Michigan 52, Rutgers 0
Near the end of the third quarter, with Michigan up 38-0, Matt Millen summarized the game thusly: "I can't tell whether this is great play by Michigan or poor play by Rutgers."
Such is the Tao of Rutgers. Still, there were some unquestioned good signs for a Michigan team desperate for progress coming off the Wisconsin disaster. First and perhaps most important, they didn't fumble the ball away on the game's opening drive, instead getting out to midfield in four plays before Nico Collins took a quick out and broke free up the sideline for a 48-yard touchdown.
The game went smoothly from there, looking akin to any other Michigan-Rutgers matchup since 2015. The Wolverines scored on eight of their ten actual drives, seven of them touchdowns, with the last three led by backup quarterback Joe Milton. Patterson looked sharp outside of an interception on an underthrown deep shot (which, fine, we asked for those), spreading the ball around for 276 yards on 23 attempts while making plays inside and outside the pocket; he added three short rushing touchdowns as tempo and naked bootlegs helped solve M's previous goal line woes.
The passing game moved the ball in such large chunks that the running backs were mostly left to churn out tough yards in the red zone—Michigan spent the game inching their way towards four yards per carry, though the featured rotation of Zach Charbonnet, Christian Turner, and Hassan Haskins all finished above that mark. Seven receivers, meanwhile, finished with at least 20 yards, led by Ronnie Bell (six catches, 83 yards) and a healthy looking Donovan Peoples-Jones (four catches, 62 yards).
Kwity Paye ruined the #narrative. [Barron]
BTN seemed intent on playing up an Artur Sitkowski revenge game scenario with a bit of fudging about how the quarterback "chose" Rutgers over an "offer" from Michigan. That did not come to pass. Sitkowski spent the game under constant pressure from the Wolverine defensive line, dinking and dunking his way to a mere 106 yards on 24 attempts. The defense shut down the legitimately solid rushing duo of Isaih Pacheco and Raheem Blackshear, who combined for only 34 yards on 16 carries. By adding 55 receiving yards to his 11 rushing yards, Blackshear easily led the Scarlet Knights in total yards from scrimmage. Kwity Paye had more TFLs (3.5) than Rutgers as a team (3).
On the home side, there were celebrations of the usual spate of backup highlights. Milton threw for 54 yards on just four attempts, one a 23-yard score to freshman Giles Jackson, the first of his young career. Sophomore tight end Luke Schoonmaker took his only target for a 29-yard catch-and-run. Freshman defensive back Daxton Hill made his presence felt with a huge hit on special teams and saw his first extended action with the starting defense. The big moment for Rutgers, on the other hand, came when one of their punt coverage guys shoved a teammate over in the vicinity of a Michigan player, who was hit with a block in the back flag.
Michigan played about as well as anyone could expect; the opponent caveats are obvious. Next week's date with 4-0 Iowa will give us a lot more clarity about how much progress has really been made. At the very least, this was a football game that wasn't a terrible viewing experience, and that's something we haven't had in a while.
[Hit THE JUMP for the box score.]
September 28th, 2019 at 3:47 PM ^
I'm apathetic
September 28th, 2019 at 4:18 PM ^
Looks like you couldn’t wait to tell us you are apathetic
September 28th, 2019 at 4:23 PM ^
Toby is in a funk
September 28th, 2019 at 9:21 PM ^
Sure couldn't. I love sharing my feelings with strangers.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:33 PM ^
Edit to remove the first "a" from your statement.
September 28th, 2019 at 8:23 PM ^
refresh...
refresh...
refresh...
refresh...!!!
I’M APATHETIC!
mission accomplished, dingus.
September 29th, 2019 at 6:13 PM ^
He just blue himself!
September 30th, 2019 at 5:14 AM ^
Hey Tobias what is that in the pants of the Rutgers player in the image here ? You might be interested.
September 28th, 2019 at 3:48 PM ^
Nice gamer Ace.
September 28th, 2019 at 3:49 PM ^
I like clean, mistake free football. It was as good as anyone could ask for after the first three weeks. Patterson and the offense looked like they were in complete control the entire game. Gattis being on the sideline seemed to be a huge improvement...
September 28th, 2019 at 4:45 PM ^
Shea threw a pick.
I am THAT guy, yes!
September 28th, 2019 at 5:39 PM ^
This was a much needed game. The way both sides seemed to dominate and the scoreboard were all sights for sore eyes.
I spent much of the game watching Shea. I ask for an opinion from someone with a trained eye but are there any other concerns that he just hasn’t learned this offense well yet? He continues to throw balls to places where no one is at or places where the receivers are surprised and not expecting the ball. He continues to look way more comfortable throwing to a pattern that started on his right, Waiting for long crossing routes to develop(hence why he will get killed against a better D-line). To the untrained eye he appears to still focus on his first read, struggle to get the ball out quickly, and doesn’t throw guys open. Overall a much improved performance but I’m concerned he still has issues, luckily we played Rutgers today.
