The No. 18 Michigan Wolverines took a trip to College Park to take on the Maryland Terrapins. The Wolverines’ pulled off a statement win, 45-20, one week before The Game. It felt like Michigan needed a decisive victory in this one, and that’s exactly what happened.
Here are this week’s winners and losers.
Passing Game — Winner
Michigan’s passing game was clicking against the Terrapins. Bryce Underwood looked the part, completing 16-of-23 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns, completing 70 percent of his passes. Andrew
Marsh led pass-catchers with 76 yards and one touchdown, while Donaven McCully also got into the end zone. It looked like Michigan’s passing game was on the verge of a game like this for weeks, but everything finally clicked.
K Dominic Zvada — Loser
For the most part, the special teams did fine. Unfortunately, Dominic Zvada continued his struggles and has not been as clutch this season as he was last year. While he drilled a 46-yard field goal, he missed a closer one early on. He was responsible for Michigan’s win against Ohio State last season, but his lack of automation this season is concerning heading into the biggest game of the season.
Third-Down Offense — Winner
Michigan was 12-of-14 on third down against the Terrapins, including 10-of-10 on 3rd-and-4 or loss. Michigan didn’t have to attempt a single third down that was more than nine yards, which is a great sign late in the season. Michigan also ran the ball on nine of its third-down attempts. I like that the team stuck with its identity in short-yardage situations, but trusted Underwood to throw the ball elsewhere in the game.
TE/FB Max Bredeson — Loser
Max Bredeson is an amazing leader and player on this team, but seeing him with crutches and a boot after getting hurt in the game was tough to see. He’s been one of Michigan’s most reliable blockers, and against Northwestern last week, we saw the offense use him in some creative ways. He came back to Michigan for another year to give this team his all, and he’s definitely on the losing end of this game.
WR Andrew Marsh — Winner
Marsh is so good, so it makes sense the coaching staff are trying to get him the ball more often. His use on special teams was a good call, as he had two punt returns for 23 yards and two kick returns for 48 yards, including one for 39. He had 147 all purpose yards. The Wolverines are going to need Marsh to continue building on his success in recent weeks.
Final drive of 2nd Quarter — Loser
Michigan had another chance to get points late in the second quarter, but couldn’t capitalize. Whether you blame Sherrone Moore for not using the timeout or the team for failing to get the ball out quick enough to run a better play, it wasn’t successful. Those are the types of things that can make a difference in other games. I appreciated giving the offense a chance to put a drive like that together instead of just running out the clock, but there’s still some room to grow heading into the final week of the regular season.
We know the team wins and loses together, but who would you say won the day, and who could use some improvement heading into next week? Let us know in the comments!
