Every college football game is its own story, with its own heroes and challenges. You can generalize and expect this guy or that guy to go off, but sometimes they don't. The transitive property of sports doesn't work in college football for this reason. A team can be flat one week and then play up the next week. Michigan fans who have watched the last 15 years of the rivalry with Michigan State should know this all too well. Whether today's game was a subpar effort for Michigan, or an above average performance from Maryland, or perhaps a reflection of who these teams really are, all that will be known in the future. For now, Michigan survived Maryland 34-27 at home and are 4-0 on the 2022 season. That's all we know and no win should be taken for granted. 

The first 10 seconds looked like a romp developing. Maryland's Tai Felton fumbled the opening kickoff and Michigan's Matt Hibner recovered it at the 10 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, JJ McCarthy found Luke Schoonmaker in the end zone for a TD. Not too often you find yourself up 7-0 eight seconds into the game in a game where you were the team kicking off. Famed author John U. Bacon sent his usual "go mow the lawn" tweet, which typically signifies the game being over, after that opening TD. Technically he was correct in terms of which team won the game, but what it alluded to, a Michigan blowout, was incorrect. 

Maryland made that clear on the next drive. The Terps had a good answer for the Wolverines, driving into Michigan territory and setting up their kicker, Chad Ryland, with a 53-yard FG attempt. The former EMU kicker found himself at home kicking footballs in Washtenaw County, drilling the long attempt. 7-3 Michigan. That drive also began a theme that would persist in the first half: Michigan mistakes. The Wolverines had a chance to get off the field on a 3rd down and got pressure. Jaylen Harrell knocked the RT into QB Taulia Tagovailoa's lap, but then grabbed Tagovailoa's facemask, nullifying a drive-ending throwaway. 

[Patrick Barron]

The Wolverines got the ball for their first proper drive and looked very solid. They alternated between chunk runs for Blake Corum and short stuff through the air via the right arm of JJ McCarthy. Unfortunately, that pattern began to erode when Luke Schoonmaker dropped a ball on a comebacks route. On 3rd & 5 from the Maryland 34, McCarthy was unable to find an open receiver against the Maryland zone, firing the ball to a decently well-covered Cornelius Johnson, which fell incomplete. Jake Moody did his part to add to the stellar kicking by nailing a 52-yard FG. 10-3. 

Maryland's offense continued in rhythm with another answer. They gained solid yardage on the ground and mixed in plenty of neat schematic stuff. Slip screens, RPO slants, and a crafty triple option play which Tagovailoa executed with a shovel pass that worked perfectly. Michigan aided the Terps yet again, though, as Rayshaun Benny's beautiful swim move to set up a stuff on 3rd & 1 didn't come to fruition when Benny was unable to make the tackle. Tagovailoa's legs also came up big on the drive, with the Maryland QB picking up a clutch 3rd & 8 on a scramble to set up first and goal in close. On the second try, Antwain Littleton punched it in and the visitors had tied it at 10. 

The flow of solid offense continued. Michigan marched right down the field on the legs of Corum, but then lifted Corum for a quick breather. On came true freshman CJ Stokes, who fumbled on his first carry, losing control of the ball without a discernible punch and Maryland recovered. A couple sizable gains by the Terps sent them the other way, including a concerning play that saw Kalel Mullings get stomped on by the RB Littleton when in position to make a tackle, but Mazi Smith's TFL ended the drive. Again faced with a 50+ yard FG, Ryland nailed it with little trouble to give the Terrapins their first lead, 13-10. 

[Patrick Barron]

Michigan's offense began to sputter at this juncture. A trick play in which Ronnie Bell was supposed to throw it went awry, and then JJ McCarthy missed an open Roman Wilson for a possible TD. Maryland got the ball back, drove some more, but a phenomenal individual effort from DJ Turner ended the drive with an interception off Tagovailoa. Replays showed that it may not have been a catch, but the play was never formally reviewed. Michigan's took the ball and drove again, in part due to a circus scramble from McCarthy, but that same sort of play hurt the team when he took a devastating -15 yard sack. The sack set Jake Moody up for a much more difficult 43-yard FG, which the normally reliable kicker shanked to keep the score at 13-10. 

The Wolverine defense did their job to force the first Maryland punt of the game and the Michigan offense got a chance to seize a lead, or at least tie it, before halftime. With 1:36 remaining and positioned on their own 30 yard line, McCarthy got himself back in sync with his receivers. He connected twice to Cornelius Johnson and found Luke Schoonmaker once, before another missed deep shot put Michigan in a 4th & 1 situation at the 33 yard line. Blake Corum rose to the occasion, being given a running lane and turning it into a house call. That touchdown with 22 seconds left put Michigan up 17-13 and they'd carry that lead into the break. 

Second half adjustments came for both teams. On the offensive side, Michigan doubled down on their commitment to run the ball, while the defense began to dial up more pressure. The former came with mixed results. Michigan got the ball out to midfield via Corum's legs but a confusing decision to run on 3rd & 4 was unsuccessful and the Wolverines punted. On the next offensive series, they'd run two more times before facing McCarthy with a 3rd & 8 inside his own 20, which the young QB was unable to convert after refusing to pull the trigger and taking a sack. 

[Patrick Barron]

The defensive adjustments had more success. Maryland continued to use their blitz-beater plays, screens and such, but a big hit by Mike Morris on Tagovailoa left the Maryland QB injured and more or less ended the series. Jaylen Harrell got home on the next play against backup QB Billy Edwards and forced a throwaway. Tagovailoa returned for the next series, but again it was pressure that made the difference. Eyabi Okie forced a dangerous throw that was a shoulda-been-INT, dropped by Mike Sainristil. Maryland punted nontheless.  

