Tag: Lavert Hill

LaVert Hill made the ultimate power move on MSU interception

The Wolverines CB could have scored on his INT, he admitted, but had an amazingly petty reason why he didn’t.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — It was the fourth quarter in the big rivalry game, and MSU didn’t stand a chance that late in the game. But the Spartans were going to attempt to mount what seemed to be an insurmountable comeback, down 34-10 early in the final quarter of the game.

After all, Michigan State held a 31-10 lead in the fourth quarter over Illinois the previous week and managed to let that game slip away. Why couldn’t the similar happen to the Wolverines?

But then, the dagger. Michigan cornerback and Detroit native LaVert Hill stepped in front of a Brian Lewerke pass intended for Walled Lake (MI) Western standout Cody White. And like that, it was all but over.

The celebration on the sideline for the maize and blue irked the visiting Spartans, and a bit of a scrum ensued before being broken up.

An already chippy game was getting chippier. Something bound to happen when you have a lot of native sons battling it out for intrastate supremacy.

“Yeah, it was real personal,” Hill said. “I know some of the people on the team. Just to be the champion of the state this year, it feels pretty good.”

So, why did the sideline become suddenly crowded, the Spartans’ ire drawn? Well, because it wasn’t just an interception by Hill.

After Hill got the ball in his hands, he started inwards with lots of room and blockers in front of him. But he took a step back, casually went out of bounds and flexed on White.

Even Hill admitted on Tuesday that he could have taken the INT all the way to the house. But with a big rivalry comes petty season, and Hill was intent to let the MSU wideout know who had the better of him on that play.

“I could have scored if I wouldn’t have did what I had to do, but that play is in the past right now!” Hill said. “Oh yeah – I coulda did more, but it is what it is!

“I wasn’t even thinking. Emotions out there, just having fun. That was it.”

Assuredly, petty season will continue in a week and a half, when the Wolverines host rival Ohio State for the regular season finale on Nov. 30. But first, Michigan travels to Bloomington to take on Indiana this Saturday.

Kickoff for the latter is slated for 3:30PM EST.

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Michigan football quick film hits: Michigan State

Michigan football defeated Michigan State 44-10 in the battle for the Paul Bunyan trophy. When rewatching what was noticed in the win?

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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.
Now onto the defense and their performance…
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Michigan football grades from Week 12 win over Michigan State

Michigan Football defeated Michigan State 44-10 on Saturday, how did each position grade out in the dominating rivalry win?

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Michigan had an extra week to prepare for Michigan State, as they had a bye week last week. The extra week of preparation seemed to be a big help for the Wolverines as they ended up dominating the Spartans, winning 44-10.

The offense exploded with points as quarterback Shea Patterson had his best game ever at Michigan, the defense kept the MSU offense in check, and special teams got involved in the game as well. Check out how each position graded out in the team’s big rivalry win.

OFFENSE

Quarterback: A

Patterson played lights out against his rival, in a game where he started out going 3/8 and already getting sacked once, it looked like it would be a long day for Patterson. Well, it was a long day, a long day of dominance as Patterson finished the game going 24/33 for 384 yards and four touchdowns as he had his best game as a Wolverine. He would throw for over 300 yards for the first time at Michigan, and he even broke a record that Tom Brady had against MSU.

Patterson used his legs when he needed too but he couldn’t make anything of it as he was sacked three times to knock his rushing yards into the negatives. The way he was throwing the football though was impressive as he made some quick, deep, and tough throws. Along with the throws, he made some good reads to set up those throws as he looked comfortable with multiple RPO plays.

The offense finally seems to be intact and what offensive coordinator Josh Gattis dreamt of and it started with Patterson. This offense was supposed to help him greatly and fit his style of play. It started out rough, but now it’s starting to come together at the right time.

Running Back: C+

While passing the ball worked really well against MSU, running wasn’t as effective but it still did some damage. Hassan Haskins was the only running back to find the endzone as he finished with six carries for 13 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Zach Charbonnet had the best day of any running back, finishing with seven carries for 30 yards. Tru Wilson had the most carries with 10, but for 26 yards.

Wide Receiver: A+

There hasn’t been a better game for the wide receivers than yesterday as six different wide receivers caught a pass, and if you include the other positions the number increases to nine. Ronnie Bell was the star receiver, finishing with nine catches for 150 yards, a career-best for him. While he wasn’t able to get into the endzone, three other wide receivers were able too.

