Michigan 78, Rutgers 0 – Recap

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: October 17, 2016

First thing’s first: a big thanks to @DGDestroys, who makes the every snap videos that make these a lot easier to do.

Domination. Total and complete domination. Michigan hung 78 on Rutgers without even really trying to do so. Rutgers spent the first half either barely above zero total yards or below it. Harbaugh pulled the starters after the first series of the second half on each side of the ball. Rutgers didn’t have a first down until Michigan began inserting backup offensive linemen and walk-ons on defense. In the end, Michigan finished with twice as many points as Rutgers had yards and the people of Ann Arbor got some cheap steaks out of it.

Ruth’s Chris & Buzz Goebel!Sarah, me & Ann Arbor thank U for being such good sports! Plus the Steaks are A++, Mercy! pic.twitter.com/7CiB8ZMuXy

— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) October 12, 2016

At this point, I feel compelled to mention that the offense sputtered out of the gate and Harbaugh called off the dogs at the end of the first half. Had he felt like treating this like an actual football game a little longer (or known about the promotion), this would’ve hit triple digits.

Player Grades

If Harbaugh didn’t get everyone who was there for the game in the game, it was darn close to it.

How’d they do?

Ratings are out of 100 and should be read similar to Madden ratings. Overall ratings for the season are in parentheses.

QB: 67 (Season: 77, Change: -3)

Speight missed multiple throws he needed to make. It was pouring early in the game, so that likely played a hand in it, but still, oof. O’Korn did okay on the couple throws he made. Morris had a pass that was initially thought to be picked, but turned out to be turfed.

RB: 98 (Season: 94, Change: +1)

De’Veon Smith had a fumble and didn’t play a ton because he didn’t need to. You can pretty much ignore his grade. Isaac, Higdon, Evans, and Peppers were all excellent.

FB/H-B: 93 (Season: 89, Change: +1)

Khalid Hill is called “the Hammering Panda” now. That seems apt. Poggi played well. Bobby Henderson was very impressive late, both as a blocker and a runner.

WR: 90 (Season: 91, Change: 0)

Chesson and Darboh each had big plays. A lot of the other pluses came from blocks since Michigan didn’t have to throw the ball very much.

TE: 86 (Season: 94, Change: 0)

I’m not dropping the season rating because the lower grades were a result of Michigan not throwing the ball, not anyone playing badly. You can pretty much ignore Jake Butt’s grade, too. Michigan didn’t need him much in this one. His minuses came from a couple not-so-great blocks. Better in the run game were Devin Asiasi and Tyrone Wheatley, Jr.

OL: 92 (Season: 86, Change: +1)

The second-stringers were opening holes for dudes. Bushell-Beatty’s grade is kinda concerning, but I’m not in any hurry to bench him. Let him grow as a player. As time goes on, if he’s not improving the way he needs to, Michigan does have options. Cole can get the job done at LT and Kugler can do likewise at C. Onwenu’s grade is rather exciting.

DE: 99 (Season: 95, Change: +1)

Charlton and Wormley did that playing their regular amount in the first half and one series and the second. Rashan Gary played a good amount in the second half and had himself a day.

DT: 96 (Season: 96, Change: 0)

Glasgow and Godin were out of the game after the first series of the second half. Hurst played into the fourth quarter and had another excellent game. I’m totally convinced he’s a better player than Matt Godin, but when you have the depth to rotate the way Michigan does, balancing the lines out a bit isn’t a bad idea. Mone doesn’t seem all the way back just yet.

LB: 94 (Season: 92, Change: 0)

As good as Peppers was, he couldn’t go full Peppers, because everybody else was playing so well and making so many plays. Gedeon and McCray both played well. None of the backups really stood out.

CB: 95 (Season: 94, Change: 0)

Jourdan Lewis had another great game. Nobody else was called upon much. Rutgers only completed two passes all day, thanks to good coverage and a good pass rush.

S: 97 (Season: 88, Change: +2)

Thomas and Hill both played well. I’m encouraged by the performances of Hudson, Metellus, and Kinnel. The position looks to be in good hands year, after the graduations of both Thomas (seriously, Hoke, why did you not redshirt him?) and Hill.

Takeaways

Not much analysis here; Michigan just whomped them. It was a whomping of historic proportions. The last time Michigan beat a team this bad, World War II was just beginning. That game was an 85-0 rout of the University of Chicago in 1939. Chicago disbanded their football program later that year, Rutgers should consider doing likewise.

As far as actual things we can learn from this, Speight still seems a bit off. At this point, this is probably just who Speight is, and while some improvement is likely from working with Harbaugh, I wouldn’t expect anything spectacular this year. He should be at least fine, though, and given Michigan’s defense, fine may very well be good enough. The defense is #1 in S&P+ with a rating of 0.9, meaning that, on average, they would give up 0.9 points to an average football team. #2 in that metric, Clemson, has a rating of 11.2. The gap between #1 Michigan and #2 Clemson is bigger than the gap between Clemson and #17 Penn State. You might say that’s pretty good.

Helmet Stickers

Up to 3 may be awarded per player. Not necessarily the highest-graded players since different grades mean different things to different players (refer to the primer).

Offense

3: Ty Isaac, Chris Evans, Jabrill Peppers, Karan Higdon, Bobby Henderson, Khalid “Hammering Panda” Hill, Michael Onwenu, Patrick Kugler, Devin Asiasi

2: Ben Braden, David Dawson, Amara Darboh, Jehu Chesson

1: Kekoa Crawford, Ben Bredeson, Mason Cole, Tyrone Wheatley, Jr.

Defense

3: Maurice Hurst, Rashan Gary, Chris Wormley, Jabrill Peppers, Jourdan Lewis, Delano Hill, Taco Charlton

2: Josh Metellus, Ryan Glasgow, Ben Gedeon

1: Michael Onwenu, Dymonte Thomas

Helmet Sticker Count