Sports

#2 Michigan defends Big Ten crown, has bigger goals in mind

news7g12/04/2022

2 7 minutes read

#2 Michigan defends Big Ten crown, has bigger goals in mind

Michael Cohen

College football and college basketball writer

INDIANAPOLIS – The celebration feels different this time around.

There is a rudiment to of Michigan excited when the clock reached zero last year Big Ten title game, destroy 42-3 of Iowa that ended after halftime. Reactions from longtime veterans like Aidan Hutchinson and Cade McNamara – players who have survived the catastrophic pandemic shortening campaign that forced coach Jim Harbaugh to overhaul his program – feeling equal harmony and instinct as Werewolves make it to the Rugby Qualifiers higher education for the first time in the history of the school. Nobody expected much from Werewolves in 2021, and there they rejoiced with their first Big Ten title since 2004.

But if winning that team’s glory came as a surprise, there’s something about this year’s team that feels like pre-arranged. Michigan started the season ranked in the top 10 despite losing three of the best defensive players and one of the most effective back-runners in school history. The players and coaches talked openly about going above and beyond what last year’s team had achieved. And once Harbaugh’s team took out all three opponents who weren’t in the conference, most assumed Werewolves would run the table to set up an inconclusive clash with Ohio State. And then, in their second year of running, they bullied the Buckeyes, too.

So when the last seconds of Saturday’s game expired and a win 43-22 end Purdue When finished, the players in corn and blue shirts slowly walked across the field to shake hands with their opponents. Gone are the jubilant leaps that defined their celebration of overcoming a 17-year championship drought last season. Instead it is the composure of a team that believes they can do more.

The werewolves are heading back to the national semifinals with the belief that they can win it all.

“I love our chance,” Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy speak. “Last year it was that kind of bright light, everything was new, the Big Ten Championship, the College Football knockout. Going into the season gave us a lot of momentum and we know we can get there and we can come back. In the end, this whole season is all about winning. So at the end of the day, everything great happened today. , but the work isn’t over yet. We have bigger plans in mind.”

Purdue vs No. 2 Michigan Highlights

The Wolverines defeated the boiling water team, 43-22, in the Big Ten Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Here are some thoughts from Lucas Oil Stadium:

role reversal

Saturday’s game marked the first time that Harbaugh and co-attack coordinators Sherrone Moore and Matt Weiss were tasked with designing a game plan in which the Blake Corum will play no role. The coaching staff may know that Corum’s involvement will be reduced in the regular-season finals against Ohio State, but he’s still out with Michigan’s starting lineup and still has his knee-capability. He may have settled down better than expected. The result is another run-heavy approach that involves 10 hasty plays rather than passes.

But with Corum set to be out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery – he’s not in Indianapolis and posted on social media wishing his teammates good luck – the strategy employed by the attacking brain Michigan’s seems to be based on using the passing game to set up a run for perhaps the first time in a whole season, if not longer. McCarthy completed 9, 16 and 25 yard passes in his team’s first possession, with the latter producing a beautiful touchdown late in the game. The Land of Love Colston between two defenders.

#2 Michigan lifts the Big Ten trophy

Team Wolverines celebrated after beating Purdue 43-22 on Saturday to defend their Big Ten crown.

Many of McCarthy’s best throws originate from the outside of the bag on both pre-designed deployments and impromptu scrambles, showing sports fans have been salivating since he committed. to Michigan as a five-star player. 16-yard player to expand Ronnie Bells came after McCarthy got off the pressure and held the ball until he almost whispered over the line, only to land a dart down the field. He lured a Purdue fast runner into the backyard midway through the second half before plunging out of danger to make a seven-foot touchdown to close the game. Luke Schoonmaker gave the Wolverines a 14-10 lead.

By halftime, McCarthy had thrown twice as many passing yards (90) as Michigan achieved on the ground (45) against a certainly surprising Purdue.

Formula reversed after halftime, when Corum .’s backup Donovan Edwards opened the third round with an explosive 60-yard run after breaking through the defense at the script line to break into the open space. A short pass from McCarthy the next game gave way to three consecutive runs that sent the ball over the line in the full-back’s arms. Kalewho scored the first touchdown of his career.

Edwards extended Michigan’s lead to 15 on his next hold as he edged past two defenders, parried a possible tackle from a third and dragged a fourth Purdue player in. end of the field to score 27 yards. He finished with 25 executions in 185 yards and a score.

