This wasn’t exactly a “trap game” but it does fall into the category of your classic “let-down game.”
After emotional andtough games against Wisconsin, Michigan State and Penn State in the last four weeks, Michigan still managed to eke out a pedestrian 42-7 victory on the road against Rutgers.
Pedestrian and 42 points in the same sentence? That’s this year’s Michigan football team!
OFFENSIVE CHAMPION – Upsets typically happen on the road and they also happen when your offense turns the ball over. But when your quarterback throws for 260 yards and 3 TDs and doesn’t turn the ball over, he’s your Champion. Shea Patterson [featured photo via Freep] is the leader of this offense & his steadying hand guided Michigan to a pedestrian 35-point margin of victory on the road. He looks real comfortable under center or in the ‘gun. One player does not make a team, but when he becomes a leader, his poise and play will elevate his teammates’ performance.
DEFENSIVE CHAMPION – Rutgers had zero yards passing at halftime. They ended the game with 59 yards passing – and Michigan did not register a sack. I don’t think Chase Winovich had a tackle. Not cool. I also didn’t like to see LaVert Hill & Kwity Paye leave the game early. What I did like was the emphatic, bone-jarring hit Josh Ross put on a Scarlet Knight receiver! To quote their coach, “You gotta make them FEEL YOU!!” He did! Helmet sticker for #12.
SPECIAL TEAMS – Ambry Thomas reminds me of Steve Breaston in that he is a threat to go all the way every time he gets his hands on the ball. Field position and momentum are the by-products of a great return game & Thomas will be called upon to do just that these next couple of weeks.
by Steve “Dr. Sap” Sapardanis. Dr. Sap is a Schembechler-era savant who has pored over hours and hours of U-M games over several decades, and in these posts he’s able to tie the present to the past. I encourage you to subscribe to Dr. Sap on YouTube, or follow Sap on Twitter.
