Michigan converted five red zones into 31 points while Eastern Michigan was held to 3 points in their two red zones. Neither team scored off the other's turnover.
Denard Robinson was 7 of 18 for 95 yards, 2 TDs and an interception; however, he ran for 198 yards on 26 carries for the second TD. Vincent Smith had 118 yards on only 9 carries plus he recovered Denard's fumble at the EMU 24 to keep a drive alive in the second quarter with us ahead 7-3. Offense had 471 yards, 376 on the ground and 9 of 15 on 3rd and 4th down conversions with three 3 and outs , 24 first downs, a turnover and two TD drives in their 6 first half possessions. We turned a 4 minute time of possession disadvantage at half to a 4:30 advantage for the game so we completely dominated the second half with our offense. Fitzgerald Touissaint had 46 yards in 11 carries and a TD. Drew Dileo caught his first TD as a Wolverine on a 19 yarder. Kevin Koger had 2 catches for 21 yards and a TD. Jeremy Gallon had 3 catches for 43 yards.
Brandin Hawthorne led the defense with 10 tackles. Jordan Kovacs had 8 tackles. Thomas Gordon had 6 tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception. Craig Roh finally got on the board with 5 tackles including a sack. Kenny Demens had 5 tackles. Jibreel Black had 4 tackles and forced a fumble on the first drive. EMU had 236 yards with 207 on the ground and was 5 of 14 on 3rd and 4th down conversions. Javonti Green had 80 yards on 21 carries. Alex Gillett is 3 of 5 for 29 yards, and gained another 61 yards on 11 carries.
Brendan Gibbons hit his first field goal of the year with a 21 yard chip shot. Matt Wile looked bad with 3 punts for a 35 yard average. Gallon had a nice punt return to the EMU 12 negated by Ricardo Miller's block in the back. Special teams looked better in the second half, but have a long way to go to excel in Big Ten competition.
Ramon Taylor got his first tackle as a Wolverine with early playing time; unfortunately, he was called for a personal foul. I think it was a mistake not substituting on the last drive with 10 minutes to go and a four score lead by failing to give our backup quarterback, Devin Gardner, some snaps. He wasn't put in until a little over a minute to go and he got only 3 snaps. Walk-ons Joey Burzynski and Erik Gunderson got some snaps at Left Guard and Left Tackle. Thomas Rawls got 2 carries for 4 yards. Cam Gordon still didn't play due to a bad back, but Brennan Beyer and Frank Clark contributed one tackle each. J.T. Floyd started over Avery at Right Cornerback. Blake Countess also got some snaps behind Troy Woolfolk at Left Corner. Sophomore Jeremy Jackson contributed with a 12 yard reception.
Hopefully, we'll improve even more next week against San Diego State.
Box Score Player Participation Michigan Rewind
Observations on the first half with Eastern Michigan
Game Notes for Eastern Michigan (Eastern Michigan Game Notes for Michigan)
Brady Hoke Press Conference on September 14
Greg Mattison Press Conference on September 13
Al Borges Press Conference on September 13
Ron English Press Conference on September 12
Brady Hoke Press Conference on September 12
Junior Hemingway on September 12
3 Suspended/Ineligible Players for Eastern Michigan
Marell Evans
Will Hagerup
Darryl Stonum