Michigan football escapes with 20-13 home win over Rutgers
The Michigan Stadium crowd that had groaned, grumbled and grown restless finally roared with relief. The comedy of errors was over.
For the better part of the second half Saturday, fans clad in maize and blue were unsettled as Michigan football's offense went missing and its defense wilted for the first time this season. A 17-point lead over Rutgers, which arrived in Ann Arbor as a 20-point underdog, had dwindled to a single score when the Scarlet Knights reclaimed possession with 1:49 remaining.
A first-down pass fell incomplete.
A second-down strip sack prevented a crisis.
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Outside linebacker David Ojabo engulfed Noah Vedral as the Rutgers quarterback stepped up in the pocket, knocking the ball loose. The fumble was recovered by freshman linebacker Junio Colson, inserted into the game after an injury to starter Josh Ross, and all of Ann Arbor could exhale.
The Wolverines were tested. But the final score: Michigan 20, Rutgers 13.
Michigan establishes intent early
Most offensive coordinators and play callers script their first possession each week in hopes of sparking a productive drive. They will mix and match formations, swap personnel on nearly every snap and utilize pre-snap motion to plant the kinds of seeds that can puzzle opposing defenses for the remainder of the game.
Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis scripted something far more sinister as Michigan asserted its dominance in the trenches. After receiving the opening kick, the Wolverines embarked on a 17-play odyssey spanning 74 yards that wrangled the Scarlet Knights into submission. Gattis called 15 running plays against only two passes as the decorated U-M offensive line fired across the line of scrimmage to bully Rutgers at the point of attack.
There were gains of 7, 5, 11, 7 and 13 as running backs coach Mike Hart split the carries between Hassan Haskins, who punctuated the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, and Blake Corum, who entered Saturday with three consecutive 100-yard games. The Wolverines converted on their first three third downs of the drive before Haskins crossed the goal line on their fourth. Waves of here-we-go-again euphoria rippled around Michigan Stadium as it appeared the offensive line would mash its way through Rutgers the same way it manhandled Western Michigan, Washington and Northern Illinois.
The Scarlet Knights rejected that idea, swinging back at the Michigan offensive line in a way nobody had this season. A unit that grew accustomed to wearing its opponent down with rugged physicality met its match in a resilient Rutgers front seven. The Wolverines gained six first downs on their opening possession and managed only seven more in the next 37 minutes of game time. The seemingly unstoppable tandem of Haskins and Corum was averaging 3.36 yards per carry by the time Rutgers missed a field goal that would have cut the lead to 4 with 9:38 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Questionable play-calling from Gattis
Despite Michigan’s diminishing returns in the running game, it was bewildering to see Gattis upend his philosophy when the Wolverines sought to melt the clock and give their crumbling defense a break.
A 25-yard field goal by kicker Valentino Ambrosio sliced Michigan’s lead to seven points at the start of the fourth quarter, a point at which the Wolverines’ offensive had gone three and out on its previous two drives. Needing to run the clock, Gattis opted for three consecutive pass plays: A drop by wide receiver Mike Sainristil on first down; an ugly incompletion toward tight end Erick All, who was wide open across the middle; and an aborted pass during whichMcNamara scrambled for a few yards, well short of a first down.
The Wolverines punted the ball back to Rutgers.
Just as they’d done all half, the Scarlet Knights meandered their way into U-M territory with a concoction of run-pass options, zone reads and short passes to the perimeter that forced the Wolverines to tackle in space — something they struggle to do.
Were it not for a missed field goal by Ambrosio on the ensuing possession, Gattis’ decision might have proved disastrous.
Inside linebacker Josh Ross injured
Late in the second quarter, inside linebacker Josh Ross tapped his helmet and jogged off the field to signal he wanted a substitution as his left arm awkwardly dangled.
Ross, who was met by members of the medical staff along the sideline, shook and wiggled and rotated his arm as he dealt with what Michigan later described as a stinger. He spent a few minutes in the blue medical tent along the sideline before rejoining his teammates behind Macdonald.
Ross was deemed questionable to return in the second half but was replaced on the field by a rotation of Kalel Mullings, Junior Colson and Nikhai Hill-Green, the last of which picked up a roughing-the-passer penalty that propelled the Scarlet Knights to a touchdown midway through the third quarter.
Earlier in the week, Harbaugh said Ross was playing the inside linebacker position as well as anyone he’s seen during his tenure in Ann Arbor.
Contact Michael Cohen at mcohen@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13. Michael is looking for your questions for his next U-M mailbag. Email or tweet at him.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football escapes with 20-13 home win over Rutgers
