Rutgers under Greg Schiano is profoundly annoying. They throw weird stuff at you on offense and they try and deliver a bone-crushing tackle at every opportunity and stretch the rules of late hits as far as possible on defense. If you're a highly ranked team like Michigan, they treat it like the Super Bowl. If you decide the game doesn't matter, they will outwork you and make it interesting for as long as they can. Michigan treated the first half like it didn't matter and Rutgers pulled out all the stops to make the game interesting. Then Michigan decided to play at full force and the second half was a bloodbath. From the thousand foot view, this game looked uncompetitive, a routine blowout. But that understates the profound amount of annoyance it caused the viewers on the Michigan side. Either way, a win is a win. 

For the first while, this looked like a blowout all the way. Michigan got their first drive going with a 35 yard JJ McCarthy completion to Ronnie Bell, advancing the Wolverines well into Scarlet Knight territory. The Wolverines then ran it down inside the 10 and after four tries at the goal line, a Blake Corum one yard dive punched Michigan in for the game's opening score. Rutgers got the ball, ran three plays for a grand total of 3 yards, and then punted. At this point, a bit over 7 minutes in, Michigan led 7-0 and led the yardage 75-3. You would have been justified in expecting smooth sailing from there. 

But that's not what happened. Michigan's ensuing drive gained one first down but then McCarthy missed Andrel Anthony by the tiniest of margins on a deep ball that would've been a sure TD if accurate. Faced with 3rd & 4, Corum was stuffed in the backfield as Rutgers got penetration and Michigan was forced to punt. That's when things went awry. Rutgers called a stunt on the right side of their punt blocking team, with Max Melton, the man lined up farthest to the outside, looping around to run untouched up the middle, a lane vacated by Michigan's snapper. He got in the grill of Brad Robbins, blocking the punt, and it was recovered by Rutgers' Timmy Ward, who ran it in from seven yards out for a TD. The first massive special teams gaffe in some time for the Wolverines and it was suddenly tied 7-7. 

[Paul Sherman]

Michigan, to their credit, responded. Rutgers attempted an onside kick but the Wolverines recovered at midfield setting the offense up with great field position. After another McCarthy deep shot fell incomplete, this one surprisingly thrown to true freshman Amorion Walker, Blake Corum galloped 43 yards inside the ten. It took another taxing goal line sequence but a McCarthy sneak broke the plane of the goal line, 14-7 Michigan. 

Rutgers got their second offensive possession and began to initiate the all-fades offense, mimicking Michigan State last weekend. On 3rd & 8, Gavin Wimsatt connected with Sean Ryan downfield for a pickup of 37 yards. Another strike to Aron Cruikshank on an RPO slant got Rutgers into the red zone but Michigan's defense slammed the door. Rutgers kicker Jude McAtamney drilled a 32 yard field goal to trim the lead to 14-10. 

The two teams traded short drives ending in punts and Michigan then drove into Rutgers territory. Faced with 1st & 10 from the 38, an end around to Henning was shut down, a crossing route to Cornelius Johnson got Michigan into 3rd & medium, but again Rutgers sniffed out a Corum run. Michigan lined Jake Moody up from 50 yards away but the normally great kicker just missed the kick. Rutgers responded with their best drive of the night, getting a 48-yard catch-and-run from Chris Long after a blown tackle by Will Johnson and a bad angle from Quinten Johnson let him get free. Michigan's defense responded to set up 4th down but Rutgers ran the ole pick play to scheme Aron Cruickshank open for a first down. Wimsatt then jacked it up to Ryan against DJ Turner and the receiver came down with it. Stunningly, Rutgers led 17-14 with 1:44 to go in the first half. 

Michigan still had time to answer and again they drove into Rutgers territory. A 4th down pickup for Cornelius Johnson extended the drive but the Wolverines couldn't advance it beyond the 32 yard line. Again Moody got a shot at a 50 yarder and this time he missed it to the other side. Rutgers would take their 17-14 lead into halftime. 

