Tag: Wilton Speight

Michigan 41, Illinois 8

Karan Higdon (image via Atlantic Broadband)

Michigan shakes up the offensive line. After the injury to left tackle Grant Newsome a few weeks ago, Michigan has been searching for some consistency on the left side. Redshirt sophomore Juwann Bushell-Beatty was the first player to draw into the lineup in Newsome’s spot. I know some people said he was doing fine, but I saw a guy who was struggling with his assignments. This week the Wolverines started fifth year senior Ben Braden at left tackle and true freshman Ben Bredeson at left guard, which I think is a superior lineup. I said since he committed (LINK) that I think Bushell-Beatty can play left tackle down the road if he manages his body properly, but I also thought he would be a guy to potentially start late in his career, not necessarily as a redshirt sophomore. There are still some things to work on for the future. Meanwhile, I thought the line had a decent day outside of right guard Kyle Kalis, who I think probably played his worst game of the season.

Hit the jump for more in the win vs. Illinois.

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Michigan 78, Rutgers 0

Jabrill Peppers (image via Michigan Daily)

The score. OMG the score. Michigan hasn’t scored that many points since they beat the University of Chicago 85-0 in 1939. It’s the largest margin of victory in the history of the Big Ten, a record that was previously held by Wisconsin’s 63-point victory over Indiana in 2010, an 83-20 contest. I predicted a 45-0 victory in the game preview, but then I amended that shortly into the game:

Rain is the great equalizer. I don’t think #Michigan is going to score 45 tonight

— TouchTheBanner (@TouchTheBanner) October 8, 2016

In fairness to myself . . . it stopped raining. While the rain was coming down early, Wilton Speight was inaccurate, the normally sure-handed De’Veon Smith fumbled, and two balls squirted through the hands of Amara Darboh.

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Michigan 14, Wisconsin 7

5-0 feels good. Michigan fans had to sweat it out on Saturday, even though Wisconsin couldn’t do much of anything on offense. But now that the Wolverines have faced adversity a couple times – being 7-7 in the second half with Wisconsin, being down 28-7 to Colorado – and come out on top, it feels good to know that Michigan won’t crumple in the fourth quarter. Fans were talking on here and elsewhere that Wisconsin was going to get handled pretty easily, but a) good defense keeps you in the game and b) Michigan’s not that great offensively. Regardless, a win over the #8 team in the country – and one who had beaten us up the last two times we played – leaves us looking pretty good to the pollsters.

Hit the jump for much more on the win.

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Michigan vs. Penn State Awards

Karan Higdon (image via Newsday)

Due to time limitations, I wasn’t able to get this post done for Monday, so here it is two days later.

Let’s see more of this guy on offense . . . Karan Higdon. I’ve never been that sold on Higdon before, but I’m intrigued. He had 9 carries for 81 yards (9.0 yards/carry) and 2 touchdowns in this one, including a 40-yard touchdown on a toss sweep. He looks bigger and stronger this year after sitting out the spring and summer with injuries and illness. I definitely think he earned himself some additional carries.

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Michigan 49, Penn State 10

It was nice to see Jourdan Lewis back in action (image via MLive)

I’m still not sold on Wilton Speight. His numbers weren’t bad (21/34, 189 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT), but he’s the epitome of a game manager right now. He’s 4-0 as a starter and doesn’t turn the ball over much, while his offense is scoring 50 points a game. He missed a lot of open throws, though. He airmailed a few passes and threw a couple others into the ground. Even a wide open deep throw to Jehu Chesson turned into a duck that Chesson had to slow down and fall to the ground just to reel in, and a wide open flat route by Khalid Hill required a shoe-top grab by Hill. I’m reminded of Denard Robinson in 2010 when he put up decent passing numbers (62.5% completions, 18 TDs, 11 INTs) but a lot of his throws prevented receivers from running after the catch. Some of these issues plagued Jake Rudock early in the 2015 season, so there’s a precedent for improvement. I think Michigan is somewhat lucky that Penn State’s offense and linebackers weren’t better, because if this game came down to being put on Speight’s shoulders, I don’t know if he could win it with his arm. He and the wide receivers just don’t seem to have great timing right now.

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