Observations on the first half with Army, 7-14

Army converted 3 Wolverine fumbles into 14 points; Michigan scored 7 points off one Black Knight turnover. Michigan gained 7 points in one red zone; Army capitalized on 14 points in two red zone visits.

Offense was putrid! Shea Petterson was 11 of 16 for 117 yards with two fumble turnovers; he rushed 5 times for -23 yards. Zach Charbonnet carried 10 times for 50 yards and a TD. Christian Turner gained 14 yards in 2 carries. Sean McKeon grabbed two passes for 35 yards, Tarik Black has 2 catches for 23 yards, and Ronnie Bell grabbed 2 for 15 yards. Offense gained 12 first downs, 47 on the ground and 142 in the air for a net of 189 yards in 35 plays; we were 4 of 7 in 3rd and 4th down conversions.

Defense also looked bad! Michigan allowed Army 31 rushes for 109 yards and 7 first downs, and Senior LaVert Hill was caught holding to set up their final go-ahead TD. James Ross was in on 9 tackles, but failed to fill the gap on the goal line along with 4th down conversions; Aidan Hutchinson and Jordan Glasgow had 6 tackles each. Army was 5 of 10 in 3rd and 4th down conversions; it gave them a 4:30 time of possession advantage.

Special Teams gave the Wolverines the biggest highlight of the first half when Michael Barrett executed a fake punt with a toss to Daxton Hill for 25 yards to set up the TD drive. No punts were needed as the offense simply handed the ball over to Army on fumbles. Jake Moody has two kickoffs for touchbacks; Giles Jackson has 2 kickoff returns for 52 yards. Army was forced to punt only twice by our defense; they nailed a coffin corner at the 6 on the last one.

Jim Harbaugh and Staff continue to show poor clock management particularly on the final drive of the half that resulted in a missed field goal. Team took 7 penalties for 38 yards in the first half, and several on that final drive.

Second Half will continue to be a nailbiter! Are we 7th ranked?