Michigan football will take on Rutgers in the Big Ten opener and here are three keys to a victory for the Wolverines on Saturday.
You can feel the excitement surrounding the Michigan football program this week as the Wolverines get their head coach, Jim Harbaugh back this week.
It’s also the return of Big Ten play. Michigan football opened the season with three cupcakes (not to be mean) but the first real test comes on Saturday against Rutgers.
Rutgers is 3-0 for a reason and the Scarlet Knights are playing good football. They lead the Big Ten in rushing yards. Their defense is also allowing just 10.5 points per game.
Greg Schiano will have his team ready for the game on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights have played three difficult games against Michigan over the past three years. Rutgers has actually led the game at the half in two of the past three seasons.
The Wolverines can’t afford to take this matchup lightly and here are three keys for a Michigan football win against Rutgers.
Stuff the run
Michigan hasn’t allowed an opponent to rush for 100 yards this season. The Wolverines allow just 2.6 yards per attempt, but Rutgers has rushed for 210 yards per game, which leads the Big Ten.
So it will be one of the best-run defenses in the league, against one of the best-run offenses. Quarterback Gavin Wimsatt is another threat and has rushed for 150 yards.
Kyle Monangai has rushed for 357 yards in three games and if the Wolverines allow him to reach 100 yards, things could get worrisome on Saturday.
Take care of the football
Schiano teams are generally pretty solid in the secondary and although Rutgers hasn’t played any top-flight quarterbacks, Rutgers has intercepted five passes in three games and allowed just three touchdown passes.
Bowling Green intercepted J.J. McCarthy three times on Saturday. There were a few reasons for that, but mostly, McCarthy needs to make better decisions.
McCarthy has only two multi-interception games in his career. Last season, he had just two interceptions in the regular season. So it’s not like he’s mistake-prone.
Jim Harbaugh said he wasn’t going to coach the “gunslinger” out of McCarthy and that’s a good thing. He’s an elite talent and the Wolverines can’t allow his confidence to waiver.
I’m confident that he’ll bounce back and as long as he doesn’t throw multiple interceptions this week, Michigan football should be in good shape.
Lose the turnover battle to Rutgers or have a couple of careless giveaways and this Scarlet Knights team is more than capable of pulling the upset.
Get the running game going for real
There were some encouraging signs last week with the Michigan football running game, especially with Blake Corum going for over 100 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
Donovan Edwards also had a better game with nine attempts for 50 yards. He still seems to be pressing. He was doing that at the start of last season too before he was able to break out, most notably in the Penn State game.
Edwards will get it figured out. He’s too good of a player not too. The offensive line starters will be something to watch this week. LaDarius Henderson came in and played on the left side at tackle when Myles Hinton struggled, which allowed Karsen Barnhart to move to right tackle.
I’ve always thought that would be Michigan football’s best offensive line. Henderson graded out really well and his pass protection reps looked good. Barnhart is a physical dude and might be better on the right side.
Regardless, the running game needs to get over 200 yards. It hasn’t yet this season and if the Wolverines are to control this game, that’s what it will take to do it.