Last Week at The Wolverine Den
Tailgate Attendance: 82
Michigan 31 - Eastern Michigan 3
Michigan Stadium
September 17, 2011 - 12 noon ET
Game Summary
The Wolverine Den Trivia
Q: Denard Robinson tied the all-time Michigan record with 4 touchdown passes in the game against Notre Dame. Whose record did he tie?
A: Denard Robinson's 4 TD passes against Notre Dame tied the Michigan record for most TD passes in a game. The others that share that record are: Steve Smith, Chris Zurbrugg, Michael Taylor, Elvis Grbac (3 times); Todd Collins, Brian Griese, Scott Dreisbach, Tom Brady, John Navarre (3 times), Drew Henson, and Chad Henne (3 times).
What started out as a scare turned in to a dominating performance by Michigan as they rolled over their Washtenaw County neighbors. The defense allowed its fewest points since the 2007 shutout of Notre Dame. The offense was able to run the ball at will and the score was indicative of the competition.
Denard Robinson had another outstanding game with 198 yards rushing (his third highest total) while RB Vincent Smith rushed for 118 to give Michigan two players over the century mark for the 36th time in program history. On defense, Craig Roh came to play and recorded a sack and several hurries while making 5 tackles. Jibreel Black was always in the backfield and Brandin Hawthorn, in his first career start, lead the team with 10 tackles. True freshmen Raymon Taylor, Blake Countess, Desmond Morgan, Frank Clark and Brennen Beyer all received noticeable playing time and contributed. The future looks bright.
There is that concern over slow starts. Michigan has still not scored in the 1st quarter this year. Eastern went 55 yards on their first drive (fumbled), 72 yards on their 2nd drive (turned over on downs at the 1-yard line), and then kicked a FG on their next drive. But the defense adjusted and started to play and held the Eagles to 61 Total yards and no points for the rest of the game. Let’s see that kind of performance at the start this week.
Eastern Michigan is not a passing team and the Michigan defense held then to 29 passing yards for the game. It was the lowest total for a Michigan opponent in 12 years (Rice 1999).
Steve's Prediction
37-17
Craig's Prediction
45-17
Tim's Prediction
42-21