4B — September 28, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
momentum churning. He threw
Davis off of his body for good.
It was a move straight out of a
Marshawn Lynch highlight video.
Smith capped the 60-yard
touchdown with a little hop
into the end zone before he was
mobbed by his teammates.
Davis stared off, shaking his
head.
“Once I got to the second level,
I knew for a fact I was not letting
No. 15 tackle me,” Smith said with
a smirk.
Davis had been emasculated
to the point that his name was
hardly of importance to Smith. He
was just an obstacle in the way,
another tackler that he had to get
rid of. He was not alone.
By the time the first half ended
and Michigan led, 31-0, it was
clear that the Wolverines felt the
same way about Davis’ entire
team.
BYU entered the game with a
national ranking and an offense
that had continued to produce
even with a backup quarterback.
The Cougars had not scored fewer
than 23 points in their first three
games.
That was not the case Saturday.
And Michigan was not even
content with the shutout. After
all, BYU managed to gain more
than 100 yards in the game, a
milestone it surpassed in the
waning moments of the fourth
quarter.
“I think the thing that I’m still
kind of irked about is we wanted
that 100-yard mark too, that they
hit at the end,” said Desmond
Morgan.
The Cougars finished the game
with 105 total yards of offense.
They had gained at least 381 yards
in their first three games. By the
way Morgan and others reacted to
the shutout, it was as if Michigan
had no idea.
Amara Darboh, one of
America’s newest citizens, didn’t
seem to think much of what BYU
could or couldn’t do in the first
quarter, either. When a Jake
Rudock pass came his way, one he
had little chance of catching, he
jumped into the air.
His body turned in the opposite
direction of the ball as he reached
out with his right arm. Still, he
made the catch. Memes sprouted
on the Internet that compared the
play to a play Odell Beckham Jr.
made for the New York Giants last
season, the one some consider to
be the best catch in the history of
the sport.
It was that kind of day
Saturday, one where almost
everything went right. Michigan
blew out an opponent — this
time a good one — for the third
straight weekend. The Wolverines
appear to have rid themselves of
any shred of self-doubt that can
accompany a 5-7 season. There
is a new standard, one that was
punctuated Saturday.
The standard is not one based
off other teams. Michigan’s
players insist they care only about
what they are capable of doing
in any given game and any given
practice.
It was difficult to envision the
Wolverines doing much more
Saturday. After losing nine of
its last 10 games against ranked
teams, Michigan won this one
with authority.
The man at the helm of this
renaissance, Jim Harbaugh, said
he planned to take six hours to
enjoy his team’s latest win. Then
he will move forward, just like
Smith did after he threw Davis to
the ground. Smith said nothing to
his unworthy adversary after he
left him sprawled on the grass.
“I wish I would have said
something,” Smith quipped.
But he didn’t have to. The
Wolverines’ play did all of the
talking, and they didn’t care about
anything else.
Cohen can be reached at
maxac@umich.edu and on
Twitter @MaxACohen.
COHEN
From Page 1B
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Fifth-year senior quarterback Jake Rudock turned in his best performance of the
season on Saturday, accounting for three touchdowns without turning the ball over.