Another week, another win. The Wolverines cruised into East Lansing Saturday night and won in dominant fashion. The 49-0 beatdown was the largest margin of victory since the year 1947, when Michigan waltzed (or whatever dance they did back then) to victory by a score of 55-0.
It’s tough to assign a singular MVP in blowouts like this. Everybody played well. The defensive line was disruptive, the secondary made plays, and the offense was clicking. Luckily, I have spent exactly eight weeks practicing just that. Coincidentally, that is the same number of games that Michigan has played. Funny how things like that work out.
Last week the award went to tight end Colston Loveland. This week we stay in the same position group, but move up the seniority ladder.
That’s right, A.J. Barner takes home the most important award in college athletics on the same weekend we celebrated national tight ends day. Glorious.
Barner was McCarthy’s favorite target on Saturday. The transfer caught eight passes for 99 yards and a touchdown and moved the chains on a number of important downs.
His impact was felt as early as the first drive when he worked open on a third and 13 to give McCarthy an option downfield, moving the chains. He did not let up from there. Barner snagged a touchdown, had a nice contested catch on a laser from McCarthy, and blocked well all night. A true complete game from the tight end spot.
So why not anyone else? Well, as I mentioned earlier, a lot of people played very well. Derrick Moore had a sack and a few run stuffs, Junior Colson registered 11 tackles, but no one really took the game over like Barner. He was constantly open and provided the Wolverine offense with a spark plug they never really needed.
Weekly MVP tracker:
Mason Graham: 1
Colston Loveland: 1
AJ Barner: 1