Looking Back is a Special Feature by Jeff Cummins
The final look back to season openers takes us to 2017. This season signified a passing of the touch among the Michigan players. Leaders such as Jabrill Peppers, Chris Wormley and Taco Charlton were gone, but names such as Khaleke Hudson, Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich were eager to take their place.
For the second time, Michigan traveled to Dallas for its season opener. This time, the Wolverines were facing a Florida team coached by Jim McElwain. Simply put, if Wilton Speight had not thrown two interceptions, Michigan would have won by 30 points.
As it was, the Wolverines dominated Florida far more than the final score would indicate. Devin Bush immediately showed he would be a linebacker for the ages, flying all over the field at warp speed to track down ballcarriers. Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary proved that they were certainly capable of replacing Wormley and Charlton. And then there was the offense. Ty Isaac, Chris Evans and Karan Higdon pounded the Gators relentlessly, and head coach Jim Harbaugh exploited Florida’s lengthy defensive huddles by snapping the ball quickly, springing running backs for sizable gains.
Freshman receiver Tarik Black, who wouldn’t spend much time in a winged helmet, made his presence felt with several big receptions. Still, Florida managed to hang around, largely limiting Michigan to a bunch of Quinn Nordin field goals. At halftime, Florida actually led by four points, and for Michigan fans, their fears of speedy teams from the south were as prevalent as ever.
That changed dramatically in the second half. In addition to the dominance of Michigan’s skill players, the linemen in maize and blue started to impose their will. Facing a 4th down and 1 yard to go, Michigan snapped the ball early and Isaac gained 18 yards over the left side of the line. From that point, momentum put on a maize Michigan jersey. Yes, you read that correctly. Michigan wore maize jerseys and pants for the first time in many decades.
But if the Michigan uniforms were new, their style of play was as old school as it gets. Michigan went back to trap blocking, pulling guards and opening up huge holes for its running backs. On second down and goal from the Florida 3-yard line, Speight handed the ball to Higdon, who rumbled into the end zone almost untouched, and Michigan never looked back. As the game wore on, it was obvious that Michigan’s players were in considerably better physical condition than Florida’s players, and the Wolverines played at a much quicker tempo. The back breaker came when Winovich sacked Florida QB Malik Zaire in the end zone, stripping the ball in the process. Linebacker Noah Furbush fell on the loose ball for Michigan, and the Wolverines had a satisfying 33-17 win over Florida at a neutral site to start the season. Not bad at all for the folks from Ann Arbor.
How will the 2022 version of the Wolverines fare in their season opener? We’ll find out soon enough. Thanks to Fox Sports, YouTube, and YouTube poster parkinggod for the following highlight video. As always, neither I nor anyone involved with umgoblue.com profit from this blog post in any way. Enjoy!
