Michigan Football: Week 10

Wow, this was a blowout. As puzzling as it is given their supposed talent, Maryland just continues to fall apart. I am not complaining, because it always feels good to blow a team out and never really give them a chance. This game was over right from the opening kickoff, as we never looked back after Giles Jackson’s outstanding return for a touchdown. I have been waiting all season for that to happen because you could just tell it was coming, so it was very exciting to watch him finally break one. The one issue with blowouts is that they can sometimes make a team overconfident. I am not saying that this team is now overconfident because they embarrassed a team that was already collapsing, but with a Michigan State team on the horizon that so well takes advantage of overconfidence, it is definitely something to note.

Offense

Shea Patterson played fine, not great, in this game. It was a game where we did not really need him, though, given how big of a lead we had. He only went 13/22 for 151 yards and a touchdown, which indicates a lot of shorter throws. He only took off two times, which I would still like to see him do more often, because I think it really helps us open up the offense, but perhaps it was an act of self-preservation that he did not run more in a game that we were dominating. We even got to see Dylan McCaffrey play a little bit, which was exciting. He seems to be in good health again, I just hope that in the event he ends up playing meaningful time for us if Patterson gets hurt or something that he is not afraid to take off and run like he does so well. Given that he also took off two times, I

think it is fair to expect that of him.

We ran the ball a lot, which is expected in a game where we have a lead. There is nothing Jim Harbaugh loves more than running the ball effectively. Given that, I find it surprising that our leading rusher was Hassan Haskins, who had 13 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown. I would think that in a game where we are up big and just run the ball that our leading rusher would have at least 100 yards. Zach Charbonnet only had eight carries, which does not upset me too much in a game like this. I hope that it was simply an attempt at keeping him fresh for the tough finish to our schedule, and that it does not reflect our carries distribution for the future. Charbonnet turned those eight carries into 28 yards, but he did punch in two touchdowns. He has shown a real knack for converting in short-yardage situations this season. Tru Wilson also got five carries of his own and ripped one off for 39 yards. He did not do much outside of that carry. Throughout the rest of the season, I hope that we see Charbonnet as the lead back with Haskins and Wilson mixing in change-of-pace roles. Charbonnet is the most talented runner of the three, so naturally he is the one you want handling the most touches.

Nico Collins was our leading receiver by far, thanks to a 51-yard reception. He had another catch for 14 yards, putting him at 65 yards on the day. The next leading receiver was Sean McKeon who had one catch for 29 yards. I think this again really speaks to Patterson not testing the deep ball enough. This is also highlighted by the fact that the only player with more than two receptions was Hassan Haskins, who had three for only nine yards. Big plays help you win football games, and it is important to try and get those. Now, of course, you cannot force big plays because that leads to turnovers, however, you have to take your shots. I am again going to hope that this was just a matter of game flow.

Defense

Josh Metellus was the standout on defense for us in this game, leading the team in tackles (9) as well as nabbing an interception. I love seeing big performances from guys like Metellus, who is certainly a good player, but there are always instances where I feel like he really hurts the team. In the past, this has been because of either penalties or just mental mistakes. I will credit Metellus a lot, he has really scaled back on both of those, and hopefully he continues this level of play. Jordan Glasgow, Khaleke Hudson, and Kwity Paye rounded out our top four in tackles, with eight, eight, and seven respectively. It was a surprisingly quiet game from budding superstar Cam McGrone, but games like that do happen once in a while. I personally would much rather see him have a down game against Maryland than in a bigger game. The one player that scared me, Anthony McFarland, was held to a mere 60 yards on 14 carries. With him being the one real standout on their team, it was very important to stop him, and we did. Clearly, there is not much to complain about in a game where we did not give up a single point defensively. Hopefully they continue this level of play throughout the rest of the season.

Special Teams

We got the best and the worst of our special teams this week. Giles Jackson had the outstanding 97-yard return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff, and then Javon Leake matched him with a 97-yard return of his own in the third quarter. Jackson has elite speed and I hope we get to continue to see him display it. On the kicking side, Jake Moody missed his attempt while Quinn Nordin made his. Despite this, I still want to see Moody as our lead kicker. He has shown far more consistency than Nordin even dating back to last season. We cannot afford to throw Nordin out there in a big game and have him smother one out to the left like he has before.

Next Week

Our next game is the big game against our in-state rival Michigan State. Beating them comes down to getting up big on them and not allowing them to just run the ball down your throat. If we allow them to hang around, then we could really be in trouble. Of course, it is a rivalry game, and strange things always seem to happen in rivalry games. I have always said the same thing about night games, it is just a different atmosphere that causes crazy occurrences. It is important that we do not try to force the run, because State is really good at defending the run, and that we do not turn the ball over. Few teams are as good at capitalizing off of turnovers as State is, and they always seem to get one when they really need one. On defense, we have to stop the run and take away the short passes. One thing that will help with that is putting pressure on Brian Lewerke. If we allow them to just run the ball and throw dump-off passes, then they will be having our way with us. We have to really make them earn their yards on offense. If we do those things, we should be able to come out on top.