Michigan Opens Season with Impressive 31-7 Win Over WMU

By Sean · Sunday, September 6, 2009 · 9:40 PM |  Share | 1 Comment 

Photo by AP/Tony Ding

Even before the whole practicegate situation happened last week, Michigan needed to start the 2009 season in a positive way.  Coming off of a 3-9 season in Rich Rodriguez’s first year, it was evident that the pressure was on simply because of the need to get things on the right track.  Add in the negative publicity Michigan and Rodriguez received in the last week and the need to win was taken to another level.  It’s not like a loss would have meant the end of the world, but thanks to most members of the media, the perception would have been that Rodriguez was as good as gone after only one game.

Thankfully the consequences of a loss I just talked about were all hypothetical, as Michigan did not lose yesterday.  Not only that, they came out revved up and beat down Western Michigan in the first half of the season opener.  Michigan eased up quite a bit in the second half, likely not wanting to show too much with a big game against Notre Dame coming up next Saturday, but it’s great that they had the chance to do that.  After taking a 31-0 lead into halftime, Michigan basically put it in neutral and ended up winning 31-7, giving fans something to be happy about after the opener for the first time since 2006.

1st Quarter

• Western Michigan got the ball first and struggled, which was a sign of things to come for the Broncos.  WMU went three and out, and Greg Mathews fair caught the ensuing punt near midfield, giving Michigan great field position.
• The first play of Tate Forcier’s career was a 5-yard pass to Junior Hemingway.  After Carlos Brown ran for 3 yards on the next play, Michigan faced 3rd and 2.  This was when Forcier showed off his play-making skills, as he rolled out to the right and juked by one WMU defender.  That was to escape a loss on the play.  He then made a great cut move back to the left and put two more WMU defenders out of position.  To close the play out, Forcier lowered his shoulder and made contact with two Broncos defenders and picked up the first down in the process.  That play kept the drive alive and really set the tone for this game.  Another big play was on 2nd and 11 when Forcier found Carlos Brown, who was lined up as a receiver, for a gain of 14 yards.  That helped set up Forcier’s 28-yard touchdown pass to Junior Hemingway two plays later.  Forcier had great blocking and was able to run to the left.  While this was happening, Hemingway got behind the defense and was wide open.  Forcier threw a perfect pass and Hemingway caught it and ran into the end zone for a touchdown.
• Western Michigan continued to struggle on offense, which must have rubbed off on Michigan.  U-M went three and out on back-to-back drives and in general was struggling.
• After a Tim Hiller pass went through his receiver’s hands and was picked off by Boubacar Cissoko and returned to the WMU 38, Rich Rodriguez decided to change things up a bit by putting Denard Robinson into the game.  He had been in on a play already and ran the ball, but he lined up as a receiver.  This time he was the quarterback, and things did get off to a shaky start.  Following a false start, Robinson dropped the snap and his first play became a broken play.  Robinson picked up the ball and did what he does best: run really, really fast.  He darted out to the right side, cut back, and basically waited a second or two for things to develop.  Showing his great field vision, he sprinted to a hole and let his speed take over.  Before you knew it, Robinson had already ran past everyone and into the open field.  In an instant, he was in the end zone for another Michigan touchdown.
• The defense stood tough yet again and forced another three and out, and Robinson came back out as Michigan’s quarterback.  He ran for 5 yards on first down and then completed a 7-yard pass to Kelvin Grady on second down.  It was a tad high, but Grady came down with it to move the chains.  Following an incompletion that was the result of Robinson and Hemingway not being on the same page, Robinson took off for 7 and 2 yards, setting up 4th and 1 as the quarter came to an end.

2nd Quarter

• Although Michigan was only at the WMU 47, Rich Rodriguez probably figured that the risk was worth the reward, especially since the Broncos weren’t exactly doing anything on offense.  Considering that, Michigan went for it on fourth down and the risk definitely paid off, as Carlos Brown charged forward for 6 yards.  Michigan continued to move the ball in a variety of ways.  Forcier ran for 5 yards and then moved the chains on a 5-yard pass to Kevin Koger.  Brown took off for 11 yards and Kelvin Grady gained the same amount on a reverse.  After a 2-yard gain by Brown, Forcier came out under center and faked a handoff.  He rolled out to the left on the bootleg and made a perfect throw on the run to a wide open Koger in the back of the end zone.  Michigan now led 21-0.
• On the proceeding drive, Western Michigan continued to have problems doing anything right offensively.  An illegal formation penalty backed them up 5 yards, and then Hiller fumbled the ball without even being hit, resulting in a loss of 14.  WMU wasn’t able to gain the 29 yards needed to move the chains on the next two plays, forcing them to punt the ball away again.
• Michigan ended up with great field position, starting their next drive in WMU territory.  Michigan was moving the ball with ease again, but a holding penalty sort of killed the drive.  Forcier scrambled for a gain of 10 on third down, but that wasn’t enough to move the chains.  Jason Olesnavage came out and nailed a 44-yard field goal, though, and Michigan led 24-0.
• Michigan got the ball back at their 15-yard line after another WMU three and out and immediately moved the ball.  Brown ran for 12; Mathews picked up 10 on a catch; and then Brown ran for 6 more.  After Forcier lost 4 yards on a run, he threw a screen pass to Hemingway, who ran for a gain of 14 and picked up a first down.  Three plays later, Forcier hooked up with Hemingway again on third down, this time for a 44-yard touchdown.  Forcier threw a perfect pass downfield to Hemingway, who ran a great route to get open.  The long TD put Michigan on top 31-0.
• Western Michigan put together its first good drive of the game and hoped to put some points on the board before halftime.  They drove down the field with ease it seemed like, but when it mattered most Michigan made a big play.  Hiller was sacked on 3rd and 10 for a loss of 9 yards, making WMU’s ensuing field goal attempt a little tougher.  That proved to be important, as the field goal drifted off to the left and was no good.  Had the sack not happened, chances are the score would not have been 31-0 at the half.

