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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #12 – 01/15/2018 – So Close

Quick Look

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they lost one and won one. On Tuesday (01/09/2018), they lost to (#5) Purdue 70-69 in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (01/13/2018), they won at (#4) Michigan State 82-72. The loss and the win leave Michigan with a record of 15-4 (4-2 in the Big Ten).

What Happened

This week was SO CLOSE to being a perfect week. The win over MSU was huge, and very unexpected, but the loss to Purdue was heartbreaking. After trailing for most of the game, UM fought back in the closing moments of the Purdue game, only to have it stolen away by some lousy officiating. If the last 6.2 seconds of the game had been called correctly, Michigan could have won that game, but the officials blew it.

Purdue is a very good team, and they played very well. They outplayed Michigan for much of the game, and had a couple 14-point leads, but they couldn’t stop the relentless UM comeback in the 2nd half. The game was all tied up (69-69) with 28 seconds left, and Michigan had the ball with no shot clock. They ran the clock down to 6 seconds, and drove in for the go-ahead layup, or at least a foul. Instead, Purdue knocked the ball away, and the officials (correctly) signaled that it was UM’s ball. No problem, still plenty of time to take a go-ahead shot. Actually, they could have called a reach-in foul on the knock-away, but instead they viewed the replay for almost 5 minutes, then gave the ball to Purdue! Absolutely wrong! They compounded the error with 4 seconds left on the clock when they called a foul on Michigan on a clean take-away. The Purdue player hit one of the two free throws, and Michigan’s last second heave from near half-court rimmed out. The Purdue players danced like they had won the National Championship, the boos rained down, and the officials hustled off the court, the damage done. They were terrible, just terrible.

If you had told me that UM would go 1-1 last week, I would have been positive that it was a home win vs. Purdue and a road loss at MSU, not the other way around. UM rarely wins at MSU, and MSU has a loaded team this season. The game was close most of the way, with UM holding a small lead most of the game. MSU led by 3 at halftime (37-34), but the lead changed hands several times in the first 11+ minutes of the 2nd half. The turning point came at the 8:10 mark, with MSU up by one point (55-54). UM hit a 3-pointer, and never trailed again. Once Michigan got the lead up to 7-9 points, they kept it there. It was a very impressive win.

Stats

The stats for the Purdue game are actually pretty solid. Michigan shot pretty well overall (26-for-58 = 44.8%), they shot 3-pointers very well (10-for-22 = 45.5%), and they shot free throws reasonably well (7-for-11 = 63.6%). They won the rebounding battle (36-29) which is stunning, considering Purdue’s height advantage (a 7’2″ guy with a 7’3″ backup), but they lost the turnover battle (9-8). The reason Purdue won the game was their 3-point shooting (12-for-21 = 57.1%), including 5-for-5 to start the game, and 7-for-10 in the 1st half. It was like a videogame for much of the 1st half.

The stats for the MSU game are not nearly as impressive. Michigan shot decently overall (24-for-57 = 42.1%), they shot 3-pointers OK (6-for-15 = 40.0%), and they shot free throws pretty well (28-for-35 = 80.0%). Michigan lost the rebounding battle (31-32), but won the turnover battle big time (7-18). The important stat here is free throws. That’s where Michigan won the game. Why did Michigan shoot 35 free throws (and why did MSU shoot 32 free throws)? Because “TV Teddy” Valentine and his motley crew called 51 fouls in 40 minutes (25 against UM, 26 against MSU).

Who Looked Good

The starters for the Purdue game were Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Charles Matthews, Duncan Robinson, Zavier Simpson, and Moritz Wagner. Isaiah Livers has been playing better than Robinson lately, so he got the start in the MSU game.

The star this week was definitely Wagner, with 11 points vs. Purdue, and a career-high 27 points vs. MSU, on 8-for-13 overall shooting (3-for-4 from 3-point range), and 8-for-8 shooting from the free throw line. He did a decent job defending the 7’2″ and 7’3″ guys from Purdue, and a great job defending the MSU centers.

