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A handful of sportswriters have (deservedly) been eating crow on Sunday morning.
After it became the nouveau choice to pick Minnesota over Michigan in the Big Ten primetime season opener on Saturday, the Wolverines went out and flat-out dominated the Gophers, with the new-look offense led by Joe Milton being the star of the show.
Long have the maize and blue under Jim Harbaugh been a punching bag by the national media, but there was very little they could say that wasn’t glaringly positive after the show the Wolverines put on in Minneapolis.
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Here’s a few samples, starting with USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg:
For Michigan, the best development to come out of a 49-24 win at Minnesota was the play of first-year starting quarterback Joe Milton, who provided an immediate spark for an offense that has produced less-than-optimal results for much of Jim Harbaugh’s tenure. Milton finished with 277 yards of total offense and two touchdowns as the Wolverines made a case for slotting in behind Ohio State in the Big Ten power rankings.
While he wasn’t exactly right about Milton’s complete lack of experience, here’s what USA TODAY Sports columnist Dan Wolken had to say:
Don’t look now, but Michigan looked about as interesting offensively in a 49-24 victory over Minnesota as it has ever been under Jim Harbaugh.
The fact that Harbaugh got through five years without recruiting or developing an elite quarterback is a fairly shocking reality of his tenure, but Joe Milton may end up breaking that streak.
Milton showed off his mobility and his arm strength, completing 15-of-22 passes for 225 yards and appearing pretty smooth in his ability to operate Josh Gattis’ offense. He also ran eight times for 52 yards and a touchdown. Even when Michigan has been pretty good under Harbaugh, its offense looked labored and there didn’t seem to be much confidence in the quarterback’s ability to push the ball down the field. Against the Gophers, though, Michigan gave Milton a lot of freedom and he was able to spread the ball around to nine different receivers.
Milton hasn’t played at all prior to this year, but he’s been in the system for two years already and looked like he had total command of what the Wolverines were trying to do. At least for one night, he justified some of the preseason buzz coming out of Michigan’s camp.
Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel hasn’t exactly been kind to Michigan — or Jim Harbaugh, who he wrote something of a hit piece about in recent weeks — but he couldn’t help but be effusive in his praise on Sunday morning:
Michigan finally gets it right at QB
In the night’s marquee game, Michigan showed the first flashes of a high-end quarterback during the Jim Harbaugh era. After cycling through a flurry of forgettable signal callers from Jake Rudock to Shea Patterson, the debut of Joe Milton hinted that it could be revelatory for the Wolverines.
In Michigan’s blowout of shorthanded Minnesota, 49-24, Milton completed 15-of-22 passes for one touchdown and no interceptions. He ran for 52 yards and another touchdown. Overall in his starting debut, he looked like he belonged in Josh Gattis’ offense and showed why he beat out Dylan McCaffrey for the starting job.
It was great news for No. 18 Michigan, which appeared vulnerable in their opener with four new starters on the offensive line and a flurry of key opt-outs. But Michigan played clean and composed, exploiting a disastrous fake punt and Tanner Morgan fumble to build a 35-17 halftime lead.
It’s early, but perhaps this is the linchpin quarterback that Michigan has been missing during the entirely of Harbaugh’s tenure. Milton appeared comfortable in the run game and spraying the ball around to nine different Wolverines. “Just really played an outstanding game,” Harbaugh said after the game.
Perhaps for a program in search of an offensive identity, this game will be remembered as a building block.
The only thing ESPN’s David Hale managed to say about Michigan was something of a shot:
Maybe Michigan has finally found its QB, and Harbaugh’s crew will roll into Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 12 and pull off a historic … um, no. Even for 2020, that’s a bit wild.
If Michigan can get past MSU and then keep rolling against upstart Indiana, then the Big Ten Week Four showdown with Wisconsin will have huge, national implications.
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