COLLEGE PARK, MD. — The second-ranked Michigan Wolverines became the first college football team to reach 1,000 wins, beating the Maryland Terrapins 31-24 on Saturday afternoon.
Michigan (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) remained unbeaten despite being without head coach Jim Harbaugh for a second-straight game as the head coach serves a three-game suspension. The punishment comes as the result of an investigation by the Big Ten Conference, who determined Michigan violated the conference's sportsmanship rule of stealing signs of opposing teams from in-person scouting — which is prohibited by the Big Ten Conference, mostly as a cost-cutting measure.
Harbaugh and the university intended to fight the ruling in court, seeking a protective order. But after meeting with conference officials later this week, the two sides came to an agreement to close the investigation if Harbaugh served the suspension.
But like last week against Penn State, the Wolverines were able to take care of business, as head coach and offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore and the Michigan jumped out to a 23-7 lead and then hold off a comeback from the Terrapins.
Maryland (6-5, 3-5) scored on their opening drive with a 35-yard field goal from Jack Howes to take a 3-0 lead.
But then Wolverines began to flex their muscle, scoring in all three phases during the opening quarter.
Blake Corum scored on a one-yard plunge to give Michigan the lead. On Maryland's ensuing possession, defensive lineman Derrick Moore returned a fumble for a touchdown after Taulia Tagovailoa had the ball stripped from him while scrambling. Then the Michigan special teams blocked a punt and the ball went out the back of the end zone to take a 16-7 lead after one quarter of play.
The Terrapins began their comeback from that point, getting three 1-yard touchdown quarterback sneaks from backup Billy Edwards Jr. — who is the Terps short-yardage specialist — to help Maryland to cut the lead to 29-24 after three quarters.
But Maryland couldn't complete the comeback as the the Michigan defense put the clamps on the Terrapins, who's final three drives ended in a punt, an interception and a safety.
Michigan can now sets its sights toward the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, who they will host next Saturday in Ann Arbor. This year's game will be the most anticipated for all of college football, but more for reasons off the field rather than on the field.
The sign stealing scandal surrounding Wolverines will be the catalyst for next week's storyline, as many fans and media in the Michigan camp have alleged that the investigation was initiated by Ohio State — and more specifically head coach Ryan Day.
Michigan 16 7 6 2 — 31
Maryland 3 7 14 0 — 24
First Quarter
MARY—J. Howes 35 field goal, 6:29.
MICH—B. Corum 2 run (J. Turner kick), 6:19.
MICH—D. Moore 4 yard fumble return (J. Turner kick), 2:00.
MICH—Blocked punt out of the back of the end zone for safety, 0:32.
Second Quarter
MICH—B. Corum 1 run (J.Turner kick), 7:59.
MARY—B. Edwards Jr. 1 run (J. Howes kick), 1:59.
Third Quarter
MARY—B. Edwards Jr. 1 run (J. Howes kick), 10:23.
MICH—S. Morgan 13 run (pass failed), 4:04.
MARY—B. Edwards Jr. 1 run (J. Howes kick), 0:16.
Fourth Quarter
MICH—T. Tagovailoa intentional grounding in the end zone, 7:59.
—————
MICH MARY
First downs 20 17
Total Net Yards 291 262
Rushes-yards 45-150 33-15
Passing 141 247
Punt Returns 1-18 1-10
Kickoff Returns 3-13 2-35
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-21
Comp-Att-Int 12-23-1 21-31-2
Sacked-Yards Lost 1-7 7-53
Punts 5-47.2 2-16
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards 2-25 5-35
Time of Possession 30:56 29:04
—————
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING–Michigan: B. Corum 28-94, D. Edwards 11-39, S. Morgan 1-13, K. Mullings 2-13, J. McCarthy 2-minus 7, Team 1-minus 2; Maryland: R. Hemby 11-35, C. McDonald 5-12, A. Littleton II 4-9, B. Edwards Jr. 4-3, T. Tagovailoa 8-minus 43, Team 1-minus 1.
PASSING–Michigan: J. McCarthy 12-23-1-141; Maryland: T. Tagovailoa 21-31-2-247.
RECEIVING–Michigan: C. Loveland 3-36, T. Morris 1-26, C. Johnson 3-24, R. Wilson 1-23, S. Morgan 2-16, B. Corum 1-9, A. Barner 1-7; Maryland: K. Prather 3-81, J. Jones 4-70, T. Felton 5-41, R. Hemby 3-28, C. Dyches 5-26, C. McDonald 1-1.
MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.
Washington 22, Oregon State 20
CORVALLIS, OR. — The No. 5 Washington Huskies punched their ticket to the PAC 12 championship game on Saturday night, defeating the 11th-ranked Oregon State Beavers in a wet and wild game.
Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. completed 13 of 28 passes for 162 yards and threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to keep the Huskies (11-0, 8-0 PAC 12) in playoff contention and himself in the discussion for the Heisman Trophy.
The wet and slippery conditions caused issues all night for both teams.
During the second quarter, Washington's Dillon Johnson ripped off a 43-yard run to get to the Oregon State 9, but fumbled and the Beavers recovered. But Oregon State (8-3, 5-3) would give the ball right back, as Anthony Gould fumbled after catching a pass from DJ Uiagalelei and Washington recovered on the Oregon State 19.
The Huskies would be aided by a pass interference call, and go on to cash in on the turnover as Penix scored on a 5-yard keeper to give Washington a 16-7 lead.
OSU's Atticus Sappington hit a 35-yard field goal with 10:40 left in the game to make the score 22-20 in favor of Washington. Then the Beavers' defense forced the Huskies to punt on their next series.
But the comeback would fall short as DJ Uiagalelei's fourth down pass to Jack Velling fell incomplete at midfield and gave the ball back to Washington, who ran the final two minutes on the clock.
Florida State 58, North Alabama 13
TALAHASSEE, FL. — After falling behind 13-0 to South Alabama, the 5th-ranked Florida State Seminoles (11-0) scored 58 unanswered points to beat the Lions 58-13 on Saturday afternoon.
But it came at costly price, as starting quarterback and Heisman Trophy hopeful Jordan Davis left the game in the first quarter after suffering a broken leg being tackled after a 16-yard gain.
In relief of Travis, backup Tate Rodemaker completed 13 of 23 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns to help the Seminoles put away a feisty Lions team. After being thrusted into action upon Travis' injury, Rodemaker managed to lead FSU down the field for a field goal to cut the deficit to 13-3.
In the early going, Florida State's offense stalled on its first couple of possessions, and North Alabama (3-8) executed a successful fake punt for a 64-yard gain to set up their first touchdown score. Then the Lions used a lot of trickery on their third possession to take a 13-0 lead.
But that was the wake up the Seminoles needed.
Florida State got touchdowns on its final three possesions of the first half, as Trey Benson, Caziah Holmes, and Lawrance Toafili all registered touchdown runs to give the Seminoles a 24-13 lead at the break.
The defense also did its part in completely shutting down North Alabama, who could only muster 54 yards of offense after holding the early lead. Defenseive back Quindarrius Jones put an exclamation point on the victory, returning a blocked field goal 50 yards on the final play of the game to make the final score 58-13.
Comments