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| Kris Jenkins, skill position player. (David Wilcomes) |
"Can't You Hear Me Knocking?" by The Rolling Stones from their 1971 album Sticky Fingers
One of the stranger parts about night games is that the narratives of the weekend of college football may already be established by the time the game kicks off. Perhaps a blood week is brewing, perhaps it's just a day of the big boys taking care of business, or perhaps it's just a weird day, by the time 7:30 rolls around, you sort of know what's up. Yesterday, the narrative was mixed; some of the teams in the Top Ten were struggling in games that looked as if they would roll, and some were rolling as expected. So, which side of the fence would Michigan land on by the time the night was over.
You wanted to believe that the weirdness of the first big hit pass down the sidelines, which was called incomplete, only to see that overturned without any real evidence that it was complete, but Michigan got a "next three and out" to put together a four-play, 77-yard drive, highlighted by a big Blake Corum run that the whole stadium had been waiting for since the season kicked off to go up 7-0 and early. The vibe was good, Michigan was going to follow the path of Washington and Ohio State this evening.
It seemed to be rolling that way, especially after a subsequent three-and-out and solid punt return to get Michigan starting on the BGSU 43. A bunch of quick hitters, and Michigan has second and goal on the five.
Then all hell broke loose.
JJ threw an interception that looked like someone missed an assignment, and McCarthy locked on his first read, which earned the Falcons a touchback. Bowling Green then proceeded to put together one of those maddening drives where Michigan would do its job on first and second down, only to lose contain for a big gain on third down (including another baffling sideline adjacent catch). Holding fast when it mattered, the defense would force a field goal, and BG would be down just 7-3.
On the subsequent kickoff, Max Bredenson seemed somewhat surprised by the short kickoff but fielded it well, and then made a decision to try and get some yards, which ended up with him fumbling the ball and Bowling Green had even better field position than a surprise onside kick would have garnered them. Michigan's defense did its job and once more prevented a first down and saw the Falcons attempt another short field goal. Michigan remained in the lead, but the vibes in the stadium were dreadful.
When Braiden McGregor fielded the subsequent short kickoff, and himself fumbled it (thankfully recovering it), Michigan Stadium seemingly wanted a return to normalcy, which for four plays, seemed to be in order, but another JJ interception and it became one of those moments where you longed to understand what was up.
Praise for the Michigan defense here. Put in rough positions over and over in the second quarter, they, by and large, got the job done, including a great three and out that saw BGSU gain -1 yard on the sequence after JJ's second pick. McCarthy, to his credit, did get back in the saddle and found Loveland for 22 and Roman Wilson for 33 yards and a touchdown to put Michigan up 14-6 late in the second. Michigan's defense also turned the beat around and got a pick of their own thanks to a wonderful read by Quinten Johnson, and while they couldn't cash it in, they got to halftime with a chance to regroup.
An interlude here: The new lights are fine, but perhaps maybe don't kick into the fancy light show so quickly after a touchdown? It just seems kind of cheap and the sort of thing that we were doing because we can. I know I am not the target audience here, but can anyone show us who was asking for this particular "enhancement" to the Michigan Stadium experience.
A couple of turnovers on back-to-back possessions for the Falcons after the half, which Michigan cashed in for ten points, lifted the collective ennui lurking in the Big House and a flea flicker bomb to Cornelius Johnson, which required some fancy tip drill skills, and Michigan closed the scoring for the remainder of the night for a 31-6 win. Which was essentially in line with the rest of the non-conference schedule.
My working theory is that this was the culmination of three weeks of everyone on the coaching staff being slightly out of place because of Jim Harbaugh's suspension. Everyone has been doing a job that isn't quite the one that they are supposed to be doing. This week, it was Sherrone Moore's turn to be the interim boss. Next week, Harbaugh returns, the team goes back into something more like normal, and I think that will make a difference, which is good because the ever-annoying Schianomen of Rutgers are coming for a Homecoming match-up. As always, ugly wins count just the same.
Tales from The Spreadsheet
- Win 0992
- 31-6 is NOT a Scorigami (fourth ever, most recently October 22, 1988, on Homecoming against Indiana)
- 109,955 is the 122nd-largest crowd Michigan has played in front of, just ahead of, 2010 Bowling Green.
- Michigan moves to 3-0 all-time against East Carolina.
- Michigan moves to 4-2 all-time on September 16.
- Michigan moves to 42-4 when scoring exactly 31 points
- Michigan moves to 83-5-4 all-time when allowing precisely 6 points.
- Michigan has won 19 games all-time by precisely 25 points.
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