[David Wilcomes]

If you panicked at halftime, it didn't take long for Michigan to extinguish that feeling. The home team went three-and-out after a holding penalty on LT Willie Tyler III nullified a third down pickup and then Michigan went on the move. True freshman Tyler Morris picked up a clutch 3rd & 9 and then McCarthy and Donovan Edwards connected for the offensive play of the game, a perfect pitch-and-catch in the end zone on 3rd & 6 for a touchdown. The Wolverines were back on top just 6.5 minutes into the second half, 21-17. 

After this, Rutgers' QB Gavin Wimsatt would throw an interception on three of the next four drives. The first one was picked off by Michael Barrett and run back to the Rutgers 10. Two Corum runs later and Michigan led by two scores (28-17). The second was a pick six on the first play of the drive, again snatched by Barrett and returned into the end zone. Just over eight minutes into the second half, it was now a rout, 35-17. The third interception was a redemption play for Will Johnson, run back 29 yards into Scarlet Knight territory. Corum then rushed for 28 yards to get Michigan inside the five and a McCarthy laser to Cornelius Johnson put Michigan ahead 42-17. When it was all said and done, Michigan outscored Rutgers 28-0 in the third quarter. 

The fourth quarter was more of the same. Rutgers would run 10 plays for a grand total of 18 yards, punting twice and turning it over on downs once. In between, Michigan went on a long drive on the back of a 46 yard Donovan Edwards run, culminating in a get-right field goal for Jake Moody from 29 yards out. They punted on their next drive and then a Davis Warren-led offense drove 58 yards and scored a TD. Tavierre Dunlap, CJ Stokes, and Isaiah Gash shared the carries, with the latter punching in the ball from four yards out. Michigan led 52-17 at that point and after the Scarlet Knights turned it over on downs on their final drive, Michigan kneeled it down twice and ran out the clock. In totality, Michigan outscored Rutgers 38-0 in the second half. 

[David Wilcomes]

It was not the cleanest game for the Wolverines, especially early on, but it was still a dominant victory. Michigan outgained Rutgers 433-180 but it was even more dominant under the hood. Rutgers had three passing plays for a total of 113 yards and their other 45 plays went for 67 yards (1.49 YPP). They ran it 19 times for a total of 14 yards and Wimsatt was 14/29 for 166 yards, 1 TD to 3 INT. They scored 10 offensive points and this is a list of their drives by yardage: 3, 61, -9, 68, -1, -4, 0, 31, -1, 4, 8, 1. Michigan's defensive line completely overwhelmed the Rutgers offensive line, and once the fades were shut off in the second half, the Scarlet Knights had nothing. Wimsatt made a few nice throws in the first half, but then showed his inexperience in the second half, demonstrated in the repeated turnovers. 

On offense, Michigan paved Rutgers to the tune of 282 yards on 53 carries (5.3 YPC). Both Edwards and Corum gained 100 yards and Corum added two TDs to his total. The only aspect of the game that seemed a bit off was the passing game, maligned by some uncharacteristically poor pass protection, among other issues. JJ McCarthy struggled with accuracy at times, but he was given little help from his receivers besides Edwards, in addition to taking his fair share of shots to the body. Luke Schoonmaker had a TD ripped out by the defender, while both Cornelius Johnson and Ronnie Bell dropped passes. That's the nature of being an elite team: one aspect of your squad can struggle and you can sleepwalk for a half and it doesn't matter. Michigan still pummeled a less-than-quality team by 35 points, covering the spread in the process. 

Michigan is now 9-0 for the second time in the Jim Harbaugh era, matching the 2016 team. Another win for the Wolverines will set the mark for the best start under Harbaugh, and the best for the Wolverines since 2006. With #1 Tennessee and #4 Clemson going down, the Maize & Blue are likely to move up to #2 or #3 in the CFP playoff rankings this Tuesday. Michigan hosts Nebraska next weekend in search of double digit wins. That game is scheduled for 3:30 pm EST and will be broadcast on ABC. 

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