After each team had had the ball twice, Michigan finally got on the board in the second half. McCarthy continued to struggle with his deep shots, but he was poised and accurate underneath, connecting for 5-10 yard completions to keep the offense moving. He found Roman Wilson open for a 20 yard touchdown to close the drive and Michigan asserted control of the game with a 24-13 lead. 

Maryland answered with a quick score, showing they wouldn't go away. A terrific playcall on 4th & 1 saw the Terps run a screen to the edge that exploited Michigan's aggressiveness trying to stop the run, and then Tagovailoa uncorked his best throw of the game. On the run evading pressure, Tagovailoa flipped his hips and feathered a perfect ball over the arms of Mike Sainristil to an open TE Corey Dyches to get Maryland inside the 10. On second and goal, a mesh concept play resulted in a Maryland touchdown to a wide open receiver. They went for two to cut it to three, but pressure on Tagovailoa forced a risky throw that Sainristil didn't drop. 24-19.

[Bryan Fuller]

At this point, there were just over nine minutes left in the game, and a good Michigan drive could help get the game to the finish line. The Wolverines were quickly in a 3rd & 6 situation but McCarthy finally connected on a deep ball, a bomb to Ronnie Bell that got Michigan into field goal range. The drive would fizzle out after two rushing plays and a near-interception (the Maryland corner came down out of bounds), but Jake Moody drilled a 38 yard FG to put Michigan ahead 27-19 with 6:28 left. 

Though Tagovailoa had played a very good game up to this point, he made the backbreaking mistake that has too often defined his college football career. On 2nd & 4 from the 31 yard line, Tagovailoa missed an open receiver underneath, opting to heave the ball into double coverage that allowed RJ Moten to make a spectacular tip drill interception and give Michigan full control of the game.

The Wolverines began running the ball to drain the clock and force Maryland to call timeouts, eventually resulting in a 3rd & 3 from the Maryland 47 yard line with 3:40 remaining in the game. Maryland had the run between the tackles stuffed but good blocks from Joel Hongiford and Ryan Hayes sealed the left edge. Blake Corum bounced and galloped into the end zone. 34-19 Michigan and the game was more or less on ice. 

Maryland, to their credit, didn't quit until the bitter end. With backup QB Billy Edwards back in the game, perhaps to preserve Tagovailoa's health, they converted two 4th & longs and a 3rd & 21 on a scramble by Edwards. Kalel Mullings got lost in coverage and Maryland scored a touchdown with 45 seconds remaining in the contest. They'd also pick up the two point coverage on a screen to Jeshaun Jones, narrowing the score to 34-27. Unfortunately, they had exhausted all their timeouts and after Colston Loveland recovered the onside kick, two kneel downs ran out the clock for a Michigan victory. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: A quick statistical summary]

[Bryan Fuller]

In the end, Michigan outgained Maryland 463 to 397, though there are some score effects adjustments necessary. Maryland's final drive, a 75 yarder, took place as Michigan was looking to run the clock down and not give up the big play. Three turnovers for the Terps to one for the Wolverines looms large, but so does Michigan's missed field goal, McCarthy's failure to hit an open deep shot until late in the game, and the penalty on Harrell early on. Both teams made pivotal mistakes (to Maryland's credit, they limited the penalties), but the better team ended up coming away with a victory, even if it was tighter than expected. 

Blake Corum was the headliner on offense: 30 carries for 242 yards and 2 TDs is a special day. The offensive line did a solid job to open holes, but Corum found the extra yards as well. JJ McCarthy was decent, 18-26 for 220 yards (12.2 YPA) with 2 TD and 0 INT, but it still felt like an effort that left a lot to be desired. He was jumpy in the pocket and a bit gun shy to pick his spots in the zone. If he hits a couple more deep shots, the entire complexion of the game feels different. That said, if this performance is close to McCarthy's floor as a QB, that is not a bad thing for the Wolverines offense. 

Ronnie Bell and Luke Schoonmaker tied for the team lead in receiving yards with 72, though Schoonmaker did his on a team-high seven catches. Max Bredeson also appeared for two catches, while Cornelius Johnson (3), Roman Wilson (2), and Andrel Anthony (1) all chipped in too. 

[Bryan Fuller]

On defense, Michigan was up-and-down. Rush defense was suboptimal, with Maryland rushing for 4.6 sack-adjusted yards per carry, though the run is built off the pass in an offense such as Maryland's. Organic pressure via four man rushes was seldom seen, but I thought coverage as a whole was pretty solid. Maryland has an exceptionally talented WR room and Michigan didn't get burned over the top for a big play TD, and that's what you want against an opponent with Dontay Demus and Rakim Jarrett.

Maryland did a lot of its work in the intermediate and screen game and to credit Mike Locksley's crew, they drew up a lot of crafty and tricky stuff to keep the Michigan defense off-guard. It remains to be seen how the year plays out, but if Maryland doesn't shoot themselves in the foot and stays on schedule, they may well have the best non-OSU offense on Michigan's schedule. Today, they did pretty well to limit the errors (besides the turnovers) and gave Michigan's defense a hell of a fight at times. 

The Maize & Blue now must switch gears entirely to prepare for Iowa, moving from a team with a potentially scary offense to a team with a morbid offense and a terrifying defense in the Hawkeyes. It will also be the first road game of the season and a test for the young starter in McCarthy. Thankfully for the Michigan faithful, the game is at noon EST and not in the evening. It is slated to be broadcast on FOX.