the answer was an emphatic “Yes”. Go Blue.
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