That was more difficult than it should have been. Michigan should have blown out MSU by more than 22 points. Offensively, the Spartans couldn’t do anything more than toss prayer balls up to 6’4″, 215 lb. wide receiver Keon Coleman, who had a great game with 5 catches for 155 yards and 1 touchdown. MSU averaged 4.75 yards per offensive player, a lower average than any game except when Ohio State held them to 4.21. But somehow a team ranked in the 100s in most pass defense categories held J.J. McCarthy to 15/25 completions, 167 yards, and 1 touchdown. The lack of a passing game forced Michigan to call on kicker Jake Moody 5 times, and he kicked 5 field goals, including a 54-yarder. It was a beating, but not as decisive as I wanted.
Hit the jump for more.
Blake Corum continues to be awesome. Corum rushed 33 times for 177 yards and 1 touchdown, along with catching a touch pass for a 2-yard score. He finished numerous runs by hopping on one foot, tugging defenders along, spinning out of tackles, and generally being perhaps the best back in the country. He’s one of the best running backs to ever suit up in a Michigan uniform, and the Wolverines probably only have him for a handful more games. However, he’s averaging 29 carries per game over the past five weeks, and that’s too much to sustain. Hopefully he can get a bit of a break against Rutgers and a couple other teams in the coming weeks.
The fight in the tunnel. For the second game in a row, controversy arose from Michigan’s tunnel. PB&J sandwiches were allegedly thrown by Penn State players. Now something more serious occurred: video surfaced of Michigan cornerback Ja’den McBurrows being pushed, punched, and kicked by several Michigan State players. It’s confusing to me why McBurrows was alone, surrounded by so many Spartans, but a picture also popped up of him heading into the tunnel with MSU players before Michigan players were supposed to enter. It’s hard to say what happened beforehand. Maybe McBurrows was talking crap or maybe he just really needed to go to the bathroom. Regardless, the beating he took from a bunch of MSU players was unnecessarily violent. (McBurrows is from Florida and doesn’t play, so I really don’t understand why he would go out of his way to insert himself into the rivalry so brazenly if that’s what he was doing.)
Ugly scene in Ann Arbor following the game 😳pic.twitter.com/nWggbu7VMw
— Footballismâ„¢ (@FootbaIIism) October 30, 2022
J.J. McCarthy was off. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy played okay. He didn’t turn over the ball and completed 15/24 passes with 1 touchdown. But he missed some easy throws and didn’t make any big plays in the passing game. He did have several nice scrambles, but I’ve come to expect more. He almost always completes the easy throws, except for a couple glitches on bubble screens against Penn State.
Red zone woes. Unless Michigan is on the 2-yard line and can just count on Blake Corum to wiggle and flop and bounce his way into the endzone, Michigan’s red zone execution is pretty terrible. Somehow they seem to be the one team with an athletic quarterback that can’t figure out how to use the QB in the run game near the goal line. They’re not good at using rub routes, fades, etc. to create scores. This is where someone like Cornelius Johnson or Nico Collins or maybe Darrius Clemons could be helpful. The aforementioned Keon Coleman of MSU is a one-on-one mismatch, too.
Hats off to Jesse Minter. Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter called an excellent game. There were a couple issues – including Coleman beating some guys one-on-one, plus a coverage breakdown – but Michigan made almost everything else tough on MSU. Spartan quarterback Payton Thorne completed 17/30 passes for 215 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception, while running 5 times for 2 yards. Running backs Jalen Berger and Elijah Collins combined for 16 carries for 39 yards. Michigan was essentially better at every single position, and it showed.
The rest of the way. Michigan has Rutgers, Nebraska, Illinois, and then Ohio State left. The first two should be gimme wins, while Illinois’ defense is playing extremely well. The Ohio State game is a toss-up to a lot of people, but I still feel like the Buckeyes look like the superior team. But there will be a great deal of hoopla if both teams go into the Horseshoe at 11-0.
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