Michigan Football: 3 takeaways from a standard win over ECU

The Wolverines were riding high in the first half and cooled their jets in the second to a comfortable season-opening win over the Pirates.

Michigan’s defense set the tone on the first series of the afternoon. They forced East Carolina to go three and out. The next time the Pirates had it, Mike Sainristil stepped in front of a receiver for the game’s lone turnover. The Michigan football offense repaid him for his hard work with an eight-play drive that ended with the first of three J.J. McCarthy to Roman Wilson touchdown passes.

On the next drive, Blake Corum made his presence known with a 37-yard scamper that set up a two-yard score by him.  The offense did it for the third straight series when McCarthy hit Wilson again and new kicker, James Turner missed that extra point. Coming into that moment he was 148-148 on extra points. He redeemed himself as halftime broke with a 50-yarder.

The offense picked up right where they left off in the first stanza by going 75 yards for their last score of the day. After getting the ball back Donovan Edwards appeared to cross the goal line for his barrier-breaking touchdown of 2023, but it was overturned and Michigan turned it over on downs just two plays later by fumbling the snap.

Davis Warren came on in for relief of McCarthy and failed to move the unit much. Turner missed a 52-yard field goal badly and Michigan football never threatened again.

East Carolina avoided the shutout with a last-second field goal, as Michigan’s defense shutout the Pirates for 59 minutes and 55 seconds. Michigan’s defense might regret those five seconds ever existed.

Here are the three takeaways from the dismantling of East Carolina, 37-3, in the much anticipated 2023 home opener.

1. J.J. McCarthy was scintillating

The outright number one junior signal caller was dialed in from the outset. His offense was not set in ideal territory to begin with, but he changed that with his arm pretty quickly. He hit eight different receivers on the day with Roman Wilson being his favorite target. Wilson certainly showed why his switch to number one was justifiable.

McCarthy had a nearly 90% completion rate. It’s the third-highest of his career and he really only threw one bad pass that got tipped or it would have been his fourth touchdown pass. With one week in the books, McCarthy is the leading Heisman contender in the clubhouse for the maize and blue, but not in the nation.

His running back mates were limited. Blake Corum had the upper hand in rushing, while Donovan Edwards was more involved in the passing game. Colston Loveland had the preeminent performance of his bright, young career. Cornelius Johnson stood out as well with his most productive outing since burning Ohio State.

2. Michigan’s offense emphasized the pass over the run

The coaches said before the season started that they wanted to be a 50/50 split on offense. They were true to their word on Saturday and then some.

J.J. McCarthy was the focal point more so than the rushing attack. He commanded the flow of East Carolina’s defense by hitting open receivers like clockwork.

Michigan football threw for more yards than the Wolverines ran it and McCarthy had more passing yards than East Carolina had offense.

The Pirates didn’t get in the red zone till the fourth quarter. It was a performance that loyalists were accustomed to seeing from Michigan’s defense and interim coach Jesse Minter, before the TCU game last year.

Michigan’s offense doubled East Carolina’s in the passing game. McCarthy only missed four passes, while backup Alex Flinn completed only six. If Michigan’s offense continues to trend like this, then defenses can’t stack the box, making it more difficult to stop. We likely won’t know for sure until as early as November.

3. The Peacock debacle was an adventure for some

As many have voiced their opinion before me, I too was not a big fan of watching a Michigan football game on a streaming service instead of basic cable.

For as long as I have been alive I can remember always watching the maize and blue on ABC, FOX, ESPN, or Big Ten Network, but that changed for the first time in almost 30 years.

Fortunately, it turned out flawlessly for me as I had no issues, but I can’t say the same for those who were posting their concerns all over Facebook and Twitter.

Not being able to flip back and forth between games was a nuisance unless you had multiple televisions, phones, or other devices to use. The TCU/Colorado battle was not one to miss during the noon window. Spectrum got rid of Disney earlier this week which means no top 10 LSU/Florida State matchup for their viewers either.

DirecTV subscribers will be in for a treat next week when they play UNLV on CBS, which is currently unavailable thanks to a dispute with Nexstar.

It could get settled by then, but some folks better be ready for another rude awakening thanks to the greed of these billion-dollar companies that are ruining college football for the everyday diehards like you and me.