Michigan 63, Northern Illinois 10
Well, that was a beatdown. Michigan scored 63 points and gained 606 yards of offense, while allowing just 208 yards on defense. Northern Illinois was never really in the game and by halftime, many of us following the game on Twitter started using this GIF:
Michigan has maintained that their identity is running the football. After last week's paving of Washington, that seemed to be an apt assessment. That continued today, in spectacular fashion. Michigan's first drive saw long runs by both Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins before Cade McNamara punched it in on the ground. Their second drive saw an AJ Henning end around carry and a saucy Haskins jump cut bring Michigan down to the goal line, and this time it was Corum who punched it in from one yard out. On the next drive it was Haskins who scored it on the goal line. And then it was him again on the next drive. Michigan scored TD's on their first nine drives of the game.
The Wolverines were able to do whatever they wanted on the ground, as was predicted in this week's FFFF. The offensive line brutalized NIU's defensive front and opened holes you could drive Mack trucks through. And then when you add in the lightning bolt speed of Michigan's backs, big plays were another consistent story. Corum took one 51 yards to the house to begin the second half, and Donovan Edwards took one 58 yards to the end zone a little while after that.
Just enough for the TD [Campredon]
Another big play came through the air. Michigan didn't ask Cade McNamara to do much, attempting only 11 passes before being lifted at halftime, but he made the most of his chances. After narrowly missing a deep bomb TD to an open Cornelius Johnson early in the game, he didn't miss his second chance, hitting it right on the dime for 87 yards and a score. He attempted four deep shots in total, two to a wide open Cornelius Johnson (one missed, one successful) and two to a covered Daylen Baldwin, both of which should have been DPI (only one of which was called). McNamara looked much sharper than last week, and pressure was non-existent.
Defensively, Michigan forced a 3 & out to begin the game but then allowed a 10 play, 72 yard drive that ended with Thomas Hammock opting to kick a cowardly FG on the three yard line to make it 7-3. Those first two drives looked shaky for Michigan's defensive front in run defense. The screws were quickly tightened up. NIU's next seven drives ended without points, six on punts and one on an INT, which deflected into the waiting arms of Gemon Green. Brad Hawkins had a shot at an INT of his own early in the game. Of those next seven drives, five ended without gaining a first down.
Not much room for the Huskies today [Campredon]
Rocky Lombardi did not look particularly good, but NIU rarely threw the ball down the field. Lombardi's lone highlight came on a 45-yard QB keeper that totally fooled Michigan's defense. But it's worth noting that Lombardi was fooling Michigan's second and third string defenders with that one. NIU finished with 208 total yards, but 140 of those came on two drives. The remaining 10 drives gained 68 yards combined. And 100 of those total yards came on the final three drives, when Michigan was rolling defenses with players that I, a person who is paid to write about Michigan football, have never heard of. This was a total domination.
On special teams, Michigan did not attempt a FG, opting to go for a fourth down attempt rather than a 50+ yard field goal later in the game. Brad Robbins did not attempt a punt, either. Michigan used AJ Henning as their new punt returner and that's a decision that appears likely to last another week. Henning let a punt bounce and roll when he shouldn't have, but when he caught it, Henning showed off his electrifying speed and made things happen in a way that Kolesar did not last week.
The only other notable storyline in this game was Michigan's use of a laundry list of reserves. JJ McCarthy took over at halftime with the rest of the first string offense. He went 4/6 for 42 yards. The rest of the second string offense came on shortly after, including a backup offensive line of Karsen Barnhart, Chuck Filiaga, Greg Crippen, Reece Atteberry, and Trente Jones (left to right). Donovan Edwards had 8 carries for 86 yards and two scores. Christian Dixon had one catch for seven yards. On defense, such names as Makari Paige, Michael Barrett, Rod Moore, Taylor Upshaw, George Johnson III, and Caden Kolesar got extensive time, before even more obscure walk-ons took the field in the fourth quarter.
It's tough to say what can definitively be taken away from a game like this, but what is clear is that Michigan is manhandling its tune-up opponents this season, which is never a bad sign. The Wolverines get a slightly more difficult test in Rutgers next week, but it's still a couple weeks until Wisconsin and the meat of the schedule kicks in.
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September 18th, 2021 at 3:36 PM ^
Harbaugh said that over 100 kids played. That has to be a (covid aided) record.
September 18th, 2021 at 3:49 PM ^
Why would it be CoVid aided? Rosters are always over 100 players
September 18th, 2021 at 3:52 PM ^
Yeah but there are more viable players this year. Plus up until a few years ago, you go out there for a single play and you burn the redshirt.
