The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1194003
28 THE WOLVERINE JANUARY 2020 freshman running back Hassan Haskins' breakout performance on the big stage. He'd rushed for 125 yards against the Illini, but his 149 yards on 20 carries against a rival on national television included several highlight-reel runs. The offense put up 437 yards against the Irish and the defense al- lowed only 180, with 75 coming in garbage time. "I saw it coming, watching them prepare and watching them practice, watching all the details in the meet- ings and how important it was to them," Harbaugh said. "Day in and day out, the work in practice, the growth, you could see it. "That's why I have so much respect for our players. They've had some tests; they've taken some criticism. To have the mindset to keep work- ing and keep growing, that leads to really great victories and success like our players had tonight. Great lesson for them. Not everybody can do that. That's why I'm really proud of our team and have so much respect for the guys." Maryland was a bump in the road (38-7) before Michigan State came to town. Though the Spartans scored first, they were no match when U-M turned it up. A 98-yard scoring drive in the second quarter gave the Wol- verines a 14-7 lead and from there, they dominated in a 44-10 win. Bell's 150-yard receiving game was the highlight of an outstanding show- ing for the pass catchers and Patter- son, propelling the Wolverines to con- secutive wins against the Spartans for the first time since 2006-07. U-M was clicking heading into its last two games, playing its best foot- ball heading toward a showdown with Ohio State. AN OHIO STATE PROBLEM If someone had told the Michigan fan base before the season its team would outscore its three rivals by a combined 36 points, that all three quarterback finalists for the Heisman Trophy were transfers and the Wol- verines were slated to play Alabama in a bowl game, they'd probably conclude that U-M would be in the College Football Playoff, preceded by Patterson's appearance in New York for the Heisman ceremony. The two road losses prevented any such postseason hopes, of course. Patterson, though, saved his best football for last. He was flying high after throwing for a career-best 384 yards with four touchdown tosses against the Spartans. "I'm just sorry I only got to play them twice," he said. He was the catalyst in another outstanding offensive performance, throwing for 366 yards with five scores against Indiana, and the of- fense seemed to be right where it wanted to be after a 39-14 win over the Hoosiers. But ESPN analyst and former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit nailed it last year when, after the 62- 39 game in Columbus, he said: "Mich- igan has an Ohio State problem." Still, the Wolverines were a 7.5-point underdog at kickoff against the jug- gernaut Buckeyes, and Patterson and the offense made an early statement and hung with OSU for a quarter. The defense, though, couldn't keep up. For the eighth year in a row and 15th time in the last 16, Michigan ended the regular season on a down note with a loss to its rival. The de- fense was the culprit, and while a D- line that had plenty of question marks going into the year had held up (and then some) against most teams on the schedule, the two teams with the best and biggest lines — Wisconsin and Ohio State — owned the line of scrimmage in rushing for 359 and 264 yards, respectively. The Badgers and Buckeyes combined for nine rushing touchdowns and averaged a collective 6.0 yards per carry. A season that started with high hopes ended at 9-3, solid by the num- bers but disappointing with the 56-27 loss to the Buckeyes. There will be one last shot at redemption Jan. 1 when the Wolverines face a loaded Alabama team, a 10-2 squad that lost only to LSU and Auburn by a combined eight points. Nothing will completely ease the sting of another loss to OSU, but beating a blueblood on the national stage would be a heck of a way to end the year. ❑ Ronnie Bell's nine catches and 150 receiving yards in the 44-10 rout over Michigan State both set new career highs. It marked the most receiving yards in a game for a U-M wideout since 2016 (Amara Darboh's 165 versus Michigan State in 2016) and most catches since 2015 (Jehu Chesson's 10 versus Indiana in 2015). PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN