Observations on the first win of 2004, Michigan 43 Miami-Ohio 10!

1-Henne's start is a real surprise; it's too bad that Gutierrez couldn't show his stuff due to a sore shoulder. Henne started slow, but in the 2nd quarter, one could see the improvement. He finished with 14 of 24 for 142 yards with one pick, two TDs and three sacks. He was the ABC Player of the Game. We had 14 first downs and scored a field goal and 4 TDs in our seven red zone opportunities, four created by the defense on picks by Mundy, Curry and Stewart, a fumble recovery by Woods plus a special teams fumble recovery by Burgess (i.e. the offense created only one red zone opportunity). We had a four minute time of possession advantage. We had 274 yards in 68 offensive plays, and were 9 of 18 in 3rd and 4th down conversions. Two key statistics were no fumbles (although we had one by Rembert on a kickoff) and one penalty by Massaquoi for holding. We were force to punt six times by the Red Hawks.

2-Underwood had 61 yards on 22 carries for 2 TDs. Jackson had 25 yards on 7 carries plus a TD. Hart had 20 yards on 3 carries. Rembert has one carry for 7 yards and one catch for -2 to go along with his kickoff return fumble. We had only 115 yards in net rushing in 40 attempts including 3 sacks. Our offensive line had significant room for improvement. Edwards had 6 catches for 91 yards and 2 TDs. Breaston had 4 catches for 33 yards.

3-Defense looked as solid as advertised. Pass defense was strong with 5 picks although the pass rush leaves a lot to be desired (only 2 sacks for 8 yards). Harrison did have one good hurry towards the end of the first half. Betts was 18 of 36 for 201 yards, 1 sack and 4 picks. The Red Hawks had 13 first downs and 250 yards of total offense in 65 plays. We held them to 33 net yards rushing in 25 attempts. They were 7 of 17 in 3rd and 4th down conversions. Reid led the defense with 6 tackles, 3 for loss. Curry had two picks, one pass break up plus 4 tackles and hopefully his injury isn't serious. The defense only allowed 3 points as the return set up their touchdown from 2 yards away.

4-Miami is a well-coached, well-prepared team and very capable. Robinson is a game-breaker as a punt returner, and we were lucky to contain him. He created two red zone opportunities of three that the Red Hawks had. Pusateri led their defense with 9 tackles with one pick and one touchdown saving pass break up on the last pass to Ecker at the10 yard line.

5-Special teams show Michigan has much room for improvement. Our kickoff coverage looks excellent; Nienberg kicks deep and the kickoff coverage completely throttled Robinson as they sent him to the bench in the 4th quarter after forcing a fumble. Our punt coverage is another story; we had better improve because today's game sparked memories of last year's Oregon and Iowa games. We did make our only field goal attempt, but missed two extra points so Rivas' performance was mediocre. Breaston continues to impress on punt returns with three returns for 40 yards. Mason also had a nice17 yard return. Curry and Rembert were deep on kickoffs early, then Mason and Tabb were deep. We are no threat on kickoff returns. Finley had 6 punts for a 45 yard average including three over 50 yards (longest was 56); one "pooch" punt shortened his average.

6-True Freshmen who played include Henne, Hart, Arrington, Branch, Jamison and Graham. Redshirt Freshman Clayton Richard really looked good coming off the bench in the 4th quarter as he was 2 of 4 for 17 yards including a red zone touchdown drive. Alex Ofili got the start at Nose Tackle over Gabe Watson. Walk-on, Derek Bell, was the first substitute behind Matt Lentz at Right Guard.

7-This comment may not be popular, but I don't see us winning the Big Ten or National Championship with a freshman quarterback, no matter how good Henne looks. I hope it happens as that is certainly what I want to have happen, but I simply don't envision it happening. If our offense has to come from behind and win a game, we are in trouble. Our defense won this game and will probably need to win most of our games this year. I'm definitely worried about next week's Notre Dame game in South Bend.

Observations on the first half, Michigan 10 Miami-Ohio 0!

1-Henne's start is a real surprise; it's too bad that Gutierrez couldn't show his stuff due to a sore shoulder. Henne started slow, but in the 2nd quarter, one can see the improvement. So far, he is 10 of 18 for 84 yards with one pick. We have 8 first downs and scored a field goal and TD in our two red zone opportunities created by the defense on picks by Mundy and Curry. We have a 5 minute time of possession advantage. We have 139 yards in 39 offensive plays, and are 5 of 11 in 3rd and 4th down conversions. Two key statistics are no fumbles and no penalties!!!

2-Underwood has 47 yards so far on 17 carries for a TD. Rembert has one carry for 7 yards and one catch for -2. Edwards and Breaston lead our receivers with 3 catches each.

3-Defense looks as solid as advertised. Pass defense is strong with 2 picks although the pass rush leaves a lot to be desired. Harrison did have one good hurry towards the end of the first half. Betts is 9 of 17 for 78 yards and 2 picks. The Redskins have 5 first downs and 98 yards of total offense in 27 plays. They are 3 of 7 in 3rd down conversions. Reid and Shazor lead with 4 tackles each.

4-Miami is a well-coached, prepared team and very capable. Robinson is a game-breaker as a returner and receiver so it is a damn good thing we have two great corners with Jackson and Curry watching him. Burke is leading the Redskins with 7 tackles, and Pusateri has 6 tackles with one pick and one touchdown saving pass break up on the last pass to Ecker at the 10 yard line.

5-Special teams show Michigan and Miami with 3 punts each. Our kickoff coverage looks excellent, but punt rush and punt coverage leaves much to be desired. We did make our only field goal attempt so overall we can say our special teams have done the job so far (Thanks to a block in the back by #18 of the Redskins).