Pros and Cons From Michigan Football Win Over Maryland

This afternoon, Sherrone Moore and the No. 3 Wolverines (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) went into College Park, MD, in hopes of obtaining the team’s 1,000th all-time win. With Penn State a week behind the team and Ohio State a week ahead — not to mention all that is going on with Jim Harbaugh and the program — the Maryland Terrapins were clearly a trap game for the Maize and Blue. It was an ugly game, one which was up and down for Michigan football, yet the Wolverines eventually left with a 31-24 win all said and done, heading into ‘The Game’ with an 11-0 record for the second season in a row.

Michigan Football Downs the Maryland Terrapins, Stays perfect without Jim Harbaugh

Michigan football came into today’s game as a massive favorite to down Maryland following an impressive two-score road win over the No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium last weekend. So far this year, Jim Harbaugh has missed five of his team’s games due to two separate suspensions; in these games, Michigan is 5-0. Additionally, Sherrone Moore, the team’s acting head coach, is now 3-0 overall.

The cons

Michigan football got off to a hot start early on in today’s game, getting a 23-3 lead before Maryland started to gain momentum. After taking a 23-10 lead into halftime, the Wolverines soon found themselves barely leading the Terrapins 29-24 late in the game. While Michigan eventually hung on and got a touchdown win over the Terps, there were a lot of ugly moments. Here are today’s cons:

• Offensive tackles — the Wolverines lost Myles Hinton in the second half, and with LaDarius Henderson sitting out today with an injury, Trente Jones and Karsen Barnhart had to step up. That said, they looked weak throughout the game, something that has been an issue all year and is an area of concern heading into Ohio State next weekend.
• Play-calling — it was bland, yet again, which was fun against Penn State but stressful against Maryland. Why? Well, unlike the Nittany Lions, the Terps were moving the ball well and getting some solid defensive stops. It looked like Michigan football stopped trusting JJ McCarthy after his ugly first-half interception, and it showed in the play-calling, especially in the second half.
• Defensive secondary — now, this might be a bit of a hot(er) take; however, the secondary showed a lot of weakness today. Jesse Minter played a lot of man coverage, and throughout the game, all of Michigan’s corners got burnt by Maryland’s offense. Now, on the other hand, the Wolverines’ defense had a few game-changing interceptions, but against Marvin Harrison Jr. and the Buckeyes, this defense needs to tighten things up a bit.

The pros

Yep, it wasn’t a pretty win; however, Michigan handled its business and stayed perfect on the season. Avoiding the ultimate trap game — a road matchup against a solid Big Ten school in mid-November, the weekend after Penn State and before Ohio State — was a massive win for the Maize and Blue. While there was clearly a lot to work on this week, Michigan still showed some positives on tape. Here are the pros:

• The defense cleaned up at the end — Michigan football allowed the Maryland Terrapins to move the football, though created a few key turnovers and even a defensive touchdown, which led to the Wolverines picking up a major win.
• The punting game looked great, as did special teams — Michigan had a few clutch punts, one of which even led to a safety, against the Terps this afternoon. While the field goal unit did not see the field, Tommy Doman — the Wolverines’ punter — had an elite performance in the wind against Maryland.
• 1,000 all-time wins — this one is pretty self-explanatory, but Michigan football became the first college program to ever hit 1,000 all-time victories this afternoon.
• Blake Corum is inching closer to the record — Michigan’s all-time record for career rushing touchdowns is currently set at 55, and with another impressive game today, Blake Corum inched a little closer to hitting or breaking the record. He punched in two more scores today, breaking into the 50s, and sitting at 51 heading into next week’s game against Ohio State.

Overall, today’s game was ugly for Michigan football, though the Maryland Terrapins always play the Wolverines hard, Jim Harbaugh or not. Heading into the Ohio State game, Michigan is 11-0, with all of the team’s preseason goals (a Big Ten title, win over Ohio State, CFP berth, and more) all still intact.

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