3rd Quarter

• Michigan picked up right where it left off to start the second half, moving the ball down the field with ease yet again.  Whether it was through the air or on the ground, Michigan was moving the ball effectively, though it did face 4th and 1 after a Forcier run came up a bit short of the first down.  Forcier seemed to have an equipment problem after the run, and because of that we got our first look at Nick Sheridan.  Michael Shaw picked up the first down and then ran for 12 yards on the next play.  Sheridan then faked the handoff and ran for what appeared to be a touchdown.  A holding penalty on David Moosman negated the TD, however, and on 3rd and 16 we all flashed back to last year.  Sheridan didn’t have anybody open and should have just thrown the ball away.  Instead he tried to force it to Greg Mathews and was intercepted at the goal line.
• Western Michigan started from its 3-yard line and put together another solid drive that ended with no points.  After driving all the way down to Michigan’s 17, Tim Hiller threw a terrible pass on 4th and 1 that was incomplete, giving the ball back to U-M.
• Following a three and out by Michigan, it looked like WMU was going to threaten to end the shutout yet again after Donovan Warren picked up a personal foul penalty at the end of the quarter, moving WMU down to U-M’s 33.

4th Quarter

• The drive came to an abrupt end, however, when Hiller was picked off by Jonas Mouton on the first play of the final quarter.  The pass basically slipped out of Hiller’s hands as he threw it, allowing a diving Mouton to make the interception.
• Robinson came back into the game at quarterback and had a promising start to the drive by running for 9 yards on back-to-back plays.  He lost 6 on the next play, and Michigan was unable to move the ball after that, leading to another punt.
• A pass interference penalty on Warren kept Western Michigan’s next drive alive (Hiller threw an incompletion on 3rd and 7), and that proved to be important.  Two plays later Hiller faked a handoff and hit a wide open Juan Nunez for a 73-yard touchdown.  It looked like J.T. Floyd blew the coverage on this play, and Troy Woolfolk was unable to chase Nunez down in time.  The touchdown ended the shutout and was another flashback to last season.  It also showed just how important it is for Michigan to stay healthy at cornerback, as I don’t exactly have a ton of confidence in anyone other than Warren and Cissoko.
• Michigan and WMU traded punts, and U-M pretty much ran the clock out on its next drive.  Some backups got a chance to play early in the drive, namely Vincent Smith, who did quite well.  There were still some starters in the game midway through the drive, which was evident when Kevin Koger made an amazing one-handed catch on a high pass from Forcier.  It was essentially the same play that Koger scored a touchdown on earlier, except this time he had to climb the ladder and bring the ball in with only one hand.  Rodriguez called a timeout a couple plays later to put in all of the backups, including David Cone, who got a shot at getting Michigan into the end zone.  He was unable to do so, but it was nice to see him on the field nonetheless.  Any time Cone is on the field it means Michigan has the game wrapped up.
• WMU got the ball back and the clock ran out after two plays.  Michigan headed over to the student section to celebrate the 31-7 win and was greeted with a “BEAT THE IRISH” chant.

This game was an indicator of just how far this team has come since last season.  The offense not only played much better with Tate Forcier, but it was run more efficiently as well.  One of the things I noticed was how quickly Michigan got lined up and how they never really were in danger of a delay of game.  That alone showed that they have improved greatly.  Add in someone like Denard Robinson, who is a big play threat every time he touches the ball, and the offense was really impressive.  The same can be said for the defense, who also looked much better compared to last year.  Lack of depth still worries me, especially at cornerback, but in general they looked very good and shut Western Michigan down for the entire first half save one drive.  Even when WMU put together a solid drive the defense stepped up and kept them from scoring.  (WMU’s one scoring drive was because of a big play, not them driving down the field.)

While the Western Michigan game was extremely important for Michigan to get some of its critics off its back and to show that it can win, the Notre Dame game is big for a different reason.  Now that Michigan has shown it is better than last year, next Saturday is a chance for an upset and a statement.  In my post on Friday I said that one of the away games in October would be the football team’s chance to have a UCLA-like win that put the basketball team on the radar.  Well, I take that back.  Beating Notre Dame would accomplish just as much, and considering how much Iowa struggled yesterday, I think the parallel to the Duke win in basketball will be the Michigan State game.  If Michigan beats Notre Dame, chances are it will be 4-0 going into the MSU game.  The Spartans could be 4-0 as well, and a win on the road would not only be a statement that the program is back, but one to say watch out to the rest of the conference.  (I guess that would make the Ohio State game a parallel to one of the NCAA tournament games; beating Clemson or losing to Oklahoma depending on what happens.)

I don’t want to look too far ahead, though, as the most important thing is a win next Saturday.  Just as the students chanted after the game yesterday, beat the Irish!