Michigan Wolverines

Michigan Routes Ole Miss in Capital One Bowl

January 1, 2010

Game Report Posted: September 19, 2009 03:00  

Michigan, still seething after a 31-10 whooping at the hands of the silver guys from down south took out their frustrations on the Rebels of Ole Miss in the Capital One Bowl. This game was really never close. Michigan only scored 1 TD in the 1st quarter, but they were up 20-0 at the half. They tacked on another 14 points in the 3rd quarter to go up 34-0. Ole Miss would score their only points on a TD midway through the 4th quarter. On the offensive side of the ball, the Wolverines were led by QB Tate Forcier who had missed half of the season with an abdominal strain. He was his usual great self as he threw for 191 yards and 1 TD while also rushing for 36 yards which was the 2nd highest on the team. Sr Brandon Minor would end his career on a high note by rushing for 108 yards and 2 TDs on only 15 carries.

With as impressive as Michigan was offensively, it was on the defensive side of the ball where they were truly dominant. The 1st team defense didn't give up a single point. They held the Rebels to -7 yards rushing on 27 carries and only 212 yards of total offense. They allowed the Rebels to only convert 27% of their 3rd downs (compared to 57% for Michigan's offense). This domination helped Michigan hold the ball for almost 17 minutes compared to only 11 minutes for Ole Miss. They also forced 2 interceptions against the Rebels. This defensive effort was lead by the usual suspects as MLB Obi Ezeh had 11 tackles and, in his final collegiate game, Brandon Graham had 8 tackles, 6 of them for losses, and 2 sacks. These 2 sacks set the single season record for Michigan. All told, the Wolverines racked up 6 sacks in the game.

Michigan will now look to continue recruiting to shore up their lineup and look to have a better year than they had this year.

Run, Wolverines..... Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnn!

November 7, 2009

Game Report Posted: August 29, 2009 20:47  

Today, the Wolverine running game hit its stride as they ran left, right, around, through, and over the Boilermaker defense. When it was all said and done, the Wolverines had tallied 311 rushing yards while holding the Boilers to a humiliating -10 yards rushing. The stats tell the entire story in this game. In addition to the rushing stats above, the Wolverines scored on 7 rushing touchdowns had averaged very nearly 8 yards per carry. They amassed 476 yards of offense compared to only 196 for Purdue. Thanks in part to 10 touchbacks on 10 kickoffs, Michigan nearly tripled the boilers in total yards, 563 to 196. They also had 3 times as many sacks as the Boilers, 6 to 2, including 1 by NCAA leader, Brandon Graham who picked up his tenth of the season. 2 more sacks and he will tie the school record for sacks in a season.

While the running game was churning away, the Wolverine passing attack was efficient when called upon. As was expected, junior Nick Sheridan got the start over freshman Denard Robinson in place of injured starter Tate Forcier. Sheridan completed 8 of 11 passes for 165 yards. That's over 20 yards per completion. Sheridan has been a pleasant surprise in the limited playing time that he has seen this season. He has a gaudy 250.9 QB rating, has thrown 3 TDs without an interception and has completed 81% of his passes. He hasn't been throwing little dinks and dunks either as he is averaging 18 yards per completion.

The Wolverines will be anticipating their next game as it will be against Big Ten powerhouse Wisconsin and their new coach Raz. It is still uncertain whether or not Forcier will make it back in time for this game as he was still questionable against Purdue. Coach Briggs knows that he has his work cut out for him going into Madison, and this game will be a good indicator as to whether or not they've improved since their week 2 humiliation against Notre Dame.

Michigan Survives Scare in Madison

November 14, 2009

Game Report Posted: September 04, 2009 02:16  

Today Michigan faced off against the Badgers of Wisconsin in this huge Big Ten showdown. The Badgers, however, were playing without their coach Raz who was reportedly at home with a case of explosive diarrhea. The game was an up and down affair all day. Wisconsin marched the ball downfield on their first possession and seemed unstoppable until the Wolverines finally held on a crucial 3rd down and forced Wisconsin to settle for a FG. Michigan would score on a Brandon Minor TD to take the lead only to give it away when QB Nick Sheridan, who was starting for injured Tate Forcier, had a fumble returned 44 yards for a TD. This put the Badgers up 10-7 after the 1st quarter.

In the 2nd quarter, starting WR Martavious Odoms was injured which forced the Wolverines to reach deeper into their depth chart. This resulted in WR Junior Hemingway catching his first 2 TD receptions of the season. This put Michigan up 21-13 at the half. The third quarter couldn't have started off worse for the Badgers. Michigan's Terrance Robinson took the opened kickoff and scampered 99 yards (while breaking the ankles of the only Badger defender in his way) for the first kickoff return for a TD on the season for the Wolverines. On Wisconsin's next drive QB Sherer was nailed while throwing the ball and had his pass intercepted by stud DE Brandon Graham. Brandon Minor would then finish things off with a 10 yard TD run.

At this point Michigan led 35-13 and due to time constraints the game was supersimmed. During this supersimming Wisconsin would score 2 TDs and failed on a 2pt conversion cut Michigan's lead to 35-26 after 3 quarters. Then coach Briggs retook the controls for the 4th quarter. Wisconsin's offense, thanks to the momentum from the 2 supersimmed TDs was unstoppable in the 4th quarter. They would score 2 more TDs while, luckily Michigan got 1 of their own. Michigan won by a final score of 42-40 (thank goodness for the failed 2 point conversion).

Wolverines Thrashed by Silver Guys

November 21, 2009

Game Report Posted: September 05, 2009 17:11  

Michigan, playing for the Big 10 title, could not get it done today against the silver guys from down south. This game was decided by the normally stout defense of Michigan being completely incapable of getting the silver guys off the field. The silver guys converted 11 of 13 third down conversions, including every one in the 1st half. Michigan's defense, who was ranked #2 in the country in rushing defense gave up an inexcusable 212 yards and 4 TDs on the ground. Brandon Saine would rush for 130 yards and 3 TDs while Terrel Pryor was extremely efficient, completing 17 of 19 passes.

On the other side of the ball, Michigan was unable to get their running game going as they only gained 33 yards on 14 carries. Starting QB Tate Forcier missed his 6th game in a row due to an abdominal injury so Nick Sheridan got the start. Hewas okay as he threw for 145 yards and 1 TD, but he threw his first 2 interceptions of the season as well. There really wasn't much good to say about Michigan in this game. When asked to comment coach Briggs said "This is a major disappointment for us. This game is the one I looked forward to all year. Yes we've gone from 3-9 to a much more Michigan like record. Yes we've finished tied for the Big 10 title. Yes we're going to be playing in a January bowl game. But with our inability to win this game, this season has been a failure."