September 28th, 2019 at 9:16 PM ^
I watched him too. Even when he has time, he starts getting happy feet. You can see it virtually every time. He’s just not confident standing in the pocket and going thru progressions. Or maybe he’s just not able to mentally process them fast enough. Not yet anyway.
September 28th, 2019 at 9:44 PM ^
Most any QB will scramble in the face of pressure, repeated sacks, and/or perceived pressure, considering what Shea has endured, I think he demonstrated good resolve today.
September 28th, 2019 at 10:15 PM ^
“Most any”? I don’t know what that means. He had a good day, I don’t know that he needed to or had to show “resolve” though. This game was in hand pretty early. He could have used some “resolve” last week.
September 28th, 2019 at 10:17 PM ^
I noticed that too, at least once, specific on that throw to the flats when the WR had to come back for it. BTN timed out in (ironically) in the Chicago market so I didn’t get to see the actual catch but it went for a first down, so on paper its successful.
Listen - every guy has their respective ‘style’ that works for them and Shea rocked it today for the most part, save the underthrown INT where in IMO Nico still had a play on the jump ball...I second the above (we asked for that).
Last week there was absolutely NO time to throw and read any progressions other than - oh $#!+ here they come again. Which, either Warriner is taking under the table money from his former employer or the last decade recruitment failures at the OL are still plagueing this unit.
If you heard Dierdorff last week at the first drive describing the Wiscy OL - ‘they just keep finding the 6’4, 330# guy and plugging them in ad nuseum” (paraphrased - please - I was driving to get to a TV, fastly....). Well that used to be us.
Until, he who shall be not be named, took over from Carr and implemented the ‘athletic OL’ prototype..ugh. Notwithstanding, we have had some intermittent amazing guys ( a couple in the NFL #77 deaux) but we have not dominated consistently in performance, size and athletes. Harbaugh’s win against FLA in his first year felt like old school Michigan domination. But once M started running the spread, we fell behind in that BIG ‘OL’ conduits and started losing them to our B1G brethren, OSU,PSU, WISCONSIN, IOWA even. Not to mention other power 10’s most specifically ND, regionally.
Which leads me to this updated Offense. I always tell the RRod story as a failure not of a coach, but an Michigan Nation selling out to find the identity that always plagued us. Mobile QB running and thrown types. Slash/McNabb - every buckeye since ...
M was in need of an evolution not revolution. I hope this is what Harbaugh and Gattis and negotiate. Becasue I dont see power football going away from Harbaugh DNA nor the B1G. Let’s just balance it correctly at an up tempo.
Sorry for my tangent. I could add a little commentary about the D but if I don’t start helping in the kitchen I will need to start looking for an apartment.
Go Blue!
September 29th, 2019 at 12:45 AM ^
Your observations are largely correct. Shea has trouble reading defenses in terms of alignments, moving through his progressions, and in optioning. He holds onto the ball too long and his delivery is frequently errant or late. Our receivers made some good grabs and many of the caught balls were off target. Still he appeared to be more in control today than in other games and we can only hope that this is the mark of improvement. More likely, it was attributable to his head not being slammed on the turf or running for his life on every play.
September 29th, 2019 at 9:02 AM ^
A couple of things:
1) All right handed QBs are more comfortable, moving and throwing to their right. Even considering his faults, one of Shea's strong points is that he has, a number of times, rolled to his left, and accurately hit a receiver on the move. Moreso than most QBs.
2) Almost all QBs have problems with locking on to a receiver, and focusing on the first read- a lot of NFL QBs still often do it, let alone college QBs. Heck John Navarre did it for 4 years and he still set (at the time) the Mich Career yardage record.
It is not a good thing and he should be coached and work to be better at it, but the ability to see the field (and sense the field where you aren't looking) is a true talent and a big part of what has made Tom Brady and Drew Brees special when neither possesses a cannon arm. Vinnie Testaverde was a star in college and had a long NFL career and he was never adept at it.
September 28th, 2019 at 3:49 PM ^
It’s not that meaningful ‘cause it’s Rutgers, but it’s way better than not doing that against them.
The end.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:25 PM ^
Exactly. There is no possible outcome in this game that will make people feel a lot better, but a struggle would have convinced everyone that the team is broken. So I guess we avoid that conclusion for at least another week :)
September 28th, 2019 at 3:51 PM ^
Good to see, thought this would be one of those blowouts that's closer than it should be. Still lots to work on though.
September 29th, 2019 at 9:19 AM ^
This. I had a feeling this game would be a Hoke-esque unsatisfying victory. It wasn't. Any victory next week will be satisfying, but a 21pt or more domination may restore some faith in them being actually "good".