If Wagner was “#1” this week, Simpson was “#1A”. He scored 15 points vs. Purdue (Michigan’s high scorer) and a career-high 16 points vs. MSU, had 5 assists in each game, and grabbed 6 and 4 rebounds. His only weak spot was free throw shooting: 1-for-2 vs. Purdue, and 5-for-10 vs. MSU. Michigan only missed 7 free throws vs. MSU, and he missed 5 of them. Sigh.

Matthews had a good week, with double figures in both games (14 and 10 points). He wasn’t very efficient (5-for-14 vs. Purdue, 3-for-10 vs. MSU), but he was UM’s leading rebounder (7) vs. Purdue.

MAAR had a pretty good week, with 7 and 14 points. He was also inefficient (3-for-9 and 3-for-11), but he did a good job on defense.

Livers hit double figures (10 points) off the bench vs. Purdue, and 6 points as a starter vs. MSU. He played hard in both games, and is becoming a solid defender. I really liked his dunk with 11 seconds left in the MSU game.

Jon Teske played in both games, and scored 0 and 4 points. He wasn’t much of a factor on offense, but he did play good defense, and he grabbed some important rebounds. He also gave Wagner a rest every now and then.

Jordan Poole continued to provide quality minutes off the bench, scoring 8 and 2 points.

Who Looked Not-So-Good

Robinson played in both games, and didn’t do much. He scored 4 and 3 points, but was overwhelmed on the defensive end.

Eli Brooks played a few minutes in each game as the 2nd point guard. He failed to score. He plays good defense, and he runs the offense pretty well, but he isn’t much of a factor offensively.

Who Else Played

Austin Davis played for 2 minutes in the MSU game, and failed to score. He did commit 2 fouls.

Who Didn’t Play

Jaaron Simmons, Ibi Watson, and the practice squad players (C.J. Baird, Brent Hibbitts, Naji Ozeir, Rico Ozuna-Harrison, and Luke Wilson) all failed to get into either game.

The Big Picture

This was a big week for Michigan, and it could have been even bigger. At 4-2 in Big Ten play, Michigan is right in the thick of things, but Purdue and (what?) Ohio State are both undefeated in league play and tied for 1st place. They played both Purdue and MSU tough, and if they continue to play that well, they’ll finish in the top half of the Big Ten standings.

Predicted Win Total

Michigan won a “Should Lose” game and lost a “Toss Up” game. They’re at 15 wins, with 12 games left. If they can split those, that would be 6 more wins, so I’m moving the Predicted Win Total up one game.

This week’s Predicted Win Total is: 20

Here’s a chart of the Predicted Win Totals for each week:

Week

Date

Predicted Win Total
1

10/30/2017

19
3

11/13/2017

19
4

11/20/2017

16
5

11/27/2017

16
6

12/04/2017

16
7

12/11/2017

16
8

12/18/2017

18
9

12/25/2017

18
10

01/01/2018

18
11

01/08/2018

19
12

01/15/2018

20

What’s Next

This week Michigan plays three games, all in the Big Ten. On Monday (01/15/2018, 6:30 p.m., FS1), Michigan plays Maryland in Crisler Arena, on Thursday (01/18/2018, 9:00 p.m. EST, BTN), they play at Nebraska, then on Sunday (01/21/2018, 12:00 p.m., BTN), they play Rutgers in Crisler Arena. Combined with the MSU game on 01/13/2018, that’s 4 games in 8 days.

Maryland is currently 14-5 (3-3 in the Big Ten). They don’t have any impressive wins, and their only embarrassing loss was to St. Bonaventure. Michigan should win this game, but it could be tricky.

Nebraska is currently 12-7 (3-3 in the Big Ten). They’ve got a few impressive wins (Minnesota, Northwestern, and Wisconsin), and a few unimpressive losses (St. John’s, UCF, and Penn State). It’s always tough to win on the road in the Big Ten, and I expect this game to be a tough one.

