Who in the world was wearing that number eight jersey for Michigan on Saturday?! That was not the same kid we've seen against Utah, Notre Dame, Toledo and Penn St. This guy had confidence, he could run (without fumbling), he could throw (without getting picked off) and he was able to get it done on the road against a decent conference opponent. And my goodness, where has Rich been hiding this Feagan kid; he was outstanding!
Well, they may have waited until their tenth game of the season, but Rich's New Boys* finally looked like they were playing Michigan football. Although Sheridan's turnaround was a big factor, it started with the Michigan defense stepping up. They finally started covering receivers, they were getting off blocks, making plays, Morgan Trent started showing up again and they were TACKLING! They made the Minnesota offense look like the Michigan offense from the rest of the year: five straight 3-and-outs (six total in the first half) and only gave up one first down before halftime! I'll admit, those longer second-half drives had me worried. But the Wolverines protected the end-zone, only gave up a total of 188 yards, forced a turnover (should have actually been two) and committed one 5-yard penalty.
The offense still has a ways to come (still having latent fumbling issues
and we need better red zone production), but this week was by far their best outing. Except for when he broke loose for 40 yards, the Gophers seemed to have Minor pretty limited. But Rich got it done with other personnel. He got Feagan in there, McGuffie and Shaw came up big, the swing passes to Odoms started to work and he finally got Matthews more involved. Together they racked up 435 yards, kept the 3-and-out down to three times, committed only one 5-yard penalty and turned the ball over just once (though against a better offense, that could have made a much bigger difference in the game).
While this was the most fun I've had watching Michigan football all season, I still have to wonder if this dominant performance was more the result of the Gophers playing poorly rather than the Wolverines playing well. I guess we'll see how they respond next week at home against Northwestern.
*as opposed to Newell's Old Boys. If you're still scratching your head, don't worry; Grant's probably the only one who will get this reference.
Standings: | This Week | W | L | (Overall) |
| A True Blue Husker | 19 | 5 | (164-72) |
| Dr. L | 16 | 8 | (159-77) |
| The Guvna | 17 | 7 | (158-78) |
| The Rev | 18 | 6 | (157-79) |
| Kenny Pickett | 14 | 10 | (156-80) |
| Chief Justice | 16 | 8 | (155-81) |
| O-knee-der | 14 | 10 | (154-82) |
Schedule:Thursday, November 13
7:30 PM ET Virginia Tech at Miami (FL)
Friday, November 14
8:00 PM ET #22 Cincinnati at Louisville
Saturday, November 15
12:00 PM ET #11 Ohio State at Illinois
12:00 PM ET Rutgers at South Florida
12:00 PM ET Northwestern at Michigan
12:00 PM ET Duke at Clemson
12:00 PM ET Notre Dame at Navy
12:30 PM ET #10 Georgia at Auburn
2:00 PM ET Toledo at Western Michigan
2:30 PM ET Nebraska at Kansas State
3:30 PM ET #25 South Carolina at #4 Florida
3:30 PM ET #16 North Carolina at Maryland
3:30 PM ET #17 Brigham Young at Air Force
3:30 PM ET #24 Wake Forest at North Carolina State
3:30 PM ET California at Oregon State
3:30 PM ET Minnesota at Wisconsin
6:30 PM ET Arizona at Oregon
7:00 PM ET #6 USC at Stanford
8:00 PM ET #13 Oklahoma State at Colorado
8:00 PM ET Boston College at #19 Florida State
8:00 PM ET #23 Tulsa at Houston
8:00 PM ET Vanderbilt at Kentucky
Who forgot to throw out last week's script for how not to start a game?! You'd think the offense and special teams (i.e. Martavious Odoms) would be able to correct at least one of the early blunders from last week's game. But no.
