Michigan Football beats Maryland 35-10: 3 takeaways and full highlights

The Michigan football team went on the road and won its third straight game Saturday against Maryland, winning 35-10. Here are three takeaways.

It wasn’t always pretty, but for Michigan football against Maryland Saturday, it didn’t have to be. The Wolverines just needed a win and they got it going away, 35-10.

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Brandon Peters wasn’t spectacular, but he was good enough to win. He completed nine of 18 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns. But in all the offense struggled.

Against the worst run defense in the Big Ten coming, the Wolverines found tough sledding on the ground. Karan Higdon had 10 carries for 50 yards, before exiting with an injury. Chris Evans also toted the rock 15 times for 80 yards and a two touchdowns, but even he padded stats at the end.

Michigan football was actually out gained by Maryland, 340-305. And if it wasn’t for a turnover in the red zone and some other missed opportunities in goal-to-go situations, it could have been a much closer game.

To be fair, most of the damage Maryland did was in the second half, when the game was out of hand at 28-0, but still, there were some rough patches.

The pass protection wasn’t outstanding and the Terps had a pretty good plan to slow Michigan’s ground game. Peters wasn’t spectacular, but his second-quarter touchdown passes to Zach Gentry and Sean McKeon essentially put the game away.

Evans 17-yard touchdown run with 4:51 to play, was the dagger. And right now, the only thing that matters is that Michigan football is 8-2 overall and 5-4 in the Big Ten. But for some more in-depth takeaways, here you go:

The ground wasn’t great but Peters was good enough

Against Minnesota, the Wolverines ran for close to 400 yards and the Gophers had a top-five run defense in the Big Ten. Maryland, ranked last in the league in run defense, so you figured Michigan football was going to have a field day.

However, it never happened. Michigan finished with just 160 yards on 38 attempts, an average of 4.2 a carry. UM still got three rushing touchdowns, but didn’t have a run longer than this 17-yarder by Evans, which sealed the deal.

The lack of a great run game meant Michigan needed more from Peters and they got it. He only threw for 145 yards and completed only half of his passes, but he created three plays of more than 20 yards. And his two second-quarter touchdown passes to Zach Gentry and Sean McKeon, basically put the game out of reach at 28-0.

At the very least, Peters proved he could beat someone without the run game in tip-top shape and that was important.

David Long gives this defense another great player

The Michigan defense is loaded with next level talents. Rashan Gary, Maurice Hurst, Devin Bush, those are just a few. But another name we need to add to the list is cornerback David Long, who was spectacular for UM Saturday.

Not only did Long intercept a pass in his own end zone and almost return it for a touchdown, he also had a key breakup on another long throw in the the second half.

Michigan Wolverines Football

Everyone knows about the way Michigan can stuff the run or get after quarterbacks, but Michigan football has the best pass defense in the Big Ten for a reason and Long is a huge part of that.

Injuries are a huge concern

Michigan got a good road win over Maryland, but the thing the Wolverines should be most concerned about, is the health of some key players, such as Higdon and Gary.

Higdon left the game due to an ankle injury and didn’t come back. Then Gary, went down after hitting the Maryland quarterback in the fourth quarter.

With Wisconsin on tap next weekend, the Wolverines will need all hands on deck. Higdon is arguably the best offensive player on the team, at least at the skill positions and no one needs to explain Gary’s impact. In fact, there were a few times Saturday, that I literally thought he was going to kill Ryan Brand.

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Even at 8-2, the Wolverines have a lot left to prove. But beating a 10-0 Wisconsin team next week, would prove to everyone, that Michigan is still among college football’s elite. Yet, they need to be healthy to have a chance at doing it.