The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS AUGUST 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 15 FIVE YEARS AGO, 2019: Michigan football put it in cruise control in the opener on Aug. 31, 2019, breezing past Middle Ten- nessee State, 40-21. Quarterback Shea Patterson threw for 203 yards and 3 touchdowns in getting the Wolverines off to a flying start. Running back Zach Charbonnet carried 8 times for 90 yards, leading a Michigan ground game that piled up 233 yards versus the visitors. The Wolverines thus hit the ground running at 1-0. Middle Tennessee State did enjoy a moment for its small band of followers to take pictures of the Michigan Stadium score- boards. At the 12:52 mark of the opening quarter, MTSU's Asher O'Hara bolted for a touchdown on an 18-yard run, giving his team a 7-0 lead. The Wolverines kept the visitors' wild celebration brief, scoring the next 24 points. Jake Moody's 34-yard field goal got U-M on the board, and Patterson then unleashed three straight touchdown passes to make it 24-7. He hit Tarik Black on a 36-yard TD toss, connected with Nico Collins for a 28-yard score and then threw another 28-yarder to tight end Sean McKeon. O'Hara tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to make it 24-14 at halftime, but the Wolverines put the hammer down after intermission. They scored 16 straight to put the game away, before O'Hara unleashed a 59-yard MTSU touchdown pass with 1:06 remain- ing, giving the visitors a final big moment in The Big House. Patterson actually set up MTSU's first touchdown, fumbling the football away on the opening play. He made clear he needed to clean up his effort going forward. "Obviously didn't get off to a great start," Patterson said. "I've got to take care of the football. A win's a win, but I think everyone in that locker room knows we didn't live up to our standards. I put that on me — I've got to take care of the football." 10 YEARS AGO, 2014: Michigan left no doubt this time around, pummeling Appalachian State in the football season opener, 52-14, on Aug. 30, 2014. The Wolverines steamrolled to a 49-0 lead through three quarters in opening the campaign at 1-0. Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner fired 3 touchdown passes, while running backs Derrick Green (170 yards, 1 touch- down) and De'Veon Smith (115 yards, 2 TDs) paced a rushing at- tack that piled up 350 yards in total. Gardner didn't wait around for the visitors, staking the Wolverines to a 14-0 first-quarter lead with 9- and 34-yard touchdown passes to Devin Funch- ess. A third TD toss to Funchess, covering 8 yards, made it 21-0. Smith's 12-yard TD bolt and Ben Gedeon's 32-yard return of a blocked punt sent the teams to their halftime locker rooms with the Wolverines in firm control, 35-0. Appalachian State head coach Scott Satterfield noted the home team stood more than ready for this one. "All offseason, if you pulled up anything, it was, 'Who is on the hot seat? Brady Hoke,' or 'seven wins isn't good enough for Michigan,'" Satterfield said. "Heck yeah, that was in their minds all summer long, and what else did they hear? 'In 2007, App State came and beat you guys.' That's all they heard. "You're doggone right they were determined. They've been eager for this one, the fans and players. And they played like it." 25 YEARS AGO, 1999: U-M football head Coach Lloyd Carr noted in August that folks would need to show up for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff versus Notre Dame at Michigan Stadium Sept. 4 to know how U-M's quar- terback situation would shake out. He'd decided Tom Brady would start the game, but that rookie sensation Drew Henson would play in the second quarter, and the better performer would start the second half. The plan no doubt stoked the fire already burning in- side Brady. Carr also tossed a log on a bigger blaze when he accused the Irish of breaking a gentleman's agree- ment between the schools, involving not scheduling an opponent prior to Michigan-Notre Dame showdowns. The Irish opened with Kansas on Aug. 28 that year. "It's unfortunate for this rivalry that they chose to schedule a game to gain an advantage," Carr said. "The one thing I can assure you is when this game is over, we are not going to have any excuses, period." Michigan beat the Irish that day, 26-22. — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY Quarterback Tom Brady held off a strong challenge from Drew Henson and went on to start every game in the 1999 season. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN