ANN ARBOR — Following the euphoric University of Michigan comeback from a 17-point fourth quarter deficit against rival Notre Dame, which produced a rousing, improbable 35-31 victory under the lights at Michigan Stadium, the Wolverines looked like they were still celebrating that victory.
No matter. When the clock read zero, U-M had recovered enough to rush away with a 31-3 victory over Eastern Michigan University. However, give the EMU Eagles credit as they came to the Big House last Saturday afternoon ready to play. Either the Wolverines were indeed still in the afterglow of last week’s victory or they took EMU lightly.
Former U-M assistant coach and now EMU’s head man, Ron English, had his 2-0 team ready to play. The Eagles dominated the first quarter, with two scoring chances inside the U-M 10-yardline. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they only managed one field goal for their superior effort and took a 3-0 lead into the second quarter.
“Maybe we hadn’t gotten over last week,” U-M safety Jordan Kovacs said. “I think we came out a little flat and got off to a rough start. We need to come out with intensity every game.”
EMU had another drive percolating early in the second quarter, when it ran a trick play where their quarterback Alex Gillett threw behind the line to their second string quarterback Tyler Benz, who from the Michigan 41 yard line threw deep to his receiver, but sophomore safety Thomas Gordon (Cass Tech High) implemented a spectacular one-handed, over-the-shoulder interception that seemed to light a fire under the sluggish Wolverines. This interception was the first of his career and he also added his first career fumble recovery.
Gordon’s stellar play gave Michigan the ball on its own three yard line. From there, junior quarterback Denard Robinson busted loose on a 52-yard run that eventually concluded in a seven play, 97 yard drive, with tight end Kevin Koger’s nine yard pass from Robinson latching onto a nine yard pass from Robinson giving U-M its first score of the game and a 7-3 lead.
After U-M’s wake-up interception by Gordon and subsequent 97-yard touchdown drive, the Wolverines produced another long six-play, 87-yard touchdown drive. With only 39 seconds left in the first half, Robinson concluded that march with an 11-yard touchdown run right up the middle of Eastern’s defense.
In the end it was Robinson again, this time producing his third most rushing yards in a game with a noteworthy 198 yards on a near career high 26 carries. Junior running back Vincent Smith also ran for 118 yards on nine carries.
Many feel that last year when Robinson ran the ball too much in the early season, he wore down toward the end, and here we are only three games into the season and he is again running the ball more than a featured running back.
“We just go with the flow of the game and what happens happens,” Robinson said.
Said U-M coach Brady Hoke: “We don’t want to beat him up. We’re going into a pretty physical league, so we have to find other ways. Running the ball takes a toll on your body.”
I have a suggestion. U-M should start Devin Gardner at quarterback and use Robinson for what he is — a runner. They could run slots, traps and direct handoffs. There are backs in the NFL that are smaller than Robinson. With that change they would upgrade their passing, something that is needed if they want to compete against the best teams in the Big Ten.
Reach Leland Stein at [email protected] or Twitter @LelandSteinIII.
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