Rutgers is currently 11-8 (1-5 in the Big Ten). They’ve got a couple impressive wins (#15 Seton Hall and Wisconsin), and a couple embarrassing losses (Stony Brook and Hartford). After a few years as the doormat of the Big Ten, Rutgers is moving up in the standings a little. They aren’t the automatic win they used to be. They took MSU to overtime in Breslin last week before losing. I expect Michigan to beat them, especially in Crisler, but it won’t be as easy as it used to be.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #11 – 01/08/2018 – Two Solid Wins

Quick Look

The University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, and they won both of them. On Tuesday (01/02/2018), they won at Iowa, 75-68, then on Saturday (01/06/2018), they beat Illinois 79-69, in Crisler Arena. The two wins raise Michigan’s record to 14-3 (3-1 in the Big Ten).

What Happened

After playing two Big Ten games early in December (12/02/2017 win at home vs. Indiana, and 12/04/2017 loss at Ohio State), Michigan resumed Big Ten play in the new year with two solid wins against middle-of-the-pack teams. The Iowa game was a “toss up” game, but the Illinois game was a “should win” game. Regardless, they were games that Michigan was favored to win, and they took care of business. The Iowa win was definitely more impressive, since it’s tough to win on the road anywhere in the Big Ten, and Michigan hadn’t won in Iowa since 2011.

The early stages of the Iowa game were sloppy, with Iowa leading 10-7 at the 14:07 mark. Michigan went on a nice 22-4 run to build up a comfortable 15-point lead (29-14) with 8:11 to go in the half. Iowa crept back within 8 points (35-27), and Michigan answered with a 9-0 run to push the lead up to 17 (44-27), at the 4:02 mark. Iowa closed the half with a 9-4 run of their own, to make it a 12-point game at halftime, 48-36.

Iowa continued their run at the start of the 2nd half, and pulled to within 7 points (48-41) with 17:23 to go. But, that was as close as they got the rest of the game, while Michigan pushed the lead as high as 17 points (71-54) along the way. Every time Iowa got the lead down under 10 points, Michigan answered with a run of their own to push it back into double digits. It was a solid, encouraging performance.

The first 13:25 of the Illinois game were really ugly. Heck, the first 15 seconds were ugly. Michigan won the opening tip, and threw the ball away on their first pass, then fouled trying to get the ball back. Michigan had 7 turnovers, 7 fouls, and 14 missed shots in the first 13:25 of the half, and trailed by 8 points (21-13). They finally settled down, and went on a 12-2 run to take the lead (25-23) with 4:06 to go. They still led by 2 points (31-29) with 1:58 left in the half, then let Illinois finish the half on a 5-0 run to lead by 3 at halftime, 34-31.

Michigan came out of the locker room fired up, and played some crisp basketball to start the 2nd half. They quickly erased the Illinois lead, and went up by 5 points (41-36) before the 1st media timeout. They pushed the lead up to 9 points (51-42) with 12:52 to go, and kept the lead in the 9-11 point range the rest of the way, winning by 10 points.

It seems weird to complain about the officiating in a 10-point win, but the refs for the Illinois game (Bo Boroski, Chris Beaver, and Kelly Pfeifer) were as bad as they get, even for the Big Ten. They called way too many fouls (22 on Illinois, 17 on Michigan, 39 total), many of them “phantom fouls”, and they were obsessed with offensive fouls. I don’t think their terrible officiating changed the outcome of the game, but it made it unwatchable at times.

Stats

The stats for the Iowa game are pretty impressive. Michigan shot well overall (28-for-57 = 49.1%), they shot 3-pointers very well (11-for-25 = 44.0%), and they shot free throws very well (8-for-10 = 80.0%). They just barely lost the rebounding battle (31-30), and they won the turnover battle (10-13). As I’ve said many times, when the 3-pointers are falling, this team looks great.

The stats for the Illinois game are also impressive. Once again, Michigan shot well overall (26-for-51 = 51.0%), they shot 3-pointers well (8-for-20 = 40.0%), and they shot free throws well (19-for-24 = 79.2%). They lost the rebounding battle again (31-27), and they won the turnover battle again (15-17). 15 turnovers is a lot for this team, but they managed to do enough other things right to win the game.