September 18th, 2021 at 4:36 PM ^
How are there more viable players? Michigan didn't really take advantage of the free year. We’re really light on super seniors (if we even have any at all). Our roster is pretty typical compared to other years.
September 18th, 2021 at 6:50 PM ^
Vastardis is the only one I can think of.
September 18th, 2021 at 7:37 PM ^
As was already pointed out, more "viable" players because frosh can play mop-up snaps without burning a season of eligibility now.
Great rule change (for everyone but the walk-ons!)
September 20th, 2021 at 4:19 AM ^
thats not how it has worked for a couple years now. Players can play in up to 4 games per season and maintain their redshirt.
September 20th, 2021 at 4:19 AM ^
thats not how it has worked for a couple years now. Players can play in up to 4 games per season and maintain their redshirt.
September 18th, 2021 at 3:55 PM ^
More like walk-on aided. There definitely were names out there I don’t remember ever seeing in recruiting coverage.
September 18th, 2021 at 3:41 PM ^
If nothing else, we've bested last season's win total.
September 18th, 2021 at 5:27 PM ^
As well as rushing yards total
September 18th, 2021 at 3:47 PM ^
My favorite part of the game was Harbaugh calling timeout before the end of the half to try and get the ball with 21 seconds left. Obviously it didn’t work out, but wanting to bury people was what we all came to expect from Harbaugh. Some signs that his old attitude is back. Whether or not that means a good season, who knows, but I enjoyed it.
September 18th, 2021 at 4:40 PM ^
I'm pretty sure that the goal was to practice the punt block. It just didn't work out and resulted in a meaningless penalty.
September 19th, 2021 at 2:59 AM ^
It wasn't to practice the punt block but instead to give punt block an opportunity - almost the same thing, but an important difference.
September 18th, 2021 at 6:15 PM ^
I loved this too. Thought it was cold-blooded and sent a great message to the team.
September 18th, 2021 at 3:48 PM ^
Well, Michigan did everything it should have. We’ve had plenty of seasons where we’ve seen Michigan win a game like this and look kinda meh, squandering possessions early, settling for FGs, that sort of thing.
None of that today, obviously. Good teams execute like this.
It is remarkable how good our RBs are. How many years has Michigan struggled with RBs hitting the wrong holes? Goes back through the Hoke years. None of that now. Haskins would be our best back since Hart, I think, except that he’s sharing carries with Blake Corum, who is averaging almost 10 ypc.
Nice win. This is fun.
September 18th, 2021 at 4:14 PM ^
It appears as though we finally have a staff who can get a team ready to compete.
September 18th, 2021 at 5:55 PM ^
Sorry, I'm still Debbie Downer until proven otherwise. I was there for the 78-0 Rutgers pantsing and several other rollovers over inferior opponents. And then we all know what happened later in those seasons.
But yes this was a good win and I hope I'm wrong
September 18th, 2021 at 7:08 PM ^
We lost three games by a total of five points; the last two playing an injured QB?
We lost three games by a total of five points; the last two playing an injured QB?
That was a great year. No, we didn’t beat OSU,But that was a great team.
September 18th, 2021 at 11:23 PM ^
Good year, not great. That's the problem.
September 19th, 2021 at 7:07 AM ^
I will also add that those three losses all came on the last play of the game.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:12 AM ^
The ultimate team of “almost.” Easily point to three basic plays, and really three routine skills, late in the games with one in each that opened the door for the other team to take the lead.
September 19th, 2021 at 5:10 AM ^
The difference is the teams we're beating have a pulse. NIU and WMU both have a win against a P5 team. Yes, going to be much tougher to best ranked opponents but absolutely crushing the spread each week and making solid G5 football programs look like high school teams is as good of a start to the season as we could ask for.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:35 AM ^
The Iowa game sucked, but the rest of that season featured the best games we've seen since 2006. I'd rather see those two losses (OSU/FSU) from 2016 than anything since. At least they were competitive...
September 18th, 2021 at 5:45 PM ^
I’m thinking you mean Haskins would be the best back since Hart, except for the fact that Corum is the best back since Hart.
September 18th, 2021 at 6:22 PM ^
Blake Corum=Mike Hart but fast.... really fast?
September 18th, 2021 at 11:35 PM ^
This is peak Fred Jackson.... and I love it!!
September 19th, 2021 at 10:30 AM ^
This really seems true so far.
and Haskins reminds me of Leroy Hoard but fast(er).
