I was almost half right. My score prediction was 24-13 in favor of Michigan in my game preview, which I never posted because I only finished half of it. So I got Michigan’s score correct, but Northwestern was able to put a few more points on the board than I expected.
It helps to get 5 turnovers. Michigan is apparently the first FBS team ever – ever!!! – to win a football game while giving up 5 turnovers and creating 0 turnovers. The offense was actually pretty productive on a down-to-down basis, but Bryce Underwood threw 2 interceptions, there was a fumbled exchange with the backup to the backup running back Bryson Kudzdal, and there was just a bad play on an end around exchange with Andrew Marsh. Three of those turnovers were bad plays by Underwood, who played pretty darn well otherwise. It was a bit of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde game for him, because he completed 21/32 passes for 280 yards and ran 9 times for 30 yards and 1 touchdown. Those are season/career highs in attempts and yards, and it ties a career high in completions. The most inexcusable turnover was the handoff to Kudzdal, on which Underwood put the ball up at chest level, so Kudzdal never had a chance. That’s just a basic play for a quarterback that really shouldn’t ever happen. (That being said, the offensive line got its butt kicked on that play, and Kudzdal probably would have been stopped for a loss to end the drive, anyway.)
Hit the jump for more.
I didn’t explain the other turnover, though. Semaj Morgan is a liability. I’m not sure I can think of a non-quarterback who has been such a liability as a skill player. He has some of the biggest drop problems in the country, and he’s not a good punt returner. He fumbled a punt return on Saturday, leaving Northwestern with a short field that led to a touchdown. There are certainly other receivers to play who haven’t been as athletic with the ball in their hands, but I think just about any Michigan fan would take Drew Dileo right now, and that’s not saying much. Fred Moore left the team and I’Marion Stewart is out for the season due to injury, but I’m not sure what happened to Anthony Simpson. It’s still a bummer that a program like Michigan doesn’t have someone both more dynamic and a better decision maker than Morgan.
Speaking of receivers: hello, Andrew Marsh. We’ve known about Marsh for several weeks, and he earned a starting job for good reason based on his performance after the first couple games. But I don’t think anyone predicted he would catch 12 passes for 189 yards (both freshman records for Michigan). In fact, Zach Shaw and Steve Lorenz did a preview podcast where they took the UNDER on Michigan wideouts making 13.5 catches total against Northwestern, and Marsh almost reached that number by himself. (Marsh’s 12 catches and Donaven McCulley’s 4 receptions gave them 16 altogether.) I don’t think Marsh is a great route runner yet, but his toughness, body control, and field awareness are all top notch. The double toe-tap on the game winning drive was an awesome play.
Jaishawn Barham is an unguided missile. Michigan moved Barham back to edge after getting Jimmy Rolder back from injury, and I’m just not super impressed with Barham playing edge at this point. He’s an excellent athlete, but he just doesn’t seem to see what’s in front of him. I understand he doesn’t have much time on task playing that edge position, but he plays a little like an ultra-talented freshman. I expected more production out of him this season because of his physical talent, and I expected him to have some more developed pass rush plans as a fourth-year player.
The defense was good but unremarkable. No interceptions. No sacks. Northwestern quarterback Preston Stone finished 13/27 for 184 yards, and the Wildcats had just 61 rushing yards on 26 carries (2.3 yards/carry). In fact, Michigan outgained Northwestern by a mark of 496-245, but the aforementioned turnovers killed Michigan’s offense. Obviously, they did plenty to win the game and I would have been pretty ticked off if I were Michigan’s defense and the offense didn’t score enough to win. If you give up just 245 yards in a game, that should be rewarded with a victory.
A win is a win. I know I say this all the time, but sometimes it only matters that you have more points than the other team when the final whistle blows. Northwestern isn’t a good team at 5-5, but you’re bound to have a game or two like this every season where you squeak out a victory over a team you should beat easily. There are definitely some things to fix, but turnovers are a little bit random. If Michigan can clean up the ball security issues, they should win against next week over Maryland.
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