Michigan Football: Week 9

This game went about nothing like I expected, and there is, of course, absolutely nothing wrong with that. This game was a true blowout, Notre Dame was never really in this game. The one time they got somewhat close by cutting the lead to 10 behind a bogus pass interference call, we responded nicely by going down and getting another touchdown on the very next drive. This game is puzzling because of how well we played and the fact that we just dominated them the entire game. I think this may be the first time that I can remember where Michigan really benefited from playing in the rain. It was a game that really revolved around the run game and defense, two of Michigan’s strengths, and I think that was a really big reason why we were able to win by such a large margin. I am not at all trying to downplay what Michigan did on the field on Saturday, they really came to play, and it was a huge statement they made in this big game. Plus, beating Notre Dame is always a good feeling.

Opponent: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Ian Book was the only player I could really name before this game, and he was enough to scare me a little. He is a good passer that can also take off and run when he needs to. It surprised me that he did not run more, especially when they really fell behind. How many times has it happened where we are up on Ohio State and playing well, and then their quarterback just drops back and runs on every play, shredding our defense? It happens way too often, so I was very surprised that Book never really tried running a lot. Maybe the coach told him not to, because that does seem to be a popular trend in football right now, although that seems to be more of an NFL mindset. Outside of Book, there were not very many players that really stood out. They did have two tall pass-catchers in Chase Claypool, who drew the garbage pass interference call, and Cole Kmet, who caught the touchdown a few plays later. None of their running backs got anything going at all, their leading rusher had a measly 15 yards. Their defense also did not seem to have any answers for us, as we scored drive after drive, scoring our second-highest point total of the season (the first was, obviously, the Rutgers game).

In conclusion, they need to just join a conference already.

Offense

Shea Patterson did not do much in this game, but clearly we did not really need him to. He only went 6-12 for 100 yards, but he did rack up two touchdowns on the day. What was important for him to do in a big game like this, especially with the given conditions, was protect the football. He fumbled three times, so that was not very comforting, especially with the way the season has gone so far. We did not lose any of them, thankfully, and I think the case could also be made that the conditions just got to him, but he still has to be better about that. I think the most exciting thing I saw him do was that he threw Nico Collins’ way on a play where I normally would not expect him to throw it. The defender was running more or less with Collins, but was on his back hip, and Patterson threw a nice pass where Collins was able to just put his hands up and overpower the defender. Normally, I do not believe Patterson would have thrown that pass, and he may have only done it because we had a lead already, but hopefully it instills some confidence in him that he can make those throws. Dylan McCaffrey and Joe Milton saw some time late in the game as well. It was great to see McCaffrey back on the field after he suffered that concussion against Wisconsin, and he looked good, going 2/2 with a touchdown. Joe Milton did not attempt a pass.

Every running back we put in the game had success. Hassan Haskins was our leading rusher, with 149 yards, and he had a couple long runs that really helped us get some momentum on a few drives, including one where he beautifully hurdled a defender. Zach Charbonnet had two touchdowns, and showed his usual consistent running, making guys miss while still running with power. Tru Wilson came in later in the game and had a really nice touchdown run as well, where he ran up the middle and then cut back outside to the left, where Shea Patterson ended up being his lead blocker on his way to the end zone. The last guy in was Christian Turner, and he had a few nice runs as well. It is surprising how far down the depth chart Turner has fallen, especially because he offers something that none of the other three guys ahead of him do, and that is speed. It would not surprise me if he has not seen the field much because of his fumbling issues, but I still do hope that we find ways to get him the ball in space. Despite the absurd amount of rain that fell, none of our running backs fumbled in this game. That is encouraging. Maybe they finally figured out what the problem was.

Mike Sainristil has arrived, ladies and gentlemen. The freshman I have been calling for all year came out and had a game. He was our leading receiver with 73 yards, on a day where we only threw for 134 yards as a team. He had two nice catches, including a sliding one where he kept a drive alive, and his touchdown was a fantastic yards-after-catch play where he made two guys miss before putting a nice juke on a third guy and then outrunning everyone else. It was a fantastic performance from him, and I hope that it leads to more playing time the rest of this season. We do not have a receiver like Sainristil in the rotation right now. Collins is big, Donovan Peoples-Jones (who also had a nice touchdown) is a vertical threat with some moves, Tarik Black is similar to Peoples-Jones but his game revolves more around straight-line speed, and Ronnie Bell is a good route runner that we can also send on deeper routes. Sainristil can be that quick, dangerous guy that you throw a lot of underneath routes to and maybe even a few bubble screens, even though I would rather see those go to Giles Jackson. It was awesome to have the entire student section chanting Ronnie Bell’s name when he hauled in a nice sideline catch. I personally was hoping he would bounce back and have an outstanding game with like 150 yards and two touchdowns, but maybe he is saving that for a game later this year. There is not much else to say about the receiving corps on a day where we only completed eight passes. We essentially were running a far-less-exciting Army offense, and it worked very well for us.

Defense

I know I start every analysis of Michigan’s defensive performance with this statement, but Cam McGrone is a monster. He racked up 12 total tackles on the game, six of them were solo. The next leading tackler on the team was Khaleke Hudson, who had five total tackles. That is right, McGrone had more solo tackles than the next leading tackler had total tackles. That is simply incredible, and I continue to hope for that kind of ridiculous production from him. We only had two sacks in this game (Kwity Paye and Luiji Vilain), which is disappointing, but we did have five quarterback hurries, which speaks more to Book’s ability to get the ball out than our lack of pass rush. Would I like those numbers to be higher? Yes, absolutely, but at least we showed some signs of life in the pass rush against a team that has recently produced some good offensive linemen. Despite not intercepting any passes, although the one Hawkins had on that pass interference play should have counted, we still were able to capitalize on their mistakes, with Daxton Hill recovering two fumbles. The one that really stood out was a bizarre play where they blocked our punt, and then a Notre Dame guy decided to try to fall on it, and it instead squirted away from him. Dax was able to fall on it, allowing us to continue our drive. That was a very nice break for us, especially that early in the game. Even in a game that largely revolved around running the ball, our secondary deserves some credit. The fact that Book went 8/25 I think speaks a lot to what they were able to do. Notre Dame’s receivers had a tough time getting open, and Book was forced to just throw it away quite a few times. I also have to credit Don Brown, because it looks like he is willing to run some zone defense on third downs and other situations like that in order to counter crossing routes. It is encouraging to see him willing to alter his defense in order to give us a better chance of stopping the other team. We will see if that holds up, but I am cautiously optimistic about it.

Special Teams

Jake Moody was the only kicker we saw, and he did not miss.

Next Week

Maryland is a very confusing team this season. They started off red hot, even finding their way into the Top 25 at one point, but have since fallen off completely. Their Big Ten games so far have included getting blown out by Penn State, Purdue, and Minnesota. They still have some playmakers though, including Anthony McFarland, the running back who emerged onto the scene last year, and we are playing them on the road. Crazy things can happen in college football, which we saw a few times this weekend with Oklahoma losing to Kansas State and Texas losing to TCU. I also worry the team may be coming in overconfident off the high that has been this past week. If the team comes in focused and gets a good jump on Maryland, then I think we will win with ease.