[jwplayer A3qs8Nwq-XNcErKyb]
Coming off their bye week, and the game before Michigan State last week, Michigan defeated Maryland 38-7. This week the extra week of preparation would be huge as the Wolverines dominated the Spartans 44-10 as they win their second-straight against MSU.
The offense woke up as quarterback Shea Patterson threw for over 300 yards for the first time at Michigan as he led the group down the field multiple times throughout the game. The defense gave the MSU offense a tough go at it and even the special teams had some big plays. Check out what I found during my re-watch of the game.
OFFENSE
- In the first quarter with 7:17 to go, Michigan got away with three false start penalties as both left tackle Jon Runyan Jr. and right tackle Jalen Mayfield, and tight end Sean McKeon moved before the ball was snapped. Michigan wouldn’t score on the drive, but that could’ve been another early penalty for the Wolverines. Early mistakes gave MSU life and in rivalry games like this, you can’t let simple mistakes happen.
- The jet sweep with wide receiver Giles Jackson was a great play call by offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, using Jackson’s speed along with great blocking can open up the field. That was an example of the kind of offense he wants to run at Michigan.
- Still not a fan of the wildcat play calls and when they are made. In the second quarter, Michigan runs back to back wildcats inside the five and while they did score on the second attempt, I still don’t get why when you are down and so close to scoring to you risk anything crazy happening in a rivalry game. If they were up by 14+ then the call is safe but inside that five-yard line Patterson can be dangerous with his arm or leg, running a wildcat usually means you run. Maybe one of these times Haskins will pass as a trick, but until it happens it still isn’t a good call this early in the game and in the situation they were in.
- Patterson using his legs to get out of the pocket and still get a throw off is huge for this offense. Earlier in the year, Patterson couldn’t do that much with his oblique injury and he rarely ran it on the option plays. Now having him as a threat in those plays, and to escape the pocket and gain yards with his legs instead is huge for this team.
- Both catches by wide receiver Mike Sainristil were impressive, as he had to dig deep and catch both before they hit the ground. Great effort and plays by him.
- Michigan ran another wildcat play with less than five minutes to go in the first half, again inside the five as it was a loss of three on the play. Tied 7-7 and close to taking the lead it still was a poor decision to call that there.
- Something not talked about much in the win was the blocking by the wide receivers on the outside on the screen passes and sweeps. Wide receiver Ronnie Bell didn’t just catch the ball well, he blocked well also as he played lights out in this game.
- I like the idea of the trick play with backup quarterback Dylan McCaffrey near the end of the third quarter. Both options were shut down but it was still a nice play call. Up by two scores near the end of the quarter, that is a lot better to call something like that then the wildcats called earlier.
- The fumble by wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones on the punt return in the fourth quarter was one a few mistakes made by the Wolverines in this game. That could have set up the Wolverines to possibly score again, but it came at a time where the game was already out of reach so it isn’t as crucial as it would be if it was closer. Still, he needs to clean that up for the future.