This is a feature I started last year, with the ten longest plays against any particular opponent. I didn’t break it out last week since Michigan had never played East Carolina before, and now the opponent is UNLV, whom Michigan has only played once. So each of the following plays will take you back to 2015, when Michigan won by a score of 28-7.
Ty Isaac 76-yard touchdown run (2015)
J.J. McCarthy 47-yard touchdown pass to Roman Wilson (2023)
Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Trente Jones. I really like the way Trente Jones plays football. On Saturday he was used mostly as an extra lineman or a tight end, reprising his primary role from 2021. But he just bullies people in the run game and does a great job with his body positioning. I think his pass protection might be a little questionable at tackle, but I think he deserves to be on the field more.
Let’s see less of this guy on offense . . . Myles Hinton. Hinton earned the start in game one even though Jim Harbaugh suggested that he would start a different set of tackles in week two, presumably La’Darius Henderson at left tackle and Jones on the right side. Hinton is a mammoth at 6’6″ and 340 lbs., but he appeared to make several mental mistakes on Saturday, especially in the run game. He said in the post-game that he did not play well. I do still think he can be a good player, but perhaps he needs a little more time to adjust to Michigan’s scheme.
September 8, 2023: Davis completed 11/13 passes for 200 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 49-7 win over Concord (NC) Cabarrus. Providence Day is 4-0. Season totals: 70/93 passing for 1,213 yards and 14 touchdowns, plus 1 rushing touchdown
September 1, 2023: Davis completed 19/26 passes for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 42-7 win over Charlotte (NC) Catholic. Providence Day is 3-0. Season totals: 59/80 passing for 1,013 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also has 1 rushing touchdown.
August 25, 2023: Davis completed 16/19 passes for 250 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 47-7 win over Asheville (NC) Asheville. He also ran 1 time for 8 yards and 1 touchdown. Providence Day is 2-0. Season totals: 40/54 passing, 749 yards, 8 touchdowns, plus 1 carry for 8 yards and 1 touchdown.
August 19, 2023: Davis completed 24/35 passes for 499 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 42-35 win over Rock Hill (SC) Northwestern. Providence Day is 1-0.
Football is back! All is right in the world when it’s football season. In another few days, the NFL season will be back and we can all enjoy Heaven for a few months. It has been a long off-season for me on an individual level, and this is also a chance to break away from the 2023 Season Countdown and get back into a groove with writing about various topics.
This was a boring matchup. I like seeing different opponents, but with East Carolina, there were no storylines. It’s not a geographical matchup. When I looked through the roster and coaching staff, there was no crossover. East Carolina doesn’t recruit in the state of Michigan. No transfers or ex-staffers from Michigan. There was no angle. The most interesting aspect going into the opener, aside from seeing who starts for Michigan, was . . .
. . . Peacock. The Peacock stream sucked. I signed up for Peacock on Friday because there’s really no other reason to do so earlier. And I don’t really care about the expense. I’ll pay $5.99 to watch a Michigan game. But when I’m paying for it, I expect a good product. When I paid for cable, I expected ESPN and FS1 and BTN to give me a good product. Otherwise, I’ll just turn off the volume and think through it myself. I don’t need Mike Tirico and one of the Simms brothers to tell me what’s happening on the game. Peacock actually complied – presumably on accident – when there was just no audio for several minutes. The fourth quarter feed got blurry, too, but maybe that had something to do with my local internet. But Peacock also cut out a play, there was no pregame show, the halftime show was boring, and oh yeah . . . the Simms kid isn’t exactly top-notch. If I wanted crappy analysis, I would watch some of the ex-Buckeye talking heads like Josh Perry and Joey Galloway.
