Bowling Green Wrap Up

It was blow out city this past Saturday in Ann Arbor as the Michigan offense was on a roll all day no matter who was behind center winning huge over Bowling Green 65 to 21.  The Michigan offense racked up a school record 721 yards with 466 of them coming on the ground as the rushing attack went wild all day long. The offense scored on all but 2 series and never having to punt, one series ending with a dropped touchdown, followed by a touchdown called back ,then finally fumbling. The other drive they gave up the ball on 4^th down inside the 30, only not scoring because they can’t seem to find a field goal kicker and would rather just test their luck on fourth down. I really think this not having a kicker will hurt them in a close loss later this year. The defense seemed to play a little better, even with Marvin Robinson playing a limited roll at the end of the game and Greg Banks and Carvin Johnson still resting to be 100 percent for the big ten season opener.

            I was lucky enough to catch the whole game on TV even being in Indianapolis for UFC 119 and it seemed the big story line of the whole game other then the horrible announcing on ESPN 2, was the over reaction of Denard Robinsons knee injury. Denard was on pace for 800 total yards and had 150 in just the first 5 minutes of the game and finished the game with 180 yards and two touchdowns in 10 minutes of playing time. It did get a little scary after he hit his knee straight to the ground on his final run of the day a 47 yard run out of bounds. This really got the idiots in the booth talking about could this injury be really serious and then on the bottom of the screen it would flash Michigan’s Denard Robinson out of game due to knee injury. The announcers left out the fact that after a little time on the sideline he put his helmet on and ran back to be in the game, but Rich Rod caught him and said no way are we putting you back in when up by 2 scores. Any other game of the year Denard would be back out their running wild.

It was good to see that Michigan has two very serviceable back ups in Devin Gardner and Tate Forcier. Devin looked great running and throwing and that was without the help of wide receiver Junior Hemingway who dropped a for sure touchdown and David Molk who the next play made a bonehead late hit after a big touchdown pass. Devin’s future is going to be amazing; he has the frame to run hard, and can throw on the money. Next was Tate Forcier who should be the back up and let Devin redshirt except he wanted to be a baby all summer and not work out very much with the team and fall to third string. Tate was on all day and broke the completion record as he went 12 for 12 for a 120 yards and a touchdown. This depth will be a good thing as the season moves forward.

            The first quarter was all Denard as he ran all over the Bowling Green team before he was taken out due to the knee precautions. Denard had amassed 130 yards rushing already and 60 yards passing. To end the quarter new quarterback Devin Gardner kept things rolling with a touchdown pass to Jeremy Gallon for his first ever touchdown reception as a Wolverine to lead 21 to 0 at the end of the stanza. This combination of Gardner and Gallon could sure be awesome to watch for the next few years.

            The second quarter saw the defense let up and the team look a little flat emotionally with a big lead and Denard being out as Bowling Green scored two quick touchdowns. 1 of those touchdowns was the usual 71 yard big pass we have seen are defense give up every game so far. This has to stop once big ten play starts. I think they get comfortable and then forget to tackle and run to the ball thinking that a linebacker is actually going to tackle in the middle of the field which everyone in the stands knows isn’t going to happen. These two scores were put out by the Michigan offense responding with a Michael Shaw touchdown run at the end of the half to keep Michigan leading 28 to 14.

            The second half would be start with Bowling Green snapping the ball through the end zone for a Michigan safety and the rest of the game would go from their as it was a Michigan clinic for the rest of the game.  Michigan would score 16 points in the third quarter and 21 in the fourth quarter and limit Bowling Green to just one. If you were a Michigan running back and remembered to have your pads on during the game you got to play. The line was making huge holes and one after another a running back was running through them. Fitzgerald Toussaint who everyone wanted to see played in his first game back from an injured hamstring and ran for 66 yards on just two carries and Mike Cox made his first carries of the year also and he recorded his first rushing touchdown of his career wearing the maize and blue helmet. The second string offensive line constructed of all redshirt freshman and sophomores looked great, this group has a lot of people talking about a great future with getting back to having great lineman again coming out of Michigan. This game was great for all the youngsters as they all would get valuable playing time and some confidence going into the big ten seasons.

            For the second time in the last two years Michigan finished their non-conference schedule 4-0 and ranked 19^th in the nation. Except this year the offense is way better, with a more explosive quarterback threat and a healthy offensive line that makes all the difference in the world. The defense is also once again the question as they are about as bad as they were last year. The defense just needs to limit those huge plays and let the offense get a lead to hold onto. Michigan will open big ten play with Indiana who gave them a scare last year and can score points very fast. I still am not sure if Michigan will cover the 11 point Vegas spread, but expect to see a 38 to 31 ball game with the Wolverines being 5 and 0 going into a huge rivalry game against little brother Michigan State next weekend. GO BLUE!