Donovan Peoples-Jones finished with four catches for 48 yards and a touchdown. Nico Collins had three carries for 45 yards and a touchdown, while freshman Cornelius Johnson had one catch for 39 yards and a touchdown. Tarik Black had a nice 27-yard catch, while freshman Mike Sainristil had two good catches for 21 yards.

Tight End: B

Starting tight end Sean McKeon was a big help in the receiving game for Patterson has he had two big catches for 46 yards, while Nick Eubanks had one catch for five yards and a touchdown. The tight ends weren’t used often in the passing game but when they were they were effective. Their blocking was helpful as well.

Offensive Line: A-

Despite Patterson getting sacked three times and the rushing attack only putting up 83 total yards, the offensive line did a good job in giving Patterson time to throw the football. They also did a good job of blocking on some of the jet sweeps and wide runs/screen passes. They helped the offense do what they were able to do.

Now onto the defense and special teams…
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Michigan’s native-sons ball out against rival Spartans

On Saturday against the Spartans, Michigan got its best performances of the day from the players native to the state.

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The ‘Battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy’ may not have the historical significance of ‘The Game’ at the end of November, but Michigan’s in-state rivalry provides something the matchup with Ohio State does not.

On Saturday, the Wolverines fielded 44 players native to the state of Michigan, while the Spartans fielded an additional 48. Many of these players have competed with or against one another throughout their years playing football.

Saturday in Ann Arbor, the Michigan natives sporting maize and blue out-performed their brothers donning green and white, and many of the biggest plays of the game came from those Wolverines who grew up watching and living this rivalry.

It started with Michigan State’s first possession. After forcing a punt, the Spartans crossed midfield and faced a third-and-3 from the Wolverines’ 38-yard line. Michigan’s Michael Danna, from Detroit, sacked Spartan quarterback Brian Lewerke, ending the scoring threat.

Danna would finish the game with six tackles, including the sack and tackle for loss.

Michigan carried a 17-7 lead into halftime, but with the Spartans receiving the second-half kick, the outcome was still very much in doubt. That began to turn when Detroit-native Ambry Thomas picked off Lewerke to set the Wolverines up with great field position.

Michigan capitalized four plays later when Donovan Peoples-Jones – another Detroit native – scored from 18 yards out to extend the lead to 24-7.

“He’s got the ability to elude and also out-run people,” said head coach Jim Harbaugh. “Good to see him getting the ball and making those type of plays, and finishing in the endzone.”

Thomas would finish with six tackles and a tackle for loss to go along with his interception. Peoples-Jones had four catches for 48 yards.

Asked what it was like seeing players from Detroit making plays in this game, Peoples-Jones smiled.

“It means a lot. I can’t even describe it in words,” he said. “It’s a big game, big-time opportunities out there and we came out and…didn’t make the most out of our opportunities but made plays when they needed to be made.”

Later in the third quarter – after Michigan State closed to within 14 points – Wolverine kicker Quinn Nordin, from Rockford, connected on a 49-yard field goal attempt to extend Michigan’s lead back to three possessions, 27-10.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Quinn,” Harbaugh said. “He comes in, hits a 49-yarder from the right hash. He told me when I was recruiting him that someday he was going to kick a 49-yarder from the right hash to beat Michigan State. So, that was kind of a cool moment. After he kicked that one, I walked out there and reminded him of that. It was a big kick at that point in the game.”

The Detroit natives weren’t done, and next it was Lavert Hill’s turn. He intercepted Lewerke early in the fourth quarter, setting up a drive that would end with Nordin connecting on his third field goal of the game to make it 37-10.

“That was a big moment for us,” said defensive captain Khaleke Hudson. “Just being able to get the ball back for our offense and give us a chance to put even more points on the board.”

In addition to the interception, Hill broke up another pass attempt and made a tackle.

“It was great,” Josh Metellus said. “Ambry got the pick first, and he’s from Detroit and the Michigan [State] rivalry is really big to him. It’s also big to Vert, and when Vert got his pick, you could just feel the intensity. You could feel it through him, and the vibe that he had just went throughout the whole stadium. From the field, to the fans, to the top row – whatever you want to call it. You could just that this team knew what we did today.”

Rivalry games are the lifeblood of college football. Wins in these games can breathe life into a program, while simultaneously sucking it out of the program on the other side.

On Saturday, in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines who grew up calling this state home led the way against their hated rivals from East Lansing.

“We just came out here and played a physical game,” Peoples-Jones said. “It was obviously a rivalry game, the tension was up a little bit, and everybody wants to make a play. Everybody wants to make a play for the team. I feel that’s what everybody, individually, wanted to do for our team.”