“[Edwards] got 401 yards in the last two games,” Harbaugh said. “You want to talk about the big games? This guy comes to life in the big games.”

Edwards added: “Like Coach Harbaugh said, I believe, you know, I passed those opportunities. I thrived because of that.”

Donovan Edwards rushes to touch the ball

Michigan running against Donovan Edwards scored from 27 yards in a game that ended in a 185 yard night.

rising star

Aside from McCarthy, who signed with Michigan as the No. 25 overall prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle, few freshmen have captured the fan’s imagination like the five-star full-back. Will Johnson — son of former Wolverine defender Deon Johnson. The in-state product from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, was rated as the number 3 player in its class of 2022 and became the crown jewel of Harbaugh’s latest recruitment.

Johnson arrives in Ann Arbor with the physical tools and mental gear of a direct contributor to first-year defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, but veteran defenders DJ Turner and green gems take on the roles that started after leaving the fall camp. Co-defensive coordinator Steve Clinkscale, who oversaw the side team, rotated Johnson into the team’s third corner with the tacit understanding that tackles would increase.

McCarthy said of facing Johnson in reality: “He’s a freshman coming in and he’s not playing like a freshman. “And he has a ton of God-given abilities, backed by his great work ethic and skill. I mean, his skills are top of the charts. I just Can’t wait to see him continue to grow, continue to cultivate the great player he will become.”

By November, Johnson began to usurp Green’s game time. By the time Michigan arrived at Ohio Stadium for the final of the regular season, Johnson had his first career game against the Buckeyes. Harbaugh praises his freshman for defending the expansion star Marvin Harrison Jr. so good that Ohio State started shifting its #1 pick to the other side of the field.

The previous weeks had laid the groundwork for Johnson’s launch party on the biggest stage of the season at Lucas Oil Stadium. He blocked two passes in the second half of Michigan’s win over Purdue to double his season’s tally and snuff out any hopes of a successful team comeback of a comeback that could take them. to the Rose Bowl.

Johnson’s first intercept was a clever move that excelled in one-on-one coverage against Jones, who had tormented the Werewolf for much of the evening. He maintains leverage outside as Jones reaches the top of his route and then overtakes as the Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell throw the ball in. He reselected O’Connell three properties later due to what appeared to be a midfield-recipient confusion to facilitate a final 17-yard touchdown pass from McCarthy to Bell.

Highlights: No. 2 Michigan beat Purdue

Donovan Edwards dashed 185 yards to claim the MVP title in the Big Ten Championship Game.

Put in the stone

The Wolverines team entered the championship weekend with second place in the penultimate CFP rankings and enjoyed the added benefit of playing during prime time television on Saturday night. By the time Michigan played Purdue — around 8:20 p.m. ET — Harbaugh and his players knew they would almost certainly hold onto second place when the final standings were released on Tuesday. Sunday afternoon.

Consolidation begins on Friday night when 4 USC blown away by Wyoming47-24, in Pac-12 title game to knock the Trojans out of the top four and knock them out of the national semi-finals. Then, third place TCU suffered its first loss of the season in extra time last time Kansas State inside large 12 Championship on Saturday afternoon to leave Michigan and Georgia as the only unbeaten teams in college football. And when Georgia smash LSU on Saturday night, just hours before the Wolverines hit the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, any chance for Harbaugh’s team to overtake the defending national champions was up in the air.

All of which means Michigan doesn’t have much of a chance to face the Welsh side other than chasing a second consecutive Big Ten title for the first time since 2003-04 under Lloyd Carr, the last. lead the werewolf to the national championship. Michigan was seeded 2 thanks to the aforementioned result, and by beating Ohio State last week, the state is expected to replace USC as the fourth candidate to participate in this year’s CFP.

Besides deploying Purdue, Werewolf’s top priority is to avoid serious injuries during a game due to the effects of the post-season. And there were some scary things: Loveland, who had a second touchdown in as many games, dropped out with an obvious leg injury in the first inning before returning late in the half; inside the linebacker Teenager Colson also missed part of the first half with an undisclosed injury and returned to the squad early in the third; edge crusher Eyabi Okiehave extended playtime with Mike Morris was not present, was injured chasing O’Connell late in the second quarter and did not return until the fourth quarter.

The most worrying injury involved full-back Turner, the team’s best full-back. Turner seemed to hurt his knee when he blocked a deep pass on the sidelines. He circled around the medical tent and headed straight into the dressing room on his own – albeit with a slight limp – after the spot check. But he also returned.