
Michigan football: Grading the Wolverines after win over Northwestern
Even though Michigan has been playing well lately, there was reason to be concerned about Saturday’s game at Northwestern. Any conference road game can be tough, and when you give a well-coached team like the Wildcats an extra week to prepare, you better be ready.
Clearly, the Wolverines weren’t. Northwestern blitzed them for 17 quick points and that 17-0 deficit looked pretty scary. But give the Wolverines credit. The bounced back to win 20-17, thanks to an impressive clinching drive late. They are 4-1 now, and 2-0 in the Big Ten. They survived a scare, but a win is a win is a win.
Here’s what I liked — and didn’t like — about their win over Northwestern:
What I liked
Poise and composure of Shea Patterson on final drive
Here’s where we were at: Northwestern was leading 17-13 with 10:05 to go in the fourth quarter when the Wolverines took over on their own 33-yard line. Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson simply said, ”this game is mine. ” He was 3-for-3 passing on the drive and ran for 9 yards on a third-and-6 to keep the drive alive. He’s 22-yard pass to Zach Gentry got them near the goal line and Karan Higdon scored from 5 yards out to get the win. It was impressive, as was getting a final first down on the final drive to run out the clock. Well done, boys.
Resiliency after getting in trouble early
It says a lot about this Michigan team to bounce back from 17 points down. It might say too much to be down 17 in the first place, but they hung tough and found a way on the road. That’s impressive. Northwestern is so well-coached under Pat Fitzgerald, and you knew after a bye week that they would be ready. Give a lot of credit to this offense for staying the course, and the defense for fixing its errors and shutting out Northwestern in the final 43 minutes.
Power and durability of Karan Higdon
With Chris Evans out, Karan Higdon had to carry a huge load Saturday and he did just that. He rushed it 30 times for 115 yards and two scores, and they were tough, tough yards because the offensive line had a hard time carving out much room for him. I was a little curious we didn’t see more of Ben Mason with Evans out, but Higdon was up for the challenge.
What I didn’t like
Another bad start for the defense
Every time we want to start throwing around the ”elite” word with this Michigan defense, they have another day like this. Seriously, twice in September this has happened. They let Notre Dame score two touchdowns on the first two possessions and Michigan couldn’t recover that night. It almost happened again, letting Northwestern go touchdown, field goal, touchdown on its first three possessions. Clearly, this has to stop. Yes, they shut out Northwestern for the final 47 minutes, but still, it’s this start that has me concerned.
Offensive line still an issue
We’ve been seeing improvement out of this group lately, but they still had some big issues Saturday against Northwestern. Early on, drives were ending early because of breakdowns up front. Patterson was sacked on third down one time, rushed into an incomplete another and on a critical fourth-and-1, Michigan couldn’t get any kind of push and was held for no gain. This group needs to keep getting better, plain and simple.