The Michigan Wolverines used explosive scoring plays of 77, 60 and 67 yards to run past the Gophers for a 33-10 win. Minnesota gave up 371 rushing yards and had no answer for running backs Karan Higdon and Chris Evans. Each tailback rushed for a pair of touchdowns and the Gophers’ offense tallied only 164 yards in a rout at the Big House.
Offense starts strong, but fizzles
Quarterback Demry Croft played very confidently to open the game. Croft finished the first quarter 3-for-4 with 49 yards, along with 25 yards on the ground. He was moving in the pocket and acted decisively when rushing lanes were available. Croft found Phillip Howard on a post as he settled into the deep-third of coverage. The linebacker was a step in front of the passing lane and Croft delivered the throw with enough touch to fit it in the window. Croft played more decisively and moving the offense with his legs and timely decision-making.
However, following the first two drives of the game, the offense lost life and went for 18 yards on the next 11 first half plays, excluding a kneel. Minnesota tried to run inside action, but were unable to pick up yardage in early downs. It allowed the Wolverines’ pass rush to get after the Gophers’ offensive line in long down situations. One of the keys for Minnesota entering this game was the ability to win on first and second down. After the first two drives, this task certainly wasn’t executed. Michigan has one of the best defensive fronts in the country and they took advantage of the additional third-and-long situations. Entering the game, Minnesota allowed just eight sacks, but surrendered five in Saturday night’s game alone.
Lack of creativity on offense
After two consecutive defensive three-and-outs to start the second half, quarterback Demry Croft was stripped and Michigan went on a 9-play, 46-yard touchdown drive, capped by a Karan Higdon five-yard rushing score. Minnesota couldn’t get anything going on offense, tallying zero total yards on 25 plays, following their first quarter scoring drive. Prior to the late stages of the fourth quarter, the Gophers had just -26 yards of total offense in the second half. Wide receiver Tyler Johnson made his first catch at the 5:50 mark of the fourth quarter. Minnesota tried to force a Wildcat formation with a direct snap and it was unsuccessful all night. Outside of the first two drives, this game felt the least innovative on offense. Besides the Wildcat, jet-sweep, inside zone, and two post plays, the offense didn’t feature much. For most of the night, the offense was climbing a steep mountain with a heavy backpack.
Michigan rips the Gophers’ run defense to shreds
It was worse on the other side of the ball. The Gophers allowed numerous chunk plays on defense, which gave Michigan opportunities to create more explosive plays. Michigan had scores of 77, 60 and 67 yards on the ground and gashed Minnesota in every way.
Karan Higdon created an explosive 47-yard run on Michigan’s first drive. Kamal Martin brought pressure off the edge and other players were out of alignment. In the second level, there was a bad angle by Antonio Shenault, a missed tackle by Thomas Barber, and Kunle Ayinde was blocked adjacent to the run stop lane. On Michigan’s second drive of the game, Higdon burst free for an untouched 77-yard touchdown run. Celestin dipped outside, didn’t take on the block and McGhee was out of alignment to help on the play. Michigan had five carries for 133 yards on their first two series of the game. That was just the beginning.
Chris Evans burst free for a 60-yard run off a missed tackle at the line of scrimmage by linebacker Jonathan Celestin. Safety Kunle Ayinde whiffed in the second level and Jacob Huff fanned at the last moment to fuel the long touchdown run. By the 7:00 mark of the first half, the Gophers’ defense had surrendered 234 rushing yards. The trend continued as poor tackling led to a long 67-yard touchdown in the late stages of the third quarter. In the end, Minnesota surrendered a whopping 371 rushing yards.
MORE: http://www.1500espn.com/gophers-2/2017/11/big-plays-ground-destroy-gophers-33-10-loss/