Who Looked Good

The starters for the Iowa game were Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Eli Brooks, Charles Matthews, Duncan Robinson, and Moritz Wagner. Zavier Simpson has been playing better than Brooks lately, so he got the start in the Illinois game.

MAAR had a big week, with double figures in both games (15 and 13), and lots of other nice stats: 11 rebounds (7 and 4), 10 assists (6 and 4), and 4 steals (2 and 2). That’s called “stuffing the stat sheet”.

Matthews was the only other starter to hit double figures in the both games (14 and 10), but he just barely made it in the Illinois game. He’s the player who got the 1st foul, 15 seconds into the game, so he sat for a while. He came back in 6 minutes later, and picked up his 2nd foul in less than a minute, so he sat for the rest of the half. He started the 2nd half, and managed to play about 3 minutes before picking up his 3rd foul on a VERY questionable offensive foul call. This was probably the worst call we’ve seen this season, and it really got the crowd riled up. When Matthews finally got back in at the 11:31 mark, he managed to avoid any more fouls, and he finally got to play and score.

The only other player to hit double figures in both games wasn’t a starter, it was Isaiah Livers. He looked great in both games, with 13 and 12 points. It wasn’t just the number of points he scored, it was how and when he scored them. In both games, he scored important baskets to either stop an opponent’s run, or to start an important Michigan run. All of his baskets were big, and he hit a nice combination of 3-pointers and emphatic dunks. To top it all off, he shot a very nice percentage in both games: 5-for-6 overall (3-for-3 from 3-point range) vs. Iowa, and 5-for-7 overall (2-for-3 from 3-point range) vs. Illinois.

Most of the other starters each had one good game and one so-so game. Robinson had 5 points vs. Iowa, but came back for 13 points vs. Illinois. Wagner had 4 points vs. Iowa, and looked rusty again, but scored 14 points vs. Illinois, and finally looked a little like his old self.

Simpson had 15 off the bench vs. Iowa, but only had 5 points as a starter vs. Illinois.

Jordan Poole came off the bench in both games, and had one so-so game (3 points vs. Iowa) and one good game (11 points vs. Illinois). He and Livers sparked a nice UM comeback late in the 1st half of the Illinois game.

Jon Teske played in both games, and scored 6 and 0 points. He wasn’t much of a factor on offense, but he did play good defense, and he grabbed some important rebounds. He also gave Wagner a rest every now and then.

Who Looked Not-So-Good

Brooks was the only starter (vs. Iowa) who didn’t have a very good week. He played 8 minutes vs. Iowa, and 4 minutes vs. Illinois, and failed to score. Simpson has definitely passed him, for now.

Jaaron Simmons played 4 minutes in the Illinois game, and scored 1 point. He didn’t play vs. Iowa. He continues to slide down the bench.

Who Else Played

Ibi Watson played in both games, and failed to score.

Who Didn’t Play

Austin Davis and the practice squad players (C.J. Baird, Brent Hibbitts, Naji Ozeir, Rico Ozuna-Harrison, and Luke Wilson) all failed to get into either game.

The Big Picture

These were two important wins for Michigan. UM has to win as many of the games against the unranked Big Ten teams as they can, because the games against the ranked teams are coming right up. Michigan State and Purdue look like the two teams to beat in the Big Ten this season, so Michigan is playing for 3rd place.

Predicted Win Total

Michigan won a “Should Win” game and a “Toss Up” game, and they’ve won enough “Toss Up” games to move the Predicted Win Total up one game.

This week’s Predicted Win Total is: 19

Here’s a chart of the Predicted Win Totals for each week:

Week

Date

Predicted Win Total
1

10/30/2017

19
3

11/13/2017

19
4

11/20/2017

16
5

11/27/2017

16
6

12/04/2017

16
7

12/11/2017

16
8

12/18/2017

18
9

12/25/2017

18
10

01/01/2018

18
11

01/08/2018

19

What’s Next

This week Michigan plays two games, both in the Big Ten. On Tuesday (01/09/2018, 9:00 p.m., ESPN), Michigan plays (#13) Purdue in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (01/13/2018, 12:00 p.m., FOX), they play at (#1) Michigan State.

