Texas dominates third-down battle against Michigan in blowout win

Forty seconds into the game on Saturday, the No. 10 Michigan football team had No. 3 Texas in an immediate third-and-13 situation. Between a false start, an open-field tackle and a hurried incompletion, the Wolverines were in position to force an early three-and-out, setting a tone for the game right away. 

Then, amid the roar of a raucous Michigan Stadium, Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers calmly dropped back and launched the ball down the right sideline. There, he found receiver Isaiah Bond waiting for a 33-yard reception, moving the chains and rapidly sucking the air out of the stadium. 

Texas didn’t score on that opening drive, but it still set a vastly different tone than the one Michigan had the chance to on that play. All afternoon, the Longhorns had their way on third down on both sides of the ball, converting 10-of-16 third downs en route to a 31-12 win, while allowing the Wolverines to convert just three of their 12 chances. 

“We didn’t have many negative plays, tackles for losses, so we just kind of stayed ahead of the chains,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “And then the third-down conversions were huge. … Holding them to 3-for-12, we got off the field there as well.”

Of the 16 third downs that Michigan forced, the Longhorns only had 10 or more yards to go on 5 of them. They consistently stayed on schedule, making sure that Ewers rarely had to force throws down the field to have a shot at moving the sticks. 

Even when Ewers did have to get some extra yards, he calmly handled the Wolverines’ defense. On a third-and-10 on Michigan’s 37-yard line in the second quarter, with four rushers surrounding him, Ewers stepped up in the pocket and hit receiver Matthew Golden for a 20-yard completion. Suddenly, a potential 55-yard kick turned into a near-chip shot, all but guaranteeing points when the Wolverines — down 14-3 at the time — desperately needed a stop if they wanted to regain a semblance of momentum. 

“(Ewers) stepped up in the pocket a lot when our rushes went high,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said. “He did a good job maneuvering in the pocket on third downs, and that’s what really kept drives alive.”

The Wolverines didn’t fare much better on third down once Texas got near the goal line, either. Both Golden and running back Jaydon Blue caught touchdowns in third-and-goal situations, capping off lengthy Longhorns drives once Michigan was already tired.

And for as many struggles as the Wolverines’ defense had getting off the field, its offense had just as much trouble staying on it.  

“You can’t convert on third downs, you can’t move down the field, and you can’t sustain drives and score points,” senior quarterback Davis Warren said. “And then you can’t give our defense time to come off the field and rest. So it falls on me as a quarterback to keep us moving on those third downs.”

Warren, admittedly, was far from perfect on third downs. He missed on three of his first five third-down passes, including an interception in the second quarter that set up Texas deep in Michigan territory. He also regularly threw the ball in front of the sticks, leaving the Wolverines short even when he completed a pass. 

But Warren also didn’t have much help on third down. On Michigan’s first drive of the third quarter, Warren threw a pass to sophomore wideout Semaj Morgan that, while not exactly where it needed to be, hit off Morgan’s hands. On the Wolverines’ final drive of the first half, Warren found junior tight end Colston Loveland with some room to run, before Loveland promptly fumbled the ball without being touched. 

“We gotta make plays,” Moore said. “Pass catchers gotta make plays. You have some third downs, you drop one, you miss one from the route … so we gotta make plays for the quarterback.”

Twice, Michigan didn’t even get the chance to make a play for Warren. On third-and-3 with 14:13 left in the second quarter, during the Wolverines’ best drive of the half, Michigan elected to bring in junior quarterback Alex Orji for a read option. Threatening to score on third-and-5 late in the third quarter, Michigan tried it again. 

Both times, the Longhorns knew exactly what was coming the second that Orji stepped onto the field. They stuffed him at the line of scrimmage twice, forcing a field goal and handing the ball right back to their offense. 

Whether Orji or Warren took the snap, though, Michigan regularly failed to convert on third down, while Ewers constantly made plays to keep his offense on the field. With each Wolverines turnover and Texas conversion, the Longhorns drained away Michigan’s energy, and with their energy went the Wolverines’ chances of staying in the game.

The post Texas dominates third-down battle against Michigan in blowout win appeared first on The Michigan Daily.


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *