The Game Plan: Michigan vs Rutgers
This is not a matchup where Michigan should have to choose between getting the run game going and letting Tommy Carr throw it. It should do both.
This is not a matchup where Michigan should have to choose between getting the run game going and letting Tommy Carr throw it. It should do both.
Penn State turned Michigan's two first-half turnovers into zero points. It rushed for 65 yards all afternoon. And when Michigan finally needed something more than another stop, the defense started handing the offense the football.
Michigan's defense did enough to win, and it did considerably more for long stretches.
Michigan played its best offensive game of the season against Iowa and still found a way to leave the stadium with a loss. That makes the first road trip of the year less about proving Michigan can play good football and more about proving it can stop wasting it.
For three quarters, Michigan's defensive plan worked almost exactly the way it was supposed to.
Iowa could not run the ball. Hank Brown was uncomfortable whenever Michigan pressued him. Tony Diaz, the receiver most capable of creating an explosive play, was largely contained. The Hawkeyes had 129 yards, six first downs and zero offensive points through three quarters.
Iowa brings one of the best statistical defenses in the country to Michigan Stadium, along with a rushing attack built to drag the game into the fourth quarter. This is not a matchup where Michigan needs Bryce Underwood to throw for 300 yards or one running back to take over. It is a game about staying clean, finding enough explosive plays, and making Iowa play from behind.
Michigan opens Big Ten play against an Iowa team built to punish mistakes and make every possession matter. The Wolverines’ offensive progress finally looked real against UTEP, but Saturday will show whether those answers hold up against Phil Parker’s defense.
UTEP scored 17 points against Michigan. That sounds a lot more competitive than the defensive performance actually was.
There is a version of Saturday where Western Michigan ends up being the best thing that could have happened to this team. Not because needing a Hail Mary to survive a MAC opponent was somehow good. It wasn’t. The value would be in what happened after it.
The encouraging part of Michigan’s season opener was not simply that Dom Nichols had the best game of his career.
It was how he did it.