Michigan football cruised to an easy victory over Maryland on Saturday, 38-7. They easily covered the point spread, taking a 21-0 lead into halftime. In a game that was sandwiched between two rivalry matchups, it would have been a classic “trap game” scenario for Michigan to come out complacent and unfocused, either looking ahead to Michigan State or still feeling themselves after their beatdown of Notre Dame. But that didn’t happen.

Yet Michigan is receiving their share of criticism for not dominating Maryland on the stat sheet the way they did on the scoreboard. This does not match up with my takeaways from the game. Let’s go over some of the criticisms Michigan is facing, and spin them to highlight why Michigan did exactly what they needed to do. 

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Hey, Steve Levy…shut it!

I noticed throughout the first half of this game that Steve Levy, who called the game alongside Brian Griese, was not impressed with Michigan’s performance, despite a big halftime lead. It seems like some others out there noticed as well.

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Maryland did have some success moving the ball early in this game, but had multiple drives stall out in the red zone, ending in missed field goals and turnovers. Apparently, this was unacceptable to Mr. Levy, who demands perfection from a very imperfect team.

My spin: Michigan started fast

Sloppy and slow starts have plagued Michigan this season. Their first offensive play of the season was a Shea Patterson fumble. Their opening drive in the embarrassing loss to Wisconsin ended in a goal-line fumble that emotionally deflated some players. They dug themselves a 21-0 hole against Penn State that proved too deep to climb out of.

Michigan’s start against Maryland: Kickoff return for TD – Maryland three and out – 41-yard touchdown drive. It took less than seven minutes to build a 14-0 lead, and they were never seriously threatened in the game.

Lackluster passing output

This Sports Illustrated post criticized Michigan for only mustering 176 passing yards against a Maryland team that entered with one of the worst pass defenses in the nation.

Shea Patterson had looked like a different quarterback since the second half of the Penn State game. Accurate, decisive, and finally flashing some of the skills that made him a Heisman Trophy candidate in the preseason. Failing to throw for 200 yards and managing only one touchdown while completing fewer than 60% of his passes amounts to one of Patterson’s worst statistical games of the season.

My spin: If Shea Patterson needed to put up big numbers in this game, something must have gone terribly wrong

Michigan held a lead for 59:49 of the 60 minutes, against a Maryland team that had lost to everyone not named Rutgers since early September. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call a running game script. 

And Michigan ran it well, with Hassan Haskins and Tru Wilson each going over 50 yards, and Zach Charbonnet chipping in two TDs. As a team they averaged nearly five yards per carry. 

As for Patterson, he simply wasn’t required to do any more than he did in this game. It’s not like he played poorly either, as he connected on a few big gains in the first half which contributed to Michigan’s stranglehold on this game. He also converted a 4th down with his legs, with his running ability serving as key tool that Michigan can keep in their back pocket to keep teams honest. 

But above all, the number zero is the most important when it comes to Shea Patterson. As in, zero turnovers. This was the second straight zero turnover game for Patterson, and the third zero interception game in his past four. Maryland doesn’t do many things well, but they do force turnovers, entering the game with a streak of 20 consecutive games forcing at least one turnover dating back to last season (longest streak in country). Life is just easier when you don’t turn the ball over, and it can lead to a game like this, where you look at the scoreboard and wonder how one team is winning by 30. 

Ball security is the reason why Michigan struggled to pull away from their opponents early in the season, and Patterson shouldered most of that blame. He just looks much more comfortable in recent weeks. A reduction in turnovers is a major symptom of his efficient play of late, and he will need to continue to ride this momentum to the end of the season for Michigan to stand any chance of stopping the Buckeye train that comes to the Big House in a few weeks. 

Michigan not utilizing weapons

A bonus criticism from the aforementioned SI piece called it a “bummer” (a bummer? Really, Sports Illustrated?) that Michigan was unable to pull a big performance out of any of their highly touted wideouts.

Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins, Tarik Black, and Ronnie Bell each had exactly two receptions in this game, and only Collins had more than 20 yards. 

My spin: They’ve got options, and that’s a good thing

This really isn’t any different than Michigan has operated all season. They aren’t going to be a team that targets one player enough to accumulate a big individual performance. For the season, eight players have tallied a receiving touchdown, including five different WRs. Six players have totaled over 100 receiving yards, while five have at least 20 catches. 

From a Shea Patterson perspective, this can be viewed as a sign that he is going through his progressions and taking what the defense gives him rather than forcing the ball to any one given player. It also forces the receivers to remain mentally engaged, knowing how deep their talent pool is and how every target needs to be earned.

That being said, there are more numbers to be had if the players execute better. Donovan Peoples-Jones in particular has not made the most of his opportunities this season. His performance against Penn State was particularly uninspiring, as he could have been a difference maker in their comeback bid that fell just short. His punt return game has fallen off a cliff this season, averaging a miniscule 5.7 yards per return, slicing his average from 2018 nearly in half (10.0). DPJ is a player that has somehow been garnering first round buzz from some talking heads at ESPN. Barely cracking 10 yards per reception for the season (10.2), he needs to do a better job of making his touches count.

One player who is making his targets count is Nico Collins, who reeled in one of the few big pass plays in this game. He is nearly doubling up Peoples-Jones’ per catch output on the year, clocking in at a nice round 20.0 yard average. He also is routinely drawing pass interference penalties, accounting for four in the past three games alone. It’s not as sexy as a big catch, nor will he receive credit for it on the box score, but his contributions in this area should not go unnoticed.

Hidden Benefits

Putting a victory on ice by halftime has its hidden benefits that could pay dividends down the road.

Dylan McCaffrey gets some run

All offseason, Jim Harbaugh and Josh Gattis hinted at the increased role Dylan McCaffrey would have in the 2019 Michigan offense. He received significant playing time in the opener against Middle Tenessee State, but because of ineffectiveness (as well as having his head separated from the rest of his body against Wisconsin), McCaffrey hasn’t been nearly as involved as we would have expected this season.

McCaffrey needs game reps, and had the whole fourth quarter to himself to get more comfortable in the offense. In the event of a Shea Patterson injury (or even just as a change of pace) Michigan will need a game ready Dylan McCaffrey, not a deer in the headlights player learning on the fly. 

Health

Michigan approaches the final stretch of the season almost completely healthy, with linebacker Josh Ross being their only notable injury. Building a big lead and getting second-stringers some meaningful action not only prepares those players for the future, but lessens the load for the starters, who can’t get injured while watching from the sidelines. Is your mind blown from that revelation?

Michigan now gets a bye week to prepare for Michigan State, and will likely have Ross back, giving them a clean bill of health.

The Warm Take-away: Winning in a variety of ways is what good teams do

Maybe their effortless disposal of Notre Dame raised Michigan’s expectations back up to unreasonable heights for some people. That’s the only way I can see being disappointed with their performance against Maryland. They took care of the ball, the defense didn’t allow a touchdown, they ran the ball efficiently and threw it when needed. When you tack on a kickoff return TD and two successful fourth downs conversions, it turns out to an impressive showing. 

Now the pressure shifts to the coaches, who have an extra week to prepare for their next big rivalry game when Michigan State heads to Ann Arbor. The last time Michigan had a bye the following game didn’t work out so well, as they got trounced by Wisconsin. That falls on the coaches just as much as the players, who failed to have their team mentally or schematically prepared. If history repeats itself, it will be yet another stain on the resume of Jim Harbaugh, and any breathing room he has earned the past 2.5 games will be out the window.

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