Purdue is currently 15-2 (4-0 in the Big Ten), with a couple impressive wins (Arizona and Louisville) and a couple less-than-impressive losses (Tennessee and Western Kentucky, both on a neutral floor). Their 4 Big Ten wins aren’t very exciting (at Maryland, Northwestern, Rutgers, and Nebraska), but they’ve won handily. They still have their incredibly tall center (Isaac Haas, 7’2″) and an even taller freshman with a similar name (Matt Haarms, 7’3″). Teske is going to be busy. Michigan can beat Purdue, but they’ll need to play their best game so far this season to do it.

Ah, our old friends, Michigan State. We only play them once this season, in East Lansing, and that’s probably a good thing. They are loaded this season, and could really stomp on UM if things get out of hand. They are currently 15-2 (3-1 in the Big Ten), with one understandable loss, to (#2) Duke on a neutral court, and one surprising loss, at unranked Ohio State. They’ve beaten a couple very good teams already this season (North Carolina and Notre Dame), and they’ve won their Big Ten games handily, other than OSU. Michigan stands very little chance in this game, and keeping it close late in the 2nd half would be a moral victory.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

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MICHIGAN FOOTBALL 2018-FIVE MISCUES SINK OUTBACK BOWL, 19-26

The Wolverines toted an 8-4 regular season record to Tampa’s Outback Bowl at noon on the 1st day of January 2018, to confront South Carolina’s Gamecocks in Raymond James stadium. It certainly looked like they would fashion a hard-earned victory, but their own miscues allowed the Gamecocks victory. They were well on their way to a late lead, when QB Brandon Peters threw his first career interception in the red zone. It hurt the cause with 5:42 left in third quarter. Last year’s finish to the season was distressing, and here it is again. This time with an 8 and 5 finish.

The Wolverines wanted to usher in 2018 as a new era of Michigan Football with a memorable start. An era replete with impressive individual and team performances. But instead they fashioned a loss.

Shame to see this game as the last Michigan hurrah for notable Seniors like Mo Hurst, Pat Kugler, and others.

The next time you see Mo in a football uniform it will be on Sundays sans the winged helmet. Mo was the 2017 Wolverine’s MVP, and a consensus All-American. He had contemplated not playing in the Outback to avoid injury to maintain his expected status in the upcoming pro draft. The specter of last year’s injury to Jake Butt, which is still hampering Jake’s pro progress, was a serious consideration.

Even before his decision to play for the Blue one last time, Mo Hurst had proved to be a consummate Michigan Man, and that continued. He played another outstanding game for the Wolverine’s New Year’s Day.

There are other past contributors to M football that have decided to take their football elsewhere to exhaust their fifth-year graduate eligibility. Quarterback Wilton Speight contributed much to M Football, and whether here or elsewhere, should be lauded for his effort, ability and determination while wearing the Maize and Blue. His nasty spinal injury was a difficult problem to overcome in time to play again this season. Wilton could have provided some welcome QB experience next year, and competed for the starting QB position.

The QB roster has recently been strengthened with the transfer to Michigan of QB Shea Patterson from the University of Mississippi, a.k.a. Ole Miss. This program has recently been beleaguered by serious NCAA violations. This has enabled some of their players to transfer to other institutions to continue their NCAA football careers. Patterson was a highly ranked recruit, and performed in accordance with that ranking for Ole Miss, until he was injured in the regular season just completed. He has three years to exhaust his Maize and Blue eligibility as things stand.

M QB Alex Malzone will try his fortunes elsewhere, as will Wide Receivers Maurice Ways and Drake Harris. Drake played in 7 games this year, but only snagged nine catches, and battled injuries seemingly continuously during his career. Drake could have been a poster child for injuries. They occurred and recurred for him, and hindered his display of talent, and advancement.

We should, and we do wish all departing Seniors, these good M men, a great future in whatever they choose to do, wherever they choose to do it. 

