If Michigan football continues to play with fire, it will burn

For the second straight year, Michigan football won a Big Ten football game at home by a score of 27-24.

The first time against then-No. Head coach Sherrone Moore, who is ranked No. 12 at USC, came to the postgame press conference smiling from ear to ear. He gave each player a long hug as he passed him at the podium, then sat down and explained how his players had just thrown him around in the locker room.

The second time felt completely different. Even before leaving the field, Moore told Fox after the game that he was “not happy” with the way his team played on Saturday. Maybe it’s because he felt like he’d seen this movie before.

Similar to Week 4 against USC, UM built a lead with multiple touchdowns in the first half. Last time out, the Wolverines saw a 14-point lead turn into a four-point deficit, only to score the game-winning touchdown in the final minute.

This time, Michigan led by 21 points midway through the third quarter, but came away with just one win after a recovered onside kick was overturned when a Gophers player was ruled offside by a razor-thin margin.

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The two games were also similar. A costly loss of the ball that let the other team in. A defense that stopped on fourth downs to extend drives. An offense that resulted in a three-pointer when the opponent made adjustments at halftime that forced the defense back onto the field after short breaks.

“You feel like you have the lead, you build on it, you have momentum, and then you come out in the second half and let a few things slip,” Moore said. “It just feels different. We are happy that we got the victory, but not happy and not satisfied with how we got the victory.”

The ideal start

At the beginning of Saturday everything was great. UM began the day with a nine-play, 79-yard drive that ended with a 27-yard touchdown run by Mullings. Three drives later, Zeke Berry sacked Daniel Jackson on a screen pass to set up the Wolverines’ offense at the Minnesota 16, and Mullings made it 14-0 three plays later.

The Wolverines looked like they were going for a win when Kechaun Bennett blocked a punt, Christian Boivin returned it to the 11 and on the next play Orji found Tyler Morris on a play-action crossing route for three touchdowns achieve.

Early on, Michigan’s units worked well together as the defense forced five punts, two turnovers and two field goal attempts on the Gophers’ first nine drives of the day. At halftime, UM alone had an average starting position of 48, while Minnesota started its drives at its own 23.

How quickly it changed.

After the two teams traded field goals – Michigan’s was a 53-yarder from Dominic Zvada, making him the first Michigan kicker with four kicks of at least 50 yards in a season – UM had the ball, 21 and driving, when Orji got his Ball threw first career interception.

He let Donovan Edwards run wide down the right side of the field, but instead Orji grabbed his favorite target, Colston Loveland, and tried to fire one into the air. Not only did he make the throw too late, it was too far inside and was intercepted by Ethan Robinson.

The avalanche begins

The Gophers responded with their best drive of the day, a 12-play, 76-yard march that lasted nearly five minutes and ended when former Walled Lake Western star Darius Taylor scored a 3-yard touchdown to make it 24-10.

Michigan’s ensuing drive not only ended in a three-and-out, but also reached a disastrous point when punter Tommy Doman didn’t have enough time and didn’t get the punt from an appropriate angle. That gave Koi Perich, who already had a 21-yard return, a chance to find some green, and he raced up the left sideline 60 yards into the Michigan red zone.

UM appeared to stop when the ball fell to the ground on fourth-and-11, but Mason Graham was cited for a questionable illegal hands-to-the-face call. Graham called it the “cost of doing business” and two plays later Taylor scored from three yards out to make it 24-17.

“If you give field position to a Big Ten football team, that’s exactly what’s going to happen,” Moore said. “So for us as an offense and special teams, we have to do everything we can to not put (the defense) in bad field positions and play complementary football.”

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Although the momentum changed, Michigan managed a timely performance in the fourth quarter, similar to last week. UM gained 58 yards on 14 plays – the second-longest of the day with 6:35 left thanks to two third-down conversions by Mullings – and took a 35-yard lead with 4:34 left -Zvada kick.

Surely the defense would then make a timely stop, right? Michigan forced Minnesota into multiple fourth downs, but the Gophers converted from 6 and 1 yards out before Max Brosmer found Jackson for a 12-yard touchdown with 1:40 to play.

At the ensuing kickoff, all the air seemed to leave the stadium as it looked like Minnesota was able to convert an offside attempt, but an offside penalty gave Michigan another chance and Mullings fell on it, ending the game.

“For us, it’s just a tale of two halves,” Moore said.

Get going, Jack

It’s been quite a year for the Wolverines, even though September is still on the calendar and they haven’t left Ann Arbor since the College Football Playoff championship game in Houston in January.

That changes next week when Michigan heads west for a title game rematch against the Huskies.

“We’re always ready,” Graham said of the trip. “We’ll also have big away games later in the season, especially at The Shoe (in Columbus, Ohio). Personally, I always like playing away games, just a different environment and a different place to play. But yeah, all the coaches, all the guys are always ready for it.”

Michigan hasn’t lost a road game since losing to Michigan State in East Lansing in October 2021, a streak that will be put to the test this week. Washington (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) fell to Rutgers 21-18 on Friday night, but outscored the Scarlett Knights in total yards (521-299) and recorded more first downs (23-16).

The Wolverines have been outscored 57-26 in the second half in their last three games, and there isn’t much reason to believe a turnaround is certain. Could it happen? Secure. But of Michigan’s 11 drives Saturday, only three gained 40 yards or lasted longer than 2 minutes, 10 seconds.

No one is making excuses for the wins in Ann Arbor, but the players know UM is happy to still be 4-1. The confidence remains, but if Michigan continues to play with fire, it’s only a matter of time before it burns out.

“We’ve been working all week just to get a win,” Orji said. “We got our No. 1 goal, but I think we all know how the game ended, especially the second half, which was not up to the standard that Michigan football has set.”

“We have to find a way to put together a four-quarter game.”

The ideal start

The avalanche begins

Get going, Jack

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