September 29th, 2019 at 12:56 PM ^
This. I'm extremely happy with a blowout win here and saw a lot of good things, let's hope it carries over against non-Rutger caliber teams
September 28th, 2019 at 3:55 PM ^
Playing Rutgers helps, but it looked like we had a good week of practice. Sometimes we've come out sluggish and mistake-prone after a loss. We were pretty crisp today, with few glaring execution errors.
September 28th, 2019 at 5:23 PM ^
The very phrase “good week of practice” gives me Hoke flashbacks. We should come up with another way to say that. Perhaps, “productive week of preparation.” No, that’s awful. I’ll think of something, let me get back to you. I may be slightly drunk.
September 29th, 2019 at 10:53 AM ^
Unfortunately Hoke flashbacks were exactly what I had reading that as well. I'm sure there are more.
September 29th, 2019 at 1:46 PM ^
Hoke flashbacks would be losing to Rutgers, unfortunately..
September 30th, 2019 at 12:41 PM ^
"A good week in practice" is about as meaningful as a moral victory.
September 28th, 2019 at 3:55 PM ^
I thought we put in Milton and some other backups a bit early. Feel the offense could've used the reps. Oh well, overall a Michigan Football game that didn't make me miserable, so that's good.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:15 PM ^
We need Milton to improve and not transfer.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
Is there any evidence he's thinking of doing so? He's going to be at worst 2nd on the depth chart next year and still only a sophomore
September 28th, 2019 at 7:57 PM ^
You seem to have not noticed that the guys most likely to transfer are those #2 on the depth chart.
See Hurts, Jalen
Fields, Justin
Barrow, Joe
September 29th, 2019 at 1:09 AM ^
Jacob Eason.
Jake Ruddddock.
September 30th, 2019 at 4:35 PM ^
Because they knew they wouldn't start at any point in their career, whereas Milton will. Dcaf has 2 more years, Milton has 3. It'll be a wait, but Milton will have his time to run the show and he knows that.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:51 PM ^
Mostly right. They need about 6 games against Rutgers so everyone on the team gets some experience under fire. First and second team of everyone and every qb on the roster. And the coaches. Offense and defense.
September 29th, 2019 at 12:00 AM ^
Rutgers is not experience "under fire"
September 29th, 2019 at 12:48 PM ^
It's real people playing in a different style than the people they see in practice every week. It's how they're going to learn to read and react quicker.
September 29th, 2019 at 11:39 AM ^
I did not like the schedule this year. I liked it better when they had a few cupcake teams first, to work out most of the kinks before a big game.
September 28th, 2019 at 11:23 PM ^
Wisconsin also showed we need depth. I wasn’t able to really tell but I hope mazi and Hinton player the whole 4th quarter, we need them
September 29th, 2019 at 2:19 AM ^
So the #1 offense is going to improve more against rutgers than UM's D in practice? No way.
September 28th, 2019 at 3:56 PM ^
I'd like to just say: we did what we're supposed to do, but even that's a major improvement over the last 6 games. We did better than that, though. We were supposed to score, what, 27? We scored 52. Step in the right direction, now let's hope they take the next one.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:39 PM ^
Spread was 27.5, o/u was 50. Michigan was supposed to score 37-38 and allow 11-14. Approximately. So only scored a 14 more points than expected. But allowed about 14 fewer.
September 28th, 2019 at 3:56 PM ^
Rutgers is Art Class, sandwiched between AP Calculus and AP Chemistry. A nice breather that lets you clear your head for a moment.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:00 PM ^
Where are my "Halfway to bowl eligibility Muppets?"
September 28th, 2019 at 4:06 PM ^
Yes it was Rutgers, but it was nice seeing them not shoot themselves in the foot every other play. The team felt different today. Something to build off of for sure.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:09 PM ^
It makes me wonder if the Wisconsin loss was one of those "hit the bottom" moments that brought clarity to the coaches and players. Let's hope the trend line is up from here.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:42 PM ^
From your lips to God's ear.
September 28th, 2019 at 4:50 PM ^
Remember Penn State and how bad they looked against Michigan a few years ago- after that they went on a tear and won B1G championship. It’s like The Michigan loss made them better. This is only Rutgers, but the team went out and efficiently took care of business. Now momentum going forward. Home against Iowa- and thank God it’s home and not Kinnick.
September 28th, 2019 at 6:58 PM ^
That’s the hope anyway. It’s easy to be critical of what’s happened so far and be all BPONE and shit, but the team still has the talent to be successful...just a matter of actually putting it all together. I was encouraged by the offense’s competency, and I also support the decision of Gattis to be on the field. I’ve never much liked college OCs calling plays from the booth.
September 29th, 2019 at 7:30 AM ^
Gattis on the sideline was the one big ‘change’ I saw and it was very encouraging. He is a player’s coach and was very involved in the coaching aspect as players came off the field. It’s possible he thought the players were ready to efficiently execute this offense, when really they’re just college kids who need guidance throughout the game. Either way, it was good to see and I hope it continues.
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