Michigan Football: Quick Reaction To Win Over Florida

Michigan football started its season with a 33-17 victory over No. 17 Florida in Arlington, Texas. Here are some quick reactions to the win.

Much was made out of the fact that Michigan football was only returning five starters coming into the 2017 season. It was one of the first things mentioned by commentary, and it would be brought up again throughout the game.

After the game, it looked like despite the massive turnover, Michigan was still the same team as last season.

The 33-17 score is misleading. The Wolverines dominated Florida in their opening game. It wasn’t particularly close. Michigan had 433 yards to Florida’s 192. It had 19 first downs to the Gators’ 9. Michigan kept long drives going on offense and kept Florida drives to a minimum on defense.

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That Don Brown defense was the star of the show. The pure aggression that Michigan fans saw last year didn’t go away. Maurice Hurst was breaking up plays constantly. Linebackers blitzed frequently to disrupt Florida’s offense, with Devin Bush having a field day, making Feleipe Franks’ and Malik Zaire’s days miserable. Florida couldn’t run the ball at all, finishing the day with 11 total yards on the ground.

The defensive unit finished off a great day in the best possible way, with Chase Winovich forcing a fumble in the endzone that would be recovered by Noah Furbush for a touchdown.

On offense, it was a bit more of a roller coaster. The good news is that the running backs looked more than ready for the season. Chris Evans had a relatively quiet day with 22 carries for 78 yards, but the Wolverines have a three-headed monster at the position. Ty Isaac showed why he was a five-star athlete coming out of high school some years ago. He had 114 yards on 11 carries, with much of that production coming in big third-down situations. Karan Higdon also showed some shiftiness with 7 carries for 28 yards and a touchdown. Running the ball was especially reliable on the left side of the line, behind Mason Cole and Ben Bredeson. The right side of the line needs work, with Nolan Ulizio especially struggling.

Wilton Speight had a rollercoaster day at quarterback. He started off the day strong with a beautiful 46-yard touchdown to Tarik Black on Michigan’s second drive of the game. He had Michigan looking good going into the second quarter up 10-3.

Then the second quarter from hell came. Speight threw two straight pick-sixes on consecutive drives. The first was a tipped pass from Kekoa Crawford that he should have caught, but the second interception was ugly. Speight was briefly pulled for John O’Korn, who didn’t do much better before the starter was put back in. The rest of Speight’s day was mediocre. He completed 11 of 25 attempts for a touchdown and the two interceptions.

The Wolverines may have struggled getting more touchdowns but made up for it in field goals. Quinn Nordin impressed in his first career game by being the first kicker in Michigan football history to kick two 50-plus-yard field goals in a game, including a 55-yarder on the team’s first drive. Unfortunately Nordin missed his last two attempts, but it was very much a fantastic debut.

Next: Chris Evans crucial to Michigan success

Michigan football is very young, but early returns are promising. If a few more balls are caught by receivers, or Speight is even slightly more accurate, this would have been a complete blowout. Florida did not score after the second pick-six. Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines would not let them. They were merciless. It showed the young Wolverines still know one of Harbaugh’s best phrases: “Win with character, win with cruelty.”

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