Coming into the season, many CFB and Michigan fans had, and may still have, their doubts about how the Michigan Wolverines will perform on the football field in this shortened season.
Before the season started, the QB race was tight between Dylan McCaffrey, Joe Milton, and Cade McNamara.
As we now know, Joe Milton won the job, leaving McCaffrey to opt-out and enter the transfer portal and Cade NcMamara to sit on the bench.
Did Harbaugh make the right decision? After one week, it definitely looks like it.
Even though Milton’s stat line didn’t look too impressive, going 15-22 with 225 passing yards and a touchdown to go along with 52 rushing yards and 6 points on the ground, he didn’t have a single interception, and looked very calm, cool, and collected in the pocket.
Overall, Joe made good decisions, read the field well, found the open man, and scrambled out of the pocket if he needed to.
Not only did Milton play incredible, but he also did a great job of spreading the ball around.
9 different receivers caught the ball this game, and while Ronnie Bell led the way with 74 yards and 4 catches, 3 other receivers had 2 on the day, and the other 5 receivers had a catch.
Ben Mason, a fullback known primarily for his blocking, scored the only receiving touchdown of the night with his only reception.
However, the main highlight of the offense last game was their rushing attack and the teamwork between the backs and the O-line that caused it.
Hassan Haskins had 6 carries for 82 yards (13.7 YPC), with 2 rushing touchdowns. Zach Charbonnet had 4 carries but didn’t do anything except for one run at the beginning of the game where he busted through a gap in the middle of the line for a 70-yard touchdown.
Blake Corum, the 5’8″ freshman, had 8 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown. Chris Evans made his return for the first time since 2018, as he had 5 carries for 19 yards with a TD as well.
Not only did Michigan’s offense shine with 6 total touchdowns, but their defense also came through as well with a scoop and score fumble touchdown early in the game to gain much-needed momentum.
Josh Ross led the way in tackles with 9, as well as grabbing an interception late in the game to seal the deal, and Brad Hawkins and Michael Barrett both had 7 apiece. Barrett also led the team with one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss and even took a kick return 66 yards to gain incredible field position.
While they played an incredible game, their kicking and run defense are going to need some work. Even though Jake Moody made 7 out of 7 extra-point attempts, he missed all 3 of his field goals.
Michigan’s pass defense was great, but they let Mohamed Ibrahim rush for 2 touchdowns and 140 yards with Minnesota only having 2 out of their 5 starting offensive linemen.
They go into the next week playing Michigan State to keep the Paul Bunyan trophy, and though it’s expected as a Michigan blowout, they can’t get too cocky going into next week.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn
