JJ McCarthy and Blake Corum–my guys!
This is part 2 of my documenting Michigan’s record-breaking season. I’ll give some brief highlights as well as a link to some video highlights of each game. As I review these, ask yourself if any of these teams in the first several weeks are ones that Michigan needed to steal anything from in order to win. Also ask yourself if any college football team would be undefeated without their head coach for half of their games in the regular season. Has it ever been done?
You’ve got to see this insane interception to believe it
Michigan’s season started without a head coach and we began ranked #2 in the country, right behind Georgia. We haven’t started a season that highly ranked since 1991. Our first game was coached by Jesse Minter, the defensive coordinator. This was Michigan’s first time playing East Carolina and we steamrolled them, 30-3. The game began with J.J. McCarthy walking alongside his teammates in a single-file formation as each player raised an arm over their head, letting suspended Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh know his players were thinking about him. That was pretty cool, and would typify the unity this team had through the adversity to come. McCarthy completed 26-for-30 pasees, his 87% completion rate the second best in Michigan history. It would’ve been a shutout but ECU scored a field goal in the last 5 seconds. Here is a link to the highlights of the game–watch for the unbelievable interception by Josh Wallace in the 2nd quarter.
Week two we played UNLV (only the second time ever). In a strange setup, the first half was coached by Jay Harbaugh (Jim’s son and special teams coach) while Mike Hart (the running backs coach) coached the second half, becoming the first Black football coach of UM. We more or less routed them, 35-7, the Rebels finally scoring a TD in the last 3 minutes of the game. Of note in this game, JJ McCarthy wrote the number 47 on his hand to honor his friend and teammate Ryan Keeler, who died in February of a heart ailment at the age of 20. Our QB put on a show today completing 22 for 25 passes, one of which was for 47 yards to Roman Wilson for a TD, which I thought was cool. UNLV’s best play was an interception early in the 4th quarter. Here is a link to the highlights of the game.
Week three we played Bowling Green (only the third time ever, weird pattern?). This is where offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore first served as interim head coach. McCarthy didn’t do very well in this game, throwing a career-high three interceptions. We also fumbled the ball for a turnover, the Falcons fumbled it a couple of times, we had an interception… it was a turnover-filled game, though we did have an outstanding trick play in the 3rd quarter. We won, 31-6, but McCarthy said he deserved the blame for the issues. Here is a link to the highlights of the game, warts and all.
During week four coach Harbaugh was back, as Michigan played against Rutgers in our first conference game. This game was a classic example of the Michigan style, establishing the run and slowing down opponents on the ground. This was also the 100th game Harbaugh coached at Michigan, in a pretty decisive 31-7 victory. We actually started slow, Rutgers getting a 7-0 lead before we took control. The best play of the game was an incredible interception by Mike Sainristil in the 3rd quarter that resulted in a 71-yard TD. I like the Scarlet Knights head coach, I think they’ll be a team to watch in the future. Here is a link to the highlights of the game, and they’re worth watching. One interesting stat is that Michigan’s defense had not allowed a 4th-down conversion all season.
How did he do that?
Week five brought us against the once-great Nebraska. This was a rout, no two ways about it. We killed them 45-7, and it felt like it was all Michigan, all game long. Roman Wilson had an unbelievable catch this game, maybe the best catch in college football all season, and it came in the first quarter. The Huskers were ranked 2nd in the country for their rush defense, but not after today–Corum alone rushed for 249 yards. Nebraska barely avoided a shutout with a terrific 74-yard run. Here is a link to the highlights of the game, including a brutal hit that Michigan lays down in the early 4th quarter you need to see.
Week six was another week of dominance against Minnesota. Not many know that the Michigan-Minnesota rivalry is the oldest in all of college football, and the Little Brown Jug is the oldest trophy I know of. We killed them 52-10. There were two pick-6s–the first one coming in just the second play of the game–and our defense was outstanding. The Gophers were missing their star running back but did have a beautiful pass to score a TD right before the half. After the game Minnesota’s head coach had some kind things to say: “They’re one of the deepest teams, one of the best teams, one of the biggest teams, fastest teams, strongest teams, and they do not make mistakes. They are truly like a boa constrictor, and they do not beat themselves.” Here is a link to the highlights of the game.
Indiana just can’t fly like we can
Week seven Michigan played Indiana and we started slow, similar to Rutgers. The entire first quarter the Hoosiers looked really good. They drew first blood in their only touchdown of the game, on a trick play that worked. After that Michigan stopped them cold in a 52-7 blowout. The Wolverines had a terrific punt return at the end of the 2nd quarter, and Indiana had an amazing upside-down(!) catch in the 3rd quarter. McCarthy put on another show, completing 14 for 17 passes including a 54-yarder resulting in a TD. At this point we were only the third FBS team since 2000 to win each of the first seven games by 24-plus points. Indiana played two QBs for this game which isn’t a good sign, while on the flip side our QB was sacked four times. Here is a link to the highlights, including Indiana’s trick play.
Week eight brought a big rivalry game, Michigan State, and we had a bone to pick. After last year’s game MSU started a big fight in the tunnel for which the Spartans were ultimately fined $100k. This is the first game we played after the sign-stealing investigation came out. This game might be our most complete performance of the season up to this point, in a 49-0 shutout. McCarthy was awesome, completing 21 for 27 passes and 4 TD’s and he left midway through the 3rd quarter! Sainristil had another interception which he ran for a 72-yard pick-6. This game broke a record for the most consecutive Big Ten game wins in program history, with 20, and it was our best win against MSU since 1947! The fact that we did that to them in their own stadium…sweetness. Here are the highlights from the game, worth watching for McCarthy and Sainristil alone.
Week nine we played Purdue. NBC, who broadcast the game, had us ranked #3 for the first time. By this time the sign-stealing story was all over the country and Connor Stallions had resigned, so if we were stealing anything previously it certainly did not happen from this week forward. This is also the last game Harbaugh coached in the regular season. Michigan again routed, beating Purdue 41-13. Blake Corum matched his season-high with three TD’s, and Roman Wilson also had a season-high nine receptions while McCarthy threw for a season-high 335 yards in some spectacular plays! Defensively, no opponent had scored more than one touchdown against the U-M defense all season. Purdue was held to just two field goals for most of the game, finally getting a TD in the last minute. Here are the highlights from the game.
That’s all I’ll cover for the season in this post. Week ten brought the absence of Harbaugh for the rest of the season starting against Penn State. I will cover that game and all of the post-season action in my third and final post of Michigan’s record-breaking national championship season next time. Click here to head there now.
Saga of the Jasonite 