 

PETERS AND THE OFFENSE HAD A JOURNEYMAN DAY: In opposition of some fan expectations, Brandon Peters did not fashion a leg up on the 2018 starting quarterback job. He did make some nice plays, and also some bad mistakes as the Wolverines lost. He had an ordinary game, throwing for no TDs, and 2 interceptions.

There was a key fumble on an exchange with Sean McKeon as the running back. In after game comments Coach Harbaugh indicated it was a matter of the wrong personnel being on the field.

That Peters had his face mask pulled as he was sacked in the second half, and was poked in the eye, and had to sit some at crunch time, was a real downer, a critical turning point. John O’Korn came in and had no magic, either.

When Peters came back in, he threw a game clinching interception which ruined a late and great M red zone chance. A chance to take the lead.

The four field goals came back to haunt them as the Wolverines produced an anemic 277-yards of total offense.

The starting offensive line consisted of Cole, Onwenu, Kugler, Ruiz and Runyan. , Spaniellis replaced a dinged Kugler at center.

Peters was often hurried. At times the OL produced holes for Higdon, and Evans, The average yards per carry in the first quarter was something like 2.2-yards an attempt. It boggles my mind that a team that practices against a blitz everyday can’t handle the rush consistently, and protect its quarterback. This has to change.

Peters needed to play well to get this win, to earn a leg up on the competition he will face at the QB position next year. His prime competitors at the position of QB consist of Sophomore Dylan McCaffery, who red shirted this season, and incoming and experienced talent from Ole Miss transfer, QB Shea Patterson. They are both hyper talented. It seems likely Patterson will be allowed to play next year, although NCAA permission has not yet been granted. In any case, the QB room will have three good talents in the room during next season’s meetings.

All will be set to operate in prime competitive mode at the QB position, but they will miss a win at the Outback Bowl as their starting point. A win in that fracas would have been pure gold to jump start next season.

There are other QB talents in the wings. Hopefully they will not have to contribute sooner than later.

PLAYCALLING WAS NOT INVENTIVE, AND PREDICTABLE: The other side said afterwards that the route running in the passing game was very predictable, and the offense favored its tendencies. The running game was not inventive. It also fell short, producing only 74-yards. Karan Higdon fell six yards short of 1,000-yards. He had 17 carries for 65-yards. He averaged 3.8 yards per carry. Evans had 9 carries for 24 yards. He averaged 2.7 per carry. He and Evans both ran hard.

HARD HITTING GAME: Apparently there was a verbal war of words between the Wolverines and Gamecocks at pregame get acquainted bowling competition.

No one from either side got bowled over, and cooler heads prevailed, but it was an indication that it was not to not be a ho-hum affair.

On at least one occasion, it was a little too hard hitting on the part of one defensive Gamecock. He was flagged for targeting and thrown out for putting the top of his helmet on M receiver Donovon Peoples-Jones helmet.

The targeting call was reviewed and up held.

Muschamp went nuts, but it looked deliberate to me as did the face mask on Peters. I can’t say that Will Muschamp earned any respect from me in this game. Not that he cares.

THE GAMECOCKS: Their first scoring drive in the third quarter had two plays where our defense was out schemed. The second play resulted in six, and provided the path to their first TD and their victory.

There were some similarities between the teams. The similarities included an 8-4 record for the 2017 regular season, an offense that sometimes sputtered, but this game outplayed the Wolverines. Their defense was a solid defense that was respected more than their offense.

They too had a desire to finish up 9-4. Their defense was solid and their offense suspect. Sound familiar?

A big difference was that their offense, even though suspect, showed up when it counted.

The Gamecocks wanted to sustain the alleged superiority of the SEC over the B1G that the SEC proclaims, and in this case they did prevail. If we ever play them again, they will still be crowing over two wins, not just the hit.

Before the game, they fired their Offensive Coordinator for a very recognizable reason. Like Michigan, their offense had struggled against their better opponents.

