Michigan Uses Power Run Game, Near-Shutout Defense To Roll Oregon State
By Ashley Scoby
@AshleyScoby
When the football team you play scores all its points in the first two minutes of the first quarter, things generally turn out alright. That philosophy held true for the Michigan Wolverines Saturday, after Oregon State sailed to an easy, early touchdown, and never scored again.
It also helped that the Wolverines had a power back that earned his label -- De'Veon Smith rarely went down on the Beavers' first attempts, and he rattled off three touchdowns and 126 yards on 23 carries. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry on his way to trucking Oregon State defenders and leading Michigan to a 35-7 win.
"I thought the backs ran well – ran better, ran harder, saw things better," said Jim Harbaugh, after notching his first win as head coach of his alma mater. "They've got to see the holes and the blockers … they've got to make the appropriate cut and run physically when they have to."
It didn't look so simple for Michigan in the early minutes. The Wolverines held a slim 10-7 lead late in the second quarter when everybody's special teams imploded, and Michigan took advantage. Nick Porebski was back to punt for Oregon State, muffed the snap and by the time he got it under control to kick, had already been barreled over, inciting a roughing-the-kicker penalty. Harbaugh's reaction, which included slinging his folders and papers to the ground, quickly made the rounds on social media as the coach's first big-time tantrum in the Big House.
It wasn't even the worst punting disaster of the day. Michigan forced another punt on the same drive, which the Beavers pinned inside the five. Illegal formation called it back, and on the second try, Oregon State's wild snap went so far back that Michigan started its next drive on the OSU 3-yard-line.
If a team puts together a three-play, three-yard drive, it's usually not a great sign. But when three is the maximum amount of yardage to a touchdown, and you have Smith on the team, it can be the trigger to a blowout.
"That happens," Harbaugh said of the bad snap, which went further than any pass of the day. "Once in a half a century."
Smith trucked his way into the end zone following that special teams disaster with 12 seconds left before halftime, and the rout never took a break from there. More than anyone, Smith ran at will, and it sparked the rest of the team.
"Shoutout to my offensive line," Smith said. "They did a great job today; they made some huge holes."
"I think it was one of those things where the linemen knew, 'Hey, we got our blocks, and he might bounce off a couple,'" quarterback Jake Rudock said. "It kind of gets everyone going."
Rudock, who threw three interceptions against Utah last week, settled down against Oregon State, going 18-of-26 for 180 yards.
And while Smith may have gotten the offense going, the opposite side of the ball did more than its fair share. After the Beavers collected 79 yards in its opening drive, they only managed 59 more in the final 57:01.
"It's just a mentality you have to have as a defense," said defensive end Chris Wormley, who finished with six tackles (three for loss) and a timely sack in the third quarter, when Oregon State was trying to inspire its offense with a new quarterback, Marcus McMaryion.
McMaryion finished 0-for-3, and starter Seth Collins went 9-of-16 for 79 yards and a touchdown.
The 35-7 win for Michigan is Harbaugh's first as head coach, amid tremendous fanfare and 109,651 finally-excited-again Wolverine fans in the Big House. But in typical Harbaugh fashion, he deferred all talk of his first win as head coach meaning something.
"I don't know if everybody listens to me or not," he said. "But it's mainly about the players."