September 19th, 2021 at 9:25 AM ^
Yes, I'm not ready to get on any hype train, but Michigan has played with their food and down to the competition well back into Lloyd's years. It's nice to see them have a stretch where they do what they should and get back ups into the game early.
September 18th, 2021 at 3:49 PM ^
Well that took me back to the days when you could count on compass teams being put into the wood chipper by halftime. It was was niiiiiiiiice.
Trivia Q: when was the last time Michigan played opponents with the same mascot on back-to-back weeks?
Not easy... MAJOR props to MGoUser IDKaGoodName for spending the time looking it up (unless someone who may or may not be named Wolverine Historian can come up with something more recent). Scroll down for the answer
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A: Ferris State Bulldogs on Oct. 21,1903 followed by Drake Bulldogs on Oct. 24.
Playing games on 3 days rest? Were we Bishop Sycamore back in the day?
September 18th, 2021 at 3:57 PM ^
When I first saw that question come up, I remembered back to something I searched a few years ago: "Most popular college team name." It turns out the most popular is "Bulldogs." The second most popular is "Wildcats." So I *guessed* it was one of the two.
There's *no way* I was going to pull 1903 out of any memory in my head.
September 18th, 2021 at 5:28 PM ^
Still bummed that nobody in the AD saw the opportunity to schedule UConn in week 1.
September 19th, 2021 at 9:54 AM ^
Considering Warde was at UConn before he got here, yeah, seems like a big miss.
September 18th, 2021 at 4:09 PM ^
Must have missed his post on that trivia question. I ended researching this question yesterday and found the same answer. 1903 Ferris State and drake. Glad to have it independently verified
nice win by Michigan today
September 18th, 2021 at 5:51 PM ^
Unfortunately, this doesn't count. Drake University apparently wasn't known as the "Bulldogs" until 1908; they were the "Drakes" until then.
September 18th, 2021 at 5:58 PM ^
Damn.
September 18th, 2021 at 6:17 PM ^
Guess the next closest thing would be back to back games against Detroit Athletic Club in 1893 but not sure if they had a mascot back then. Either way, today’s matchup is likely first repeated mascot in Michigan history then (assuming a non-repeat opponent)
September 18th, 2021 at 4:36 PM ^
Three days rest! Hah!
Why in my day, we played double-headers.
https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbart/programs/ljpeg/1929mtu.jpg
Michigan played a double-header vs Albion and then Mt Union in 1929.
September 18th, 2021 at 4:06 PM ^
It feels as if Mister Rogers is singing in my head.
"It's a lovely day in the neighborhood."
'specially that Ann Arbor neighborhood.
September 19th, 2021 at 5:16 AM ^
"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood." But yes, 100%.
September 18th, 2021 at 4:09 PM ^
What a beatdown. Just amazing stuff from this team. Phil Steel predicted our defense would give up 34 points per game. Im not so sure about that number.
September 20th, 2021 at 7:32 AM ^
A 34 ppg avg would lead to 408 points over 12 games. To this point the team has allowed 34 points total over 3 games. That means the team would have to allow 41.5556 ppg the rest of the way. Something tells me that is unlikely.
September 18th, 2021 at 4:13 PM ^
All around pretty much flawless dominance.
Such a relaxing beatdown that I was able to tolerate listening to Brandy and Dierdorf as I drove around to do errands.
And Western punches out Pitt as a bonus!
Prepare for the derutgerizing.
Let's. Go. Blue.
September 19th, 2021 at 1:15 PM ^
The trifecta of gloating is that POS sparty Narduzzi is Pitt's HC.
September 18th, 2021 at 4:18 PM ^
I thought that Johnson hesitated ever so briefly in his stride before missing that first long throw. Would like to see how that looks in the UFR.
September 18th, 2021 at 4:45 PM ^
It seemed he took a bit to find the ball and missed a step in doing so.
September 18th, 2021 at 5:22 PM ^
I thought the same thing- if he turned and sprinted he runs under it. Seems like he was waiting for it to come down and slowed a bit.
September 18th, 2021 at 6:23 PM ^
Cade throws an outstanding deep ball.
September 19th, 2021 at 10:38 AM ^
His accuracy and arm strength are much better than I thought. I remember listening to an mgopodcast where they basically said his arm strength meant this offense wouldn’t really go anywhere.
September 19th, 2021 at 5:17 AM ^
Wind was pretty strong blowing away from him, just misjudged how the wind would carry the ball.
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