2018 Outback Bowl - 01

Image 1 of 48

M’s DEFENSE OUTPLAYED ITS OFFENSE, BUT STILL DID NOT HOLD A 20-POINT LEAD IN THE SECOND HALF. If one says that they let 20 unanswered points happen in the last half, it is also fair to state the offense answered the twenty with three. Again the defense played an extraordinary game for most of three quarters. Again, when it counted the opposition found a chink in the armor in the third quarter as exhibited in the Gamecocks first TD drive.

It is fair to say they were often faced with sudden change caused by offensive gaffes, and one special teams error. Inexplicably Donovon Peoples-Jones dropped a punt deep in his own territory and it was recovered by SC. 

HOW THEY SCORED: The game started out as strictly a defensive production for both sides. It got a little interesting for Michigan Fans when Quinn Nordin booted the first of his four FGs at 3:42 of the 1st Quarter.

Ambry Thomas opened proceedings with the recovery of a fumbled Gamecocks punt. The drive stalled and Quinn Nordin hit a 17-yard FG. M was up 3 zip.

Quinn hit a 26-yarder, SC hit one from 44-yards, and Quinn hit a 45-yard field goal to make it 9-3 to end the first half. The FGs were nice but unsettling. When would the TDs begin?

The Wolverines kicked to start the second half, held and produced a great TD drive of 72-yards. Nico Collins used big frame to nab a 13-yard catch, K. Crawford got one for 27-yards, Higdon ran for 10 to the one, and Ben Mason hauled it in for six. This was his second career TD.

It was now 19-3. The Wolverines were in command at the ten-minute mark of the third quarter.

Noah Furbush then intercepted a tipped pass and advanced it 27-yards to the SC 27. Great play by Furbush. The Wolverines had a 1st down at the SC 9-yard line, when Higdon, struggling for yardage, had the ball ripped loose. SC recovered and another golden opportunity was history.

The Wolverines Quinn Nordin then struck again, this time from 48-yards out. Now 22-3 at the 5:42 mark of the third quarter, the Wolverines were still very much in charge.

But not for long, as SC moved 77-yards featuring a 17-yard TD run. Two M penalties were also featured. L. Marshall was offside early in the drive, and Josh Metellus was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. I believe M’s defense got out schemed on this drive. It was now M 19, SC 10.

Things were about to rapidly unravel for the Wolverines. A Peters, McKeon exchange error was offered the football on the ground to the Gamecocks and they covered it. The fumble is credited to Peters. A 27-yard pass made it 19-16 as SC did not convert their two-point attempt. At the end of the third quarter it remained 19-16.

The Wolverines could not move offensively to start the 4th, but the Gamecocks could. SC completed a 55-yard TD pass and it was 19-23. The big play bug bit again at crunch time.

Peters was sacked, poked in the eye, and went to the bench. John O’Korn replaced him. Peters came back in, and the ball moved to the SC five.

Peters then threw the first interception of his career. I thought things could not get worse, but a punt that DPJ was fielding at his 10-yard line bounced off his shoulder pad, and SC recovered it at the M 14. They then hit a 22-yard FG. And it was 19-26.

Donovon Peoples-Jones  muffed a punt which was recovered at the M 14, to compound M’s woes.  It led to the 22-yard SC FG included in the score above.

M had one more chance after a missed SC FG, but Peters threw his second interception, and it was over except for the gloating by SEC mavens.

THIS WAS A TOUGH SEASON: The Wolverines played hard this season but did not do well against better competition. This last loss was particularly tough for them, but it is not the end of their world or ours.
The coaches performed a near miracle with a defense that had one returning starter, and again was one of the best in the country. The coaches could not perform the same miracle for the offense. Running backs look better, play calling, and scheme are not getting necessary results.

They need to get stronger. Some of that may be helped by a new Strength and Conditioning perspective as Kevin Tolbert is leaving and Ben Herbert has been retained. Herbert formerly was with Wisconsin and and Arkansas.

I do not know how to make the Wolverines a well oiled football machine, but I trust the coaches do, and I hope they will be geared up to slug it out next season.

Thank you for slogging through these pages this season, Happy New Year, and Go Blue!