On three consecutive plays, with three different sets of personnel on the field, the No. 12 Michigan football team smacked Minnesota. The Wolverines blocked a punt, scored a touchdown and intercepted a pass, all within the span of 23 seconds in the second quarter.
In the second half, the Golden Gophers smacked Michigan right back, scoring back-to-back touchdowns, supported by staunch defense and a long punt return. Going from hot to cold in all three phases, the Wolverines (4-1 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) rode their early lead to scrape by with a 27-24 victory over Minnesota (2-3, 0-2).
Michigan’s offense started out strong, driving 79 yards straight to the end zone on its first possession. Junior quarterback Alex Orji went 2-for-3 with 15 passing yards and a 15-yard rush for a first down. At Orji’s side, graduate running back Kalel Mullings earned his first start of the season and showed exactly why he got the nod. Mullings capped off the drive running 27 yards untouched into the end zone, putting the Wolverines up 7-0.
The Wolverines and Gophers traded punts back and forth for a while until Michigan’s defense stepped up and made things interesting. On the Minnesota 19-yard line, Gophers receiver Daniel Jackson completed a catch, and Michigan quickly swarmed him. Junior defensive back Zeke Berry wrestled the ball out of Jackson’s hands, forcing a turnover and handing the ball back to his offense in the red zone.
The Wolverines put the ball in Mullings’ hands three straight times, letting him push through contact and hammer his way into the end zone for his second score of the day and a 14-0 lead.
After its first drive, Michigan’s offense sputtered out when faced with a long field. But when given an opportunity near the end zone, it didn’t waste time. First, the Wolverines capitalized on Berry’s forced fumble, and a few minutes later, they capitalized on the blocked punt.
Senior linebacker Christian Boivin recovered the blocked Minnesota punt and returned it to the 11-yard line. Then, Orji followed up with a touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Tyler Morris to take a 21-0 lead.
Sophomore cornerback Jyaire Hill subsequently got in on the action on the next play, intercepting a deep pass and managing to keep his foot in bounds to complete the turnover. This time, the offense couldn’t capitalize — and things started to go downhill for Michigan.
Right before halftime, the Gophers snuck in a last-second field goal after completing a hail-mary pass to the 1-yard line. Wolverines junior kicker Dominic Zvada answered with a 53-yarder coming out of the break, but Michigan was losing momentum.
Defensively, the Wolverines cracked, allowing Minnesota to beat them through the air and on the ground for a long touchdown drive. Offensively, Michigan subsequently went 3-and-out. And on special teams, the Wolverines proceeded to give up a 60-yard punt return that led to an easy touchdown. All of a sudden, the Gophers were in business, quickly narrowing their deficit to 24-17.
As the fourth quarter wound down, Michigan and Minnesota each had a scoring drive — the Wolverines’ ending in a field goal and the Gophers’ ending in a touchdown. Trailing 27-24, Minnesota went for an onside kick. At first the Gophers recovered it, but an offside penalty forced a rekick, and Mullings pounced on the ball, not allowing Minnesota’s special teams to have the final say.
The Wolverines could hardly even run out the clock without an almost-fatal mishap, as Orji recovered his own fumble on the second to last play of the game.
Michigan allowed big plays in all three phases all over the field, making the game closer than it would have liked. But ultimately, it made enough big plays of its own in the first half to pull out the win.
The post Michigan rides hot start to narrowly overcome Minnesota, 27-24 appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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