I'm Here For Whatever This Is - Michigan 63, Northern Illinois 10
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Fuller / MGoBlog
A 10-play, 72-yard, well-executed drive stalled as Rocky Lombardi's 3rd and 8 completion came up 2-yards short of the first down, and the Huskies, sitting at 4th and 2 on the Michigan 3-yard line, ran out John Richardson for the 21-yard field goal. That's where the respect level is for Michigan in the Big House in 2021. They took the 3-points. Northern Illinois was certain they'd be visiting that endzone plenty of times.
Narrator: "They did not."
Their next seven drives would net them a total of 38 yards, while Michigan racked up 600 yards and 63 points. En route, Michigan rushed for 373 yards, making them the leading rushing team in the nation, and McMamara to Johnson became the third longest pass play in Michigan Football history. 106 Wolverines saw the field, including 6 quarterbacks.
So ya, pretty good little Saturday. Even made it back home in time to go to Home Depot.
"The floor has been raised" is the popular sentiment around Michigan Football after starting the season with three historically dominating ground-attack-led victories. This is the kind of careful optimism you find in a fanbase that has seen its fair share of September National Championships that stumble into October mediocrity and a November full collapse. The Wolverines haven't earned much else. They've performed to the level of those early Harbaugh times, which in 2016 was good enough because "trust the process", but today is good enough because of seven years of meh and a fresh faced child of the 80's fills every assistant coaching position.
We don't know much more this week than we did last, except that maybe an occasional pass is a possibility. But something's different in Ann Arbor, certainly from last year if not longer, and perhaps even unique to the head of this regime. Things are different elsewhere too though. Florida vs Alabama did not look like a game from another planet. Penn State vs Auburn didn't feature anyone that I would look to have replace Blake Corum. Michigan is fast. Michigan is executing. And there seems to be some kind of overall national regression to the mean that is making the idea that anything is possible, um, possible. If you start screwing around with transitive scoring (which you should not because transitive properties do not apply to football scoring ever) you'll find yourself in a rabbit hole googling who Western played and mumbling about Yellow Jackets and Final Fours. But nothing changes week-to-week faster than the hearts and motivation of a college athlete, and in turn, results. Things are just getting started. The good feelings can continue next week, or it can all come to a crashing halt at the hands of a man making a second tour of duty in Jersey (and also probably knew about Sandusky).
But if nothing else, this is not terrible to watch. I’m here for whatever this is.
Go Blue.
