Michigan vs. Colorado: Some Parting Thoughts

Michigan football is now 3-0 after overcoming a slow start against Colorado on Saturday. Here are some final thoughts, both on the good and the bad.

By the time the game was over yesterday and Michigan football had its third win to start the season, the overwhelming feeling in the stadium and at home was relief.

Not only were the Buffaloes tougher than the Wolverines’ previous two opponents, which may not be saying much, but the Wolverines for the first time found themselves battling back—twice!—from two-touchdown deficits.

This third game of the season—and the last in the non-conference—continued to show Michigan football fans what sort of team we have this year, and predictably there was a little good, a little bad, and fortunately not much ugly.

First, the good.

Jabrill Peppers is an outstanding football player and provided the spark for the win yesterday. He finally got his punt return touchdown, which had just been a matter of time. He saw a couple of plays on offense too. And once again he was all over the place on defense with nine tackles (six solo) and one sack for an 11-yard loss. Overall he registered 204 yards, and he was by far the most productive player on the field.

Rashan Gary continued to be good, too, with four tackles (two solo) and two quarterback hurries.

On the other hand, it’s not clear how much deeper into the season the Michigan defense can go without Taco Charlton on the line and Jourdan Lewis in the backfield. While Michigan did a good job of stopping the run, the Michigan pass defense allowed Colorado 261 net passing yards, compared to Michigan’s 229.

That’s worrisome, and after all of the talk about how stingy the Michigan defense would be this year, we didn’t expect a non-ranked, non-conference opponent to roll up 28 points. To give credit where credit is due, the Buffaloes converted only one of 13 third-down situations.

But there’s even more to worry about. The Michigan running game still can’t seem to get itself going. Ty Isaac had a touchdown this week, and that had to be good for his confidence, but he had 10 carries for only 19 total yards: that’s an anemic 1.8 yard average.

De’Veon Smith had a rushing touchdown, too, and finally put up some impressive numbers: 11 rushes for 87 yards and a 7.9-yard average.

Michigan gave Jehu Chesson three carries as well, and one of those resulted in a touchdown. Chesson averaged 8.3 yards on the ground.

Both Chesson and Smith made their touchdowns by going to the outside. That’s where the yardage seemed to be, although head coach Jim Harbaugh at the press conference after the game said (of Smith): “Such an effective runner inside the tackles, and he was again today. Good production when he runs, then he got out on the perimeter and hit the home run today, so that was really good to see.”

Yes, it was good to see Smith get a touchdown, but he’s not getting his yardage “inside the tackles,” as Harbaugh maintains. Michigan’s offensive line has more improving to do, but the conference schedule begins next week, with Penn State coming to the Big House. It’s not clear that the line is opening up the holes for Michigan’s big backs.

Anything else? Yes, Wilton Speight continues to impress. He wasn’t as sharp with his downfield passing yesterday as he was the previous week, but the guy is unflappable. And that’s impressive. Colorado sacked Speight three times, and he shouldn’t be getting hit that often. But to his credit, Speight kept getting up and making the plays when he needed to make them.

Next: Top 10 running backs in Michigan history

Michigan’s still got some improvements to make, but the overall picture looks good. We’ll take a 3-0 record.

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